AM2 Motherboards-Part 4: ATI Crossfire Xpress 3200
by Wesley Fink on August 21, 2006 7:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Overclocking
Even after three BIOS revisions and a last minute fix with a beta BIOS, the ECS is still the worst overclocker among the nine AM2 motherboards we have tested - and not by a small margin. Every other AM2 board managed to overclock beyond 300, while the ECS reached 263 at best with a huge amount of effort.
The worst part of the ECS experience was not even the low overclock numbers with this board. It was the pain of getting to any overclock with the severe cold boot issues that were encountered above a 230 clock setting. Above 230, you set the OC speed in the BIOS and the board fails on boot. You then have to shut it down. Upon reboot the board will sit for about a minute or longer and appear to be hung, then suddenly it will spring to life and boot to BIOS at the set speed. You are then presented with an OC fail screen that states the board has failed the overclock. That's probably not true. If you then go into the BIOS again, leave the settings where you have it, and exit, the board will fail to boot again. Turn it off again, restart, and the KA3 normally boots correctly at the speed above 230 after this second shutdown. This is the worst cold boot issue we have seen in a very long time, and frankly it is amazing you can still get another 33 MHz on clock frequency after you encounter the cold boot wall.
In the end all this effort and pain still yields you the worst overclock among AM2 boards. Frankly, it isn't worth the effort when there are cheaper boards in this roundup which don't have these problems. The pain we experienced with the ECS KA3 MVP proves once again the value of true comparative testing. As we have said many times before, an article about a single board without comparison is an advertisement. A review compares the features and performance of two or more boards.
Memory Stress Testing
Optimum tRAS
The ECS KA3 MVP behaved like the MSI in tRAS testing. This is no real surprise since the MSI is based on the same ATI chipset. All testing used a tRAS value of 13 for best bandwidth.
Memory Stress Testing
The ECS has limited memory voltage controls compared to other AM2 boards aimed at the enthusiast. Memory voltage could only be adjusted to 2.2V which was barely adequate for the Corsair memory used in our benchmark tests.
Despite that voltage limitation, with two DIMMs installed, testing was completely stable at 3-3-3-13 2T timings at DDR2-800. However, the ECS board locked up with any attempt to set 1T Command Rate at DDR2-800. The highest speed that could run with complete stability at 1T was DDR2-533. AM2 does not officially support 1T Command Rate at DDR2-800, so it should come as no surprise that KA3 could not handle the 1T settings.
Installing four DIMMs stresses the memory subsystem further, and it is also where the handicap of a maximum 2.2V DIMM voltage rears its ugly head. We had to drop the timings to a 4-4-3 at 2T to get 4 DIMMs to work at 2.2V. These are the slowest timings required for any of the eight tested AM2 boards running 4 DIMMs. Without the ability to provide a bit more voltage it is not clear whether the issue is the board design or just running out of voltage.
| ECS KA3 MVP Extreme Overclocking Testbed |
|
| Processor: | AM2 4800+ (X2 2.4GHz 1MB L2 Cache per core) |
| CPU Voltage: | 1.5V (default 1.4V) |
| Cooling: | AMD Stock Heatpipe FX62 Cooler |
| Power Supply: | OCZ Power Stream 520W |
| Memory: | Corsair Twin2x2048-PC2-8500C5 (2x1GB) (Micron Memory Chips) |
| Hard Drive | Hitachi 250GB 7200RPM SATA2 16MB Cache |
| Maximum OC: (Standard Ratio) |
250x12 (5x HT, 3-3-3-13) 3000MHz (+25%) |
| Maximum FSB: (Lower Ratio) |
263 x 9, 10, or 11 (4x HT, 3-3-3-13) (2862MHz, 2 DIMMs in DC mode) (+31.5% Bus Overclock) |
Even after three BIOS revisions and a last minute fix with a beta BIOS, the ECS is still the worst overclocker among the nine AM2 motherboards we have tested - and not by a small margin. Every other AM2 board managed to overclock beyond 300, while the ECS reached 263 at best with a huge amount of effort.
The worst part of the ECS experience was not even the low overclock numbers with this board. It was the pain of getting to any overclock with the severe cold boot issues that were encountered above a 230 clock setting. Above 230, you set the OC speed in the BIOS and the board fails on boot. You then have to shut it down. Upon reboot the board will sit for about a minute or longer and appear to be hung, then suddenly it will spring to life and boot to BIOS at the set speed. You are then presented with an OC fail screen that states the board has failed the overclock. That's probably not true. If you then go into the BIOS again, leave the settings where you have it, and exit, the board will fail to boot again. Turn it off again, restart, and the KA3 normally boots correctly at the speed above 230 after this second shutdown. This is the worst cold boot issue we have seen in a very long time, and frankly it is amazing you can still get another 33 MHz on clock frequency after you encounter the cold boot wall.
In the end all this effort and pain still yields you the worst overclock among AM2 boards. Frankly, it isn't worth the effort when there are cheaper boards in this roundup which don't have these problems. The pain we experienced with the ECS KA3 MVP proves once again the value of true comparative testing. As we have said many times before, an article about a single board without comparison is an advertisement. A review compares the features and performance of two or more boards.
Memory Stress Testing
Optimum tRAS
The ECS KA3 MVP behaved like the MSI in tRAS testing. This is no real surprise since the MSI is based on the same ATI chipset. All testing used a tRAS value of 13 for best bandwidth.
Memory Stress Testing
The ECS has limited memory voltage controls compared to other AM2 boards aimed at the enthusiast. Memory voltage could only be adjusted to 2.2V which was barely adequate for the Corsair memory used in our benchmark tests.
| ECS KA3 MVP Extreme DDR2-800 Timings - 2 DIMMs (2/4 slots populated - 1 Dual-Channel Bank) |
|
| Clock Speed: | 200MHz |
| Timing Mode: | 800MHz - Default |
| CAS Latency: | 3 |
| RAS to CAS Delay: | 3 |
| RAS Precharge: | 3 |
| RAS Cycle Time: | 13 |
| Command Rate: | 2T |
| Voltage: | 2.2V |
Despite that voltage limitation, with two DIMMs installed, testing was completely stable at 3-3-3-13 2T timings at DDR2-800. However, the ECS board locked up with any attempt to set 1T Command Rate at DDR2-800. The highest speed that could run with complete stability at 1T was DDR2-533. AM2 does not officially support 1T Command Rate at DDR2-800, so it should come as no surprise that KA3 could not handle the 1T settings.
| ECS KA3 MVP Extreme Epox DDR2-800 Timings - 4 DIMMs (4/4 slots populated - 2 Dual-Channel Banks) |
|
| Clock Speed: | 200MHz |
| Timing Mode: | 800MHz - Default |
| CAS Latency: | 4 |
| RAS to CAS Delay: | 4 |
| RAS Precharge: | 3 |
| RAS Cycle Time: | 13 |
| Command Rate: | 2T |
| Voltage: | 2.2V |
Installing four DIMMs stresses the memory subsystem further, and it is also where the handicap of a maximum 2.2V DIMM voltage rears its ugly head. We had to drop the timings to a 4-4-3 at 2T to get 4 DIMMs to work at 2.2V. These are the slowest timings required for any of the eight tested AM2 boards running 4 DIMMs. Without the ability to provide a bit more voltage it is not clear whether the issue is the board design or just running out of voltage.
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Wesley Fink - Monday, August 21, 2006 - link
We plan to test the Abit, but we have not yet received the board.yyrkoon - Monday, August 21, 2006 - link
Good to hear :)mendocinosummit - Monday, August 21, 2006 - link
Sweet. I was hoping that was the case.Wesley Fink - Monday, August 21, 2006 - link
It's not the end of the AM2 board testing. We fully expect great RD580 boards from DFI and Asus. However, after testing 9 AM2 boards in-depth it was time to assess where we were.goinginstyle - Monday, August 21, 2006 - link
Finally a review that does not have Conroe plastered all over it. I have the ECS RD480 board based upon an earlier review of it here. The board has performed well and is stable as a rock. Do you think you maybe have a bad board or is it really as bad as it was described? I was looking forward to going to AM2 with a cheap X3800x2 but did not want a nvidia solution since I already have crossfire. Will there be other RD580 boards from Asus or DFI or maybe someone like Abit?I was excited about this board after reading the review at HardOcp where it received an editors award. Your comment "we have to wonder how ECS could manage to produce such a mediocre motherboard." is completely opposite of the other review. But after reading both reviews again I noticed your test results were very consistent when compared to the other boards that were not reviewed in that article. Looking at the results I have to wonder what board they tested.
Just a few questions if you have time. What would cause the cold boot issue? Does the board have the SB600 or SB460 as listed in the chart. How is the performance of the jmicron chipset? I can not find any test results with it and it seems like everyone is using it now. Thanks for providing some very useful AMD information as they still exist even after Conroe.
Wesley Fink - Monday, August 21, 2006 - link
The ECS has the SB600. ECS included literature that stated the soutn bridge was SB460, but we took off the heatsink and looked. It is definitely an SB600. We will change the ECS spec chart.The cold boot issues can be poor power regulation, the board's boot sequence, or even just a poor BIOS. It IS possible it might be corrected in the furure with a BIOS update, but there are plenty of other AM2 boards that work well today and cost about the same or less.
We noticed in the other website review you reference that they made a passing mention of the missing CAS adjustment, but they still gave it an Editors choice. They also noted the very poor overclocking, but still gave the ECS an Editors Choice. I'm sorry, but we don't give Editors Choice awards to the worse overclocker of 9 competing AM2 boards that does not even offer CAS adjustments.
allnighter - Monday, August 21, 2006 - link
...work comp, win2k+explorerPatrese - Monday, August 21, 2006 - link
Great review, I only missed Oblivion results. I'd like to see more Anantech reviews about motherboards directed to other audiences, like HTPCs, for instance. There are a lot of motherboards directed to that segment, like the Asus M2NPV-VM, and I think it would be great to see a review as detailed as you generally do for the entusiast boards. A MicroATX roundup would be perfect... :)Wesley Fink - Monday, August 21, 2006 - link
A few HTPC motherboard reviews are already in process. You will be seeing these from Gary Key in the near future.jackylman - Monday, August 21, 2006 - link
I'd really love to see some hardcore Sempron undervolting on those reviews. (hint,hint)