AMD 2500+ O/C'ing help...

[travsav]

I can't get a decent overclock... *GRR* =)

Abit NF7-S v2.0 (d10 bios)
AMD AthlonXP 2500+ (AQXEA unlocked)
Thermalright SLK-947U w/Thermaltake Smartfan2 @ MAX
1x512mb Mushkin PC3500 Level 2
OKIA 550W PSU
Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro
Maxtor 120gb 7200rpm 8mb cache

I just booted up @ 166x11 = stock 1826mhz... @ 1.55 vcore (1.65 stock), and it's completely stable with this low voltage... haven't tried anything lower, just tried this as a test...

I can get 200x11 = 2200mhz (3200+) @ 1.75v stable, but I can't get to 2.3ghz and have it stable...

I want to hit atleast 2.3ghz, and would like 2.4-2.5... This stepping of processor is supposed to be a really good one...

I've upped my vcore all the way 1.95, vdimm 2.9, chipset 1.7... and lowered my timings to 11-3-3-2.5 (if i try cas3, i get beep errors, and have to reset my bios)...

I watch MBM5 all the time, and it says my vcore sometimes drops a lot... @ 1.55 vcore, after running 3dmark03, I checked MBM and the 'LOW' for vcore read 1.49

You fellas think my power supply is junk? I got this PSU because it was cheap, and Omegadrive (maker of ATI Omega Drivers) uses the same one with a lot of stuff hooked to it...

Help please =/

 

[Sheriff]

Lets see, you have the Barton 2500 (ie166FSB and 1.826GHz) running stable @ 2.2GHz 200X11 and complaining?. You might try better cooling. Good luck @ 2.3+GHz

 

[Fern]

If your power supply is cheap, yeah it'll hold you back. What multi are you trying to get past 220MHz. You do know there's a problem with 10 and 10.5 over 220 right?

Try running memtest before prime etc. to narrow down the problem to ram, no need to overvolt unneccessarily.

You got any NB cooling? you'll need that for the high OC's

What about ur bios settings?

 

[Sheriff]

Fern there ia a BETA BIOS out whic will enable the lower Mults. You can find it HERE, but out of curiosity what ae yo running you 2500 Barton at?

 

[Fern]

I'm still in the middle of mine. @192 FSB today, vcore per mbm5 says 1.68. Socket temp at 47-48c. If junior stays off the gaming rig (the one in my sig) I'll keep bumping it. I tried to go to 200 in one jump, but wasn't stable. It may be overkill, but I run memtest86 (a couple hrs) and Prime95 for 20-24hrs after each bump of 4. It's hard to keep the pc free for 24hrs in our house. Geez, it takes patience. BTW, I've a locked multi and stock cooling atm.

UPDATE: Sheriff, couldn't get past a few hrs in p95 @vcore 1.68 (even though no probs playing KotOR, WC3 and Frozen Throne etc.) so I bumped vcore to 1.7. Seems to be a sweet spot, temps only climbed one tick and some probs I had even at stock speed/volt disappeared. E.g., win98se is kinda buggy on the NF7-S, had problems with my usb optical mouse driver getting kicked out when I rebooted. That's disappeared, I'm way more stable now than at stock even yipee!