UNOFFICIAL BIOSTAR TPower I45 M/B

[Ace-a-Rue]

Here's my superpi 32M time.

youngpro gets 10m55secs at 4015mhz.

I'm at 11m32secs at 4002mhz.

is youngpro using the super pi chipset tweaker program to get that better time?

[Ace-a-Rue]

i am wondering if the boards have various revisions of the NB on them and that accounts for better times...my first board was used for the E8500...this 2nd board might be different with a chipset revision...i never checked but something to consider....the first board was down to about 52ns at 520 fsb for the E8500...now, it won't go below 58ns or 62ns at 510 fsb with the 9650 installed.

EDIT...maybe the first NB chipset was higher binned chipset...this one might suck eggs!

[farookh]

What board rev do you guys have i got 5.1 but have seen 5.0 are there ne newer than 5.1

[ceemic]

is youngpro using the super pi chipset tweaker program to get that better time?

There can be major boost in 32M with good tweaking (mem, NB/strap, OS) and Spitweaker helps also when you know how to use it...

[ddogg]

Ace, I might have done those strap tweaks. I got thinking about it so rebooted at 8x, did the tweaks and ran WPrime again. I got more or less what I got in the earlier screen which makes me think they must have been in. Maybe I'll reboot and run Wprime again without the tweaks for sure and see if it makes any difference.

HWBot

/edit (first screen shot)
Wprime 1.63 no tweaks

/Add: (second validation screen shot - WPrime 1.55)
You have to use V1.55 to submit to hwbot. With 1.55 the times are not as good - 9.753 for 32 and 304.746 for 1024m (5-5-4-15 with Strap Tweaks).

[HousERaT]

i am wondering if the boards have various revisions of the NB on them and that accounts for better times...my first board was used for the E8500...this 2nd board might be different with a chipset revision...i never checked but something to consider....the first board was down to about 52ns at 520 fsb for the E8500...now, it won't go below 58ns or 62ns at 510 fsb with the 9650 installed.

EDIT...maybe the first NB chipset was higher binned chipset...this one might suck eggs!

I would have to guess there are more than one revision of this board. If you look at some of the earlier screenshots of these boards, folks using setfsb have the ICS9LPRS918BKL chip. Mine has the ICS9LPRS919BKL chip. Don't know if that means more than one revision but I thought I'd put it out there.

[Lome]

anyone else have a problem where the marvell sata chip disable option doesnt work?

[Pntgrd]

anyone else have a problem where the marvell sata chip disable option doesnt work?

I have been looking for WHERE to turn it off but haven't found it as of yet.

[Lome]

Config Onboard PCI/PCI-E Devices under advanced but default is off wtf lol

[ddogg]

Nudged it up a bit: Second now to a Cascade rig.



@Lome, thanks for the c1e disabler. Saves me a lot of aggravation.

@Ace, I changed the CPU PLL down to 1.5 - Seems more stable. I can Prime 2.56x4 thread on blend at 490 3.926 ghz. Seem to remember I could not hold that with CPU PLL @ 1.6. Might be something else, but could be worth trying.

[Ace-a-Rue]

yeah, i found 1.6v cpu pll as non workable the other evening...i leave that now at 1.5.

as for the C1E, i noticed there are two options in the bios that need to be disable to keep your voltage from dropping....the 1st "C1E" is under the "Advanced" tab in 'CPU CONFIGURATION'...the 2nd "C1E" enable/disable feature is under the 'O.N.E.' tab..look in "CPU CONFIGURATION"...very strange to have two C1E settings...anyway look in those two spots.

EDIT:...i presume everyone knows that Intel's Speed-Step disable/enable feature is at the top of the page under "O.N.E." tab when you are in manual overclock.

[Ace-a-Rue]

also, another little tidbit for those who didn't know before hand..after you boot into windows the LED 'Post Code' on the board reads out cpu temperature while in windows.

[Ace-a-Rue]

just figured this one out too!

under the ONE tab you have a sub setting called "DDR2 ENHANCED MODE"...that setting lowers the chipset latencies (when enabled or Auto)....turning it off (disabled) gives you a significant hit on copy and some reduction on read speeds, plus it increases your latencies by about 5-7 points!

having that disabled is the main reason i am able to get into windows with my QX9650 at 500 or 510 FSB...plus, i need to set CPU Clock at 100ps, MCH at 200ps, another setting at 100ps and 1000mv to boot successfully into windows at 500 or 510 FSB with the DDR2 Enhanced Mode disabled.

[Ace-a-Rue]

looks as if 470 FSB using 5:6 memory divider (564 memory Mhz) is about it for my Corsair Dominator DDR2-1142 memory (max of 571 mhz)...i am using 2.1v for a Vdimm...not into pushing any more since previously, i killed one of the sticks using 2.5 Vdimm for about 2 hours.

most times people complain about degradation of the cpu and i wonder if it is not degradation of the memory when we go beyond a certain Vdimm.

EDIT...final 3D and other benches to come.

[shimmishim]

I have a new superpi32M best at 4ghz.

I swear I messed with the enhanced mem setting before and I thought it did nothing but it appears to actually work. I am on the 6/26 bios instead though.

I'll flash back to 7/10 to see if it effects it with that bios as well.

[Ace-a-Rue]

VERY NICE!...so...if biostar bios engineers get on the stick, we can enjoy that or close to it with an updated bios

[shimmishim]

yeah or if they allow for some more control of the mem like dfi or asus we might be able to tweak most of the mem settings in the bios.

i'm glad i didn't give up on this board though i was SOOOOO close.

[Ace-a-Rue]

try Hyper-PI 0.99...i like that better than Super-Pi 1.5 version...you can do 1-4 cores and you can do it real time...AND...cutout all the fluff!

[tomati]

I have a new superpi32M best at 4ghz.

I swear I messed with the enhanced mem setting before and I thought it did nothing but it appears to actually work. I am on the 6/26 bios instead though.

I'll flash back to 7/10 to see if it effects it with that bios as well.

shimmishim


I test the board since saturday and I'm not so much impressed, I miss the µguru from my IP35 pro, the tune power soft doesn't work really well or I don't find the good way.

This board was supposed to break the 600 fsb easily and I got a reall pain to just screen at 600 mhz with setfsb (Can't boot over 566 !).

My ram need to slow down their timing to get the 600 mhz ( was trfc at 28 and PL 5 under the IP35 pro when I have to set it at trfc 56
and PL9 or 10 weird)

I hate this AMI bios, the voltage have too big increment , would like to have 0.05v increment , I cant choose 2.25 v for my ram I have 2.2v or 2.3 v too big ! same on the other voltage too bad, I can't see the exact value of voltage aka 1.25v on my cpu insteed of this weird + 0.050 v .

Ok it's a budget board but I expected much from this .

And last thing, it's the lack of fans connector, damned only 3 it's not enough for my taste, at least they seems to be fully controllable by bios ( a good point there)

[Ace-a-Rue]

switch over to Abit's IX48 GT3..that will take care of your problem.

trutfully, i have not tried for 600 FSB..i look for a reasonable overclock...with this board, my E8500 performed much better than on Giga's X48T board...i mean this is all relative....even my QX9650 would post to boot at 510 FSB...i could not even do that on any board to date!

[Ace-a-Rue]

This board was supposed to break the 600 fsb easily and I got a reall pain to just screen at 600 mhz with setfsb (Can't boot over 566 !).

My ram need to slow down their timing to get the 600 mhz ( was trfc at 28 and PL 5 under the IP35 pro when I have to set it at trfc 56 and PL9 or 10 weird)

if you were able to get down to PL=5 on the IP35 Pro, i tip my hat to you!..the lowest i could get on the IP35 Pro was PL=7...DAMN!...you have some EXCELLENT ram!

first of all, i never said 600 FSB...i said you will get some where between 550 and 570 FSB with an E8600, E8500 or E8400.

you need to work on "Clock Gen Configuration" settings under "O.N.E." tab

I hate this AMI bios, the voltage have too big increment , would like to have 0.05v increment , I cant choose 2.25 v for my ram I have 2.2v or 2.3 v too big ! same on the other voltage too bad, I can't see the exact value of voltage aka 1.25v on my cpu insteed of this weird + 0.050 v .

it is not the AMI bios at fault; it's Biostar's Bios Engineers who did not think the voltage increments out properly...i agree...very unintelligent engineering!

Ok it's a budget board but I expected much from this .

REALLY!...IP35 Pro was almost a $200 board when it came out last year!...price per barrel has doubled since that time and guess what, PCB is a derviative of oil...SO...it is more expensive to build these motherboards!...make sense!

And last thing, it's the lack of fans connector, damned only 3 it's not enough for my taste, at least they seems to be fully controllable by bios ( a good point there)

you are just SPOILED!

[Lome]

well i found some problems in the bios related to disabling the marvell sata chip (double bios options and double roms), i tried to remove the extra rom set but this resulted in a non-posting board.

does anyone have any experiance hotflashing these type of bios chips? Ive got an asus g35 board with the same bios socket.

other than that i have to say im impressed with this board other than the large voltage steps and flakey parts of the bios was able to run right up to the limit of my ram (535) easier than any other board ive tried

hope they get a proper bios for this thing soon, i know the board is selling well.

[JWilson]

........does anyone have any experiance hotflashing these type of bios chips? Ive got an asus g35 board with the same bios socket.......

It will only work if the ASUS bios is a 1meg bios. Assuming it is, prepare a floppy, CD, or much preferred Data Stick to be real mode DOS bootable, and copy the desired bios and latest AFUDOS.exe to the bootable device.

Loosen the ASUS bios chip up by removing and re-installing a few times before turning the system on. Don't push the bios chip all the way down when re-installing it, but about half way. It will be easier to get out when the system is running. I use a small screwdriver to remove the chip while the system is running, but the tip is insulated with tape.

There is a special "switch" needed to flash a BIOS for a different board using AFUDOS.

Example:

C:\>AFUDOS.exe P45AA710.BST /X

Boot the ASUS to the real mode device, switch chips, flash I45 bios, done.

[_G_]

does anyone have any experiance hotflashing these type of bios chips?

check here
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=164

[Lome]

thanks for the help J and G, couldnt get afudos to go, tried a bunch of different versions, kept saying romid mismatch and the /X switch didnt work on any, but the amiboot.rom on usb stick worked.

-Thanks