More Overclocking:

It does not seem the E2140 is having enough of a push. However, too high of the PCIe bus speed seems to present problem in using add on graphic card. PC overclocking enthusiasts found the way to pin mod the FSB strap when the E4300 soon after the E4300 showed up last year. The mod allows the CPU FSB strap to rise from default 200 to 266 or 800 to 1066 by connecting two pins located on the outer edge of the CPU using conductive paint. Hopefully, I might find out the CPU limit.

All along I thought if it worked, it would bring the speed to 2.66Ghz making it a >1GHz overclock is sweet. Without the mean to raise Vcore from BIOS, volt mod is something that I did not want to do, I was skeptical to say the least.

Pin Mod - rather than using conductive paint, I use a small piece of kitchen aluminum foil trimmed to a half H shape corresponding to the width of the two connecting pins with a thin coat of AS5 to make it sticks. Folded the excess over to the CPU HS. Use an Ohm meter to check for connectivity and reinstalled the CPU.

The BIOS screen shot tells the story; default at 2.133 Ghz, a successful mod. The use of alum foil will maintain my 3-year warranty without much of a trace, hopefully.



At 352FSB, PCIe speed is pushed to 120 MHz. I was able to finish all bench-markings at this speed at default CPU voltage and reached a highest CPU temp of ~42.5°C on open bench with ambient temp ~23°C using stock heatsink/fan and thermal paste. The only additional cooling was an 80mm fan at low rpm blowing to the HDD.








Lower is better

At 2.82 Ghz, there is remarkable jump in performance that comes with no extra charge. It is amazing to see this board reaching 352 Mhz FSB. Should this board come out last year, it would have made some embarrassing moments for a few famed name brands in the business. Overclocking becomes "effortlessly" and "less fuzz" when manufacturing technology and product development mature together producing a good match. Of course, this would not have happened if it is not for the enthusiasts who drill on every detail in extracting more, such as the pin mod.

Sound Level & Temperature E2140




At point blank range, the CEM DT-8850 digital sound meter registered 44.2 dBA (ambient noise level 38 dBA). Peak CPU temperature from Speedfan is ~42.5°C running two instances of Prime95 after 15 minutes at ~23°C ambient temp on an open bench.

Conclusive Thoughts ->