Intel 925X Roundup: Creative Engineering 101
by Wesley Fink on August 12, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
DFI LANParty 925X-T2: Overclocking and Stress Testing
FSB Overclocking Results
| Front Side Bus Overclocking Testbed | ||
| Processor: | Pentium 4 Prescott LGA 775 2.8GHz |
|
| CPU Voltage: | 1.3875V (default) | |
| Cooling: | Thermaltake Jungle 502 | |
| Power Supply: | HiPro 470W | |
| Maximum OC: | 265FSB (+33%) | |
Like Asus and Abit, DFI manipulates the PCIe frequency during boot to achieve higher overclocks. The DFI was able to reach a FSB of 265, a 40% overclock, with an ATI X800 XT and SATA hard drive. This is the second highest overclock that we achieved with this hardware in the roundup. The LANParty 925X-T2 was more limited with an nVidia 6800 Ultra video card, reaching 248. As we have already stated, the nVidia PCIe cards are apparently less tolerant of out-of-spec PCIe frequency than the X800 XT.
DFI was able to achieve even higher overclocks with PCIe and SATA drives in their own lab tests, but we are finding that the PCI Express cards do vary a good bit in their ability to handle out-of-spec PCIe speeds. We used the same ATI X800 XT for all overclock tests in this roundup, so results could be compared one board to another.
The LGA 775 CPUs are multiplier locked, so the only way to overclock the CPU is to increase the FSB, but most manufacturers are floating the PCIe to achieve higher overclocks by manipulating CPU clock/PCIe ratios. All of the successful 925X overclockers are saying that fixing the frequency tends to limit the overclocking of the 925X to around 10%.
Memory Stress Test Results:
The memory stress test measures the ability of the DFI 925X-T2 to operate at its officially supported memory frequency (533MHz DDR2), at the best performing memory timings that Crucial/Micron PC2-4300U will support. Memory stress testing was conducted by running DDR2 at 533MHz (stock 3:4 ratio) with 2 DIMM slots operating in Dual-Channel mode.| Stable DDR533 Timings - 2 DIMMs (2/4 DIMMs - 1 Dual-Channel Bank) |
|
| Clock Speed: | 266MHz |
| Timing Mode: | 3:4 (200:266 - Default) |
| CAS Latency: | 3.0 |
| Bank Interleave: | Auto |
| RAS to CAS Delay: | 3 |
| RAS Precharge: | 3 |
| Cycle Time (tRAS): | 10* |
| Command Rate: | N/A |
DFI also performs without issue at the best 3-3-3-10 DDR2 timings that work well on all the 925X boards in the roundup.
Filling all four available memory slots is more strenuous on the memory sub-system than testing 2 DDR2 modules on a motherboard.
| Stable DDR533 Timings - 4 DIMMs (4/4 DIMMs - 2 Dual-Channel Banks) |
|
| Clock Speed: | 266MHz |
| Timing Mode: | 3:4 (200:266 - Default) |
| CAS Latency: | 4.0 |
| Bank Interleave: | Auto |
| RAS to CAS Delay: | 3 |
| RAS Precharge: | 3 |
| Cycle Time (tRAS): | 10 |
| Command Rate: | N/A |
The DFI LANParty 925X-T2 handled 4 DDR2 DIMMs at default voltage, at 4-3-3-10 timings, the same timings required on the Asus and Abit boards. It is very early in our testing of DDR2 memory - too early to draw firm broad conclusions - but it looks as if DDR2 memory may require slower timings with 4 DIMMs than what we can achieve with 2 DIMMs. Since we are accustomed to similar timings with either 2 or 4 DIMMs with regular DDR memory, this is a bit of a disappointment.
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johnsonx - Thursday, August 12, 2004 - link
What is it with you people griping about CPU choices? This is a review of current top-end 925X boards, not a CPU review! The FX-53 scores are there only for a point of reference. Added to that, Wesley's point is VERY valid: the 560 and FX-53 ARE the top CPU's from each camp.If you really want to know how a 3800+ would perform, refer to past Socket-939 reviews, or just mentally subtract about 3% or so.
STOP WHINING!
Wesley Fink - Thursday, August 12, 2004 - link
#17 - Since we were trying to determine the maximum overclocking ability of the boards tested, we used a 3.6 ES LGA 775 Prescott at a 14 multiplier (2.8Ghz). The 14x280 is close to 3.9GHz speed. We also checked with a retail 540 (3.2GHz) and reached 250FSB (4.0GHz) at 1.45V.These results lead us to believe that many 775 Prescotts will top out at 3.9 to 4.0GHz on boards that will support those overclock levels. That means that there are likely some 2.8 Prescotts out there that can reach 280FSB.
As always, overclocking is variable, and you need a really great power supply and decent cooling to support the power requirements at these kinds of overclocks.
Carfax - Thursday, August 12, 2004 - link
Wesley, is it possible to do a review of Prescott which focuses on the upcoming 1ghz FSB? I've heard that Prescott scales better than N.W with a higher FSB and greater clockspeed..To do the review correctly, you'd need an engineering sample with an unlocked multiplier, so you can see the benefit of the increased FSB, without raising the clockspeed.
I think Prescott would do pretty well on 1066FSB and with fast DDR2 memory..
danidentity - Thursday, August 12, 2004 - link
Wes,When you say you hit 280 FSB with the Asus P5AD2, was that with a retail chip, multiplier locked? Or were you using an ES chip. If you were using a retail, that is an absolutely insane overclock.
danidentity - Thursday, August 12, 2004 - link
>> Better than comparing a 3500+ to a 3.6F anyway :PHow would a 3500+ compare with a Intel 3.6? Could it hang? :)
RyanVM - Thursday, August 12, 2004 - link
I have no problem with the 3.6E and FX53 being shown together since both platforms will end up costing about the same (factoring in CPU, mobo, and memory costs). Prices fluctuate, yes, but both companies (OK, mainly AMD) tend to adjust prices to stay in line with performance levels (if Intel drops the 3.6E price, I'd put money on AMD dropping prices at the high end within a day or two).Better than comparing a 3500+ to a 3.6F anyway :P
Creig - Thursday, August 12, 2004 - link
#12/#13 Given the way pricing can fluctuate, it would be futile to compare Intel $$$ to AMD $$$. A couple of days after the article was published, pricing could change to make the monetary comparison useless and therefore misleading.I think they're doing it the correct way. It's up to the end user to find his/her best balance between performance and price.
mjz5 - Thursday, August 12, 2004 - link
man, i should of read #12 first before posting it.. why not have an edit button?anyhow, u all know what i'm saying!!!
mjz5 - Thursday, August 12, 2004 - link
the way i see it is that CPUs should be compared by price. If an AMD FX-53 cost as much as a Celeron 2.4 GHz, why not compare the two? If someone is going to looking at these products because they cost X dollars, they aren't interested in seeing that an Intel CPU that cost (X*2) may or not surpass it the competitor at only X dollars.Wesley Fink - Thursday, August 12, 2004 - link
#9 & #10 - Corrected