Not sure which route to go for increased 3dmark performance....

[T-bred owns you]

I'm currently considering both the Asus p4t533 and 2x256mb(pull one out for benching)samsung rim4200 or an Abit IT7-max2 and 1x256mb Geil Pc3500(already have a normal use stick of buyaib nonsense DDR400(2-3-4-6-2@2.7V when run@160mhz with 4:5 divider but usually I run 166mhz with 1:1 divider.) I have a 1.6A that can do 2.656ghz(16x166@1.575Vcore with 35C full load temp on cpu.) It's aircooled and I want to take the FSB higher- I am aware I will need a turbo pll for the p4t533 but have not seen any for sale which tells me I will most likely need to fabricate one myself. Any help would be appreciated. My 3dmark score lacks but is decent for only 2506/2502 MB/s sandra mem bandwidth benches. 13883 so far but highest posted on madonion is 13738.
My 3dmark score of 13738 (http://service.madonion.com/compare?2k1=4365839) *edit* the 13883 was with DDR333 and my DDR400 sandra mem bandwidth is 2950/2950 MB/s.

[Leo]

You're not gonna need a TurboPLL for a P4T533, you need one for the 16 bit version, the P4T533-C. The P4T533 does have its own set of issues however. Voltages just go nuts on that board, simple BIOS reflashes can totally screw up your overclock, general system instability...there's a nearly 100 page thread on it over at [H] with plenty of disgruntled users. I myself tossed my P4T533 in favor of my IT7.

Stay with DDR if you don't know much about TurboPLLs.

[T-bred owns you]

Hmm that sucks, would it be better to go dual RDRAM with the p4t533-c and get a turbo pll? I don't want to waste money so it's best that I get high end now. RDRAM owns DDR in sanda mem bandwidth. I dunno whether OPP's bench at 425?/425?mb/s was with the rimm4200 or not. *Edit* Aren't only a few runts though(p4t533)? I really like the bandwidth this board provides with the new memory and isn't Asus doing something to fix this?

[Leo]

I actually own OPP's old board and memory and yes, those bandwith benchmarks were with RIMM4200. As for the P4T533's fubar rate, it's very high if you buy a board in the U.S., much more than a few boards have problems. If you can get a board from Japan or some parts of Western Europe you might have a better chance of getting a decent board but over here in the States your chances of getting a semi-okay P4T533 are very small. A lot of Xtremers here have RMA'd the board multiple times only to find the same issues crop up. Plain and simple the board has severe issues and Asus knows it, that's why they keep releasing BIOSes. The only way Asus could fix their P4T533 is to redesign the board and issue a recall for the current ones, I have a feeling they're not going to do this.

Going for the TurboPLL/P4T533-C route is a nice one if you can do it, I certainly can't help you very much with TurboPLLs and very few forum members here employ them. Don't sweat not being able to use 32 bit RDRAM, the performance between RIMM4200 and PC1066 at equal speeds is pretty much nil.

Don't count out DDR though, you have to realize OPP's record setting 3D run was done with DDR. Yeah, now he's 2nd on the ORB to an RDRAM system (holicho's) but don't forget holicho also uses LN2 and dry ice.

[T-bred owns you]

Yeah I understand that but RDRAM is number1 currently, and I do like DDR ram but I want to increase my memory bandwidth scores. I may be able to obtain some geil pc3500 or xtremeDDR stuff. Is the Abit IT7-max2 still the definitive DDR board? If not what else is there that kicks equally as much ass but possibly has agp8x(the new gigabyte board is rumored to be pretty good but I dunno.) Also I had a crazy idea for ram heat problems which I know I'll probably get laughed at for but here goes. Get a custom made ram sink with water block fittings on it. There are 4 fittings total on the ramsink/block. then each end goes into a y connector so the water comes from one end and goes out the other. Pretty good idea(in my opinion) and condensation shouldn't be a problem unless you start freezing the water. I dunno if this has been thought of before but if it has sorry for not being original.

[Charles Wirth]

I have gone through three P4T533's and refused to do it a fourth time.

My IT7 MAX runs at 3.21Ghz 24/7. I believe chong is running my old IT7 MAX that is a very solid board at high speeds. If I cannot maintain at least 3.2Ghz is it not worth me changing over to it. I tried to switch over to the P4T533 and it failed for me every time.

Use PCMark2002 easy eample. My top score is above macci at the same speed. Since I can run max FSB in conjunction with max ram timing I was able to beat him at the exact same speed where his machine should have won by large margin but he backed off to 3x to keep the FSB high.

[T-bred owns you]

Ah ok I see, well then I guess I'm going IT7-max2 with 256mb of Geil pc3500 unless there are any objections. Also can anyone give me any software tweaks other than rivatuner, and disabling alot of services(used black viper's gamer setup)? My XP pro only uses 59mb of ram at idle where it used to use 79mb at idle. My aim s/n is yogi6828 . IM me if you have any suggestions or just drop a PM or something. I really want 14k bad.

[SKATAN]

Originally posted by FUGGER
I have gone through three P4T533's and refused to do it a fourth time.

My IT7 MAX runs at 3.21Ghz 24/7. I believe chong is running my old IT7 MAX that is a very solid board at high speeds. If I cannot maintain at least 3.2Ghz is it not worth me changing over to it. I tried to switch over to the P4T533 and it failed for me every time.

Use PCMark2002 easy eample. My top score is above macci at the same speed. Since I can run max FSB in conjunction with max ram timing I was able to beat him at the exact same speed where his machine should have won by large margin but he backed off to 3x to keep the FSB high.

he beats you by a nice margin in the mem score


the cpu scores aren´t that much afected by higher bandwidth

I bet that with a rerun at the same mhz he could beat you

[Charles Wirth]

If you look down lower I beat DJ too with 12Mhz difference with a much closer memory score.

Both of those boards are rambus and I know the posters are decent overclockers. Both of those boards should have wiped the floor with me.

[T-bred owns you]

Ok so IT7-max2 and 2x256mb geil platinum pc3500 it is then?

[QuadDamage]

IT7 Max2 would be your choice, look : the chipset still hasn't been maxed out:

http://www.theforumisdown.com/uploadfiles/0802/CPUIDcopy.jpg

please copy/paste url to your browser.

achieved on air cooling : me and Naser from www.tbreak.com

[T-bred owns you]

The first link isn't working for me....Which ram do you suggest? I know from Chong's experience that the 256mb Geil kicks ass and the platinum series is supposed to be alot better.

[QuadDamage]

ok, here is another link:

http://www.tbreak.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=112745]

it's Corsair XMS3000 with real Samsung chips. unlocked P4 2.53Ghz.
also, check out the compare link. no vmods, air-cooling, Gigabyte R9700 with stock cooling.

http://service.madonion.com/compare?2k1=4613516

[CrawlingEye]

Told you a million times, Geil the stuff that "at stock" requires to be run at 2.9v+ isn't really worth buying. If you want the same effect, buy some pc2100 for $50 and throw on my TT active ramsinks, charge you $160 for it (cheaper than Geil costs) and kick you in the balls. You'll get the same results.

[T-bred owns you]

Actually geil platinum pc3500 256mb is under 100 bucks. I don't care if it's pc2100, its handpicked and the voltage doesn't bother me since I can vmod a board to take it. I haven't seen any good reviews for the xms3500 yet so I'm staying away from it.

[CrawlingEye]

Have you seen any reviews at all? ;)

[Chong345]

I'll have the platinum here shortly.

As far as the FUGGER's IT7. It runs like a champ. I can do 195 FSB with my 2.26 chip in there. Max I got it to was like 3.32ghz. Mem could run up to 470's stable. It was GeIL 3500 (not plat). Corsair XMS 3000 won't do 450's but I do wanna try the PC3500.

Chong

[CrawlingEye]

IT-7's nice, except for all those cold boot problems...

[T-bred owns you]

IT7 has the problems, the max2 does not.

[CrawlingEye]

Proof?

Abit's QC has been declining steadily. It started to become apparent at the end of the TH7-II craze.

Go with what you want though, just don't whine to me about your own decision.

[T-bred owns you]

I won't, don't worry.

[QuadDamage]

IT7 has the problems, the max2 does not.

well, it has. cold boot issue and sometimes it doesn't "remember" ram timings and kicks them back to "by SPD". nothing to worry about though.

[Chong345]

I don't have any issues except for the undervolting.

[CrawlingEye]

P4S8X sounds like a better alternative, with the new beta bios.

[T-bred owns you]

The new asus p4s8x has alot of issues from all the complaints owners have. I have decided just to wait on that damn DCDDR platform since I don't want to fall way behind on technology.

[CrawlingEye]

No complaints that I've heard of since the beta bios 1004.003.