nForce4 for Budget AM2: ECS NFORCE4M-A Review- Page 3/5
July 19, 2006
By
Thomas Soderstrom
BIOS and Overclocking
ECS allows for the most basic and safe BIOS settings by eliminating anything that might get the user in trouble with system failures. The fact that the missing BIOS settings are also the ones used by more experienced system builders to enhance performance or stabilize an overclock is, of course, the flip side of this strategy.
Voltage settings are the first example of these limits: 1.400v is barely more than the stock setting for most AM2 processors, and not enough to noticeably raise an overclock ceiling. Builders of low-heat systems may be interested to know that the range goes all the way down to 0.550v, and multipliers can be adjusted as low as 4x in 1x increments for anyone seeking stability at an ultra-low voltage.
The most unforgivable limitation is the lack of any VDIMM control: Though ECS advertises this board being capable of supporting DDR2 up to 800MHz data rate, there are no PC2-6400 modules listed on the board’s compatibility list. The reason seems simple: Most of today’s DDR2-800 memory requires increased DIMM voltage to run at its rated speed!
CPU base frequency (HT Base Clock) is adjustable from 200 to 300MHz in 1-2MHz increments, and HT bus multipliers of 1x-5x can be chosen in 1x increments.
DRAM speeds reflect all the options available to AM2 processors via the on-die controller. However, the board does not allow changes to latency values -- not even the cursory 1-2T Command Rate setting. Is this a problem? Of course it is! Our Super Talent DDR2-800 is the only PC2-6400 memory we’ve found capable of running at full speed using default voltage, but it uses "safe" SPD values of DDR2-533. But the NFORCE4M-A configures this at 1T command rate, and the memory does not support 800MHz operation at 1T command rate ... so without the ability to change the command rate, the system can’t run our DDR2-800! Worse, other brands of DDR2-800 are automatically eliminated by the need for raised voltages.
So ECS crippled the board’s overclocking ability, and its ability to use high-performance memory at full-rated speed or full-rated timings, since those memory types require either raised voltage or manual timing adjustment. Still, we had to find the stability limit!
After dropping the CPU multiplier and memory speed to assure only motherboard stability was being tested, we were able to reach a very good 240MHz at 5x HT, a mediocre 248MHz at 4x HT, and a reasonable 269MHz at 3x HT. The 4x and 3x stability limits are far from records for the nForce4 chipset, yet these could still provide a satisfactory overclock were ECS to increase the board’s CPU core voltage range.
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