Board to Unlock Conroe Multis

subxero · 2 Jan 2007 at 16:18

Hi guys, quick question, had a search but can't find the answer i'm looking for.

Basically, my A64 board just died so now going to make the jump to C2D.

I've read that some Asus boards can unlock the multipliers downwards on the C2Ds. Is this just Asus boards, certain chipsets or is it all a myth?

Going to buy a E6600 and had my eye on either the Intel Bad Axes or one of the Asus boards.

Bit out of date on this stuff atm.

Cheers

Cob · 2 Jan 2007 at 17:02

All C2D's can be lowered to the x6 multiplier. P965 can definately do it, and I'm 90% sure 975x boards can too.

El Jimben · 2 Jan 2007 at 17:25

I think on some boards you just need a BIOS update to unlock the multi going downwards, not sure what particular chipsets/vendors though.

WJA96 · 2 Jan 2007 at 18:10

I think you can only increase the multiplier on an E6800.

w3bbo · 2 Jan 2007 at 18:36

965/975 and 680i are all downward multi unlocked with the latest bios revisions. The extreme version of the conroe, the E6800, is both up & down multi unlocked.

subxero · 2 Jan 2007 at 18:41

Cool, thanks guys.

I know about the 6800, but bit too rich for my blood. Was interested in lowering the multiplier and clocking it crazy

What seems to be the most popular board at the moment? I keep reading other threads but there are lots of mixed opinions at the moment.

Not keen on Gigabyte boards from experience

arfur · 2 Jan 2007 at 19:45

Gigabyte DS4 is rocking my world at the moment, lightening fast, overclocks well E6400 @ 3.2Ghz 6400 RAM @ 1000mhz

oh yeh....

Gommsta · 2 Jan 2007 at 23:55

Asus P5W definitely unlocks downwards.
Run it with some g.skill or corsair though.

WJA96 · 3 Jan 2007 at 07:24

subxero said:
Was interested in lowering the multiplier and clocking it crazy

Why? They clock just fine at their stock multipliers. I don't know of any boards that don't unlock downwards. The capability to do this is part of the C1E energy saving mechanism that is built into all Intel processors. Even the cheapo ASRock Conroe XFire-eSATA II does this.

subxero said:
What seems to be the most popular board at the moment? I keep reading other threads but there are lots of mixed opinions at the moment.

There aren't any mixed opinions. By far, the vast majority of the threads in this forum asking about a Core2Duo board are either asking about the Gigabyte S3/DS3/DS4/DQ6 or the NVidia 650i/680i chipset boards. There have been a lot of people reporting issues with the Gigabyte boards but then if (as I understand is the case) the Gigabytes are outselling the ASUS P5 range by more than 10 to 1, I would expect 10 times the number of complaints if they both had the same failure rate. Add to that the fact that the Gigabyte boards are commonly sold with the GeIL PC6400 Ultra RAM, which is also 'maybe' problematic and you have a lot of complaints that are making prospective purchasers nervous. I don't see why. All these boards (and RAM) are being replaced under warranty so what people are really complaining about is the extra time and cost of the RMA process when you buy mail order.

subxero said:
Not keen on Gigabyte boards from experience

My favourite reply to that sort of sentiment (which I saw only yesterday elsewhere on these boards) was "I had a bad time with a girl once, but it didn't turn me gay".

There is no doubt that the Gigabytes are the easiest of the currently available Core2Duo compatible boards to use overclock an E6300 or E6400. They are not nearly so useful with E6600's and the DFI 975X board is currently reported to be very good with the latest beta BIOS. The Intel Badaxe is the classic overclocking board and many of the best Core2Duo overclocks have been recorded using the Rev. 2.0 Badaxe. Finally, the NVidia 680i boards are currently being hailed as the next big thing (until the next big thing comes along). I've had several of the Gigabyte boards now and they all been fine, but then I know what I'm doing when I'm handling them and I'm a cautious overclocker with access to 'spare' components for testing purposes.

IT Troll · 3 Jan 2007 at 10:24

The DFI Infinity 975X/G does not have low multiplier options in the BIOS. I think there is a way to trick it into doing the x6 multi but that is it.

subxero · 3 Jan 2007 at 11:46

WJA96 said:
Stuff

You do make some good points however still going to avoid Gigabyte for the time being.

I was thinking along the lines of the Bad Axe 2 board really, looks the dogs danglies as well with the blue flame heatspreaders.

Dropping the multi - trying to get a high FSB to get a better memory throughput?

SidewinderINC · 3 Jan 2007 at 12:06

WJA96 said:
My favourite reply to that sort of sentiment (which I saw only yesterday elsewhere on these boards) was "I had a bad time with a girl once, but it didn't turn me gay".

wooh, it was me that said that

and i'm still bitter because my bad experience was only last week, ditched just before new years!

still, back on the game so they say.

anywho, ive not seen much about overclocking with the badaxe thats why i havent looked into it. ive seen muchos about overclocking the DS3/DS4 and the Asus P5Bdlx so i'd be looking into them

WJA96 · 3 Jan 2007 at 12:48

subxero said:
You do make some good points however still going to avoid Gigabyte for the time being.

That limits you to... everybody else then really

subxero said:
Dropping the multi - trying to get a high FSB to get a better memory throughput?

It would improve your SuperPi times, definitely.

WJA96 · 3 Jan 2007 at 12:53

SidewinderINC said:
still, back on the game so they say.

Not round here mate - too close to Ipswich's new Reclaim the Night campaign.

SidewinderINC said:
anywho, ive not seen much about overclocking with the badaxe thats why i havent looked into it. ive seen muchos about overclocking the DS3/DS4 and the Asus P5Bdlx so i'd be looking into them

In the beginning - there was Bad Axe - and nothing else. So people overclocked on Badaxe and now on Bad Axe Rev. 2.0. Look for posts dating back to August and you'll find plenty about overclocking with Intel's best motherboard.

The P5B-E looks very good too - BlkNoel has got 4GHz out of an E6300 on air with one.

SidewinderINC · 3 Jan 2007 at 13:56

WJA96 said:
Not round here mate - too close to Ipswich's new Reclaim the Night campaign.

hahahahaha, but yeah y'know what i mean

its official today that i'm back on the market

will have to check out the badaxe properly, though its rarely heard of now i guess its just the seasoned overclockers that use it ?

WJA96 · 3 Jan 2007 at 14:05

Why would you spend £180 on a motherboard when you can get one for £100 that does the same thing? That's why Bad Axe fell from favour. There is also very rapidly changing fashion - Look at the fuss over 680i - but now the 650i ASUS P5N-E SLi looks like it's a clock-monster for £75 that will be the next big thing probably. Until the next big thing comes along.