INTRODUCTION

I like building systems that gives good value for money. Overclocking those systems increases the value, but often sacrifices the stabilities. Therefor the choice of components are important.

With intel's introduction of the Northwood Processor, the time has come for me to consider buying and trying one of these systems. The last couple of years AMD has more or less ruled when talking price vs. performance. My thinking was that Intel produced quite equal performing processors, and if I bought a lower rated NW processor it would be possible to overclock it quite a bit. As you will see, my thinking is not that far of.

When thinking about overclocking an Intel processor, we need a motherboard that allows FSB-adjustment. When searching the web, I found that motherboards based on the SIS645 chipsett seamed to deliver a cheap, high performing and rock solid platform. What more could you ask for?

A nice selection of ram, PCI and AGP dividers would not hurt either. All resent Abit board has a lot of bios tweaks, this is what made me choose Abit SD7. I searched the web for a review of this board, and found nothing but dull technical data and questions. This is why I want to share my experience with you.

No use in saying anything, the pictures tell a thousand words. (Click for larger image)

Intel Pentium 4 1600MHz , Northwood

Default Windows XP nvidia drivers
SIS agp driver v. 1.09

- Softmenu III
- Vcore Options up to 2.2V
- Many RAM, PCI and AGP Devidors
- Great value for money
- C-media onboard sound
- Stability
- Memory performance