Advice for a newbie overclocker...

[chazdraves]

Well, I just assembled my (affordable) dream machine. It may not be as impressive to you guys, but where I live it is "the stuff" so to say. Here are the stats to help with my question

128MB Radeon 9800Pro w/Omega Cat 3.5 Drivers (399/359)
AMD Athlon XP 2400+ (2.15 GHz 144FSB 1.65v) w/Factory Fan/Heatsink
Elements V2MDMP Mobo (eh... it's actually running really well, 'specially for a cheap board)
2x512MB DDR333 RAM

Anyhow, here's my list of questions... I'm finding myself very limited on overclocking the CPU and GPU (mostly because I'm more new to it than I'd like to admit). As you can see I've gotten about 20MHz extra outta the GPU and about 150MHz outta the processor, but I can't crank either higher without a) Artifacts or b) Instabilities (read crashes), obviously one problem pertaining to the GPU and the other to the CPU.

Now I don't know jack about overclocking CPU's 'cept that you play with the FSB, voltages, and multiplier. I haven't unlocked my CPU yet because my mobo allows me to make voltage and FSB changes as it is, I just can't adjust the multiplier, it's set at 15.

Anyhow, I have it at 2.15 up from 1.95, and I can't go 1MHz faster than a 144FSB... I was just reading some of the other posts here, however, and they were actually talking about lowering voltages to get higher speeds, is that right? I think the lowest my BIOS will let me go is 1.5 and the highest is 1.65... Now, I had read that you're supposed to increase the voltages so it puts out a stronger signal from beginning to end... is that "true but not applicable"?

My question, then, is this: What can I do to get both my CPU and GPU runnin' at higher speeds... is there anything left besides cooling solutions?

Thanks a lot! And sorry for the long post, gosh I babble...

- Chaz

EDIT - My mobo does NOT let me adjust voltages... it is currently stuck at 1.65... so I guess I need to know how to change that as well... thanks.

 

[GreatBarracuda]

You have the basic idea, good. But be very careful with voltages! The rule of thumb with cpu voltage is that you start at your default (or minimum) voltage, whichever the system's stable at, and increase the FSB gradually and see where it starts to destabilize (a Prime95 torture test will tell you this). THEN you increase the voltage slightly and increase the FSB gradually as well and find your limit, again. Keep doing it until you reach your desired speed.

Now what I said above works under perfect conditions There are many factors that can affect the overclocking. The most important is the RAM. That's because it works in conjunction with the CPU FSB. Cheap quality RAM usually don't overclock well, if at all. Most of the times when your system is unstable during an overclock, it's the RAM (if the temps are normal).

And remember one thing, you do all of this while MONITORING THE TEMPS (especially CPU). Voltage increases have a direct effect upon the CPU temp, so watch for it. It's usually a good idea to enable Thermal Throttling or the equivalent of that in your BIOS to be on the safe side.

There is only so far you can go with air cooling (heatsink/fan), especially with factory hsf. Hope this helps.

 

[chazdraves]

If I don't have option to changes voltages in the BIOS, how do I go about adjusting that?

Also, I went to some website (I think it was the homepage) for Prime 95 and it said Pentium only... is that incorrect?

I'm pretty sure it's the CPU that's being limited right now... as I adjusted the CPU to higher FSB's I switched the RAM from using the automatic speed config to just going the same speed as the CPU (since I didn't wanna push the RAM harder than it'd go) and I still got freezes, crashes, and all sorts of stuff, so I believe it's the CPU. My current temps are 40 on avg. 44 after a big load...

Let me know, thanks!

- Chaz

 

[DaNorthface]

make sure you have agp lock on that motherboard, or you're not gonna get very far..

 

[DaNorthface]

you can adjust the voltage by modding the Level 6 bridges if i remember correctly.. just find a table online with all the voltages and mod those bridges. I suggest that you don't break any bridges, so find a voltage combination and only connect them with the pencil trick.

 

[chazdraves]

Will the pencil trick work on a Athlon XP+? I thought that ended with the Thunderbirds...

Also, I saw another post where guys were lowering there voltages to 1.2v so they could get higher speeds at cooler temps, instead of raising voltages... Is that a good idea, or no?

Thanks again!

- Chaz

 

[chazdraves]

By the way... the "Wire Trick" what is it, how do you do it, what does it do, etc.?

Thanks!

- Chaz

 

[chazdraves]

Anyone?

 

[biofear]

http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030210/barton-06.html



wire trick