Celeron D Overclocking questions

[SeanM]

Hi All,

I just spent the weekend over-clocking my Celeron D 330 (2.66 GHZ) system. These are the specs:

Celeron D 330 2.66 GHZ processor
ASUS P4P800 SE MB
Saphire Radeon 9800 Pro
2 X crucial 512 DDR 400
Standard retail heat sink and fan

I am currently running the following settings:
FSB 160 X 20 = 3.2 GHZ
Memory is running at 200 MHZ on a 5:4 ratio settings 2.5 3 3 6

3DMark 2003 score = 5750

Voltage for processor and memory is at standard settings, no over-volting.

These are my questions:

The temperature of my MB and processor has not increased much. The processor runs at about 38 Celsius idle and 49 Celsius at prime 95 load for a few hours. Does increasing the frequency of a processor increase the heat? Or does heat only increase as you increase voltage.

I have one stick of crucial DDR that will run at 2.5 2 2 6. I was able to run my ASUS P4P800S with Turbo on. I just prurchased another stick of crucial DDR and it does not run at 2.5 2 2 6, therefore I cannot keep the turbo mode on with the second stick.

Does this mean there is something wrong with the second stick of RAM? Or was I just lucky with the first stick? I get MEM TEST 86 errors when running the RAM at 2.5 2 2 6 but not at 2.5 3 3 6.

Thanks for all of your help,

-Sean

 

[stevty2889]

Well is your memory rated for 2.5 2 2 6? What timings does it have when you set it to SPD? If you don't get errors at 2.5 3 3 6, then the memory is fine, just doesn't run at the tigher timings.

 

[StrangerGuy]

From my experience if you leave the CPU voltage at stock, even a high overclock won't cause a significant increase in temps. It is when you start to pump more voltage then the temps will increase quite dramatically.

 

[SeanM]

Hi stevty2889,

The memory is Crucial CL3 rated at 3 3 3 8 by SPD @ 200 MHZ. So you are saying that if I am running my memory out of SPD settings by using the Turbo option on my ASUS P4P400SE, errors in MEM Test are because my latency is to low.

Do you think I should swap the new memory stick for anither one and seem fi I can get lucky again? I would prefer to run with Turbo on as it seems to boost the performance of my system.

-Sean

 

[LTC8K6]

The CPU fan speeds up to compensate for greater heat from the CPU, so it's not uncommon not to see any actual increase in CPU temp. If you monitor your fan speeds, you will probably notice that they are running a bit faster.

 

[stevty2889]

Yeah, if your mem is rated at 3 3 3 8, and you are running it at tighter timings, it probably can't handle it, and that would definatly cause the memtest failures.

 

[SeanM]

How far do I dare push this Celeron D 330? I am a bit surprised it runs at 3.2 GHZ. I seem to be getting 3D Mark 2003 scores that are equal or better than some P4 2.8 scores. Do any of you have some suggestions for getting more out of this setup.

Is 5750 3D 2003 Marks good for a celeron?

 

[StrangerGuy]

If I were you I will continue upping the clock and still keeping the voltage at stock, and then see where the chip maxes out, and I will stop there. I don't recommend increasing the voltage to get the best possible overclock as it makes the chip generate a lot more heat and it may significantly reduce the lifespan of the CPU.

 

[SeanM]

Thanks for the advice,

I guess if I continue past 3.2 GHZ my memory will pass it's rated 200 MHZ. Should I chnage the 5:4 memory ratio back to 1:1 and continue upping the FSB?

Are there performace probelms associated with using the 5:4 memory ratio?

Thanks for all of your help, Sorry for all of the questions. I am really hooked on trying to get the most out of a $100 processor. Just for the heck of it. I appreaciate any advice you may have.

-Sean

 

[StrangerGuy]

Originally posted by: SeanM
Thanks for the advice,

I guess if I continue past 3.2 GHZ my memory will pass it's rated 200 MHZ. Should I chnage the 5:4 memory ratio back to 1:1 and continue upping the FSB?

Are there performace probelms associated with using the 5:4 memory ratio?

Thanks for all of your help, Sorry for all of the questions. I am really hooked on trying to get the most out of a $100 processor. Just for the heck of it. I appreaciate any advice you may have.

-Sean

Yup, drop the FSB:memory ratio to 1:1 and continue from there, the added memory bandwidth is probably useless anyway, and I think you can squeeze at least an extra 200MHz out. Do report what you have found out here, we interested to know.

 

[SeanM]

Last night I set the memory ratio to 1:1 and continued raising the FSB on my Celeron D 330. I set the FSB to 165 for 3.3 GHZ. The system was stable and showed no increase in heat output. but after running several 3DMark 2003 tests I found that I was scoring less at 3.3 GHZ with memory @ 165 MHZ than running at 3.2 GHZ with memory at 200 MHZ.

This is interesting to me, I though I noticed this before but was unable to test until I recently got 3DMark 2003. Apparently memory bandwidth can have more of an impact on performance than straight CPU frequency.

I raised the FSB to 170 for a whopping 3.4 GHZ. The system posted with memory 1:1 at 170 MHZ. I attempted to benchmark with 3DMark 2003 but the benchmark froze up half way though. So at 3.4 GHZ I hit the first instability on my $100 Celeron D 2.66 GHZ processor. If I want to go any further I will need to increase voltage to the processor. I am not inclined to do that with stock cooling.

I am happily playing Red Orchestra at 85 FPS with my 3.2 GHZ Celeron D.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Interesting. I always thought that running the FSB and memory at 1:1 will result in the best performance on dual channel P4 chipsets, but you proved me wrong.

Enjoy your 3.2GHz chip!

 

[SeanM]

It is interesting,

Please note that even though my MB supports dual channel DDR I am running in single channel mode. I cannot seem to get dual channel to run.

If you have any tims on getting dual channel to run let me know.

-Sean