FSB OC on Abit NF7-S - sound corruption?

[Tiamat]

I have recently gone from 200x10.0 @ 1.52V to 210x10.0 @ 1.65V. However, I get some sound "clipping" occasionally - enough to cause me great irritation. Why would there be any sound corruption? Its not the music files because the clips occur in random spots, and upon repeating the song, the clips do not occur at the same spots. Also, no clips at 200x10.0. I have increased the CPU volts by .025 and it did nothing.

Also, why does the BIOS see my overclock as 209x10 and windows see it as 210x10, but i have set it in the BIOS as 210x10.

At all above speeds and voltages, my system is SuperPI 32M + UT2k4 stable (simultaneous using spectator mode)

BIOS is fully updated. Soundcard is Audigy2 ZS and drivers are fully updated.
Is it possible that my PCI lock is non-functional over 200mhz?

Thx for your comments.

 

[Shimmishim]

no no... the pci is locked...

the way to verify this is to use clockgen to overclock... if pci isn't lock, then you'll see the pci frequency increase as you increase the fsb... and if you do see this happening, then setting the agp frequency in the bios to 67 rather than auto or 66 should fix it...

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

i have the exact same problem,and i know other people who have the problem. creative cards are bandwidth whores, any disturbance in the PCI latency will cause little "burps", its usually centered around keyboard typing via PS2 since it uses old ISA bus. try a new card or USB keyboard.

one of many reasons why i'll never buy another creative card.

 

[drewdogg808]

put a heatsink on the sb and see if that helps.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: AWhackWhiteBoy
i have the exact same problem,and i know other people who have the problem. creative cards are bandwidth whores, any disturbance in the PCI latency will cause little "burps", its usually centered around keyboard typing via PS2 since it uses old ISA bus. try a new card or USB keyboard.

one of many reasons why i'll never buy another creative card.

I did not know of this! I am using a ps/2 keyboard. I dont want to buy a new card only because i like the sound quality that the Audigy2ZS gives me at the price that i bought it for. Im not running Bowers and Wilkens off of them, so its good enough for me and my klipsch 5.1ultras .

Darn it, i just bought this Keybaord too...

Edit: Can I correct this in the BIOS? I noticed there is some sort of PCI latency setting or what.

Also, Drewdogg808, do you have any recommendations? I just put a Zalman Blue heatsink on my NB. My SB doesnt have mounting holes...

Also, Shimmishim, the PCI freq is locked to the AGP right? It isnt locked to the number 33.3 mhz? (Is the PCI locked to exactly 1/2 AGP)

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

i don't have PCI latency settings in my bios, but that might help,give it a shot.

try and narrow what causes the burps. does it happen randomly when your not doing anything at the computer,does it happen only when there is a load on the computer, or does it occur only when your typing like mine?

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: AWhackWhiteBoy
i don't have PCI latency settings in my bios, but that might help,give it a shot.

try and narrow what causes the burps. does it happen randomly when your not doing anything at the computer,does it happen only when there is a load on the computer, or does it occur only when your typing like mine?

The blips happen randomly while i type, while i listen - the load is at most 3% with winamp, trillian, and a hardware monitor window open.

Right now, i have it at 200x10@1.525V without blips.

Oddly enough, albeit unstable, I tried 220x10 and the blips went away. My computer just couldnt complete SuperPI 32M without getting rounding errors, and I didnt want to add more volts. I might try 220x9.5 later - although my instablity might come from my Mushkin level 2 PC3500 ram...

Ill post my results as they come...

Oh, should I change the PCI slot that my soundcard is in? Right now its on the top most PCI slot. I am running a Radeon 8500 in the AGP slot, however there is a good amount of clearance.

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

interesting,i've never tried my FSB at 220, i'm going to reboot and try. if this works i'll have to buy you a drink

its generally common practice to place sound cards in the very last PCI slot, as far away from the noise and interference as possible. however,for me,reguardless of the card placement, i still got the burps.

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

omg it works x 10^8

i wonder if it has to be in certain multiples to cure the latency problem, i'm gonna try 240 now!

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: AWhackWhiteBoy
omg it works x 10^8

i wonder if it has to be in certain multiples to cure the latency problem, i'm gonna try 240 now!

HAHA!! Nice! Im glad it works for ya! Im not getting stablity yet, so im gonna keep playing with my cpu multiplier and voltages. So far 220x10 is not possible even with 1.80V. I dont think its worth going from 1.5V to 1.8V for a tiny step.

Edit: Right now, Im at 220x10 @1.85V which IMO is too high of a voltage. It is only stable with 2-3-3 timings on my PC3500 level 2 mushkin. At this timing, it offers absolutely no performance advantage over 210x10.

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

yep, 240 works too. so i asume it will keep working for 260,280,etc.

why not try lowering the multiplier and working back up instead?

edit: i don't notice any increase in performance either, heres my long list and many trials with superpi and two barton mobiles.

12 x 200
1m = 44.5 seconds
2m = 1min 40.5 seconds

11 x 218
1m = 44.5 seconds
2m = 1min 39.5

11 x 225
1m = 42.5 seconds
2m = 1min 36.5 seconds

10 x 240
1m = 42.5
2m = 1min 36.5 seconds

10.5 x 240
1M = 40.5
2m = 1min 31.5 seconds
8M = 7min 20.5 seconds

13 x 200
1m = 40.5
2m = 1min 31.5
8m = 7min 20.5 seconds

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: AWhackWhiteBoy
yep, 240 works too. so i asume it will keep working for 260,280,etc.

why not try lowering the multiplier and working back up instead?

edit: i don't notice any increase in performance either, heres my long list and many trials with superpi and two barton mobiles.

12 x 200
1m = 44.5 seconds
2m = 1min 40.5 seconds

11 x 218
1m = 44.5 seconds
2m = 1min 39.5

11 x 225
1m = 42.5 seconds
2m = 1min 36.5 seconds

10 x 240
1m = 42.5
2m = 1min 36.5 seconds

10.5 x 240
1M = 40.5
2m = 1min 31.5 seconds
8M = 7min 20.5 seconds

13 x 200
1m = 40.5
2m = 1min 31.5
8m = 7min 20.5 seconds

wow, thanks for the results. Im currently stressing my system at 216x10@1.78V.

8m = 8min 14s
2m = 1m 42s

I believe my ram maxes out at its stock rating. Sigh, too bad ram costs soo much.
So, 216 is probably the fastest FSB i can go without bring Voltage higher than 2.85V or raising latency (which defeats the purpose of increasing the FSB unless i can get much more FSB out of it).

So, are your sound glitches gone for good?

Sigh, looks like im stuck at 10x200 @ 1.525 V because 220 is unstable for my ram at any voltage (including 3.0V) and 216 gives sound corruption while 210 also does that as well.

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

well i'm big on sound,so i lived with 200 until now. but now my sound glitches are gone thanks to you when OCing the FSB.

interestingly enough my 400mhz ram can run timings UNDER spec at stock voltage and speed,which surprised me. its also able to handle 3volts so i have it jacked up,along with the timings and it pushes 500mhz no problem.

it runs 200@2 3-3-4, 220@ 2.5 3-3-5 and 250@3-4-4-5

just raise your CAS a knotch,it will probably stabilize at 220.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: drewdogg808
put a heatsink on the sb and see if that helps.

I got rid of my SocketA system (NF7-S) a while back, but I know the southbridge does get hot. So overclocking and increasing the volts will only make it get hotter, so without have a NF7-S anymore I would also say to add a heatsink to the southbridge and see if that helps also?

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

the DFI boards come with south bridge heatsinks,and they still get VERY hot. but i'm almost positive its not the issue, creative cards are very sensitive to latency problems.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: AWhackWhiteBoy
the DFI boards come with south bridge heatsinks,and they still get VERY hot. but i'm almost positive its not the issue, creative cards are very sensitive to latency problems.

Sorry, I thought yall were using the onboard soundstorm.

If you want to run something else, try the VIA Envy soundcards. I have a Athlon64 system with no AGP/PCI lock and my Envy sound works fine. Mind you I am not doing anything to crazy.
But Chaintech has a Envy sound card for around $23 at newegg.com

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

i'd like to get an M-Audio revolution to get rid of this Audigy, the Envy at its finest

however i don't think the $100 is worth an extra 100mhz(20mhz now) in FSB,esp with crappy timings.

eventually i will get the M-Audio or whatever is equal to it in the future, i really don't care for this creative card either way,never have since i bought it. its on my list of things to buy after i get two new PSUs, a laptop, and a dual DVI graphics card

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: AWhackWhiteBoy
i'd like to get an M-Audio revolution to get rid of this Audigy, the Envy at its finest

however i don't think the $100 is worth an extra 100mhz(20mhz now) in FSB,esp with crappy timings.

eventually i will get the M-Audio or whatever is equal to it in the future, i really don't care for this creative card either way,never have since i bought it. its on my list of things to buy after i get two new PSUs, a laptop, and a dual DVI graphics card

Well if you use teh Digital output of the CEAPER envy sound card and don't do any super high end sound editing and recording, you will not notice a diff.

I have the stnadard envy sound but I use teh optical output to get the 96khz/24bit or soemthing like that out put. Same as when I had my NF7-S I use the digital output.

But yea the M-Audio is the top of the line Envy if you need it, if not $23 at newegg.com gets ya a good envy sound also. But you are right, I doubt you would notice another 100Mhz in day to day task.

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

i use Klipsch 5.1 ultras,so i need top knotch analog outputs,otherwise i completely agree, digital sound is digital sound,no need to spend the extra money.

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: drewdogg808
put a heatsink on the sb and see if that helps.

I got rid of my SocketA system (NF7-S) a while back, but I know the southbridge does get hot. So overclocking and increasing the volts will only make it get hotter, so without have a NF7-S anymore I would also say to add a heatsink to the southbridge and see if that helps also?

I just put a heatsink on the southbridge on my NF7-S as well as a new northbridge heatsink, and both get hot. It definately wouldn't hurt to add a little cooling to the SB.

 

[DaNorthface]

my southbridge doesn't get even warm.. i have a heatsink - i don't think it's acutally needed if it doesn't get warm though..

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: AWhackWhiteBoy
well i'm big on sound,so i lived with 200 until now. but now my sound glitches are gone thanks to you when OCing the FSB.

interestingly enough my 400mhz ram can run timings UNDER spec at stock voltage and speed,which surprised me. its also able to handle 3volts so i have it jacked up,along with the timings and it pushes 500mhz no problem.

it runs 200@2 3-3-4, 220@ 2.5 3-3-5 and 250@3-4-4-5

just raise your CAS a knotch,it will probably stabilize at 220.

Ill try this after I get home from work today, Probably give 9x220 @ 1.55V a whirl and raise ram latency from 222-11 to 233-11 or 2.533-11 if that doesnt work.

Will post results in 9 hrs

 

[Megatomic]

Tiamat, when I first got my Epox 8RDA+ (early last spring), I had sound glitches galore. Two things fixed this for me: a SB heatsink and setting the PCI Latency to 64 in the BIOS. I have used the same technique with two Abit NF7-S R2 boards now and I have never had a sound problem since.

I see you mentioned the PCI Latency earlier in this thread, did you ever try to use it? If so, how did it do? If not, give it a shot. And as to the SB heatsink, get some fragtape or AS Epoxy and bond one on the SB chip. Many report better performance with both chips cooled properly.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: Megatomic
Tiamat, when I first got my Epox 8RDA+ (early last spring), I had sound glitches galore. Two things fixed this for me: a SB heatsink and setting the PCI Latency to 64 in the BIOS. I have used the same technique with two Abit NF7-S R2 boards now and I have never had a sound problem since.

I see you mentioned the PCI Latency earlier in this thread, did you ever try to use it? If so, how did it do? If not, give it a shot. And as to the SB heatsink, get some fragtape or AS Epoxy and bond one on the SB chip. Many report better performance with both chips cooled properly.

I didnt try the PCI latency because i wasnt sure what numbers would work. I think it is set to "32" but i didnt understand what this meant. I will try changing the setting to "64" when i get home. IF this works at 210x10@1.6V Ill be quite happy.

 

[Megatomic]

64 is what I use. I've heard this is also a good setting for Sound Blaster cards so hopefully it'll work out for you.