Biostar Tforce 965PT - Good value mobo?

H

horaciocs

n00b
Joined
Feb 8, 2007
Messages
26
Hi, I am deciding on which motherboard to buy to go with my C2D. I plan to overclock it and use high fsbs, something around 500, so I need a mobo that can take +500 fsb (500 stable)

What do you think of the Biostar Tforce 965PT? Do you think it can reach high fsbs? What about vdimm, is it nicely adjustable?

Thanks,


Horacio
 
in case you really want high FSB ( 400 plus, 500 will be high my friend and not especially faster due to 1333 strap above 400FSB ) go for ABIT GT, Gigabyte DS3 or P5B dlx, they have probven themselves to be good overclockers and are stable platforms now... and there onboard components (PWM, capacitors,...) will be more durable then the one your suggesting....
 
I'd agree that if you can afford it, the Abit Quad GT is a nice choice b/c it can use the 1066 strap at over 500FSB unlike other P965 boards which change at over 400.

However, you're looking for a good VALUE board and I'd say the Biostar should be fine, especially for the price. The Abit almost doubles the price and even the DS3 is about $30+ more. Check these reviews out below, but for the price I'd say the Biostar should be fine.

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2914
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2871

This too:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=110106&highlight=biostar
 
And what's with these straps? I know there's a 800, a 1066 and a 1333 one, but I don't know what that means, could you guys explain it to me?
 
horaciocs said:
And what's with these straps? I know there's a 800, a 1066 and a 1333 one, but I don't know what that means, could you guys explain it to me?
Click to expand...

Straps, as far as I know, have to do basically with chipset timings. So the 1066 strap will have tighter=faster timings than the 1333 strap.
 
Moosey do you really think this value board will be rockstable for 500Mhz FSB overclocking as the thread starter wants it to be ?

Quote form one of the threads you mentioned :

The stock MCH heatsink of the board is pretty insufficient.
IIRC the same heatsink was used on Asus A7N8X (nF2) boards, so go and figure what I mean when I say insufficient...

"I replaced the original chipset heatsink with MCX-159R from Swiftech.
The MCX-159R is barely warm while the original gave me burn marks with 1.7V voltage.

My Fluke IR thermometer displayed 67c temperature with 1.45V vcore while the cpu was in idle state. After adding a fan for the mosfets, their temperature dropped to 42c (loaded)."

So the board wasn't used in it's original state there .... if he tends to push this board let's say around 500mhz he's gonna run into trouble and he might call it a bad board, even though it uses the same chipset as the more expensive ones these should have normally higher and better eg capacitors than this cheaper board which would make them more durable in the long run...

I stil have nothing against Anandtech and other reviewers but these guys just test these board thoroughly for what 2-3 days just for their review and that's it, it's from the end user that you will have to find out....
 
if you have to make 500fsb it's going to be just luck of the draw with any of the above mentioned mb's. so the concept of running 500fsb is sort of iffy. a more realistic goal would be more like 450-475+fsb . most decent 965p's can hit these speeds without a super human effort or expense. my giagbyte s-3 has done as high as 517fsb with a 6300 but it is not stable above 487fsb. it will run as stable as a stock speeds in the 475-485 fsb range .

your also going to need some very good ram and psu to make a good effort to 500fsb+

as far as i've known some biostars have hit fsb speeds above 500fsb but i don't know if that is a common thing or if it is just a few that have been able to hit the high fsb.
 
The Biostar T-Force P965 Deluxe I reveiwed a couple of months ago reached 501MHz FSB with relative ease. The Biostar T-Force P965PT is essentially the same board without some of the extra fluff.

I think that for the price it's a good board and 500MHz FSB is certainly not out of the question. I do have to agree with one post in this thread in that high FSB's can be a simple luck of the draw.
 
I would say it's the cheapest 965 based "good" OCing board (good meaning somewhat documented). Usually runs right around $100. Either this or the S3. The S3 is maybe $10-15 more and gets into the DS3 price range. I wouldn't hesitate trying this board out if you're looking for a budget OCer.
 
Uhm, I guess I'm really going for the DS3, but my point really is: what would be better?

A. 7x430 ~ 3.0Ghz with Ram at 860mhz 1:1

B. 8x375 = 3.0Ghz with Ram at 937mhz 4:5


Does the performance drop of using 4:5 justify going for lower fsbs a 1:1? I mean, is A better than B or, at least, much, much easier to reach?
 
The northbridge heatsink on the DS3 isn't any better than the POS Biostar put on their P965PT. Both heatsinks aren't anything to write home about. Having said that, I own both boards. The DS3 is able to get up to around 465Mhz, only because of being able to supply greater than 2.2v Vdimm. The P965PT tops out around 460Mhz.


I prefer the P965PT over the DS3 currently. Here is why:

1. The P965PT features a Realtek GigE chipset. This is far more compatible with *nix operating systems such as Linux and FreeBSD. The Marvell GigE chip used on the DS3 has broken driver support in Linux. When I say broke, the Marvell ethernet interface will cause a hard lock after a day of heavy network useage.

2. For the PATA interface, the P965PT uses a tried and trusted Via VT6410 controller. Granted, it doesn't supply an extra 2 SATA ports as in the case of the JMicron JMB363 controller on the DS3, but the compatibility with this controller can not be beaten. Support for the JMicron controller in anything but Windows is again, absolute rubbish.

The reasons mentioned above are both related to software other than Windows. Obviously, not everyone uses other operating systems.


The DS3 does have two things going for it. They are:

1. Allows for > 2.2v Vdimm (mentioned above)

2. Features connectors for SPDIF and Coaxial digital output of audio. The P965PT has a connector onboard for a 3rd party interface that would sit in a pci/pci-e device slot. The interface is not included and they appear to cost roughly $15 shipped. This is only a big issue if you NEED digital out for a media center setup or something of that nature.



By all accounts at the rebels haven computer forums, the P965PT can be picky with RAM. You may be more likely to achieve higher FSB/RAM speeds with a DS3 due to being able to supply 2.4v Vdimm. However, the DS3 has worse V droop than the P965PT.
 
i can't say so much anymore. i dont have the board anymore, but i loved it. miss it lots. here are some screentshots from what i was able to get. i dont know if it was the chipset or my components that limited me. :D

499pi34972million.JPG


526orthos.JPG
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top