After having some pretty good sucess with an Intel 2.8C on an Intel 865G board, I decided to try some more Intel cpu boards. Here's the deal (all are matx, 800fsb, Win2k):

Foxconn 865GM01-G-6LS, 865G chipset, can raise fsb (software utility or thru the bios,) no vcore, yes sata, can lock agp/pci (and I think sata, not sure.) This board with 2.8C at 3.0 is making about 850 ppw right now, I just got it running about 2 hours ago, so not much experience. $80.

Asus P4S800-MX SIS 661FX chipset, can raise fsb, can run cpu and memory at different ratios, no vcore, no sata, can lock agp/pci. I had this board running for 2 or 3 days and it never got past 800 ppw, usually was at 700 - 800 ppw even with cpu running at 3.08 ghz. It ditched 3 or 4 proteins 'til I got the cpu speed/memory ratio sorted out. Then, was 100% stable. $70. I'm gonna rma this one.

Asus P4P800-VM Intel 865G chipset, zero adjustment for fsb, cpu, vcore, yes sata. Same point production as the SIS board above. Practically identical frame times even though the cpu was at 2.8 on this board. 100% stable. $60 "refurbished" from newegg. I'm gonna rma this one.

I was/am using the same ram (Mushkin 3500, 256mb) on all the above boards, on board video, sata drive on the 2 sata boards and Maxtor ata133 hd on the SIS board.

My ppw is calculated simply by taking average frame times and points/unit and crunching the numbers through an excel template that I made up. It does not consider the time lost sending/receiving units which seems to take a minute or 2. Would be simple to add to my template, I just haven't done it. All ppw is running 2 at a time using HT.

M

M,

The Asus P4P800-VM can be overclocked with a software utility, but with no vcore adjustment, OC will likely be limited to ~10% or thereabouts. I too was disappointed in this board.

MSI 865G2 at least offers control of the FSB in the BIOS, so I can use it under Linux. It appears to offer control of vcore, but in fact it simply does not work (you can adjust it all you like and nothing happens), and when I upgraded the BIOS, the option dissappeared from the BIOS menu. I have not tried contacting MSI support so find out what's up with that.

These are the only two mATX P4 boards I have tried.

David

The thread title doesn't limit this to Intel montherboards, so...

I have long recommended the Biostar M7NCG 400 nForce2 board, but I must add a strong caveat that I do NOT recommend the rev7.0 board because it does not support adjustment of vcore. The older rev1.0 boards which I have did, and these little boards were sweet overclockers for not a lot of money. Biostar tech support says this feature will return in the rev7.2 boards which should be available "soon" (according to Biostar tech support)

The Asus A7N8X-VX (VIA KM400) is a supremely solid board, but does not offer anything in the way of overclocking features, but I do recommend it with that caveat.

David

I have this board (ver 7.0) with a 2400+ running at 2100 mhz. Nice board, no problems, no vcore adjustment as you said.


I got the nvidia version - A7N8X-VM. Can adjust the fsb with the nvidia utility (windows only.) Nice board, no problems, no vcore adjustment. The Bisotar at $68 is $20 cheaper than this board. Save the $20 and get the Biostar. (I got this Asus board "refurbished" for $60. Was just the board in a white box.)

M

Sorry to thread cr@p but from what I hear almost all mATX boards suck for o'c. Even those that used to work (like Biostar) no longer allow VCOre adjustments.

I wonder how much space you actually save by goind mATX. Is that the major choice of mATX over ATX?

It's sad but true. The market for mATX board is not (typically) overclockers, so they just don't bother. Even companies like Asus and Abit, who are well known in the OC community for their excellent boards, make mATX boards with absolutely ZERO overclocking features.

I chose mATX boards for their small size, integrated video, and low price.

In the absence of the Biostar M7NCG 400 ver7.2, I have not one single recommendation for an overclockable mATX board. I will wait for the new Biostar board, because the ones I have are outstandingly good boards, regardless of price, plus they were not expensive, and I like mATX boards. But for someone looking to buy an overclockable board NOW, who doesn't require a mATX board, I would recommend a full ATX motherboard.

David

Has anyone tried the AOpen MK79G-N?

If I can't guarantee getting any more v1.0 (or the new 7.2) Biostar M7NCG-400's then this was my next best thought for a mATX nForce2 board. Would be nice to have confirmation that it can under/overvolt before buying though.

This link indicates it does. To get to this page, I clicked on the 1MGHz Stepping link on the main page.

I probably overlooked this board because of the placement of the ATX power connector - one of my personal pet peeves. I like mine at the "back" of the board, at least for my particular "blade" setup.

David

I have the same preference for power connector placement, but given this board seems perfect otherwise then I can live with it.

Next time I order this will be on the list. I'll let you know what it's like

Just a question on the AOpen board -- why does it say it only supports 333MHz CPU's and limited DDR400? Wouldn't the 333MHz limitation preclude OCing to a 3200+??

Dave


EDIT Also, other AOpen motherboards list adjustable vcore on their spec page. Since the MK79G-N doesn't, I have a feeling that the bios shot in the 1-MHz stepping page is generic and may not apply to that particular board

EDIT2 In fact, none of AOpens MAtx boards list 400FSB support -- only the ATX boards...

I was looking at AOpen boards this past weekend and noticed when doing "comparisons" that only the 79D-400 MAX full size board listed "Adjustable CPU Vcore through BIOS" and "Adjustable CPU Ratio through BIOS" while other full size boards only listed the Vcore.

None of the MATX boards listed either Vcore or Ratio adjustments. Is the Ratio running memory at 1:1 or 5:4, etc? Or is it Multiplier adjustment?

I agree. If it came down to a choice between a good overcockable board or a good location for the ATX power connector, I too would choose the OC-able board. I'd rather have everything though.

David

I believe this is a limitation of the nForce2 integrated video. In fact, a 200MHz (400MHz DDR) FSB *IS* supported, but not a DDR 400 MEMORY speed. On my Biostar M7NCG 400's, I am running the cpu at 400, but the memory at less than that, via a 5:4 cpu:memory multiplier. If you run memory at 1:1, you will be limited to an FSB of around 188 or so, give or take. I.e. the integrated video will handle somewhere in the neighborhood of 375 or thereabouts. In order to increase FSB without overclocking the memory to the point it "breaks" the built-in video (which shares main memory), then you have to relax the cpu:memory ratio.

When Biostar tech support confirmed that the M7NCG 400 did not support memory running at DDR400 with integrated video, it was unclear as to whether this was a limitation of the motherboard or of the chipset. I now believe it to be a limitation of the chipset.

With an AGP card, DDR400 memory should work just fine, but this defeats one of the reasons I like mATX boards for folding, namely the integrated video. Fortunately, the lower memory speed does not seem to be a big bottleneck for FAH.

Clear as mud?

David

David,

That explains the "limited" DDR400 support -- but why the 333MHz CPU limitation?

Dave

I have run one of my Barton's up to 207 (414MHz DDR) on an nForce2 board (Biostar M7NCG 400), so this obviously isn't a limitation of the nForce2 chipset.

David