corsair xms 466/3700

[gorbs]

i have an asus p4p800 with an intel p-4 2.4c with ht and corsair twin 512 modules that are 466/3700. an avid gamer but a first time builder and would like to safely kick my machine up a notch or two. i have stock cooling on the processor at this time. all responses are welcome and thanks in advance for them!

 

[Concillian]

Start jacking up the FSB.

Keep an eye on temps, but you should be okay at stock voltage. In all liklihood, your chip should be able to handle 233 MHz FSB without issue at stock voltage and cooling. The thing about overclocking a P4 is that you never know if the CPU or RAM are limiting your OC, as you can't separate the two, so above 233 you're venturing into the unknown. So 233 would kick it up a notch, putting you at 2.8 with a nice bump in FSB.

To kick it up two notches I'd start by getting SuperPi... it's good for a quick check of RAM stability... it will tell you if there is a large problem very quickly, but if there is only a minor problem, it won't catch it. If you go up a few (3-5) MHz on the FSB at a time and run SuperPi, you can find your limit relatively quickly... you'll either fail SuperPi or the system will start having problems loading windows. Continue to eye the temps, but again at stock voltage you should be fine.

To maximize your RAM overclocks, bump up the RAM voltage before starting. Looks like the Corsair is rated at 2.7-2.75v or so, so 2.8v should be very safe, and most people would be pretty comfortable with 2.9v. set it as high as you are comfortable. To be frank I've never heard of RAM dying even at 3.0v, but people start getting worried, and rightfully so when it would cost more to replace the RAM than almost anything else in their box.

Before claiming a FSB speed stable, run Prime95 for 8 hours on blend (for RAM stability) and I run 24 hours on the max heat torture test before I call my CPU stable.

Have fun!

 

[gorbs]

concillian,

thanks for your fast response. when i first started my computer after everything was installed i chose to overclock it 20% using the built in feature on my asus mobo. i had random reboots and i unclocked it and the random reboots stopped. i have not run any of the tests you suggeted and truthfully dont no where to get them. so the first thing i would ask of you is where do i get these programs from so i can check the health of my system for overclocking. while i did alot of research before buying and putting together my computer i am still too much of a newbie to venture into unknown territory alone and unaided. i think that was the main reason i chose the mobo i did. onboard overclocking capability. so again thanks for your info and could you respond back with the whereabouts of the prime 95 and superpi.

 

[Concillian]

SuperPi
http://pw1.netcom.com/~hjsmith/Pi/Super_Pi.html

Prime95
http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm

Make sure your AGP is locked at 66, not set to auto.

I'd start at 233 or lower to make sure everythings good at a place where the memory should be no problem. 20% is a bit large of a first step.

 

[gorbs]

Concillian,

thanks and have a great weekend!!