Can/should I push my OC'ed CPU farther?

[Staz]

I have a Athlon XP-M 2500+ that currently is running at 2222MHz(11x202 at default voltage) and is rock solid stable. It is the best stepping, which I don't remember at the moment. My HSF is a Thermalright ALX 800 with a generic 80mm 50cfm fan. At load, the CPU temp maxes at 53* and it hovers around the mid 40's at idle. I know I could lower that a bit if I got a more powerful 80mm fan, like the Vantec Tornado, or another 80+cfm fan.

I am thinking about taking the multiplier a bit higher, like 11.5 which would increase my speed to 2323MHz or even a 12 multiplier, which give me 2424MHz. I don't like to take my FSB higher as that over clocks everything else in my system. I have no problems with the speed of my system currently, which is just above an XP 3200+, but if I can SAFELY push it a bit higher, why not? That is my question, is can/should I attempt to take my CPU even further or leave it where it is, which is already a good overclock spot? Thoughts?

 

[garkon8]

Originally posted by: Staz
but if I can SAFELY push it a bit higher, why not?

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Pohemi]

Getting a better fan will definitely help, but I'd say...go for it! It depends on your chip and hardware setup, but I'd imagine you should be able to push that processor to at least 2.3-2.4ghz safely. the average happy OC speed on the 2400, 2500, and 2600 mobile chips seems to be around 2.4ghz. Does your mobo have an AGP/PCI lock? What type of RAM are you using?

 

[Staz]

Originally posted by: Pohemi420Does your mobo have an AGP/PCI lock? What type of RAM are you using?

Not sure on 1st question, I have a Gigabyte GA-7N400Pro2 mobo. As for memory, I have two 512MB sticks of Kingston Hyper-X in duel channel mode.

If I do take it any higher, will I probably have to increase the voltage?

 

[Pohemi]

You may have to increase the Vcore, yes. You should find out if your board has an AGP/PCI lock on it. If it does, I'd consider raising the FSB. The lock will keep the rest of your system where it should be, and your memory should be able to OC (If it's DDR400 ram like I'm guessing). Personally I'd rather have a little higher FSB speed and slightly lower multiplier. You should be able to get the same final clock speed out of your processor, but with a little higher FSB, your memory will interact with your processor faster. I run my XP mobile 3000 @ 2.52ghz=219 FSB * 11.5 mult. It definitely makes my system faster overall than running at 2.5ghz=200 FSB * 12.5 mult. Just a thought

 

[Staz]

OK, so if I do have the AGP/PCI lock ability, I should increase my FSB rather than my multiplier because the only other thing it will overclock would be my PC3200 memory?

Say I start to do this, 1-2 MHz at a time, what clues tell me that I am pushing it too far or when I should increase my CPU voltage? I presume that if I push it too far and it doesn't POST, the BIOS will reset itself back to the previous settings?

 

[Staz]

Considering I have good ram, Kingston Hyper-X PC3200, think I can obtain this goal?

2420MHZ (11x220) at 1.65V?

 

[Pohemi]

It will depend on both the ram and the processor- I can't tell you exactly what you can OC to. If you start slow and do 3mhz increments on the FSB or CPU external clock, when it starts to fail, try upping the Vcore by one smallest possible increment, and try again. If raising the Vcore doesn't do it, leave it where it is and try upping the DIMM voltage.

You just have to test, test, test. If the computer won't repost after changing something, just clear the CMOS.
I don't know your board or your hardware so you have to find out for yourself. Everythings different, even same make and model side by side(like CPU's and DIMM's) will not necessarily behave the same. :evil:

EDIT: Oh yeah...you might have to relax the timings on your memory a little bit. What are the timings now?

 

[Staz]

Looks like the timings on my Kingston Hyper-X memory are 2-3-2-6-1 at PC3200.

 

[Pohemi]

As I said, it MAY be necessary to raise or relax the timings just a lil bit. My Corsair TwinX1024-3200XL ram runs @ 2-2-2-5 timings @ 200mhz. When OC'ing to 215-220, the timings have to be set to 2-3-3-7 to keep things stable. This is just an example, but you should be aware that timings can be a factor when OC'ing your ram.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: Staz
OK, so if I do have the AGP/PCI lock ability, I should increase my FSB rather than my multiplier because the only other thing it will overclock would be my PC3200 memory? Yes, your mobo has the AGP/PCI lock. You will be OCing your ram and mobo. And CPU too unless you back down on the multi

Say I start to do this, 1-2 MHz at a time, what clues tell me that I am pushing it too far or when I should increase my CPU voltage? I presume that if I push it too far and it doesn't POST, the BIOS will reset itself back to the previous settings? I'm somewhat of the impatient type. I'd prolly start at FSB 210.

When you raise the FSB you are OCing ram, mobo and cpu. So if not stable can be a bit difficult to determine which component is at fault. That type of confusion often seems to lead peeps to willy-nilly raise voltage unneccessarily to various parts in an effort to obtain stabilty.

Might start by leaving FSB alone, and work on seeing how high your cpu can be OC'd. Just increase the multi.

After finding high how you can take your cpu, back down the multi and start raising the FSB. First check with Memtest86 (this test to check ram. Your cpu should at this point be operating below it's known upper stability setting, so it's it's out of the picture as far as being the cause of instability).

If it fails, try upping VDIMM or loosening the ram's timings.

If it passes, go to Prime95.

If it passes, rinse and repeat.

Fern

 

[FlameDeer]

You should be able to achieve what you want with good Athlon XP-M 2500+

 

[Staz]

From what I am hearing, I will get more preformance out of 11x220(2420MHz) than I will at 12x202(2424MHz) because I would be overclocking more than just my CPU, but the later one would be easier to get to?

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: Staz
From what I am hearing, I will get more preformance out of 11x220(2420MHz) than I will at 12x202(2424MHz) because I would be overclocking more than just my CPU, but the later one would be easier to get to?

Yes, that's a pretty accurate general statement.

Fern