An overclock for difficulty instead of max speed (K6-2)

[takuma683]

Memtest86 reports my memory as OK after running all tests (0 errors)... by the way I even noticed my memory bandwidth seems low (336 MB/s) - however it's running at AGP clock since my mobo doesn't support running memory at FSB frequency when it's set over 100 MHz. So then the CPU is the culprit for the stability issue... the chipset does run well at 112 on lower CPU clocks, tested it with the CPU at 392 and it ran A-OK. I'm still thinking whether or not I should set the CPU voltage over to 2.5 V, I'm kinda afraid of frying the chip...

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: takuma683
Memtest86 reports my memory as OK after running all tests (0 errors)... by the way I even noticed my memory bandwidth seems low (336 MB/s) - however it's running at AGP clock since my mobo doesn't support running memory at FSB frequency when it's set over 100 MHz. So then the CPU is the culprit for the stability issue... the chipset does run well at 112 on lower CPU clocks, tested it with the CPU at 392 and it ran A-OK. I'm still thinking whether or not I should set the CPU voltage over to 2.5 V, I'm kinda afraid of frying the chip...

It won't fry if you keep it cool enough. Some people ran as high as 2.8v, though that killed many after a year or so. How long will you be keeping this cpu?

 

[takuma683]

Well... I gotta keep it until I have the dough for a newer system... which I don't even know if is anytime in the near future... perhaps it would even be wise to turn down to 550 not to abuse it too much, don't know... I have some reserve money I could use for replacing the K6 CPU if I get it fried, however FINDING a K6 CPU on the market becomes harder day by day... and also I wouldn't want to waste my money like that.

Edit: Well... maybe I could even try setting the voltage to 2.5 V, but only after I get better cooling, I believe the problem with running this CPU at 560 with the voltage at 2.4 V is with the full-load temperature, Windows boots and goes OK but system goes unstable every time I run a more demanding task...

Edit #2: Doing further testing I verified that my motherboard could take the K6 up to 570 MHz (95 x 6) or even up to 600(!) MHz (100 x 6) - however: with 570 MHz Windows booted but crashed right after, and with 600 MHz even the DOS command prompt wouldn't show up, I just got overflow errors and had to turn down. It took me a BIOS update to do so, only the latest version of the BIOS accepts that.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: takuma683
Well... I gotta keep it until I have the dough for a newer system... which I don't even know if is anytime in the near future... perhaps it would even be wise to turn down to 550 not to abuse it too much, don't know... I have some reserve money I could use for replacing the K6 CPU if I get it fried, however FINDING a K6 CPU on the market becomes harder day by day... and also I wouldn't want to waste my money like that.

Edit: Well... maybe I could even try setting the voltage to 2.5 V, but only after I get better cooling, I believe the problem with running this CPU at 560 with the voltage at 2.4 V is with the full-load temperature, Windows boots and goes OK but system goes unstable every time I run a more demanding task...

Edit #2: Doing further testing I verified that my motherboard could take the K6 up to 570 MHz (95 x 6) or even up to 600(!) MHz (100 x 6) - however: with 570 MHz Windows booted but crashed right after, and with 600 MHz even the DOS command prompt wouldn't show up, I just got overflow errors and had to turn down. It took me a BIOS update to do so, only the latest version of the BIOS accepts that.

Hmm, if you're stuck with that cpu for awhile, it might be a good idea to take it easy then. You probably won't get enough performance out of it to make a big difference. Certainly not enough to run any current games, your original 504mhz overclock with the 112mhz fsb will probably outperform 550 mhz(5,5x100). The k6-2's L2 cache ran at FSB speed so the extra 12mhz on the FSB makes a big difference. I should have mentioned this earlier, was thinking you might be doing it just for fun. 🙁

It's probably best to just save your money at this time rather than spend more trying to overclock your k6-2. I have no idea what your fiscal situation is, but I'd imagine that a second hand SocketA 600mhz Duron and mobo is not that much these days and it's a whole lot better than the k6-2 500. If you choose to save up for one, make sure you have an ATX case(with a decent 250-300watt power supply) beforehand and get a motherboard that uses SDRAM(so you can use you current PC133).

 

[takuma683]

Originally posted by: sandorski

Hmm, if you're stuck with that cpu for awhile, it might be a good idea to take it easy then. You probably won't get enough performance out of it to make a big difference. Certainly not enough to run any current games, your original 504mhz overclock with the 112mhz fsb will probably outperform 550 mhz(5,5x100). The k6-2's L2 cache ran at FSB speed so the extra 12mhz on the FSB makes a big difference. I should have mentioned this earlier, was thinking you might be doing it just for fun. 🙁

It's probably best to just save your money at this time rather than spend more trying to overclock your k6-2. I have no idea what your fiscal situation is, but I'd imagine that a second hand SocketA 600mhz Duron and mobo is not that much these days and it's a whole lot better than the k6-2 500. If you choose to save up for one, make sure you have an ATX case(with a decent 250-300watt power supply) beforehand and get a motherboard that uses SDRAM(so you can use you current PC133).

Well... it's all right, it does sound like I'm doing it just for fun since I'm doing it on a K6-2... mostly nobody here must have such a machine as their main (or only, like in my case) PC anymore. And... yes, you're right, the original 504 MHz overclock I had did outperform the current 550 MHz overclock (3DMark2001SE: Before - 481, after - 433), that influenced by two factors, one is the K6-2 cache running faster, and the other is that the AGP clock goes higher at 112 FSB, improving video performance.

By the way, my current case is a big ATX case (four 5 1/4" bays, proper for P4 systems) with a good 350W power supply. If there's so much I can still use from this machine I'll consider this idea of getting a Duron to push it some more (I've owned this K6 system for 4 years now, had a Pentium 166 before it)... I'll need a motherboard with good AGP support, especially one that supports AGP 4x so I can also push my Riva TNT2 to its maximum performance as well... (It supports 4x but is currently limited at AGP 2x by the motherboard) really, it does look like a good idea.

Thanks everyone for the input...

Edit: I just tested it again, and now I feel like I have an amendment to make. The VA-503+ actually DOES support running the RAM at FSB frequency when it's set to over 100. I didn't see it earlier because my RAM modules won't go over 100 MHz no matter what I do.