Preliminary results on the Abit KX7-133R

[mdzcpa]

So far so good:D !

This mobo just plain rocks!! I struggled a little at first getting higher FSB speeds with the Crucial PC2700, but going to the Corsair "PC3000" really brought the mobo to life.

Right now I can get the following:

With 2 sticks of RAM (DIMMS 1 and 3), CAS 2, 4 way, 3,6,3 1T command it will hit 188mhz fsb rock stable. The most it will get with CAS 2, 4 way, 2,5,2 1T (full aggressive settings) is 185mz fsb. With both settings, the mobo will boot and bench ok at much higher speeds, but they do not stand up to extended 3DMark2001 looping, so I do not consider it stable at those points. For instance the mobo would boot and bench Sandra ok at 191mhz fsb with fully aggressive settings. But 3DMark would CTD after half a loop.

With 1 stick of RAM...holy cow:eek: Just add another 10 mhz to the above speeds! The memory bandwidth is just crazy at those speeds and settings:D

But, that's all for now. You can catch the whole story in the upcoming KX7 review as well as some benchmarks!

[Player0]

How come your sticking with the 1T command?

Hmm...I hope my Corsair PC2700 does better than your crucial :)

Whats your sandra ram score?

[mdzcpa]

Originally posted by Player0
How come your sticking with the 1T command?

The 1T setting really helps the memory bandwidth. Changing to 2T does allow for a higher FSB, but so far I haven't had a higher FSB at 2T surpass a lower FSB at 1T. But that's not to say it won't. I just haven't gotten that far yet.

I've been using this (http://www.ocworkbench.com/2002/abit/at7/at7tweakguide1.htm) as a general rule of thumb guide.

I have found that if you are trying to relax the settings for a higher fsb, the change to 3,6,3 yielded less of a performance hit than changing from 1T to 2T. But both seem to permit another 5-10 mhz in FSB increases.

I'm really still trying to come up with best in combination of FSB and settings still. And I want to find what the mobo will do as delivered without voltage mods yet. I beleive when modded, the RAM will go much higher with full aggressive settings.

But....that is for another day:)

Hmm...I hope my Corsair PC2700 does better than your crucial :)

You never know, but I feel the Corsair will be better. There screening process is good. The odds are with you.

Whats your sandra ram score?

Sorry no pics (saving for the review) but this is what I've seen:
2832/2637 @188mhz CAS 2, 4 way, 3,6,3 1T
2817/2629 @188mhz CAS 2, 4 way, 2,5,2 2T
2808/2609 @188mhz CAS 2, 4 way, 3,6,3 2T

I'll have more high end results in a while after i change to one stick for dedicated testing.

[NorthernYankee]

What are the max Vcore and Vdimm on the abit? One of the reasons I bought the Epox was a 2.2Vcore and a 3.2Vdimm. Easier since no volt mods are needed.

--NY

[mdzcpa]

Originally posted by NorthernYankee
What are the max Vcore and Vdimm on the abit? One of the reasons I bought the Epox was a 2.2Vcore and a 3.2Vdimm. Easier since no volt mods are needed.

--NY

I think the Epox does a better job in this department. The new Abit comes only with the 1.85vcore and 2.85vdimm max voltages.

However, I will say that Abit throws in an extra .5v to .6v on the Vcore, and about an extra .7 to.8 on the Vdimm above what is set in the BIOS (Abit's usual tactic for getting around AMDs spec sheet and still receiving AMD support). But, still, to reach the real high memory speeds with aggressive settings, a mod will be needed, much like the KR7A.

[mdzcpa]

Okay... the last tid bit (the rest goes in the review).

A nice stable set up here. Will Prime95 and loop 3DMark2001..not bad. Sorry about the quality and size of the PIC:(

(for those that can't see it well the Sandra Mem bench is 2851/2659)


http://mywebpages.comcast.net/mdzcpa/images/kx7190190.JPG

Not bad. Not super extreme...but not bad.

[mdzcpa]

Alright, just one more than. Had to post...the 200fsb shot. This is a stable set up with 2 sticks of RAM too:)

(Again sorry about the size)
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/mdzcpa/images/kx7200.JPG

Nice mobo!

[OPPAINTER]

Good deal,

The KX7 is real picky with memory, I can now run mine at 200 fsb cas 2, 252, T1, fast mode. i'm using Mushkin 3000 at 2.96v.

OPP

[Player0]

I hope my new Corsair PC3000 does as well as yer muskin Opp :)

[OPPAINTER]

Originally posted by Player0
I hope my new Corsair PC3000 does as well as yer muskin Opp :)

I have a stick of Corsair, It just didn't do as well maybe 5fsb less with maxed timeings. I've seen that other people with the KX7 are getting different results with their motherbaords, some mobos are clocking higher FSB some less. It may all depend on your particular mobo.

OPP

[Player0]

Well I got the CE stepping, and the PC3000 is going to be brand new, so that should give me the best hope :)

Hey! Opp, was your Corsair double or single sided?

[OPPAINTER]

Double sided, 4 chips each side.

OPP

[mdzcpa]

I think OPP is right about the Corsair being hit or miss. For me it has been just great (waaaaay better than the crucial pc2700). After burning it in for a week now , the corsair will go to 205mhz CAS 2, 4 way, 3,6,3 2T and 193mhz CAS 2, 4 way, 3,6,3, 1T and 188 CAS 2, 4 way, 2,5,2, 1T. It can go higher for short runs, but it can loop 3DMark2001 for hours at the above settings.

And all at only the mob's max DDR 2.85v.

Can't wait to do the mem v mod:)

[Player0]

Hmm...the corsair I bought was listed as single sided. Maybe it was a typo...hmm.

So you think a voltage mod is the way to go to hit 200 fsb? Geez...I thought I was done with modding for a while :)

[mdzcpa]

Originally posted by Player0

So you think a voltage mod is the way to go to hit 200 fsb? Geez...I thought I was done with modding for a while :)

I only want to do the mod so that I can hit 200+ with all the memory settings set aggressively. That's were the big bandwidth is.