Working on getting my system up. Should have a benchmark by the end of the week.

Count me in for this, I've a few different boards and quite a few cpus too - I believe the Athlon XPs were probably the best, kicking myself that I don't still have my 2500 XP-M

Hmm.. tempts me to grab a K7S8X and just mod it the same way I did back then.. and beyond? Considering...

tehsiggi wrote on 2026-05-05, 09:27:

Hmm.. tempts me to grab a K7S8X and just mod it the same way I did back then.. and beyond? Considering...

With only single channel ram and 333mhz fsb, youre going to have to do a lot of modding to compete with all the nForce2 Ultra 400 boards.

Here we go!! Where i stopped for the night... The cpu is an Athlon XP-M 2500+ (AXMF2500FVQ4C)

supercordo wrote on 2026-05-05, 21:09:

tehsiggi wrote on 2026-05-05, 09:27:

Hmm.. tempts me to grab a K7S8X and just mod it the same way I did back then.. and beyond? Considering...

With only single channel ram and 333mhz fsb, youre going to have to do a lot of modding to compete with all the nForce2 Ultra 400 boards.

Because a challenge isn't a challenge if you'd use the easiest path. My K7S8X would do 200MHz FSB and more back in the day, though not officially supported. And yes, single channel sucks, but for me it's a throwback to my youth.

I'd have an A7N8X as well, but I don't want to.. Well.. Risk it 😀

tehsiggi wrote on 2026-05-06, 03:59:

Because a challenge isn't a challenge if you'd use the easiest path. My K7S8X would do 200MHz FSB and more back in the day, though not officially supported. And yes, single channel sucks, but for me it's a throwback to my youth.

I'd have an A7N8X as well, but I don't want to.. Well.. Risk it 😀

Me and my MSI 745 Ultra will watch as you crash...and burn...in your heroic attempt to take SIS to the top of the mountain

With popcorns of course

as for me...im not even trying, there are people here that are insane...

Cpu did not want to finish the benchmark pass 2.6ghz and the motherboard refused to post after 230fsb. Ill see if i can squeeze any more points out if it tomorrow.

The xp-m were fantastic chips. Sadly I only have a 3200 and below but I will give this a go 👍. Also have a p4 extreme, wonder which is faster? I can’t mess with the p4 unfortunately as it’s up for sale

RetroAddict wrote on 2026-05-07, 15:48:

The xp-m were fantastic chips. Sadly I only have a 3200 and below but I will give this a go 👍. Also have a p4 extreme, wonder which is faster? I can’t mess with the p4 unfortunately as it’s up for sale

Check out the netburst aiming for the stars thread. The P4 extreme was a reponce to the Athlon 64 fx.

Hello! I'm new here. This thread finally convinced me to join vogons! 😀
As a socked A addict, I want to participate to this challenge.

I want to start with my K7S5A board. I wonder how far I am able to push it.

supercordo wrote on 2026-05-07, 03:42:

Cpu did not want to finish the benchmark pass 2.6ghz and the motherboard refused to post after 230fsb. Ill see if i can squeeze any more points out if it tomorrow.

Nice score! I guess you use the default BIOS. A mod BIOS could help to push the FSB further...

_digitalbath wrote on 2026-05-07, 16:35:

Hello! I'm new here. This thread finally convinced me to join vogons! :-) As a socked A addict, I want to participate to this c […]
Show full quote

Hello! I'm new here. This thread finally convinced me to join vogons! 😀
As a socked A addict, I want to participate to this challenge.

I want to start with my K7S5A board. I wonder how far I am able to push it.

supercordo wrote on 2026-05-07, 03:42:

Cpu did not want to finish the benchmark pass 2.6ghz and the motherboard refused to post after 230fsb. Ill see if i can squeeze any more points out if it tomorrow.

Nice score! I guess you use the default BIOS. A mod BIOS could help to push the FSB further...

Welcome to the fun!!!!! Thanks for the advice.

Thanks!

first result. I used a 3000+ Barton CPU (unlocked, CPU from 2003/34). I guess there is room for improvement, but I am limited by the chipset anyway. The result is not that bad imho.

K7S5A - recapped, 12v rail mod, Vcore mod, Vmod for chipset+RAM+AGP
7600GT AGP @675/803
3000+ Barton CPU @16,5x150

_digitalbath wrote on 2026-05-08, 14:35:

Thanks! […]
Show full quote

Thanks!

first result. I used a 3000+ Barton CPU (unlocked, CPU from 2003/34). I guess there is room for improvement, but I am limited by the chipset anyway. The result is not that bad imho.

K7S5A - recapped, 12v rail mod, Vcore mod, Vmod for chipset+RAM+AGP
7600GT AGP @675/803
3000+ Barton CPU @16,5x150

how did you unlocked the Barton? with the bridge in L6?

The CPU is factory unlocked. The early Barton CPUs — up to around week 39 in 2003 — came fully unlocked. Everything produced after that was superlocked.
The CPU multiplier was changed using the FID mod on the motherboard. By deault, the K7S5A board is not able to change the multiplier.

_digitalbath wrote on 2026-05-08, 14:35:

Thanks! […]
Show full quote

Thanks!

first result. I used a 3000+ Barton CPU (unlocked, CPU from 2003/34). I guess there is room for improvement, but I am limited by the chipset anyway. The result is not that bad imho.

K7S5A - recapped, 12v rail mod, Vcore mod, Vmod for chipset+RAM+AGP
7600GT AGP @675/803
3000+ Barton CPU @16,5x150

On the score board!

Well, I was going to have a go at this, but it seems my Barton 2800+ and Asus A7N8X Deluxe v2.0 combo is hot garbage at overclocking (yes, it’s a superlocked chip). Won’t do more than 169fsb (169x12.5, 2112MHz), won’t let me run the memory at anything other than 1:1 with the FSB (memory can handle much higher, OCZ 3700 gold).

My only XP-M is a 1500+ which whilst admirable will only boot at 201x8.5 (1708MHz), which is still marginally slower in 3DM than the 2800+ even with the increased memory bandwidth.

I know the 7900GS I have in this board is capable of much higher scores than I’m seeing currently (as I’ve had it in my P4 boards), so I’m clearly CPU bottlenecked.

I’m wondering if a re-cap is needed to get the motherboard stable at even marginal overclocks, or possibly even some ripple reducing mods (I don’t really want to fully voltmod this system, as I don’t want to kill it).

paradigital wrote on 2026-05-10, 07:09:

Well, I was going to have a go at this, but it seems my Barton 2800+ and Asus A7N8X Deluxe v2.0 combo is hot garbage at overcloc […]
Show full quote

Well, I was going to have a go at this, but it seems my Barton 2800+ and Asus A7N8X Deluxe v2.0 combo is hot garbage at overclocking (yes, it’s a superlocked chip). Won’t do more than 169fsb (169x12.5, 2112MHz), won’t let me run the memory at anything other than 1:1 with the FSB (memory can handle much higher, OCZ 3700 gold).

My only XP-M is a 1500+ which whilst admirable will only boot at 201x8.5 (1708MHz), which is still marginally slower in 3DM than the 2800+ even with the increased memory bandwidth.

I know the 7900GS I have in this board is capable of much higher scores than I’m seeing currently (as I’ve had it in my P4 boards), so I’m clearly CPU bottlenecked.

I’m wondering if a re-cap is needed to get the motherboard stable at even marginal overclocks, or possibly even some ripple reducing mods (I don’t really want to fully voltmod this system, as I don’t want to kill it).

Sorry for your luck brother. Might find something cheap on ebay.

I'll get involved later, I have other projects going on right now.
I have a few parts that could be a good fit.

Asus A7N8XE Deluxe MB - This was just photographed on a computer.

I suddenly found a P4 result.