[First look] Biostar TF560 A2+ (can do at least 355MHz HTT)

[wesleys_dad]

Im running this biostar 560 a2+ with 2/512 sticks of corsair xms
ddr2 with cas 4 settings...the bios 0612 comes in as a rar file and i dont know if you can flash with this type of file..my cpu is a a64 4200x2 windsor...Ive been playing with the o/clock all day today ang high as i can get is 2618 and that sucks to be sure.voltage dosent seem to make much difference with ram or cpu...running 11x238 now but im looking for 2700-2800...Im a bit confused as to setting up ddr2 so if there is a chart or guide line please direct me in that direction..
I run a 939 system too and its o/clocked like crazy but this ddr2 settings confuses me...I do understand that ddr2 runs at twice the fsb but it seems like the 533 divider dosent work right...I want 1 to 1 as high as i can go with that paramater.Im running bios 802 now and i have an ultra x connect 500 wt p/supply and voltages look great even under load...even 10x 260 is a no go with the 533 divider...
Any ideas guys would be wonderful.....thanks

[xPliziT]

Can somebody tell me where i can find the section in the bios where i can adjust the CPU Multiplier ??
I am running 803 latest bios. Couldnt find it in the stock BIOS either.

[AgentGOD]

Can somebody tell me where i can find the section in the bios where i can adjust the CPU Multiplier ??
I am running 803 latest bios. Couldnt find it in the stock BIOS either.

Overclock Navigator Engine -> Manual Overclock -> NPT Fid Control

[Hawkeye4077]

Just FYI Biostar is marketing 2 similar versions of the 520/560 series

I have a TF560-A2+
TF520-A2

There are A2 and A2+ versions of the 560 series.. I guess until the AM2 quads come out we wont really know if it does support some of the AM2+ features. The boards look the same other than the silkscreened Model Name..

[Utnorris]

Ok,
So I have the Biostar coming this week along with a AMD 64 x2 3600 Brisbane core and I have a few questions about the setup:

1. It sounds as though the 6.12 or 8.03 bios is the best for Brisbane cores, anyone have a prefrence or is there an advantage in using one or the other? Also, I only see the 6.11 and 8.03 on their site, any reason for this?

2. Overclocking - I haven't overclocked in awhile, but it used to be you adjusted the FSB and the multiplier to get the highest speed, although higher FSB was more favorable do to the effect it had on the whole system. With the new AMD chips it looks like there is a few other adjustments, like HT, that need to be adjusted. Besides memory timings, what do I need to adjust in the bios to move the speed up? I am shooting for 3Ghz.

3. When I read the Anandtech review, it stated they used the stock HSF to overclock the 3800 and 2350, however after reading everything here it looks like that was incorrect. Any ideas on this? Just curious.

4. Finally, anyone here use this board with either an AMD 64x2 3600 or the 3800? If so, how high have you gotten?

5. Anyone set up raid on the board? Were you able to load the OS on the raid setup? The manual really doesn't go into it and I want to be prepared if there are any special things I need to do.

Thank you in advance for any help on these questions.

Utnorris

[Plywood99]

Using raid with Vista64 here. Used a usb drive to load drivers during install...


Ply

[Utnorris]

Just an update:

Ok,
So I have the Biostar coming this week along with a AMD 64 x2 3600 Brisbane core and I have a few questions about the setup:

1. It sounds as though the 6.12 or 8.03 bios is the best for Brisbane cores, anyone have a prefrence or is there an advantage in using one or the other? Also, I only see the 6.11 and 8.03 on their site, any reason for this? I haven't been able to find a bios on Biostar's website (US).

2. Overclocking - I haven't overclocked in awhile, but it used to be you adjusted the FSB and the multiplier to get the highest speed, although higher FSB was more favorable do to the effect it had on the whole system. With the new AMD chips it looks like there is a few other adjustments, like HT, that need to be adjusted. Besides memory timings, what do I need to adjust in the bios to move the speed up? I am shooting for 3Ghz.
So far I have been able to take the 1.9ghz to 2.8, although it has raised some additional questions.

3. When I read the Anandtech review, it stated they used the stock HSF to overclock the 3800 and 2350, however after reading everything here it looks like that was incorrect. Any ideas on this? Just curious.
I got an OEM and used an after market HSF so still no answer to this one

4. Finally, anyone here use this board with either an AMD 64x2 3600 or the 3800? If so, how high have you gotten?

5. Anyone set up raid on the board? Were you able to load the OS on the raid setup? The manual really doesn't go into it and I want to be prepared if there are any special things I need to do.
I had to install XP(before SP1), wasn't as bad as I expected. I built the system with a PATA drive then used Seagates utility disk to clone it to the new RAID array. RAID option shows up in the boot screen after you change the setting in the BIOS to reflect that you are going to use RAID, after that it's pretty simple to setup

Thank you in advance for any help on these questions.

Utnorris

I hope an update helps future Biostar MB owners.
Thanks,
Utnorris

P.S. Do you gain by OC the HT above 1000mhz? And do you lose performance by underclocking the HT below 1000mhz?

[Utnorris]

Ok,
I re-read some of the posts and I was able to get pass my wall of 2800. I am now running at 333mhz FSB x9 multiplier. I am still working out the kinks, part of it I believe is the memory. Here is a link of my stats:

http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=242769

CPU-Z Database (ID : 242769)
Submitted by utnorris
Submitted on Sat, 15 Sep 2007 10:39:30 +0200 with CPU-Z 1.41



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU : AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ (*1)
CPU Arch : 2 Cores - 2 Threads
CPU PSN : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3600+
CPU EXT : MMX (+) 3DNow! (+) SSE SSE2 SSE3 x86-64
CPU Cache : L1 : 2 x 64/2 x 64 KB - L2 : 2 x 512 KB
Core : Brisbane (65 nm) / Revision : BH-G1
CPUID : F.B.1 / Extended : F.6B
Freq : 3003.14 MHz (333.68 * 9)
----------------------------------
MB Brand : BIOSTAR Group
MB Model : TF560 A2+
NB : NVIDIA nForce 560 rev A3
SB : NVIDIA nForce 560 rev A3
----------------------------------
RAM Size : 2048 MB
RAM Freq : 333.7 MHz
RAM Type : DDR2-SDRAM Dual Channel
RAM Ratio : CPU/9
RAM Timings : 4-6-6-18
----------------------------------
Slot 1 : 1024MB (PC2-6400)
Slot 1 Manufacturer : Corsair
Slot 2 : 1024MB (PC2-6400)
Slot 2 Manufacturer : Corsair


If anyone has any suggestions feel free to give them. I definitely would appreciate it. Also, I am using the 803 BIOS. As of right now, Prime95 fails after 4 tests, so I have a long way to go in becoming stable. As I stated before, I believe it is a memory issue, so any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Utnorris

[xPliziT]

Just clock down your memory to 200MHz and re run your tests then you will be certain if its your ram or your processor.
Btw. run prime or orthos in the "small FFTs" setting to see if your proc is stable.

[Utnorris]

I adjusted my RAM to 6-6-6-18 at T2 and that seems to have stabilized the RAM issue. My core tems are 32c(idle) and 50c(under full load from Prime95). I haven't had a chance to run a long range test, however the motherboard has a built memtest program that confirmed the RAM was stable at these settings. By putting at this low of a setting am I offsetting the gains in FSB?
Thanks,
Utnorris

[tictac]

if anybody got phenom sample and want to test it on this board let me know... maybe i can help modding it

[Fr3ak]

Ok, I might get back to you soon

[Utnorris]

Ok,
I have been playing around with the ram and I still cannot get it to stabilize. I am using Corsair XMS2 (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 with timings of 5-5-5-18. In my OC menu for memory I have selected DDR400 with T2, Cas at 6 and 179ns. This still hasn't quite stabilized the system at 333mhz. The RAM runs at 333mhz under these settings according to CPU-Z. If someone could post their settings or give me some advice on what I am adjusting wrong I would appreciate it. I know the CPU is stable since I can run Prime95 without the memory test and it is fine, but as soon as I add in memory testing it fails. I put the memory voltage up to 2.5 and that didn't stabilize it. In futher testing I backed everything down to 290mhx for the cpu, and 267mhz for the memory, but with tighter timings closer to what they are rated at and it becomes unstable. I know Corsair is supposed to be good RAM for OC'ing and so I am assuming I am doing something wrong. Please, I need some advice on this.
Thanks,
Utnorris

[Plywood99]

Ok,
I have been playing around with the ram and I still cannot get it to stabilize. I am using Corsair XMS2 (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 with timings of 5-5-5-18. In my OC menu for memory I have selected DDR400 with T2, Cas at 6 and 179ns. This still hasn't quite stabilized the system at 333mhz. The RAM runs at 333mhz under these settings according to CPU-Z. If someone could post their settings or give me some advice on what I am adjusting wrong I would appreciate it. I know the CPU is stable since I can run Prime95 without the memory test and it is fine, but as soon as I add in memory testing it fails. I put the memory voltage up to 2.5 and that didn't stabilize it. In futher testing I backed everything down to 290mhx for the cpu, and 267mhz for the memory, but with tighter timings closer to what they are rated at and it becomes unstable. I know Corsair is supposed to be good RAM for OC'ing and so I am assuming I am doing something wrong. Please, I need some advice on this.
Thanks,
Utnorris

It could be the memory controller not being stable...


Ply

[Utnorris]

I am going to run Prime95 with heavy RAM testing to see if I get any error. That should tell me if I have a bad memory controller. Any other ideas let me know.
Thanks,
Utnorris

[funnyperson1]

Why don't you use the full 9.5 multiplier that is default with your Brisbane chip? You won't need as high of an HTT speed to reach high clocks, and with my board/cpu most of the multis lower than 9.5 were flaky stability wise.

To use the 9.5 multiplier, just leave NPT FID Multi at Auto.

[Utnorris]

Why don't you use the full 9.5 multiplier that is default with your Brisbane chip? You won't need as high of an HTT speed to reach high clocks, and with my board/cpu most of the multis lower than 9.5 were flaky stability wise.

To use the 9.5 multiplier, just leave NPT FID Multi at Auto.

I will try it once I get back up fully. Preliminary results suggest that the memory was bad. I swapped them out and I am currently running tests to verify it. But at this point it looks like the 3600 was good. I swapped out the chip with a 5000 that I picked up locally for 80 bucks (not bad) and I was getting the same issue of reboots and power resets. I swapped the memory out and the issue seems to have gone away. At least so far, in about 4 hours I should know for sure. If that did fix the issue, then the question becomes do I keep the 5000 or the 3600? Decisions, decisions.... Anyway, thank you everyone for the help. I will post my results later.
Utnorris

[Utnorris]

It was bad memory. Anyway, after playing with the 5000 for a little bit, I ran some more conversion tests. I got roughly the same results, so video conversion is not AMD's strongpoint, at least not with these chips. Anyway, I abandoned the AMD platform and have switched over to a Intel platform. The 2160 with a Gigabyte P35DS3R board. I will say that I liked the Biostar MB better overall, but I got about a 35% better conversion rate (MPEG to DIVX) with the Intel platform.

Anyway, good luck everyone. Hopefully AMD will strike back this fall.

Utnorris

[Hemi]

I have had this board about 1 day, along with a 6400+ i was able to run 3dmark03 at 3.5 on air. the bios has a few bugs i hope they get out soon. all in all i like this board

[bypolar]

I must say the Biostar Board is the best for the money.
[/IMG]

[Hemi]

bypolar, have you done any overclocking yet or just running stock

[bypolar]

Just stock, but it has been 3 days o solid performance I will do some overclocking here soon want to make sure everything is stable.The 6400X2 has limited overclocking potential but I am sure to squeze a few MHz out of it.When the 5000x2BE arives I will switch to it to see what the board can do.

[Hemi]

i think this board and 6400 will keep me busy. now i can sit back and wait for the new stuff to come out.



thermalright ultra 120 extreme will fit this board

[Hemi]

Bingo13,
if you get a new bios for this board let us know. My 6400+ has the multiplier locked and i can not change it. Any help or news would be great

[JWilson]

Rebels Haven posted a Mod 803 BIOS that adds:

Idle Cycle Limit
Tref
Async Latency
R/W Queue Bypass
DRAM Drive Strength

Mod BIOS Thread