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Albatron PX925XE Pro-R Motherboard Review
Albatron PX925XE Pro-R Motherboard Review - PCSTATS
The 925XE chipset is a fickle one, supporting only Socket 775 Pentium 4 processors compatible with an 800 MHz or 1066 MHz FSB.
 82% Rating:   
Filed under: Motherboards Published:  Author: 
External Mfg. Website: Albatron Mar 08 2005   C. Sun  
Home > Reviews > Motherboards > Albatron PX925XE Pro-R

Albatron = Overclocking?

When it comes to overclocking, Albatron has earned a good reputation, and so our expectations where high for what the PX925XE Pro-R might be able to achieve.

Unfortunately, at the time of this review, a 1066FSB Intel P4EE processor was not available for testing, so a 3.2GHz 800MHz FSB Intel P4 chip was used.

Starting at 200 MHz FSB we slowly raised the clock speed of the motherboard a few MHz at a time. The motherboard was certainly up to the overclocking challenge and we didn't hit our first snag until 223 MHz. Raising the memory voltage to 2.1V fixed the problem and allowed us to continue.

At 237 MHz FSB, the motherboard started to give us occasional blue screens when booting. Raising the 925XE voltage up 0.2V fixed those problems and we continued to push the board further.

We ran into more stability problems at 243 MHz, and this time we had to turn down the memory divider from 3:4 to 1:1 and run the DDR-2 Crucial Ballistix memory in sync with the FSB. At 245 MHz, the processor began to have some stability issues but increasing the Vcore to 1.45V fixed them.

In the end we were able to hit 256 MHz with 100% stability. We didn't quite meet the 925XE's standard operating frequency of 266 MHz but considering the 3.2GHz CPU was already running at ~4.1 GHz, I'd say the overclock went extremely well, wouldn't you?

Albatron's Powerful BIOS

In the Advanced Chipset Features section of the BIOS we have the DDR2 memory timing adjustments: CAS Latency, RAS to CAS, RAS Precharge and Precharge Delay (spelt wrong in the BIOS). Tweakers will be familiar with these options.

Albatron usually has powerful and flexible BIOS' on their motherboards and we were not disappointed with the PX925XE Pro-R. The FSB can be adjusted from 200-300 MHz in 1 MHz increments. Hopefully Albatron will increase this limit higher with future BIOS releases. You can set the memory to run 1:1 or 3:4 as well as adjust the PCI Express and PCI frequency, although those two are best left alone.

Maximum DDR2 voltage goes as high as 0.4V+, 925XE chipset voltage ramps up 0.3V+ and the CPU 0.3V+.

PCStats Test System Specs:
processor:

intel pentium 4 3.2e

clock speed:

16 x 200 mhz = 3.2 ghz

motherboards:

gigabyte ga-8anxp-d (925x)*
msi 915p neo2 platinum (915p)*
dfi lanparty 875p-t (i875p)**
asrock 775v88 (pt880)**
albatron px925xe pro-r (925xe)*

videocard:

msi rx800xt-vtd256*
asus ax800xt/tvd **

memory:

2x 512mb crucial ballistix ddr2-533
2x 512mb corsair twinx1024-3200xl

hard drive: 40gb western digital special ed
cdrom: aopen 52x combo
powersupply: seasonic super tornado 400w
software setup

windowsxp build 2600
intel inf 6.10.1012
forceware 66.85

workstation benchmarks

sysmark 2004
business winstone 2004
content creation 2004
winbench 99
sisoft sandra 2004
super pi
pcmark04
3dmark2001se
3dmark05
aquamark3
comanche 4
x2: the threat
ut2003
ut2004
doom 3

* - msi rx800xt videocard used ** - asus x800xt pe videocard used

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Contents of Article: Albatron PX925XE Pro-R
 Pg 1.  Albatron PX925XE Pro-R Motherboard Review
 Pg 2.  Extra onboard features
 Pg 3.  — Albatron = Overclocking?
 Pg 4.  Benchmarks: SYSmark 2004
 Pg 5.  Benchmarks: Winstone 2004, Winbench 99
 Pg 6.  Benchmarks: SiSoft Sandra, Super Pi
 Pg 7.  Benchmarks: PCMark04, 3DMark2001
 Pg 8.  Benchmarks: 3DMark05, AquaMark03
 Pg 9.  Benchmarks: Comanche 4, X2: The Threat, UT2003
 Pg 10.  Benchmarks: UT2004, Doom 3
 Pg 11.  Another Fast Motherboard from Albatron

 
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