piotke

If your cpu can handke for axample the 250 Mhs fsb, then yes, the mainboard should be able to handle that.
But If you're mixing memory, 333 & 500 for example, all the memory will be running a the speed of the slowest one, 333 in this case. But your cpu wil remain at normal speed.

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Abaddon

Hi folks,

I just ordered a Chaintech 9CJS Zenith yesterday. It will replace my MSI PT880 motherboard, which has been a thorn in my side from day one.

I have a few questions for those of you currently using the 9CJS, if you have time to answer. I'd really appreciate the help.

1) Does the latest BIOS for the board include an option to set AGP/PCI operation to Asynchronous mode (i.e., lock the AGP/PCI to 66/33) Some reviews seem to indicate that this option was removed in later BIOS revisions.

2) Can fastwrites be disabled in the BIOS? This was not a question I even considered, until I came across a review that said they were automatically enabled. I have a Radeon 9700, and stability is MUCH better with FW off.

3) Will this motherboard work with Kingston HyperX PC3700 (DDR466) memory? I have two sticks of 512mb, that I have been running in dual-channel mode on my current motherboard. I plan to run them as DDR400 on the Chaintech (1:1 ratio).

4) My 9700 Pro currently uses an Arctic Cooling heatsink solution (which has a hefty plastic bracket on the side toward the Northbridge heatsink/fan. Does anyone out there use on of these on a 9CJS? I hope it fits ... dunno where my ATI factory heatsink is!

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Abaddon

biCker

@ Abaddon:

1) The pci lock is only available since the latest bios version (version 6), 66/33, 73/36 & 80/40

2) No option to disable/enable fast writes in the latest biosversion

3) When you run your memory as ddr400 it will have a 4:5 divider, ddr266 will give you 5:4 and ddr 333 gives 1:1.

4) I use watercooling so I don't know, but between the agp slot and the nb heatsink there's only a 1cm space

Abaddon

Thanks BiCker.

Not good news on that heatsink issue. Why the heck would they put so little clearance there? When you say 1 cm, do you mean the space between the bottom of the heatsink and the AGP slot? I think I may soon be shaving plastic off the bracket for my graphics card cooler! Oh well, I will burn that bridge when I come to it.

About the memory - I think those ratios vary by processor. I will be running a 3.2C Northwood at 800 FSB. I am not the sharpest crayon in the box when it comes to memory timings ... but it runs at DDR400 in a 1:1 ratio on my current board. What's the default FSB on your processor? I know my Prescott 2.4 (with 533 FSB) ran the DDR 400 at a 5:4 ratio.

I think I can still force fastwrites off in my Catalyst drivers.

Thanks for all the help! I really appreciate the info. This helps me to plan ahead for the ordeal ... not really looking forward to all those cables - but the end result should be very nice.

jmke

biCker has a "B" P4 I think

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Abaddon

So, how is the performance of the onboard LAN and sound on the 9CJS? I have an Audigy 2 card, but am fed up with it - seems to have a lot of issues with my current motherboard (which admittedly has a VIA PT880 chipset).

As for LAN ... is it better to use the RealTek one or the gigabit LAN, from a performance/CPU use perspective? I have a cable modem connection, so I know the gigabit's bandwith would not be utilized. I also have a Netgear card I could drop in, if the LAN causes a frame drop in games.

jmke

A cable modem will not even utilise 10mbit
so either onboard network connection will be fine

soundwise its better to stick with the Audigy2, the only motherboard which comes close to it when talking integrated audio is the nForce2 soundstorm.

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Abaddon

Do the onboard audio or LAN drag on the CPU much? I can deal with sound quality that's a bit lower than my Audigy 2 ... but I hate to sacrifice frames. My thought was that the gigabit LAN would be less of a drag on the CPU since it does not run through the PCI bus.

I think the whole system will probably overclock better if I can eliminate my PCI cards. I have both of them to drop back in if the performance lags with the onboard options.

Kerry

"So, how is the performance of the onboard LAN and sound on the 9CJS?" I have no card to compare it with but for me the on board sound is very good.

I use the gigabit LAN for the same reason you give.

Kerry

Abaddon

Thanks Kerry ...

I figured that CSA would make the gigabit LAN the best choice, if it really functions as advertised. Good to hear that others think so too.