Foxconn FlamingBlade GTI Preview

[r1ch]

More single stage - evoChill LS

The rest of the benchies, write up tomorrow.

Superpi 32M @ 224x21 = 4708Mhz


wPrime 32M @ 221x21 = 4644Mhz


wPrime 1024M @ 219x21 = 4591Mhz


3DMark05 @ 224x21 = 4708Mhz


3DMark06 @ 217x21 = 4559Mhz

[Bustah]

looking good, nice uncore speed too. very nice c0 chip you got

[r1ch]

looking good, nice uncore speed too. very nice c0 chip you got

Thanks Martin This 2nd C0 chip is a bit better than the first although I still think there's more left in this board.

Overclocking is so similar to the BloodRAGE it makes me wonder whether the differences are really worth it.

With a PCI-E mod I expect the same 230+ I got out of the BloodRAGE, finger's crossed!

BTW, new stock doesn't need this PCI-E mod, they've been doing it in the factory for weeks now so you should have full PCI-E if you buy a retail board.

[r1ch]

PCI-E Mod time This board is a BloodRAGE in disguise!!

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=635308



PCI-E Mod

[carlb]

nice speed you liking that cpu lol
you have that 5ghz soon

[Gendo]

Really nice bclk there R1ch.

I have 3 questions about the mod though, since I'd like to do it as well.

1. Are those damn resistors really as small as they appear?

2. What will happen if I successfully take off the resistor but break/burn it while putting it in the other spot?

3. Does it matter if I put the resistor on backwards from how I took it off? I'm sure I'll drop it at least once

[r1ch]

Really nice bclk there R1ch.

I have 3 questions about the mod though, since I'd like to do it as well.

1. Are those damn resistors really as small as they appear?

2. What will happen if I successfully take off the resistor but break/burn it while putting it in the other spot?

3. Does it matter if I put the resistor on backwards from how I took it off? I'm sure I'll drop it at least once

1. Yes!

2. Most likely the board will be unstable. Not entirely sure but as long as you're careful you'll be ok.

3. No, doesn't matter - I got the BloodRAGE right first time but the FlamingBlade I think I got it the other way round.

Basically, don't try this if you haven't soldered before, or practise lots on old PCB's etc first. It's do-able, but you need a steady hand.

[Barron_Greenback]

And it's deffo worth investing in a good quality soldering iron, with a low wattage (12-15w) and very fine tip for best results.

[Gendo]

Hmm it seems the achievable pci-e is different for each motherboard. I just flashed mine and it won't boot at anything over 101 and then in windows I can (sometimes) raise it to 103.

That's another weird thing. Sometimes I just either can't raise the pci-e (nothing happening in setfsb) or if I for example boot at 101 it freezes as soon as I raise it 1 step.

Guess I need the mod then

Edit: after some more testing I can honestly say: the new bios is shit and unstable as hell. It wouldn't even boot at the settings I've been using all day with the old bios and raising the pci-e is a pita. It usually just freezes (hard freeze, reset button not working) as soon as I raise it a bit, but sometimes when I get lucky I can raise it to about 102. After 2 hours I haven't even gotten the chance to see what it can do bclk wise.

[r1ch]

Which BIOS are you using Gendo?

You pretty much get 200 bclk at stock settings, and you don't need to touch the PCI-E unless you wanna go over 222/223.

I'm on MSN if you wanna chat about the board, send me a PM with your email.

[Gendo]

I installed the latest bios from the Foxconn website. The one you linked me to somewhere on this forum.

Before I flashed to this bios anything over exactly 220 would make the board freeze up. Now my max is 220.4, so there is improvement

*takes out the soldering iron and screams at the board: you shall not fail me any longer!!!!!!!*

Pm Sent

[r1ch]

Okey dokey folks, full front page review is up:

http://www.benchtec.co.uk/index.php/...e-gti-preview/

I’ll say that again, just so it’s not missed. This board hit the highest benchable bclk for every benchmark that BenchTec reviewers have seen. Now, whether I’d recommend this over a board from MSI, Gigabyte or Asus depends on a lot more factors than raw performance, but this is a very big tick in the performance column for Foxconn and I’m impressed.

Hopefully I didn't miss anything, but I checked against the other board reviews we've all done and the FlamingBlade GTI beat every one (OK Barron's SuperPi 32M is only 0.2bclk slower, but it's the only one anywhere near tbh) .

Maybe I should draw up some ranking tables, see how quickly James and Rich run back to their boards to try and knock a Foxconn board off the top? A bit of reviewer competition never hurt anyone eh?

[Starbuck]

Here's a question for you r1ch. From a benching perspective What you would recomend; The Foxconn's or the DFi UT x58?. Both the BR and the dfi cost about the same

[r1ch]

Difficult for me to say Starbuck as I've not used the DFi.

From the Foxconn board's perspective, the choice comes down to FlamingBlade GTI vs BloodRAGE GTI. Both are great boards for the price and will overclock equally as well. Get the BR GTI if you need the extras like 3/4 card SLI/CF, RAID, better board cooling, power/reset/smos switches etc or get the FB GTI if you're looking for a price/performance 24/7 board.

[Starbuck]

Does the Boodrage gti come with the Waterblock add on?