Overclocking Results:

htt multiplier: 5x 5x motherboard speed: 200 MHz 216 MHz If you're new to Overclocking and not sure what to do, check out these two excellent Guides for some pointers: Overclocking the CPU and Memory Overclocking the Videocard

Since this was the first time PCStats has tested out a Foxconn motherboard, we weren't sure how things would go when it finally came down to overclocking. Of course, since the NF4K8AC-8EKRS lacks any multiplier controls we did not expect to get very far...

We started out the overclocking at 200 MHz, raised the motherboard clock speed in 5 MHz intervals. The first few attempts went smoothly enough, and then promptly cut out at 216 MHz.

Attempts to push the NF4K8AC-8EKRS faster than that created BSOD issues while booting Windows, so it overclocking is certainly not one of the hallmarks of this board. We even tried adjusting the memory timings and system voltages, but to no avail.

Realistically, its poor overclockability shouldn't be much of a surprise considering this motherboard is not marketed towards enthusiasts, but rather mainstream users.

Peeking inside the BIOS:

In the DRAM configuration section we see all the usual memory tweaks we'd expect such as memory operating frequency as well as CAS Latency and RAS to CAS adjustments.

In the X-BIOS II section we find the voltage options and as we can see it doesn't go very high. 1.8V max for the chipset, 2.8V for the memory, 1.5V for HyperTransport and 1.55V for the processor.

At first I wasn't sure if the NF4K8AC-8EKRS supported overclocking but those options are in the BIOS Features section. Hopefully in future BIOS revisions, Foxconn will consider placing these options in the X-BIOS II section to keep everything together. The motherboard clock speed goes from 200-300 MHz in 1 MHz increments.

PCStats Test System Specs:

processor: amd athlon64 4000+ clock speed: 12 x 200 mhz = 2.4 ghz motherboards: asrock k8 combo-z/asr (ali m1689)* soltek sl-k8tpro-939 (k8t800 pro)* epox 9nda3+ (nf3 ultra)* albatron k8x890 pro ii (k8t890)** gigabyte ga-k8nxp-9 (nf4 ultra)** epox ep-9npa+ ultra (nf4 ultra)** gigabyte ga-k8nxp-sli (nf4 sli)** msi k8n neo4 platinum/sli (nf4 sli)** dfi lanparty nf4 sli-dr (nf4 sli)** msi k8n neo4 platinum (nf4 ultra)** foxconn winfast nf4k8ac-8ekrs (nf4)** videocard: asus x800xt/vtd* msi rx800xt-vtd256** memory: 2x 512mb corsair twinx1024-3200xl pro hard drive: 40gb western digital special ed 74gb western digital raptor sata cdrom: aopen combo 52x powersupply: seasonic super tornado 400w software setup windowsxp sp2 via 4in1 4.56v forceware 6.53 catalyst 5.4 workstation benchmarks sysmark 2004 business winstone 2004 content creation 2004 super pi sisoft sandra 2004 pcmark04 3dmark2001se 3dmark05 aquamark3 comanche 4 x2: the threat ut2003 ut2004 doom 3

pcstats has upgraded its test platform with a couple of 74gb western digital WD740 Raptor hard drives, replacing the trusty 40GB WD IDE HDDs as test drives. Please keep that in mind when viewing the office and disk benchmarks.