Epox 4SDA - Excellent Overclocker

[Cole]

Okay I know most people here don't care about P4's but this is a forum for Epox motherboards, so for those interested take a look. For AMD fans please don't post any inappropriate remarks.

I'm very pleased with the 4SDA, and tomorrow I will have a 4BDA to play with. The overclocking options are just as friendly as my 8K7A's and 8KHA+. So far I have gotten a 700MHz+ overclock with 1.8 volts, a Swiftech MCX478, and Corsair pc2700. Not many folks here are looking at the P4, but if you do you can't go wrong with this board imo.

http://www.digi-source.com/p4/Cpuid.jpg

http://www.digi-source.com/p4/SandraCpu.jpg

http://www.digi-source.com/p4/SandraMm.jpg

[dimmreaper]

Not too shabby Cole !! It looks like EPoX has done it again !!! That memory bandwidth is really something else too. I'm tempted to pick one up myself, but I'd need a CPU to put in it, and I really don't like spending more than a couple hundred(tops) on a CPU. Intel has good stuff just as AMD does, it truely is a shame there stuff isn't as economical.

[Cole]

Originally posted by dimmreaper
Not too shabby Cole !! It looks like EPoX has done it again !!! That memory bandwidth is really something else too. I'm tempted to pick one up myself, but I'd need a CPU to put in it, and I really don't like spending more than a couple hundred(tops) on a CPU. Intel has good stuff just as AMD does, it truely is a shame there stuff isn't as economical.

I'll let you know how the 1.8gig does. If it will hit 133 that would be a nice overclock for $240 (2.4GHz or about the same as an XP 2100+) and $98 for the mobo - and everything else would be running in spec. The board rocks even if it does lack the debug led, but I saw the + version with raid for only $2 more on pricewatch

[Cole]

Originally posted by dimmreaper
That memory bandwidth is really something else too.

OOps I forgot to post that here - you must have seen it at OC. Here it is at cas2 with what the bios has as "normal" timings.

http://www.digi-source.com/p4/SandraMem.jpg

[EPoX Tech]

Well - I know its certainly my favourite board of the moment - I have to blow our trumpet and say it's the best P4 overclocker I've used - and costs about the same as an 8KHA+

yeah, it's an awesome board for sure, I find it interesting that it can support 100:200 but it can't do 133:200 or 166:200. I do like how you can run the nb - sb link at varying speeds though, including 100mhz.

unless of course that is just ratios only. IE you can set the 133:166 ratio, but in the bios run at 150mhz, so you get 187mhz ram speed.

In case you are wondering wtf I am talking about, it is the table on page 20 in the pdf manual of the soyo board (I presume it is the same with all the sis645 boards)

and damnit, epox won't upload a 4sda= manual

[Daniel ~]

Hey hey Cole, you just made the front page, good work!!

[dimmreaper]

Originally posted by Brad
and damnit, epox won't upload a 4sda= manual

For once I agree with you Brad. It is a shame EPoX is not more timely with there manual uploads. Manuals contain a great deal of information about a motherboard's features. I always like to look through a boards manual before I purchase it.

And now one for Cole and/or EPoX Tech, does the 4SDA read the on-die diod of the P4?

[SteveI]

Originally posted by Cole
OOps I forgot to post that here - you must have seen it at OC. Here it is at cas2 with what the bios has as "normal" timings.

http://www.digi-source.com/p4/SandraMem.jpg

Cole, just so I understand this. This is DDR, right?
So does this mean that DDR2100 is able to match the performance of RDRAM800??

Edit: oops, is QDR RDRAM?

[dimmreaper]

Originally posted by SteveI
So does this mean that DDR2100 is able to match the performance of RDRAM800??

If DDR is running fast enough of course it can match RDRAM speeds. But there is a lot more to it than that, the memory controller built in to the northbridge can have a huge impact on real-world memory bandwidth. Don't count on Intel and Rambus taking this lying down, they have a new RDRAM standard on the horizon, PC1066(???) I believe is what it will be called. It is quad pumped 133MHz. And if Intel should decide to improve there memory controller also, watch out !!!

[Cole]

This is PC2700 DDR and that bench was taken with it running at 162FSB, cas2, and normal timings. Oh and yes the board reads the P4's internal thermal diode for temps.

[SteveI]

Ok, now it makes sense to me. When I saw a system clock of 133 in CPUID, I thought that was the speed for the memory test...ie. DDR PC2100 at default versus RDR PC800 at default.
My bad. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

[EPoX Tech]

That overclock is truly amazing indeed. Without more words on the subject - I am gobsmacked each time I look at the thread.

[EPoX Tech]

Originally posted by dimmreaper
For once I agree with you Brad. It is a shame EPoX is not more timely with there manual uploads. Manuals contain a great deal of information about a motherboard's features. I always like to look through a boards manual before I purchase it.

And now one for Cole and/or EPoX Tech, does the 4SDA read the on-die diod of the P4?

Please do appreciate the present difficulty that we have with the web server after the crash early in the new year - otherwise it would have been a 2 minute job for the guys to have copied the manual to the server machine.

Please do rest assured that the manual for this mainboard is excellent, but looking at the jumper settings silk screen printed on the board alone will quite literally make you go wobbly at the knees.

This family of mainboards will grow further with USB 2.0 implementations, RAID (obviously), Firewire, 533MHz FSB etc. Get ready for a rash of mainboards begining with the letters 4SD !!!

[Cole]

Originally posted by EPoX Tech
That overclock is truly amazing indeed. Without more words on the subject - I am gobsmacked each time I look at the thread.

It's a very nice board indeed. The cpu isn't half bad either. I haven't seen enough reviews to tell whether this is above average or not. I couldn't get it to 3GHz like Tom's hardware, but then again this is high end air cooling, not water. I don't want to push more than 1.8 volts without better cooling, and I don't want to bother with water cooling. I got this to be quiet and easy to setup, and it has been just that.

[dimmreaper]

Originally posted by Cole
I don't want to push more than 1.8 volts without better cooling

I'd be a bit queezy about pushing a .13micron CPU beyond 1.8V, despite how cool you can keep it. It's quite likely that much more voltage would be counter productive anyway.

Hi


I got a couple of questions to you guys


how high can you set the Vmem and the vcore?

im hopin for 3.2 vmem and 1.85 vcore like my 8kha+


how high can you set the Fsb and size of the increments and dividers?


I just saw a review of a motherboard using i845 using DDR


1600A @ fsb 142mhz - 2280mhz DDR at 189mhz and they got 423fps in quake 3 fastest timedemo 1

yes you saw it right 423FPS

im trying to pick a mobo for a 1.6A and im in doubt between

via , intel and Sis ddr solutions , im trying to find out about the one that as the best realtion between OC and speed

tnkz in advance

[cobase]

I got my P4A 1,8 on the 4SDA+ to over 2,5GHZ, but not stable due to the Boxed-Fan. The Memory-Banswith is really impressive, i will post some pics when I have installed my Zern.

BTW: Can you raise the VCore on this board to over 2V when you use the dipswitches on the mainboard?

[OCS GaviN]

Hi there, Dont suppose you have any screen shots of your bios setup do you?

I could do with some tips, i have my 1.8 at 2.4 at defualt voltage, but im not to sure about the memory and stuff as this is my first ddr rig.

Any hints or tips would be greatly appreciated

[beerman]

Hi Cole!
Have you been able to test the 4BDA2+ yet ?