Undervoltable Motherboards: ADD to the list!!

All about them.

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

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GLO
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Post by GLO » Wed Apr 14, 2004 3:09 pm

Rusty075 wrote:Almost no Asus boards are undervoltable. The description you posted pretty much answers your question:

"Flexible CPU Core Voltage Adjustments in 0.025V increments over defaults" Like most other Asus' it probably lets you overvolt, but not undervolt.
I has read that most Asus boards are not undervoltable, but i thought that this may have been an exception.

I wouldnt imagine that undervolting would be oneof their marketing features since overclocking is one of their main strengths.

Ralf Hutter
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Post by Ralf Hutter » Wed Apr 14, 2004 4:39 pm

GLO wrote:is the Asus P4P800E-Deluxe under voltable?
No, it is 100% not undervoltable. Sorry.

There's not too many half-decent P4 boards that are undervoltable.

mrybczyn
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Post by mrybczyn » Wed Apr 28, 2004 8:54 am

Haven't seen this posted yet:

Ye Olde ABIT BH6 is undervoltable.

Currently running my PIII-Cu 800 .1V lower than spec...
Thinking of slapping in a Slot1-to-Socket370 converter and a 1.4 Tuallie.

nmuntz
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Post by nmuntz » Wed Apr 28, 2004 1:12 pm

I plugged a Tualatin into my BH6 1.0 on a Upgradeware Slot-T and was able to adjust the voltage between 1.30v and 1.55v. The Slot-T card has jumpers on it to supoprt down to 1.35v so I'm not sure what actually dictates the voltage getting to the CPU.

sthayashi
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Post by sthayashi » Thu Apr 29, 2004 1:51 pm

I think I can claim that the Asus A7M266-D IS undervoltable. It is undervolted via jumper. Sadly, my XP 2400+ CPUs don't even go down to 1.55V stably, and I'm currently stress testing 1.60V.

tomcat
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Post by tomcat » Wed May 05, 2004 11:14 am

The shuttle AN35N Ultra (nforce2) undervolts nicely :) i have a XP 2400+ running at 1.50V and a XP 2500+ (Barton) at 1.45V.

Markus

nmuntz
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Post by nmuntz » Tue May 11, 2004 8:43 pm

Soltek 75FRN2-L NFORCE2 is good for 1.1v to 1.8v(?) in 0.025v increments. I have a mobile Barton at 1.1v.

Bakke
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Post by Bakke » Thu May 27, 2004 12:07 pm

Abit NF7-M, from 1.1 to 2.? volt.

silvervarg
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Post by silvervarg » Fri May 28, 2004 1:36 am

Bakke:
Abit NF7-M, from 1.1 to 2.? volt.
See my post in this thread on Tue Dec 30, 2003 12:32 pm (last post on page 5). It has lots of details about the Abit NF7-M.

NeilBlanchard
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AOpen AK89 Max!

Post by NeilBlanchard » Fri May 28, 2004 5:39 am

Hello:

The AOpen AK89 Max is seriously undervoltable -- it's at home and I'm at work right now, but IIRC, it went down *under* 1 volt for the CPU! :twisted:

jojo4u
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Post by jojo4u » Tue Jun 08, 2004 2:20 am

I've updated the list again. Range is 22.06.03 - 07.06.04. You can download it from
http://www.computer-networking.de/~klug ... .06.04.csv

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Tue Jun 08, 2004 7:31 am

jojo4u wrote:I've updated the list again. Range is 22.06.03 - 07.06.04. You can download it from
http://www.computer-networking.de/~klug ... .06.04.csv
I'd be happy to use that to update the article on the main site but Excel spits out filthy html code SPCR chokes on. Any way you could port this into to real clean html? Have a look at the source code for the table here:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article69-page1.html
Last edited by MikeC on Thu Jun 10, 2004 7:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

The Holy Nibbel
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I got asked how to undervolt with Asusboards

Post by The Holy Nibbel » Thu Jun 10, 2004 6:26 am

I did a answer in here some time ago.......


Hello! How to undervolt asus boards....

Basics
_________

there is a difference between the Desktop and the Mobile Mainboards in interpreting the

V-Core they should give to the CPU.

As you can see in the Voltages table from (at the end of the

page)http://fab51.fc2web.com/pc/barton/athlon-e23.html#L11 the

Mobileboards(laptop/notebooks as example) have a spectrum of voltages from 0.925Volts

till 2Volts - the Desktopboards like ours only make voltages from 1.1V till 1.85V (but

in lower steps)

Both Mobile and Desktops have the same amount of steps and thats the Point *g*: Our

Mainboard thinks that the CPU wants 1,575V, the Mobile thinks that the CPU wants the

1.45V (see the voltages table)
The Problem is, that we cannot move the voltages under the minimum with our Board. My

A7n8X only allows exactly 11 Steps over the original voltage (=>1,575V-1.825V).

One way to sink the Voltage is to make the mainboard believe it has a CPU with a lower

voltage on it.

if you would like to have 1.45 Volts on a Desktop, you would have 1.275 on a Mobile.
--> Code on the Pins Closed|Opened|Closed|Opened|Opened Or like in the Table: C:C::
if you would like to have 1.45 Volts on a Mobile, you would have 1.575 on a Desktop.
--> Code on the Pins Opened|Closed|Closed|Closed|Closed| Or like in the Table: :CCCC

The Opened and Closed:
_________________________

Every CPU is Produced without the Knowledge how fast it is. They are tested and then

AMD locks a special Speed/Voltage/Frontsidebus into the CPU. So every Mainboard can

read the Parameters then it sets the attitudes to have a good working cpu.

The Parameters are set through bridges on the upper CPU side. L11 showes the Voltage to

the Mainboard.

http://fab51.fc2web.com/pc/barton/athlon-e23.html#L11 There is our Bridge.
You can read the Code (the way the pins are closed or not and then you should compare

it with the table to see how to understand the code. (... C:C:: -> Mobile 1.45V/Desktop

1.575V)

How we can outwit the Board
_______________________________

Closing:

The safest Way to change the Code is to close some Pins, because we can remove it

easily. Without altering the CPU in any way. This can be made with connecting pins on

the Mainboard
1) - either on the sockel with putting a little wire in the two right holes
2) or with connecting the same to Pins under the sockel on the lower side of the

Mainboard
3) (to the completeness and to the understanding) there is a third way: you also can

connect the Pins on the CPU (Bridge L11) Because that are the same Pins, only on the

CPU

Opening:

If you want to open a Pin(/Part of the L11 bridge) you need a a pointy object like a

sewing needle to cut it. I made this - but you should know that if you want to close it

later with another method than the wiremethods on the upper/lower side on the mainboard
you have to make it work with silver varnish (it's a very very small work to do)
I first made it with a pencil, it worked but only a short time, then i got freezes and

i had to do the wiremethod


The right Pins:

http://www.ocinside.de/index_d.html

Its a German site, but you don't have to read much *g*

1) First select the Method you want to use:

Unterseite CPU means lower CPU side
unterseite Platine means lower side of the sockel on the other side of the Mainboard
Oberseite Sockel means upper side of the sockel

2) Then switch the "Vcore auswählen" (= voltage selecting) to 1.45V (or any other

Voltage)

3) You can see the Pins to connect.

!!!!!! but you only connect the right pins. you don't disconnect them. you have to cut the others on the upper cpu side (L11) to make it work. (-->Compare it with the Voltages table to see what to do)


===========================================================
I'm German, not English - If you don't understand anything or if there are any other Questions or Uncertainties - ask again ;)

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Thu Jun 10, 2004 7:53 am

The Undervoltable Motherboards page (and table) has finally been updated again. We all owe thanks to jojo4u who painstakingly compiled the info in this rich forum and sent it to share with everyone. Thank you jojo4u. 8)

patord
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Post by patord » Fri Jun 11, 2004 3:55 pm

These are all AMD Athlon/XP boards in production unless stated...

Boards I can confirm:

Epox 8KRA2+ (just ended production FYI)
VIA KT600
vcore 1.4 to 2.1 @ 0.025 increments via BIOS

Epox 8KRAI
KT600
vcore 1.4 to 2.1 @ 0.025 increments via BIOS

(I would hope that Epox allow 1.1 to 2.1, but to dream the perfect AMD VIA board...)


Based on manuals: (I'm thinking of buying these soon to test)

ABIT KV7
VIA KT600
vcore 1.1 to 2.1 via BIOS

Biostar M7VIZ
VIA KM400 (micro atx)
vcore -0.1 to +0.1 of the detected default CPU voltage via Warpspeeder (win32 app) - I cannot find anyone to confirm this first hand as -0.1 is not much of an undervolt

patord
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Post by patord » Fri Jun 11, 2004 4:02 pm

MikeC wrote:The Undervoltable Motherboards page (and table) has finally been updated again. We all owe thanks to jojo4u who painstakingly compiled the info in this rich forum and sent it to share with everyone. Thank you jojo4u. 8)
Nice job!

A suggestion (to MikeC): using some PHP script to make this remotely maintainable by selected moderators? The simple scripts I've seen would just use a flat file mini database. Otherwise, since I'm sure part of this site is mysql driven, you could use scripts that interface with that. If an example is warranted, I could setup a sample sometime on my play site (I use mysql based scripts). I know it might be a pain to setup this kind of stuff or integrate something like that into whichever CMS you all are using. Just a thought.

unregistered
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Post by unregistered » Sat Jun 19, 2004 8:35 am

MICRO ATX Board!

Biostar M7NCG-400 (rev7.2) This thing will under/over, has clock multiplier, FSB settings. It will run a mobil Athlon at spec, underclocked, and overclocked.

If you are in the Market for a mAtx board take a look at this one. SPDIF, TV-out (s-video) are on the board, but you have to order the cable from Biostar(or make your own).

Cons: Manual is thin, Doesn't have bolt through holes for Heatsinks.

I am very pleased :D

Edit: Voltage settings range is 1.3 - 2.0

Socket A; Nforce2 400; *NOTE rev7.2 (maybe rev 1.0 ,hearsay) definitly not for other Rev. ; mAtx

koody
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Post by koody » Wed Jun 30, 2004 11:15 am

The Asus A7N8X Deluxe is not undervoltable through the bios at all. The same should go for A7N8X (non-deluxe).

There is a irreversible hardware mod though...

DonP
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mATX undervoltable SoA mobos..

Post by DonP » Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:08 pm

So what's the current state-of-the-art in terms of undervoltable micro-ATX Socket-A motherboards? I was earlier looking for an ATX board but this one must be a Micro-ATX. Also, I'd like it to go down to 1.1V.
I've been browsing most of today and often it's pretty hard to figure out from manuals whether they are undervoltable..

M7NCG-400 - looked promising, until I found a review which said it'll only undervolt down to 1.3V.. and then unregistered's post above.
AOpen MK79G-1394 looked promising - the manual says it goes down to 1.1V - but unfortunately according to the forums this is automatic (dictated by the CPU) and cannot be changed manually..
There is a new board from Aopen - the vKM400Am-S[1] - but I suspect it's also automatic :(

Anyway - if anyone has any thoughts then PLEASE share them - I've tried loads of manufacturers, EPoX, Soltek, A[bit,sus,open].. blah blah.. the model numbers just appear as a blur now.

I was planning to run an XP-M 2400+ Barton at something approaching 1.1V and maybe 1000MHz. The undervolting would ideally be done in BIOS, not windows software since I plan to use Linux.

TIA.

[1] btw.. the vKM400Am-S does look promising becuase on the info page it clearly states "# Adjustable CPU Vcore through BIOS (???)". However the PDFs make it sound just like the MK79G-1394, i.e. automatic. I'll have to dig a little more.

EDIT Oh yeah, I also found the Soltek SL-75MIV2 - but couldn;t confirm then it will undervolt in BIOS - does anyone know? I found this link that suggests that it might :lol:
btw.. that link has a list of undervoltable motherboards - maybe there are some we haven;t listed here.

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:46 pm

DonP --

re -- AOpen MK79G-1394 -- are you sure that is true? The same language is in the manuals of two AOpen motherboard I have and both have a manual Vcore adjust. These are full ATX boards; it is possible the mATX boards have more crippled BIOS settings -- but I would check with someone who has that board. AOpens generally have wide tons of BIOS features.

Copper
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Post by Copper » Thu Jul 08, 2004 6:05 pm

Mike C,

If you would like to update the undervoltable motherboards page the Shuttle ST62K Zen has a Vcore range of .8250 to 1.5875. Great undervolter/underclocker but not so good of an overclocker.

stmok
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Post by stmok » Fri Jul 09, 2004 2:52 am

Please add this to the list...

(1) Abit BF6 : 1.3 to 2.0 volts
(tested with Upgradeware SLOT-T at 1.3v, lowest voltage. CPU(s) used are same as below.)

(2) PowerLeap PL-iP3/T ver 2.0 slocket using the following...

Celeron 1.4Ghz (Tualatin, S-Code: SL6C6, tB1 core stepping)
Default setting
Speed = 1400Mhz (14x 100Mhz)
Default voltage = 1.5volts
Max Power Dissipation = 34.8W

Underclocked mode
Speed = 933Mhz (14x 66Mhz)
Core voltage = 1.025volts
Max Power Dissipation (estimated) = 10.8W (68.8% drop)

Celeron 1.2Ghz (Tualatin, S-Code: SL6C8, tB1 core stepping)
Default setting
Speed = 1200Mhz (12x 100Mhz)
Default voltage = 1.5volts
Max Power Dissipation = 32.1W

Underclocked mode
Speed = 800Mhz (12x 66Mhz)
Core voltage = 1.025volts
Max Power Dissipation (estimated) = 9.9W (68.8% drop)

Note 1 : Estimated Power Dissipation is done by CPU Power 0.21
Note 2 : The lowest core voltage is 1.025v on the PowerLeap slocket...It can't go any lower! :(
Note 3 : PowerLeap slocket core voltage range is : 1.025v to 1.825v
Note 4 : When using PowerLeap adapter, mobo's core voltage selection doesn't affect it, you can select anything you want. Only PowerLeap's core voltage selection applies. In this case, I set it lowest it can go.
Note 5 : Tests conclude both setups are ROCK stable via Prime95/3DMark2001/Sisoft Sandra/Solidworks 2004 with CosmosWorks 2004 FEA add-on using a model of a .45 automatic when fired. :)

Cool as a VIA C3 chip...But FASTER!
Take that C3! Cooler and faster! :D

DonP
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Post by DonP » Fri Jul 09, 2004 6:21 am

MikeC wrote:DonP -- re -- AOpen MK79G-1394 -- are you sure that is true?
No, I'm not - I was hoping that someone with first-hand experience could tell me I'm wrong.
this link made me think it's not possible..
As for the VCore, sad to say this is not supported by the board, mostly this is supported by Pro and MAX versions on AOpen motherboards, hope this can help you
Bummer. There was also mention in a few places of the inability to change multiplier - but in the end that was caused by people using multiplier locked CPUs.. and not the fault of the mobo.

There is also mention of automatic fixed VCorefor the MK79G-N board and other conflicting info.
MikeC wrote:The same language is in the manuals of two AOpen motherboard I have and both have a manual Vcore adjust. These are full ATX boards; it is possible the mATX boards have more crippled BIOS settings -- but I would check with someone who has that board. AOpens generally have wide tons of BIOS features.
It would be my first AOpen board but yes, I've heard good things about the fiddle-ability of their boards.
I'll keep my eye on the vKM400Am-S - it's very new so I'm not too happy with getting untested technology. Or I'll keep digging for UK sources of the Soltek SL-75MIV2.
Thanks for the comments.

DonP
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Post by DonP » Fri Jul 09, 2004 5:50 pm

So I've found another possibility on the micro ATX undervoltable front - the Leadtek K7NCR18DLM. The specs page claims "Adjustment for Best performance setting: Adjustable CPU/MEMORY clock. Vmem, Vcore". I couldn;t find mention of this in the manual.. but on the box is says it supports XBios II - from the XBios II section of the "K7NCR18 series" manual the VCore can be set from 1.100V to 2.000V.

Can anyone confirm this from first-hand experience?

I've seen mention of the K7NCR18GM in the forums here but there were no specific mentions of undervolting ability, and the GM specs don't mention VCore changing, nor does the manual.
TIA.

EDIT: MikeC -- 4000 posts soon - woohoo! you doing anything special to celebrate the occasion? :lol:

swivelguy2
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Post by swivelguy2 » Sat Jul 17, 2004 11:23 am

My Asus P4P800-DX allows me to set the CPU voltage as low as 1.525v - which is indeed lower than the 1.55v default vCore of my northwood 3.0C.

I don't know if this is low enough to be considered "undervoltable," but that's what I see in the BIOS.

DonP
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Re: mATX undervoltable SoA mobos..

Post by DonP » Fri Jul 23, 2004 6:11 pm

DonP wrote:So what's the current state-of-the-art in terms of undervoltable micro-ATX Socket-A motherboards?
...
I was planning to run an XP-M 2400+ Barton at something approaching 1.1V and maybe 1000MHz. The undervolting would ideally be done in BIOS, not windows software since I plan to use Linux.
....
EDIT Oh yeah, I also found the Soltek SL-75MIV2 - but couldn;t confirm then it will undervolt in BIOS - does anyone know? I found this link that suggests that it might :lol:
btw.. that link has a list of undervoltable motherboards - maybe there are some we haven;t listed here.
Ok, hot off the press - I can confirm from first hand experience that the Soltek SL-75MIV2-L will go down to 1.1V in BIOS. I've just put the thing together - booted Knoppix but not much more yet.
In the BIOS settings it gives me options down to 1.1V and even recognised my Athlon XP mobile 2400+ correctly (NB it recognised it as a mobile chip).
It might be worth adding the Soltek SL-75MIV2-L as a seaprate entry in the undervoltable list - right now it says 'Soltek-all "recent"' but this is a micro-ATX board - the only one I've found after exhaustive research that'll go down to 1.1V. ATX boards from other manufacturers often do undervolt - but when it comes to their micro-ATX boards these features aren't present, so I think this is a special case.

flurryman
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Success: Undervolting A7V8X

Post by flurryman » Sat Aug 21, 2004 3:52 am

Ohmygod. It's so easy.

Actually the board requires no mod. Only the CPU had an L11 bridge to be cut.

Apparently the BIOS (1014) reads the L11 bridges and sets the start Vcore accordingly. But the BIOS does more: it uses the L11 value to set the minimum Vcore for the BIOS setup. As soon as you change L11, the BIOS will allow you to set lower voltages.

I use an Athlon XP-M 2400+ (AXMH2400FQQ3C) CPU. The L11 bridges are set to C:C:: by default. According to the list found at http://fab51.com/cpu/barton/athlon-e23.html, the "Q" corresponds to 1.450V. The very same L11 setting is interpreted as 1.575V for a desktop CPU by the BIOS which is exactly what my BIOS allowed me to set as a minimum.

The only thing I had to do was cut L11[4] to get ::C::. The BIOS interprets this as 1.175V and allows me to set a range of 1.175 - 1.375V (i.e., L11 base + 0.2V). Mission accomplished. :D

The Vcore setting is now at 1.375V, which sets an actual Vcore of 1.41V.
I assume you can still use the OVER_VOLT jumper to raise the range by 0.2V but I didn't try it yet.

If you want to experiment, just make sure you don't cut all L11 bridges because this is interpreted as "no CPU present" :shock:

rbsteffes
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Post by rbsteffes » Tue Sep 14, 2004 5:59 am

Any chance we can divide this list by form factor? I realize I am but a lowly grasshopper, but if there is someway to just know whether a board is microATX or ATX by glancing at the list, then I clearly haven't obtained that level of enlightenment.

Tibors
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Post by Tibors » Tue Sep 14, 2004 6:20 am

I have been reading and searching with that list for the last few days. At this moment it wouldn't have much effect to note the formfactor on the list. Except for the Shuttle mobos and the Soltel Qbic, which are a proprietary SFF size, all are full size ATX motherboards.

There is one mATX socket A motherboard three messages above this one.

P.S. I haven't looked at the discontinued mobos.

rbsteffes
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Post by rbsteffes » Tue Sep 14, 2004 12:35 pm

Thanks for the tip, but I can't seem to find a distributor for the SL-75MIV2-L in the Americas!

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