Misc: Welcome FanBoyz to the Year 2007

Welcome to the Year 2007, the start of a new beginning. It's been a year since I started this blog, with the purpose of ranting and serving as my own repository of information. As you can see below, my web hits has climbed up steadily. I doubt I'll ever reach this high again for this year since the excitement for Conroe has subsided. You can click on the image to view the larger version.


For an annual hit of 38k, my average monthly hit would be ~3.1k. This isn't huge, but like I said, I don't expect this year to be any bigger. I'd be happy if I can maintain a fraction of readership, since Conroe excitement has already reached its peak. Last year's peak was during Q2-Q3 when very few Conroe numbers are starting to hit the underground forum. So since this new uA has matured already, there are already many web sites that can cater to the FanBoyz and new comers. However, while I may not be as persistent in posting news items, I'll try to post new bits of information from time to time. Mini previews (not reviews) will be posted, and as usual, I can't share any information outside of what the public knows already. It is because I am under NDA.

But because of this, I am thinking of making a private blog, within this blog. Sort of protected by passwords, where the FanBoyz can view early benchmarks. Blogger has enabled this feature already and all I need to do is figure out how it's done. After that, I'll would-be member-only area will be protected by NDA and I'll probably allow a max of three(3) to view that area. That's just a plan, nothing is concrete yet.

Anyway, for the FanBoyz who keeps visiting the site, my thanks to you, you enable me to push forward. For the AMDroids who keeps sending me hatemails and even tried posting comments, the feeling is mutual and I hate you too.

Happy New Year to All!

Brag: One Hundred Percent Plus Overclock (100% +++) with Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E4300 (Anniversary Special Post)

This day marks my First Year anniversary. While there's no cakes, balloons, or fireworks to celebrate it, I decided to remember this day and make it memorable by hitting a certain goal: 100% overclock of Chipzilla CPU. I have always been busy, always putting this Blog site to neglect, that I even forget posting some items. So to make up for it, I'll be spending time, and this time, I'll be spending my time playing with toyz and doing what I love most: tweaking hardware. And the victim is, the unreleased, Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E4300.


And so, I finally got some quality time for the yet-to-be-released processor(Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E4300) and got intimate with it. I have been easy-goin' with this baby till today but since this is my First Year Anniversary, I decided to put the CPU for some OCing goodness and I won't be soft this time.

After ensuring I have the latest beta BIOS (thanx NicoOCZ) on my Abit AW9D-MAX board working flawlessly (some reported a borked board after the flash), I put this board for some warm up. I put my Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6400 and started pushing it till 400FSB and the system is very stable. I recorded all the settings, for both the RAM and motherboard, and ran stability testing software. I used the new multithreading Prime95 software (thanx eva2000) since I don't really like Orthos. So at a mere stock voltage on CPU, lowly 1.6v in vMCH, and 2.3v on RAM, it's perfectly stable and I can even complete any bencmark software I throw at it.

The result is very promising, and looking good in preparation for the Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E4300 overclocking spree. The last time I overclock it, I hit 95% overclock. But aside from lacking inspiration and the will to overclock, I gave up after not making it able to boot up past 395MHz.

But today is a different day than during the first time I overclock this bad boy. First, I have all the time in the world, without worrying if I have completed all my obligations before doing what I love most: playing with hardware. Second, I am such a fan of this kind of powerful yet low cost processor and I'd like to see how far it'll go. Third, it's Christmas season and I'd like to give myself a self-gratification of reaching 100% overclock on stock cooler, on an unmodded board! And last but not the least, it's my freakin' First Year Anniversary post. Anyway, if you clicked on the image, you'll see that I hit 100% OC on FSB already but this isn't truly 100% since I lowered the multi from the default of 9x to 8x, giving a hefty 3.2GHz clock frequency. However, the vMCH must be set to 1.7v!

So I tweaked the board, while still making sure that I am within my sanity's limit. At 1.7v on the vMCH, and 2.3v on RAM, I changed the multi to it's default of x9. Unfortunately, the system with reboot upon reaching Windows screen. It won't stabilize. This time, I am already pumping 1.5v from 1.425v that I used to ran at 3.2GHz. It will still not boot up, so I figure, either I change the cooler or pump the vCore even more. However, I am a lazy bum and I don't like to replace the stock cooler since it's much easier to pump the vCore than replace the cooler. Besides, I am not in the mood to change the cooler, and re-apply all the thermal goo and all that.

So, I just pumped 1.6v and be done with it, and woooolah, I hit the magical number. I don't know how stable it is, I could care less. I am not after stability, just clockage. If I wanted stability, I would have used a better RAM that runs at stock of DDR2-800 and aftermarket cooler. I reached 100% overclock, and I figure, why not go further? Not being satistifed with 100%, I decided just to push it a litte more, just something for Christmas and Anniversary spirit.

So mustering all my strength and the will to carry on, I brought up the FSB to 402MHz, but it's a no go. But 401MHz is just fine, so I inch a little to 403, and it's good to go. Hmmm, interesting, I went up further and shoved 404MHz and it works. At this time, I am just getting tired and lazy of all the reboots and save, so I pushed to 410MHz, and it's no go. After a few more misses, I settled for 406MHz final FSB on stock cooler, on air. Here's the final overclock of 103%! You may click on the image for the CPU-Z validation.



That is all FanBoyz, and have a Happy Holidays!