Nvidia nForce3 Ultra Motherboard Roundup --- TheThirdMedia Hardware

Results - Overclocking

As usual, we performed overclocking tests on each of the three motherboards. Using an unlocked Althon 64, we reduced the CPU multiplier to keep it within specifications. Memory timings and HT multiplier was also reduced to achieve highest overclocking results possible. In the charts below, we present the default FSB clock speed measured by CPU-Z and the maximum stable overclock we could achieve.

The Gigabyte GA-K8NS-939 could effortlessly be overclocked up to 275MHz without any voltage tweaks. Although MSI's K8N Neo2 Platinum can be seen here to reach the same overclocking level, it didn't do so without a struggle. In our initial overclocking attempts, the board would not budge over 235MHz no matter how much voltage and memory tweaks were done. So how did we manage to reach 275MHz? The trick here is to manipulate the PCI/AGP lock and this little quirk seems to be inherent to most of MSI's nForce3 based motherboards. Increasing the set AGP frequency from 66MHz to 67 or 68MHz is all that was needed to unlock the boards actual overclocking potential.

The EPoX EP-9NDA3J achieved a commendable overclock too but could not escape running into some difficulties at higher frequencies that required additional tweaking. Although there wasn't any trick involved, we did have to use even more relaxed timings and higher memory voltage to achieve its maximum 270MHz.



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