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Another 3200+ venice question

B

breadsmith

Junior Member
Ok, I'm a still pretty much a newb about OCing, but I've done alot of reading/tinkering, and no matter what I try I can't get my comp to boot into windows at over 2100mhz. System is:

Epox 9NPA
3200+ Venice
Radeon X800XL
2x512 OCZ ValueVX
Fortron bluestorm 500w

Ok, so I've tried everything I can think of, so I don't even know where to start. I can't get the comp over 2100mhz, regardless of the multiplier I use. It fails to boot into windows even at 211x10, so I tried 235x9 and I got the same thing. It can run over 210 fsb as I've booted it up at 220x9. When I go over 2100, it won't boot into windows, then beeps at me when I restart until I have to reset the CMOS.

I've loosened the RAM timings and put it on a 166mhz divider, set HTT to 4 and 3, raised Vcore by 2 notches (.05 I believe) and the same thing happens.

I've got 2 intake fans on the front, an 80mm exhaust fan and a 120mm in the PSU on the back, and system temp stays around 35C while CPU sits around 38C (stock cooling with a side cone over it) even at full load.

The only thing I can think of that I haven't tried is a HUGE boost in Vcore power, as I think it defaults to like 1.47v, so maybe it really needs .05-.1 volts in order to handle everything. Could I need a boost to the chipset power too?

With my mobo and brand new components (built the comp last week), this should be easily able to hit 2.3, if not 2.4-2.5 from what I hear, so why can't I even get over 2.1!!! Help! I can't think of anything else to try, so I'm wondering why I'm hitting such a hard cap on my speed. Can anyone help?
 
1. Go through Zebo's OC'ing guide, and make sure you did all the preliminary steps. Lock your AGP and PCI-E frequencies. Drop the HTT down to 3, and set the ram to a 166mhz divider.

2. Leave the multiplier at 10x, and try to up the FSB. Once you can't go any higher, start dropping down little by little. Make sure your vCore is between 1.5 and 1.6. It should NOT be higher than 1.6, as that runs the risk of fried processor syndrome.

I'm sure that at 1.6 vcore, you should be able to do at least 240x10 without any problems.
 
Ok, I've done all the bumping up by small notches, then going up on power etc. I was worried, because after two bumps to Vcore, it wouldn't budge over 210x10. When I get home from work I'm going to juice the Vcore to 1.55-1.6 and see what I can do then.

I'm not sure how to lock AGP/PCI-E frequencies in my BIOS.. I can find the PCI-E frequency and see that it's set at 100, but I can't find any option to lock it in. Can I assume that by setting it at 100 it won't move?

Thanks!

 
I'm pretty sure that the PCI-E frequency setting has an "Auto" setting also. Make sure to manually set the PCI-E to 100mhz. 🙂

Let us know what you come up with, after the vcore boost.
 
Will do, though the guide I read on a different forum wasn't as detailed, so I'm definitely going to go through and isolate maximum HTT by lowering the multiplier to like 6-7, then doing the same with the ram like Zebo recommended.

I think I have the general idea down pretty well, I just need to tighten everything up and make it all work together.

Two quick questions:

1. If I get fsb up to 250+, because it runs best at a multiplier of 9 (or it happens to run at 250x10, theoretically), do I then need to lower HTT to 3 to keep the HTTxFSB under 1000?

2. Anandtech did a test and found that the ValueVX ram can run at some ridiculous speed with like 3.5-3.6v power. I can only give it 3.1 on my mobo, but because of the test, can I assume that it can handle 3.1 without overheating or anything, or do I need to get a fan blowing on it if I want to run it that fast? I'm guessing that I can still get it to some pretty nice speeds even at 3.1..

Also, I haven't updated the BIOS, do you think this would have a significant impact? And because I didn't do the math, I figured 166 was a lower divider than it is, so I'm going to try a lower one when I get home.

Thanks again, and will report in after some tinkering around.
 
Yeah AT's test was done on a DFI board, which can supply up to 4.0V. At that kind of voltage, active cooling is almost a requirement. You should be fine with your case fans, provided you have one that blows over the motherboard area, or exhausts from the area.

And always keep your BIOS up to date. It is probably the most critical component of any computer, second to the processor. And the new nForce 4 BIOS always have more overclocking options and increasing support for Venice and San Diego cores. There's supposedly some new memory divider settings also.
 
i run 3.1 volts on the dfi with utt, while it can pass memtest without a fan, the modules have a temperature of 55 degrees, with a 80mm case fan, they don't go above 44
 
WOOT!

Ok, I knew it was something ridiculously simple that I was overlooking.

Instead of increasing power by .025 and .05 respectively, I gave it a .125v bump, putting it up to right about 1.59v for Vcore. I've now booted into windows perfectly fine all the way up to 230x10, and I'm stopping here now to run Prime95 while I go out to eat.

System temp still running 35. Cpu has hit 41, but sits 39-40. Looks like I still have some room to work with. I DID want to know what's a good level to stop at for the temps? I'm not sure what the threshhold is.. I know under 50 is pretty good, but should I push it up to around there IF I can (assuming FSB will go that high)?

I've got pretty good air movement through my case, so hopefully the memory will be doing fine... I haven't started working on tightening times and whatnot, but I'll definitely get memtest before I start doing that.

Coomar, what fsb are you running your RAM at at 3.1v? That's what I have mine going at right now. Oh, and should I get my RAM running 1t immediately, cuz it was set at 2t for default, and I hear that's terrible for dual channel.

Thanks a million guys!
 
From what I've seen, 3200+ should be able to do 270~280x10 on Vcore=1.54V easily. Maybe you just got unlucky? I pushed mine to ~250x10 on stock voltage (Vcore=1.4V), and several others have done the same.

Max safe operating temps are probably ~50C, though anything even approaching 50C makes me uncomfortable, personally.

With 3.1V you probably won't get the full performance out of your OCZs, and it's really up to chance how much of an OC you can get out of your sticks, but it shouldn't have any trouble doing 2-2-2-6-1T at DDR420 or so.
 
YMMV with venice. 2600mhz is not garranteed with stock vcore. With the venice I had, I had raise vcore all the way up to 1.67 volts to hit 2600mhz. To hit 2500mhz required 1.55 volts. Surprisingly, temps never went higher than 50c (Zalman 7700cu) with 1.67vcore.
 
I'm up to 240x10 right now, but I stopped to run Prime95 while I'm at work to test it out. I could probably lower Vcore down to like 1.57-1.55 and still get a solid OC, but since temps didn't seem to be an issue at 1.59, I just left it there.

I'm hoping to get it up to 250x10, so I can run my memory at 166 to get a 415mhz FSB, which it should be stable with at 2-2-2-6 (does the Tras matter? I've read that it doesn't have a huge impact even if you leave it up at 10-11).

I need a good program to monitor my system temps though, as I'm currently doing it through the BIOS.. I'm going to check out speedfan when I get home, as the other one I tried (can't remember the name.. very well known mobo monitor) didn't have the option to choose my mobo 🙁 Should speedfan work with the EPoX 9NPA?

Also, quick and very dumb question here: To get to the command prompt so I can flash my bios, do I need to use a boot disk? Do I then just restart with the boot disk in the floppy drive and use it to boot to get to a command prompt? Once I can get there I know how to flash, I'm just a newb about this heh. Important one here: do I have to reset my CMOS before I flash? Could my OCed settings cause any problems, or can I just flash I have it setup now?
 
I'm fairly sure that Epox MB's support WinFlash, so you can flash the bios right from your desktop. I had an Epox NF3 MB when I first changed over to an A64 setup, and the included Epox utility flashed the bios perfectly right in Windows. I have flashed my bios many items while running at the o/ced settings, however some recommend returning to stock values first. As far as a monitoring program goes, Epox has their own USDM program which I have used on several Epox boards and found them to work pretty well. I am currently using the latest release of Motherboard Monitor with my Abit MB, and it works great. I actually like it much better then SpeedFan.
 
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