Socket 754 Roundup, Part 3: Asus, Soltek & DFI
by Wesley Fink on September 14, 2004 12:03 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Asus K8N-E: Overclocking and Stress Testing
FSB Overclocking Results
| Front Side Bus Overclocking Testbed | |
| Default Voltage | |
| Processor: | Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0GHz |
| CPU Voltage: | 1.5V (default) |
| Cooling: | Thermaltake Silent Boost K8 Heatsink/Fan |
| Power Supply: | OCZ Power Stream 520W |
| Memory: | OCZ PC3200 EL Platinum Rev. 2 or Geil PC3200 Ultra X |
| Maximum OC: (Standard Ratio) |
246 x 10 (IDE), 230 x 10 (SATA) 2460MHz (+23%) |
| Maximum FSB: (Lower Ratio) |
271 x 9 (1:1 Memory, IDE, 2 DIMMs) 230 x 9 at (1:1 Memory, SATA, 2 DIMMs) |
The decision by Asus to use Silicon Image SATA instead is really a drawback in overclocking. Whether using the 2 nVidia SATA channels or any of the 4 Sil3114 channels, the highest overclock that we could achieve with our standard SATA drive was 230, much lower than some other nF3-250 boards. When using an IDE drive, the K8N-E fared better, reaching a stable 271 FSB at 1:1 before failing boot. While this is a much better overclock, it is still below the performances of the DFI, MSI, Epox, and Chaintech 754 boards that we have tested.
Due to the overclock limits found with SATA drives on the Asus, we would recommend using IDE drives with the Asus if you plan to overclock. The Asus can handle reasonable overclocks with a SATA drive, and we confirmed AGP/PCI is definitely working. However, the highest overclocks could only be achieved using IDE hard drives.
Memory Stress Test Results:
The memory stress test is very basic, as it tests the ability of the Asus K8N-E to operate at its officially supported memory frequency (400MHz DDR), at the best performing memory timings that our OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 modules will support. Memory stress testing was conducted by running RAM at 400MHz with 2 DIMM slots filled. However, please keep in mind that Socket 754 is single-channel and will still operate at top speed with just one DIMM.| Stable DDR400 Timings - 2 DIMMs (2/3 Dimms populated - Single-Channel mode) |
|
| Clock Speed: | 200MHz |
| CAS Latency: | 2.0 |
| RAS to CAS Delay: | 2T |
| RAS Precharge: | 10T* |
| Precharge Delay: | 2T |
| Command Rate: | 1T |
The Asus K8N-E was completely stable with 2 DIMMs at the best performing settings of 2-2-2-10, at default speed. Command Rate was set to Auto, but is reported as performing at 1T in SiSoft Sandra benchmarks.
Filling all three available memory slots is more strenuous on the memory sub-system than testing 2 DIMMs on a motherboard.
| Stable DDR400 Timings - 3 DIMMs (3/3 DIMMs populated - Single-Channel mode) |
|
| Clock Speed: | 200MHz |
| CAS Latency: | 2.0 |
| RAS to CAS Delay: | 2T |
| RAS Precharge: | 10T* |
| Precharge Delay: | 2T |
| Command Rate: | 2T |
We were very pleased to find that 3 DS DIMMs (1.5GB) of memory worked fine at the same aggressive timings that we used for 2 DIMMs. This is very good performance for the K8N-E in our memory stress test. However, we should point out that while the Asus was stable in most of our benchmark tests with 3 DIMMs, it was not completely stable in Quake 3 or Return to Castle Wolfenstein with 3 DIMMs. Memory voltage increases were just not an option. It appears that our fast memory really wants 2.8V with 3 DIMMs and this shows up in some games. The limited memory voltage range may well be your real limiter in overclocking with 3 DIMMs.
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Staples - Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - link
I bought a 3200+ system a week ago and this Soltek board. I am glad to see that incomparison, this board's performance fairs really well. There is a big thread here and it seems quite a few people are experiencing various problems with it. Myself included. I think any potential buyer who is inticed by the cheap price might want to check it out before deciding on this one.Illissius - Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - link
Excellent review, and excellent boards. The only nitpick I have is that you say the three boards are constantly trading performance leads in the stock benchmarks; in reality, the Asus K8N-E and Soltek K8FNAEDKJL:DSGKJ3 trade wins and the DFI is usually behind them, where by a larger, where by a smaller margin, except for the Far Cry test where it manages to squeak a win by a fraction of a FPS.The DFI board is damn near perfect. There are only three minor problems with it: (1) The various stuff on the board that is glaring yellow is not blue instead; (2) It is not Abit; (3) It's slightly slower at stock speeds than the Asus and Soltek. Otherwise it's completely perfect, if I were buying a board right now it would absolutely be the one I'd choose.
One topic I'd like to see touched upon is support for mobile/DTR processors; mobiles AXPs were hugely succesful overclockers, but the mobile A64s are held back by almost universally substandard motherboard support for them. A 35W (1.2V) Mobile 2800+ coupled with the Lanparty UT would be pretty amazing, if it worked.
DoobieOnline - Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - link
Hey Wesley, that's weird that you couldn't get to 9x250 with a SATA drive on the Soltek. I'm using that board and running 10x250 with a 74GB Raptor on NVIDIA SATA 1. It's a great board for under $100! - doobiedevonz - Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - link
Just a thought. When you review memory modules you untimately produce comparison charts of the top overclocked performance of the modules. Why not have a set of graphs showing the top overclocked performance of motherboards so we can judge them based on that information too?icarus4586 - Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - link
It would have been interesting, just as a side-note, to see some tests on the DFI running at CAS 1.5, whether they were here or in the article on that board specifically. I've never seen any board/RAM that can run at 1.5-2-2LocutusX - Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - link
Regarding the Asus board:Wesley, is your A64 a Newcastle/CG revision or Clawhammer/C0? I have absolutely no issues running my Newcastle 3000+ @ 255FSB - it's like a rock. But yeah, I am using PATA.
Also, note that there is a new BIOS (1005) for the K8N-E which allows usage of 2.8v V_dimm on the 1.05 revision mobos.
jensend - Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - link
I think it would be interesting to see tests of how well different s754 chipsets and boards do with the Paris core Sempron.Wesley Fink - Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - link
The information in the Soltek Features table has been updated to reflect the latest BIOS values.Gundamit - Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - link
Price performance ratio is so much stonger for the 754. Thats why I decided to go for the DFI right now. In 6-8 months I'll take another look at the 939.The only dissapointment in the article was the fact you ran the 1.5 CAS setting but didn't post any results. Maybe it would have been out of place in a "roundup". BTW- Is still a round-up with only three mobos or cows? Maybe you could run some benchmarks and update the original LanpartyUT review?
ceefka - Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - link
If you haven't bought anything yet: The 754's only real disadvantage I can think of is its upgrade path or non existence thereof. It is still a very good platform. So what if it is limited to 2/3GB of RAM support. There are not many home users with 2GB+ of RAM.