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CT-479 avaliable

Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 12:25 pm
by Shining Arcanine
http://www.atacom.com/program/print_htm ... 9&USER_ID=

If anyone with a Intel D875PBZLK motherboard gets it, would you tell me if it works with that motherboard? I'd like to get it but I don't know if my Intel D875PBZLK supports it.

Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 12:38 pm
by hmsrolst
I doubt if this is going to work with any board without a special BIOS update to accommodate it. It only works with three ASUS boards now, all of which have a BIOS written just for it. I'm running one now on one of the ASUS boards, a P4P800-VM, and it seems to work great on it.

Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 1:42 pm
by Shining Arcanine
hmsrolst wrote:I doubt if this is going to work with any board without a special BIOS update to accommodate it. It only works with three ASUS boards now, all of which have a BIOS written just for it. I'm running one now on one of the ASUS boards, a P4P800-VM, and it seems to work great on it.
I wonder if I can flash one of those BIOS on to my motherboard. They do use the same chipset after all and if anything happens during a BIOS flash I can use the BIOS recovery feature Intel designed into the board if anything should ever go wrong doing a BIOS flash.

The only thing is that I'm too busy to start flashing the BIOS to see whether or not a particular BIOS works on the board so I'd prefer it if someone else would try it.

Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 1:58 pm
by sgtpokey
I'm trying to figure out if we'll be able put any 3rd party coolers with this (with mods of course)


At some point someone will figure out a better cooling solution (Not that there's anything wrong with the stock one, I'd just to see more options)

Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 2:50 pm
by hmsrolst
sgtpokey wrote:I'm trying to figure out if we'll be able put any 3rd party coolers with this (with mods of course)


At some point someone will figure out a better cooling solution (Not that there's anything wrong with the stock one, I'd just to see more options)
This is not a 3rd party solution, but I've tried it and it works very well. Use the ASUS heatsink, and for a few bucks buy a 70mm to 80mm adapter. Add a quiet 80mm fan and run it at 5v.

My current experience with this approach: I'm using an 80mm L1A at the lowest setting on a Zalman Fanmate and a 1.7 P-M overclocked to 2.26 and undervolted to 1.15. It's totally stable and running Prime95 the temps are in the 42-44 range. At idle the CPU temperature is barely above the mobo. Especially with a little undervolting, these CPU's are very easy to cool even with a 33% overclock.

Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 6:08 pm
by sgtpokey
hmsrolst,

thanks for the info. I just noticed that the board you are using is the M-Atx version of Asus's 865 line. Quick question, does the new BIOS also let you overvolt if you're so inclined? Or does it only let you undervolt? I ask 'cause typically the M-ATX boards don't have many overclocking features compared to the ATX models.

I always have a bunch of random parts laying around, one of the parts I might cannabilize is a stylish micro-atx case. If the P4P800-VM + CT-479 let me overvolt and overclock a P-M, I might use that as an "excuse" to update my gaming computer.

Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 1:21 am
by hmsrolst
sgtpokey wrote:hmsrolst,

thanks for the info. I just noticed that the board you are using is the M-Atx version of Asus's 865 line. Quick question, does the new BIOS also let you overvolt if you're so inclined? Or does it only let you undervolt?
This board doesn't have Vcore adjustments in the BIOS for either under- or over-volting, nor for FSB changes. I've been using EIST or Clockgen for undervolting, and either the latter for overclocking or the 533MHz setting on the CT-479. My recollection (I don't have the system set up right now as I'm awaiting a new processor) is that neither utility provides for overvolting (but I could be wrong).

Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 4:17 am
by sgtpokey
thanks again, my recollection of those two programs is that they also won't overvolt.

Oh well, I have the urge to build something with a P-M but I can't find an excuse to do so.

Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 4:24 am
by hmsrolst
Although it's a more expensive option, you might want to look back at Ralf Hutter's review of the DFI 855GME-MGF which is MATX. IIRC it can overclock (it's got a working AGP/CPI lock), but I don't remember if it can be overvolted.

Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 5:58 am
by Ralf Hutter
hmsrolst wrote:Although it's a more expensive option, you might want to look back at Ralf Hutter's review of the DFI 855GME-MGF which is MATX. IIRC it can overclock (it's got a working AGP/CPI lock), but I don't remember if it can be overvolted.
Nope, it doesn't overvolt, but since the CPU runs 100% stable at default speed even when it's undervolted to 1.1V (a 25% undervolt), I can only imagine that it would OC pretty darn well at the default Vcore of 1.324V.

Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 6:17 am
by hmsrolst
I would echo Ralf's sentiment on the need to overvolt, unless you're looking at speeds in the 2.5 GHz range (which I haven't attempted, but are described in the various reviews you can find on the web).

I've tried 3 processors on the P4P800-VM/CT-479 combo: a 1.7 P-M, a 1.6 P-M and a 1.3 Celeron-M. Although I've only run the first for a really extended period on Prime95, all three have been tested for at least a few hours at 133 (533) MHz FSB with no problems, the first two undervolted to 1.15 (seems to be the bottom of what the mobo will provide) and the latter at 1.2 (I didn't try any lower). I also haven't bothered with anything higher except for the Celeron which didn't like 150 MHz FSB.

Furthermore, if you set the FSB to 133 on the adapter your memory will run at 166MHz, and if you use Clockgen the 4:3 ratio will be preserved and you'll get 177MHz. Using one of the utilities to lower the multiplier, I'm sure could get you even higher memory speeds.

In summary, it seems like speeds up to at least 2.26 are easily reachable with undervolting, so unless you're really hard core, why worry about overvolting?

Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 6:36 am
by sgtpokey
overclocking:

No particular reason except I was curious about heavily overclocking the cheapest Celeron M available and trying to reach 2ghz.

Since no one has any data on how well the Celeron M might overclock, I'd like the possibility to overvolt in case they needed more juice.
Now I know the ATX-size Asus motherboards will let you overvolt but I have a spare M-ATX case lying around I was trying to find a way to use it.

Actually, I'll search around 'cause I seem to remember there was some simple trick to enable overvolting on either the Aopen or the DFI M-ATX...

Anyway no more digression from me....

Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 7:40 am
by Mariner
sgtpokey wrote:overclocking:

No particular reason except I was curious about heavily overclocking the cheapest Celeron M available and trying to reach 2ghz.
I'm interested in how well the Dothan-based Celeron M's will overclock too. I've found it almost impossible to find any reviews of the performance of this chip anywhere on the net. The best I've found is a mention on these boards in one of the threads about Pentium M - you might have to hunt for it, though!

Am I right in thinking that the newer Celeron M chips are actually Dothans with half the cache disabled?

Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 5:24 am
by Ralf Hutter
Mariner wrote:
Am I right in thinking that the newer Celeron M chips are actually Dothans with half the cache disabled?
Yes, and Speed Step is disabled too, FWIW to a desktop user.

Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 5:46 am
by hmsrolst
sgtpokey wrote:overclocking:

No particular reason except I was curious about heavily overclocking the cheapest Celeron M available and trying to reach 2ghz.
I don't know what your budget is, but you might want to think about ebay. If you shop carefully, it's not hard to find 1.5-1.7 Dothan P-M's in the $100-$150 range, and from the experience I mentioned above, they seems to easily go to 2.0 with no need for overvolting.

Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 6:32 am
by sgtpokey
thanks again,
good tip, I forgot about the power of ebay. Checking there, looks like there are enough reputable seller to make it worthwhile.

Since I don't plan on any new builds until June, I keep vacillating on what I actually want to build but at least now I can price out cheaper Pentium M routes if I decide to go in that direction.

Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 4:26 pm
by hmsrolst
A beta BIOS is now available on the ASUS German website enabling the CT-479 to work on P4P800/P4P800 Deluxe boards. I tried it and it works fine.

There's now a very detailed thread at the xtremesystems.org forum spelling out the capabilities of the various ASUS mobos.