** Foxconn 6150K8MA-8EKRS - Overclocks & Issues Thread **

This board seems to be getting talked about a bit and I've seen it recommended a few times in those "Spec me a mATX board" threads.

And as I now have one I thought I'd share my thoughts and progress.

Anyone else got one of these boards yet and what do you think / how are you getting on with clocking?


I've just got mine setup over the last couple of days.
I've got an X2 3800+ and 1GB Corsair Value Select in.
No graphic card as yet, running with the onboard while I save a few pennies up.

Not had chance to clock it yet, still finalising a working setup but initial thoughts are generally good.

I'm liking the onboard SATA Raid support, suspect eventually I'll be having a go with 4 drives and a 0+1 setup.
Also liking the passive cooling on the chipset. Gonna be working towards a fast AND quiet system.

Initial things I think are worth pointing out to anyone considering this board are: -

- only one sys_fan connector, personally I would like more.
- only 3 PCI slots plus 1 PCI Express (x16) slot, there's no extra PCI Express (x1) slot
- don't pick it up by the chipset heatsinks, they're on spring clips

I'll add more when I've had a proper play but it'd be great to hear from anyone else who has this board...


---

Specs for this board on the Foxconn site here
and there's the official downloads here
PCSTATS has a review here

as i've just said in another thread over in case central (seems very relevent here):

with regard to fitting this motherboard into this case, the only couple of issues i've had are: -

1) there's only one sys_fan connector on the motherboard but two meaty fans in the case. don't think i can live with the sound of 12V 120mm fans long term (and yeah it is a low frequency whoosh i'm talking about which i also think is due to the holes in the guard rather than fan noise per se, not loud but audible and just a little annoying) so i guess i'll be going for a fan controller at some point (or a volt mod).

2) the positioning of the single sys_fan connector on the motherboard is such that the front fan will reach it, but it's a stretch and sits across the PCIe slot. if i wasn't using the onboard graphics, i doubt it'd reach.

Click to expand...

to which glitch suggested:

glitch said:

Would you be able to plug a Zalman Fan Mate into the Sys_Fan connection and then use a 3 Pin Fan splitter to drive the two case fans, or would that not be a good idea?

Click to expand...

might have to look into that.

Please bear in mind that is a suggestion from someone who doesn't really know what he's talking about! With my limited knowledge of these things it seemed like a simple solution but I fear there may be an even simpler reason why it wouldn't be the best idea.

Would be very interested to hear what people recommend as a solution for this motherboard - chances are I'll have three fans to connect to the one header, depending on the case I eventually choose.

MyWhippy; a lot of the forums I've seen recommend replacing the TIM on the heatsinks before overclocking her. Not sure if that's something you've thought about doing but it's apparently recommended.

for anyone considering this board as a potential clocker, the following might be of interest (taken from a review on another site)

The following overclocking options could be found in the BIOS of the 6150K8MA-8EKRS:-



FSB Settings: 200MHz to 300MHz

PCIe Frequency: 100MHz to 145MHz

RAM Frequency: DDR200, DDR266, DDR333, DDR400

CPU Voltage Settings: 0.825V to 1.550V (in 0.025V steps)

Memory Voltage Settings: 2.50V to 2.85V (in 0.05V steps)

VCore Voltage: +20mV to +140mV (in 20mV steps)

Multiplier Selection: Yes (unlocked CPUs only)

Unlike the Gigabyte GA-K8N51GMF-9, the Foxconn WinFast 6150K8MA-8EKRS came with a more fleshed out set of overclocking options. In our overclocking tests, the board performed identical to the Gigabyte GA-K8N51GMF-9 and topped out at 280MHz with a 4x HTT multiplier. This could possibly be a chipset limitation since both boards had the same upper BIOS limit of 300MHz, but with a better range of tweaking and voltage options, the 6150K8MA-8EKRS would be a better candidate for the more adventurous.

Click to expand...

looks like this board has possibilities.

ok, i admit it, i couldn't resist.

tried a little light OCing last night.
got the X2 3800 running at 2.4Ghz, volts on auto.

1M superPi in 37 seconds.
10 hours Prime stable (2 instances).
Temps Maxed at :
CPU = 44 degrees
SYS = 35 degrees

and this morning i realised that i'd left both system fans disconnected so those temps were solely constrained by the freezer 64 pro and the Hyper PSU.

guess there's plenty more to come from this board yet...

my one was faulty lol, the onboard made my pc crash wenever i played games, so i sovled the problem by getting a 7800gt, lol

yeah, i don't think the onboard graphics is really upto gaming.
well not for anything that is graphics intensive and needs a decent res anyway.

it is a 6000 series nvidia chipset which in theory should be quite capable, but i think that it having to access system ram over a comparatively slow interface kills it compared to a card with onboard memory.
i mean technically it looks good on paper, it even includes Shader Model 3.0 support, but there's just no way it can take proper advantage when coupled with slow to access system RAM.

suppose it depends what type of games you've got in mind. it'll be fine for strategy games, might even handle some 3D stuff but anything demanding, like recent FPS games are pretty much a no-no.

it's horses for courses really, i think this board will excel in a HTPC or Internet/Office rig. As the core of a serious gaming rig, it will definately require an additional graphic card.