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Abit NI8 SLI: nVidia SLI for the Intel Gamer

 by Randi Sica & Wesley Fink on October 7, 2005 12:05 AM EST
19 Comments | Add A Comment
19 Comments
ABIT NI8 SLI: Overclocking

ABIT NI8 SLI Overclocking Testbed
Processor: Intel P4 D840 EE 3.2 Ghz
CPU Voltage: 1.41V (default 1.385V)
Cooling: Gigabyte 3D Cooler Ultra GT
Power Supply: PC Power and Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 SLI
Memory: 2x Corsair CM2X512A - 5400UL v 1.2
Hard Drive: Western Digital 36GB Raptor 10,000RPM
Maximum OC:
(Standard Ratio)		 220x16 (4x HT)
3520MHz (+9.4%)
Maximum FSB:
(Lower Ratio)		 220 x 14 (4x HT)
(2 DIMMs in DC mode @ 667Mhz 3-2-2-8 1T)
(+9.4% Bus Overclock)

This was a very disappointing showing for the NI8 in the overclocking department. This CPU has proven to run at 3700-3800 MHz on air cooling while utilized on other similar Intel mainboards, so the overclocking roadblock is definitely not the CPU. My background is deep in overclocking experience over the years, including extensive water and phase-change cooling experience. All the stops were pulled out to get this particular setup higher, including raising VCore from 1.41V to its limit, dropping the LDT multiplier to 1 from 4, dropping the memory all the way down to 400 MHz, and lowering the multiplier to its minimum of 14. The system would muster a boot at 225 MHz FSB, but then freeze in Windows. 220 MHz FSB is rock-solid stable and the most that could be attained.

Raising the northbridge voltage has been key on other similar C19 northbridge based boards, but ABIT has left that option out and it most probably was a smart move. As mentioned before, its preset 1.4V combined with the Silent OTES cooling solution gets incredibly hot; more voltage invariably would overwhelm the supplied cooling beyond its capacity. My feeling is even with substantially better CPU cooling such as water or phase change, the limit here is the board itself and not the CPU. Upgrading the NB cooling could potentially help, but without the BIOS option to increase NB voltage we would only get halfway there.

ABIT NI8 SLI: Feature Set (Cont'd) ABIT NI8 SLI: Memory Stress Testing
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  • TheInvincibleMustard - Saturday, October 8, 2005 - link

    Thanks for clearing that up, Wesley ... here I was thinking that AT had gone off their rockers for a moment :D

    -TIM

  • jojo4u - Friday, October 7, 2005 - link

    A new Forceware was also used in the gaming tests.

  • smn198 - Friday, October 7, 2005 - link

    Agreed. This is not a motherboard test.

  • TheInvincibleMustard - Friday, October 7, 2005 - link

    QFT ... what's the point in testing a new board while conveniently slipping a new processor into it as well? That's akin to "Let's compare this Accord versus this Corolla, oh and by the way, the Accord has nitrous, aftermarket shocks, aftermarket brakes, aftermarket muffler ..."

    Thanks for an article that shows that dual-core is better than single-core in multi-threaded applications ... funny, I thought Anandtech did one of those articles a while back ...

    -TIM

    PS -- WTF is up with no Firewire on this board? Mobos http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">less than $80 shipped have IEEE1394 connectivity for cryin' out loud ...

  • TheInvincibleMustard - Friday, October 7, 2005 - link

    Err ... well ... I tried to QFT, but apparently it didn't work? Whatever, I still agree with you guys.

    -TIM

  • ksherman - Friday, October 7, 2005 - link

    Man, I REALLY like the passively cooled chipset... wish DFI did that in the nF4 boards...

  • mongoosesRawesome - Friday, October 7, 2005 - link

    eh, not so impressed myself. what ABIT did looks expensive and it doesn't get the job done adequately. DFI includes temperature controlled fans in their BIOS, which makes their fans bearable. A nice thing about Nforce 3/4 boards is that you really only have one chip to cool.

    Who exactly is Abit targeting with this board? Who games with Intel? A64s are cheap, nforce 4 boards are cheap, and they perform better. I realize that in the corporate world, there are people out there that only use Intel, but I figured gamers were different. I just can't see this board really being that popular.

  • KristopherKubicki - Friday, October 7, 2005 - link

    ASUS did it first with the "Premium" series stuff.

    Kristopher

  • emc2-1955 - Sunday, August 29, 2010 - link

    I got an Abit NI8 SLI with an extreme processor and 4 gig of ram. The problem is that to takes forever to load. I've tried it with windows xp pro and windows 7 can anyone tell me what I chould check any tips
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