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ECS PF88 Extreme Hybrid Intel/AMD Motherboard Review
ECS PF88 Extreme Hybrid Intel/AMD Motherboard Review - PCSTATS
The ECS PF88 Extreme Hybrid motherboard, in the configuration pictured, works with either a socket 775 Intel Pentium 4 or socket 939 AMD Athlon 64 processor.
 87% Rating:   
Filed under: Motherboards Published:  Author: 
External Mfg. Website: ECS Sep 06 2005   C. Sun  
Home > Reviews > Motherboards > ECS PF88 Extreme

Overclocking both Intel and AMD

SiS and overclocking generally tend to go together like oil and water, so we weren't expecting much from either the Intel or AMD platform in that respect.

Starting with the Intel 656 chipset, we first lowered the memory frequency so it wouldn't the hold the motherboard back, then started increasing FSB slowly from 200MHz. The ECS PF88 Extreme hit a maximum speed of 237 MHz with the Pentium 4 installed. We knew that it was the motherboard which had maxed out since the processor can clock much higher with stock voltage and the memory was not even running at stock speeds yet. Not bad for an ECS motherboard though.

AMD overclocking was more limited than with the Intel set up, but then again an enthusiast would not buy a motherboard like this for overclocking purposes. With no multiplier or voltage controls and a maximum motherboard clock speed of 232 MHz we didn't expect much.

The motherboard had no problem running at the maximum setting of 232 MHz, though we had to lower the memory frequency to run at 166 MHz mode. With additional frequency adjustments and voltage adjustments in the BIOS, the ECS PF88 Extreme might turn out to be a decent overclocker, for AMD processors at least.

The ECS PF88 BIOS:

We'll be looking at the Intel BIOS first. Here in the DRAM Clock/Timing Control we have the DDR2 memory timing adjustments. There are quite a few settings here and tweakers will enjoy pushing the system as much as they can.

In the Frequency/Voltage control section we can change the FSB from 200-450 MHz in 1 MHz increments and there are also a whole host of memory multipliers. The maximum voltage you can add to the CPU is 0.75V and memory 1.5V.

When the SIMA A9S is installed we get DDR RAM (not DDR2) memory options since the Athlon64 CPU still uses traditional DDR memory. The amount of tweaks here is less than we expected but should be good enough for the average user.

As you can see, Socket 939 overclocking is not very exciting. The only option that we have is to adjust the motherboard frequency between 200-232 MHz in 1 MHz increments.

PCStats Test System Specs:
processor: intel pentium 4 540

amd athlon64 4000+

clock speed: 16 x 200 mhz = 3.2 ghz 12 x 200 mhz = 2.4 ghz
motherboards:

albatron px925xe pro-r (925xe)**
gigabyte ga-8anxp-d (925x)**
msi 915p neo2 platinum (915p)*
dfi lanparty 875p-t (i875p)*
asrock 775v88 (pt880)*
gigabyte ga-8n-sli royal (nf4-sli intel)**
ecs pf88 extreme (sis 656)**

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)**
msi k8n neo4 platinum (nf4 ultra)**
gigabyte ga-k8nxp-sli (nf4 sli)**
msi k8n neo4 platinum/sli (nf4 sli)**
dfi lanparty nf4 sli-dr (nf4 sli)**
ecs pf88 extreme (sis 756)**

videocard:

asus x800xt/vtd*
msi rx800xt-vtd256e**

memory: 2x 512mb crucial ballistix pc5300

2x 512mb mushkin pc3200 l2 v2

hard drive: 74gb western digital raptor sata hdd
cdrom: aopen 52x combo drive
powersupply: seasonic super tornado 400w
software setup

windowsxp build 2600
intel inf 7.00.10
nforce4 6.53
via 4in1 4.55v
sis beta driver
catalyst 5.4

windowsxp build 2600
nforce4 6.53
via 4in1 4.55v
sis beta driver
catalyst 5.4

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.

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Contents of Article: ECS PF88 Extreme
 Pg 1.  ECS PF88 Extreme Hybrid Intel/AMD Motherboard Review
 Pg 2.  Onboard Features and Options
 Pg 3.  The SIMA Daughtercard
 Pg 4.  Wireless 802.11G USB Adaptor
 Pg 5.  The SIS 656 and SIS 756 chipsets
 Pg 6.  — Overclocking both Intel and AMD
 Pg 7.  Benchmarks: SYSmark2004 Intel
 Pg 8.  Benchmarks: SYSmark 2004 AMD
 Pg 9.  Benchmarks: Winstone 2004
 Pg 10.  Benchmarks: Winbench 99
 Pg 11.  Benchmarks: SiSoft Sandra, Super Pi
 Pg 12.  Benchmarks: PCMark04
 Pg 13.  Benchmarks: 3DMark2001
 Pg 14.  Benchmarks: 3DMark05
 Pg 15.  Benchmarks: Comanche 4, X2: The Threat
 Pg 16.  Benchmarks: UT2003
 Pg 17.  Benchmarks: UT2004
 Pg 18.  Benchmarks: Doom 3
 Pg 19.  Versatility is the key to the ECS PF88 Extreme!

 
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