The 100 MHz bus standard used by the latest Pentium II, Pentium III and AMD chips is about to become old news, as Intel prepares to roll out its next generation chipset, dubbed the i820. This chipset, which like the 440BX, becomes one of the key components that defines the capabilities of the motherboards it is a part of, features for the first time a new option that allows the clock divisor to be set at 1/2. This allows a CPU running at 133MHz to provide a 66.6 MHz clock signal to the AGP bus. As many overclockers have discovered, AGP cards, which are designed for the 66MHz bus, don't run properly at highly overclocked speeds. Now, thanks to the i820, PC performance enthusiasts have more options than ever.
Thanks to Overclockers' Workbench (http://overclock.digiweb.com) for the following news:
ABIT BE6-II update
Sharky Extreme has reviewed this yet to be released mainboard from ABIT. You can read the review at SE.
"The biggest change in the BE6-II's Soft Menu system however is the addition of more user selectable front side bus settings. In total, there are now 119 individual front side bus settings that users can run their CPU at, most of which are in 1MHz increments.
Here's the breakdown:
66MHz 75MHz 83MHz 84 through 100MHz 100 through 200MHz
That's not a typo, the BE6-II can indeed be set to run your CPU at a mind boggling 200MHz front side bus speed. "
"Utilizing EMS' HSDRAM, which is rated to 150MHz, we were able to stabilize two specially unlocked Intel Pentium III CPUs at a front side bus speed of 142MHz with the BE6-II. That's not a record for us (our lab's MSI MS-6163Pro mainboard holds that title at 152MHz currently) but it is still very high.
Since the 440BX chipset only contains a divider for the AGP bus that equals 66% of the FSB speed (2/3rds), using a TNT2 or other AGP 2X video card at FSB speeds beyond 133MHz with it is out of the question.
At 142MHz, the AGP bus is forced to run at 93.7MHz, which is well beyond the stock 66MHz level that its specification calls for.
Intel's upcoming i820 core logic set finally includes a full one-half clock divider for the AGP bus, which allows a PC using a 133MHz FSB speed to divide the signal in half, thereby hitting 66MHz properly. "
For more motherboard and CPU reviews, see:
Motherboard and CPU section index: www.tcp.ca/gsb/reviews/motherboards
Sharky Extreme: CPU Buyer's Guide
An article on adapting a Socket 370 motherboard to support Intel's Coppermine line of PPGA Pentium III CPUs is at http://www.hardocp.com/articles/intel_stuff/socket370_conversion/socket3...
Intel's Intel's Chipset Road Map For 2000 is discussed at TechWeb
Disclaimer: overclocking may reduce the longevity of your processor, will void your warranty and may reduce system reliability.
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