s754 PCI-e boards for overclocking

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Bakou

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Aug 14, 2005
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Alright I'm basically looking to get a 7900GT, but in order to do that I need a PCI Express board, and I'm on a MSI K8N Neo Platinum with an A64 3000+. At first I was thinking of getting a dual core Opteron, DFi Lanparty, and a 7900GT.. Of course then I'd also need a new PSU and in Canada that would easily run me over 1000$, which I really don't have.

So I've decided to settle with getting a Socket 754 PCI-e board (the one I have is pretty crappy anyway). The first one that caught my eye was the DFi NF4X Infinity, although I've read several people who complain about it not having working temperature readings and requiring too much power (I've only got a 430 watt PSU, albiet a very good Thermaltake).

Secondly I saw the Epox 8NPA SLi S754, although again I probably just don't have enough power to run SLi and I don't really want to get a new psu.

Now I have my eye on the Abit NV8 PCI-e S754. It doesn't seem to suffer from the temperature errors, it has good BIOS options and I've seen reports of basic OC'ing with as low as a 350W psu.

My main worry with all 3 of these boards is that my 430watt PSU will be able to handle them with a 7900GT and my 4 IDEs (3 hdds and a dvd drive), while overclocking with my cpu at around 1.7 volts and ram at 3.2+v, and secondly is the fact that on all 3 of them have a max vdimm of 3.2v, while my OCZ VX EL ram has a sweet spot at 3.3 volts.

Also my PSU has a reading of 0v for the -12v and -5v lines, I've read somewhere that the DFi board requires these lines?

And lastly, I hear the DFi is the only one of these boards that properly supports the Mobile Newark s754 cpus, hurrah for S754 upgradability! How important is this really though compared to a NewCastle 3000+?

If anyone could comment on PSU compatibility, or suggest a board a S754 PCI-e board with 3.3v vdimm (or a mod to acheive this on any board), I would be greatful.
 
Get the socket 754 Biostar T-Force, I know its Matx but ive got it in its box atm until
i get a pci-e card but ive used it and the temp sensors are all correct to my knowledge
and its got a wide range of oc'ing features.

Very good motherboard imo
 
I'm actually looking into buying a t-force + sempron 2800+ myself. It seems to be a popular combo and I actually have a post in the AMD mobo board asking what mobo to get for ocing the sempron. I guess I will end up buying the TFORCE
 
I looked at the Biostar T-Force, its just not going to cut it with only 2.9volts max vdimm and 1.7 volts max vcore according to http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2539&p=2

I also looked at the Foxconn which maxes even lower at 2.8 vdimm..
The higher the better, and the highest I've found is 3.2 even though I need 3.3.

It's quite difficult to find any reviews on the Abit NV8. So far I've found out that the first BIOS revision was awful, but the newest revision actually lets you OC properly via the BIOS. Still havn't verified if the DFi board has working temperature sensors or not yet in the latest BIOS revision either. Also very difficult to find any accurate power consumption information.

Any owners of these DFi or Abit s754 pci-e boards care to comment?
 
Hmm.. Found another very interesting post on the Biostar T-Force: http://forums.amd.com/lofiversion/index.php/t68169.html

This kinda makes me reconsider. Apparently anandtech reported the wrong Vdimm.. These guys say its 3.2v, but up to 3.7 with pots which I guess involves some circuitry, but if thats the case I could probably do the same with the Abit NV8? However, those Newark overclocks are very nice. I believe its actually the only board that supports s754 newarks, has pci-e, and working temp sensors. Still though, only 100mbit lan and ONLY 2 pci slots with horrible placement so that your gpu will melt the card below it kind of kills the deal.

It does look like a nice board but I don't think I could deal with so few pci slots.
On another topic, can anyone confirm if the Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic will actually work with any released BIOS available for the Epox 8NPA, the Abit NV8 or the Biostar T-Force? I've verified that it doesn't at all on the DFi but I can't find any info on those 3.
 
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