• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

EPOX 4G4A+ / 1.8A / Samsung 2700 = Help a noob overclock

G

Gozu

Banned
I asked you what to order.
I ordered
I received
Now, I must overclock.

I have a 1.8A northy (delivered 10 minutes ago)
An EPOX 4G4A+
512 Mb of samsung DDR 2700
An antec TruPower 430W
A geforce 2 mx (elsa gladiac) <---shitty, I know. I'll get another one when prices drop.

This is my second overclock ever (first one was easy as hell o/c of a k6 300 to 333) you just moved one jumper and you were set.

I would especially need advise from the people who have the same motherboard as me (you know, for the temp sensors and stuff)

I am afraid this is not going to be a simple and easy O/C *sigh*
m5b tells me the temp is 77 celcius which is bullshit.

When I start the computer, the bios readings tell me everything is fine and temps are low. I guess I just need to configure everything right. For which I need your help.


again, I will leave open all my communication channels:
by order of preference:

Msn Messenger: gozu@hotmail.com
Irc: efnet (irc.mpls.ca) nick: Gozu
ICQ: 32057514
Aim: Gozulin
Yahoo messenger: gozulin

I will be online all afternoon.

thanks for your time

Gozu





 
Wow, MBM5 is getting some REALLY high readings there. Make sure you have MBM5 configured properly with the correct sensor on your motherboard. When I'm using MBM5 with my P4B266, the proper setting reads about 30-40 C, one of the wrong ones reads like 85 all of the time, the other wrong one reads 127C all the time.

Make sure you have installed the CPU properly, and I definately recommend using Arctic Silver 2/3 if you're not using it already. Also, no matter what paste you use, make sure the layer is very very THIN, but still covering everything. With that said, if you have done this, and you're positive it's safe (and if it tells you its running 77C yet you can run it for hours and hours playing games, or running benchmarks, etc), then something isn't kosher with the monitoring program.

That said overclocking should be a breeze --- I'm not sure if/how you can lock the PCI/AGP frequency on that motherboard, but regardless, just go into your BIOS and crank up the FSB (front side bus speed). Check if you can hit 133MHz FSB (keep memory at 1:1 for starters, to see how high the CPU will go). 133 MHz FSB means 2400 MHz, a nice 600 MHz overclock. My year old 1.8A only goes to 2.25 Ghz stably, but new ones can sometimes get 600MHz higher than that!

If you can hit 133 MHz FSB, then keep pushing it up, prefferably a few MHz at a time to test it out. 150 MHz FSB would mean 2700 MHz, which if your CPU is of a new stepping, it will possibly top off at (you can only hope).

Oh yeah and make sure you increase the CPU core voltage in the BIOS, otherwise you won't be able to o/c near what you will if you increase the Vcore. The default is 1.5V. 1.6V should be 100% safe, and anything up to and including 1.7V should be ok. Just don't go above 1.7V, otherwise, you will probably drastically lower the life of that puppy.
 
the readings are definitely wrong, although I am not using ASIII (i'm going to order some immediately). Speedfan reports 19, 37 and 43. the thing is, I don't know what sensor corresponds to what but i guess the cpu is either the 37 or the 43. probably the 37 as that is the temp i have when I boot.

If anyone with an epox 4ga4+ could tell me how to configure mbm5 and speedfan, It would be a great help.

Do you think the geforce 2 mx will limit me? should I switch to the onboard video chipset?

Other than that, I'm going to reboot right now and start cranking the fsb. brb

*update*

just changed fsb to 133. locked agp/pci to 66/33 and didn't need to touch the voltage. no visible change in temperature. It's around 44.
Running at 2400Mhz now. I'm downloading sisoft sandra, pcmark and whatnot. I'll start testing with with prime95 in a few minutes. This looks good 😀
 
Sounds like you got a winner........🙂

MBM sensors are like this for me. Winbond 1 is Case temp (I think) Winbond 3 is System temp (probably northbridge) and Winbond 2 diode is the CPU temp.

.......................edit.......................
Duhh you wanted some settings..........🙂

I use .225 over with the latest bios to get +.2vcore or 1.70vcore. That is as high as I am going to go long term.

I bumped my memory voltage .2, but I am only using Crucial DDR2100

There is a jumper on the board that changes the 3:4 memory timings to 4:5 timings when you pull it off and starts you at 133fsb. (If you had a P4 with 133 fsb or a good overclocker like you have.........🙂)

I bet you will hit 150fsb with the added voltage and you should be able to use the 4:5 timings for DDR 375 or with the jumper on you might even be able to hit DDR400 stable.

But overclock your processor first to find out where its stable at before you play with your memory bus.

 
Yes,get some AS3 and take off that thermal pad.Also get yourself an Alpha 8942T heatsink and a low dba fan around 27-29 cfm is all you need.I think they are the best HS in my opinion and others.Your looking good to get a big O\C out of your 1.8a,good luck.
 
Damn...I cranked it up to 142 FSB (2.55Ghz) and it errored in prime95 torture test after the 3rd test...around 1-2 minutes after I started. Is this the limit or is it somehow related to the voltage? i'm still at 1.5v.
 
what is the vcore set at...default or did you raise it..If not raise the vcore and you will probably get a higher cpu speed...do not go over 1.7v..I just noticed you are at 1.5v...give it some more juice..say 1.6v I bet you hit 150fsb...

what are the chip markings???

also what is the vmem set at??? may need more juice for your memory...
 
Originally posted by: nealh
what is the vcore set at...default or did you raise it..If not raise the vcore and you will probably get a higher cpu speed...do not go over 1.7v..

also what is the vmem set at??? may need more juice for your memory...
Click to expand...

Vcore, he needs to bump to o/c the CPU for sure.. Vmem, he won't need to touch that until much later - he can go to a 166 MHz FSB at 1:1 ratio (while testing the CPU first) at default. Probably much higher since it's samsung!
 
Ok, here is the much needed update:
Cpu: 1.8A
prod code: sl63x
batch: 3211a620
version: a7829-003
pack date: 06/07/02
(bought from googlegear)

All this has been done with memory 1:1 and locked agp/pci (66/33)
The other settings haven't been touched

FSB to 133 to get 2400 Mhz Boots-goes to winXP-runs prime95 fine
FSB to 142 to get 2550 Mhz Boots-goes to winXP-errors prime95
Vcore to 1.525 gives me same result
Vcore to 1.550 gives me same result
Vcore to 1.600 gives me same result
Vcore to 1.650 gives me same result
Vcore to 1.700 gives me same result

all the errors occur very quickly. first time couldn't pass the 3rd test. the other times were either first or second test

I played some comanche 4 at 2.55 Ghz w/o problems. didn't notice any instability either.

FSB to 150 to get 2700 Mhz Boots-winXP crashes on startup

I'm still running the torture test with 2.4 Ghz/1.5V right now and it's going fine (temp is 55)

So right now, I'm at 2.4Ghz.

Any ideas?

thanks for your time.
 
Put your memory timings at the lowest setting like 2.5/3/3/7 or whatever your lowest is.Say at 2/2/2/5 your memory probably can't handle it and you will error on prime.
 
memory timings eh? I have no idea what those are but I've seen them in the bios. I will try to put them at 2.5/3/3/7 and see...

*UPDATE*

I set the FSB to 139 (2.5Ghz), set the memory timings to 2.5/7/3/3 and i'm running prime95 right now. it's hasn't errored yet (5 minutes) and the temps are the same as before (55 during full load). Since I have it set to shut down if temps go over 60, I'm not worried about it.

So, things look brighter I guess. I'm using 1.6V btw. just decided on it randomly. Seemed like a good choice.
 
You can try your memory at "by speed" the default setting also.Was it set at that by the way?.I know on my P4B533 that by speed is default.I enable it to set my own timings.Not sure what its called on your mobo.Setting the lowest cas setting (memory settings) will allow a bigger O\C.Keep it at 1.6V,set your FSB and run prime for an hour or 2 and see if you error.Once you error only then raise your voltage one notch at a time and run prime again and repeat the process.Once you find your highest O\C at 1.7V and no more,run prime overnight or for 6 hours good enough for most and see if you error.If you do your going to have to back off a couple on the FSB until you run prime without erroring.You can also try raising your Vdimm one up to 2.7,that helps with your memory.Once you have found your limitations you then have to decide what runs better for you.Do you want a faster memory timings at 2/2/2/5 or 2/3/3/6, 2/3/3/5 and so on.You will have to back off on the FSB maybe 3-4 or more to get faster cas settings.Try it later and see what runs better for you.You can also try 3:4 and 4:5 memory ratios later on your board.Set the one you want to try and start overclocking all over again.I am pretty sure taking off the jumper JP1 on your mobo enables 4:5 ratio,its in your manual.The 3:4 or 4:5 may work better for you.

The 4G4A is a great board but the only problem is they don't have the P4 connector.Some boards run great and some run like crap.Those boards are a hit and miss and some are having stability issues with it.You did connect the 4 pin molex connector on the motherboard along with the ATX power connector right?.Even though you have samsung ram it might not be that good.Is it CTL or DTL ram?.They say the CTL is better but some are having good luck with DTL.Crap ram will hold you back.You should have bought some Corsair PC3200 cas2 memory or the new samsung DDR400 ram.Its only available in 256 sticks right now.The 512 sticks should be out shortly.
 
If you did 2.55GHz at stock 1.5V you should be able to do 2.7-2.75GHZ at 1.7V with some tweaking running stable possibly.Do yourself a favour and get some AS3 and a better heatsink and fan if your planning on running your system at high voltage.The thermal pad with stock heatsink and fan works pretty good at safer levels like 1.5V at 2.5GHz but the more you go the better HS you want to be safe.It will improve your temps a little.Keep the AGP/PCI locked at 66.66/33.33 aswell.
 
Crap, I answered this yesterday but it didn't go through.

I lowered my memory timings to 2.5/7/3/3 and set the fsb to 150 (2.7Ghz) and the voltage to 1.6V . The computer is running fine. 10 minutes of prime95 without failing. the voltage dropped to 1.55V when I started prime SO i think I have some margin here.

Also, I tried to set the fsb to 167 (3Ghz) just for kicks and the bios wouldn't boot. I cleared the cmos and set the fsb to 100 via jumpers and the problem persisted. I kinda freaked out so I just went to sleep. This morning, the mobo was working again.

where can I get cheap AS3? If I get a fan I want it to be quieter than the stock fan.

Thx a lot for your help everybody (especially lastride(
 
thanks SuperManCK. I ordered it from there a couple of hours ago.

Now running at 2.7Ghz . I am very happy with my cute northy. I could probably get it to run faster but i'll wait for the arctic silver.
 
Thats the thing about a good heatsink like an Alpha 8942T with AS3.All you need is a quite fan with it like a 23-24dba.These bolt down to the motherboard and you have to take off the plastic bracket on the mobo by lifting the 4 platic pins with a flat screwdriver rotating left and right.Then push them through from under the mobo.I didn't it for the first time and it was easy.I heard the panaflo M1A is a good quite fan.I can't find one where I live.I use a Thermaltake 30dba at 37cfn 2900 RPM fan.Not bad but a Panaflo M1A would be better and more quite.When you have a good heatsink you don't need a big monster fan that makes lots of noise with these CPU's.Everyone has their preference for heatsinks.Oh,your board doesn't have a molex connector on the mobo,my mistake.Do you have your voltage set at 1.6 in the bios and in MBM or whatever your using it is showing 1.55V?.My mobo overvolts .06 at idle but under load like prime its close to the bios setting.Maybe your mobo is like that and undervolts,or you have a weak power supply.Go by your idle voltage and not under load for 1.7V max.Anyways,sounds like you have yourself a nice chip.Can't complain so far at 2.7 with 1.6V you have set.A couple people have helped me on these boards when I had questions about overclocking and its my turn to return the favour.A lot I learned just by doing searches here in the forum.If you go to the motherboard forum and type in 4G4A you will see a big thread on your mobo.There is a lot of information on it like you should download the inf drivers first and the AA drivers next and also about the USB drivers and stuff.If you don't run any USB stuff then don't download the drivers.Some are having trouble running USB and overclocking,not everyone.Some people are having better luck with their ram in dimm 2 for overclocking on the 4G4A.

p.s. Faster memory timings are better.Try 2/3/3/6,you might lost 3-4 FSB's to run stable or 2/2/2/6.You will have to see what runs better for you,faster memory or higher CPU speeds.
 
what runs faster for? I'd love to get all the settings right but how am I supposed to notice the difference? lol. Especially with my videocard bottleneck...

I ran prime95 for 6h21 minutes with 2.7Ghz + 1.6V and everything went great.

What I said about voltage is that my motherboard doesn't really seem to overvolt ot undervolt (there are small fluctuation: less than 0.02V actually). I was just saying that when I run prime95, speedfan and sisoft sandra show that the voltage decreases to 1.55V. when I stop it, it goes back to 1.60-1.58.

I will get some panaflo fans when I get a new case (probably a chieftec since I already have an antec PSU).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top