Help me overclock myh NF7 please!

[GoingUp]

I had my barton 2500+ running smoothly at 2252 217x10.5 and then I upgraded my bios and now nothing is stable

I stupidly didnt write down the settings before I flashed my bios. Can anyone point me to some recommendations for what voltages and settings to use?

my RAM is crucial pc3200 running in dual channel at the moment 2x512mb.

Thanks!

Right now im trying to run at 11x200 and i cant get that to stay stable

 

[SNM]

Ummmm.....11x22 is rather larger than 217x10.5. That could be your problem.

 

[GoingUp]

Originally posted by: SNM
Ummmm.....11x22 is rather larger than 217x10.5. That could be your problem.

smartass

 

[GoingUp]

bump

 

[fbrdphreak]

People still OC AXP's?

 

[sharad]

Raise the multiplier and lower the FSB?

My 2800+ AXP is running at 2222Mhz (12.5x178)

 

[GoingUp]

Originally posted by: sharad
Raise the multiplier and lower the FSB?

My 2800+ AXP is running at 2222Mhz (12.5x178)

what board?

im also looking for help on what voltage settings to use with my NF7

 

[amheck]

Bump for you. I just picked up a used NF7-S and 2400+ mobile to use for a HTPC. I'm new to OC'ing, especially the Bartons', so I'd also be curious as to some settings.

 

[Fern]

What's your vcore set to?

When you flashed, it s/h re-set to default which is 1.65v. That's likely too low unless you have a real sweet CPU.

Look in "Soft Menu II" for that setting (vcore).

HERE'S a decent thread on optimal BIOS settings that should get you started.

Fern

 

[GoingUp]

Originally posted by: Fern
What's your vcore set to?

When you flashed, it s/h re-set to default which is 1.65v. That's likely too low unless you have a real sweet CPU.

Look in "Soft Menu II" for that setting (vcore).

HERE'S a decent thread on optimal BIOS settings that should get you started.

Fern

i have it at 1.85 right now...

edit: thanks for the link BTW

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: amheck
Bump for you. I just picked up a used NF7-S and 2400+ mobile to use for a HTPC. I'm new to OC'ing, especially the Bartons', so I'd also be curious as to some settings.

You can follow the same instructions as the OP. The one exception (as it looks like his desktop Barton is an older one with unlocked multi's like your mobile) is that you likely need less vcore to reach the same speeds.

Fern

 

[GoingUp]

Originally posted by: Fern

Originally posted by: amheck
Bump for you. I just picked up a used NF7-S and 2400+ mobile to use for a HTPC. I'm new to OC'ing, especially the Bartons', so I'd also be curious as to some settings.

You can follow the same instructions as the OP. The one exception (as it looks like his desktop Barton is an older one with unlocked multi's like your mobile) is that you likely need less vcore to reach the same speeds.

Fern

Thanks for the info I am currently stable @ 11x200.... time to try and see how high I can push this sucker!

 

[sharad]

Originally posted by: Gobadgrs
what board?

im also looking for help on what voltage settings to use with my NF7

I have got NF7S2G. It is basically the budget board of the NF7 series. Anything higher than 178 FSB results in a Prime 95 crash.

vcore is ~1.75.
vdimm is ~2.65.

 

[GoingUp]

argh... now im back to not being stable at all... had to drop back to my stock 2500+ yesterday

any other links or articles to help me out?

 

[dunkster]

Best overclocking BIOS I've found for my NF7Sv2 is TicTac's Mantaray Xt-1T NF7D26 BIOS.

With components in my sig, these are my BIOS settings for 11.5 X 220:
Vdd = 1.7V
Vcore = 1.8V
Vdimm = 2.9V
Temps are 42C idle and 50C @ Prime.

On really hot afternoons, this room gets hot, so I back off settings to 11.5 X 215:
Lower Vcore to 1.725V for 45C @ Prime and absolutely stable.

Hope this helps!

 

[GoingUp]

Originally posted by: dunkster
Best overclocking BIOS I've found for my NF7Sv2 is TicTac's Mantaray Xt-1T NF7D26 BIOS.

With components in my sig, these are my BIOS settings for 11.5 X 220:
Vdd = 1.7V
Vcore = 1.8V
Vdimm = 2.9V
Temps are 42C idle and 50C @ Prime.

On really hot afternoons, this room gets hot, so I back off settings to 11.5 X 215:
Lower Vcore to 1.725V for 45C @ Prime and absolutely stable.

Hope this helps!

I'm getting my board replaced by newegg.... looks like that will be the board im getting Ill try those settings! Can you give more any more of your bios settings like what you have enabled and disabled? and what are your ram ratios etc?

where can I get the modded bios as well?

 

[Fern]

and what are your ram ratios etc?

You'll want to keep it at 1:1, or similar. Many find that 5:5 or 6:6 works best.

This platform performs better with 1:1, unlike an Intel or A64 system.

As far as modded BIOS, those are primarily helpful in acheiving higher FSB OC. Most of the abit NF2 boards top out at around 215-220mhz. So, we use the modded BIOS to get beyond that. In other words, I don't beleive those are helpful in OC'ing the CPU, rather the NB and SB of the mobo.

These are the two best forums IMHO for info on OC the NF7 series:

nForcersHQ, and

ABIT USA I usually get the modded BIOS off this board/forum

Might be a good idea to put Motherboard Monitor 5 to monitor your temps and voltage rails. I found that my desktop Barton could get a bit unstable above 60c (load temp). More importantly, if your voltage rails flucuate it can make the OC unstable. Thus the value of a good PSU. Use the "sys log" feature and have it keep a record of the recordings to a text.doc. That way, you can go back and view the text.doc after stressing the system to ensure the rails remained steady.

I find it very helpful to run Memtest after OCing before moving on to P95. Passing memtest overnight ensures the instability is NOT due to ram.

What ram & timings are you using? Depending on the chips in your ram, some like high vdimm. others don't.

HERE'S another good site for you to check out.

Fern

 

[GoingUp]

Originally posted by: Fern

and what are your ram ratios etc?

You'll want to keep it at 1:1, or similar. Many find that 5:5 or 6:6 works best.

This platform performs better with 1:1, unlike an Intel or A64 system.

As far as modded BIOS, those are primarily helpful in acheiving higher FSB OC. Most of the abit NF2 boards top out at around 215-220mhz. So, we use the modded BIOS to get beyond that. In other words, I don't beleive those are helpful in OC'ing the CPU, rather the NB and SB of the mobo.

These are the two best forums IMHO for info on OC the NF7 series:

nForcersHQ, and

ABIT USA I usually get the modded BIOS off this board/forum

Might be a good idea to put Motherboard Monitor 5 to monitor your temps and voltage rails. I found that my desktop Barton could get a bit unstable above 60c (load temp). More importantly, if your voltage rails flucuate it can make the OC unstable. Thus the value of a good PSU. Use the "sys log" feature and have it keep a record of the recordings to a text.doc. That way, you can go back and view the text.doc after stressing the system to ensure the rails remained steady.

I find it very helpful to run Memtest after OCing before moving on to P95. Passing memtest overnight ensures the instability is NOT due to ram.

What ram & timings are you using? Depending on the chips in your ram, some like high vdimm. others don't.

HERE'S another good site for you to check out.

Fern

Thanks for the info. Why wouldn't I want to run at 6/5 so that my FSB was 333 when my ram is at 200MHZ? My proc only has a 333fsb... suggestions?

Anywhere I can find a cheap 400MHZ 3200+ barton?

 

[Fern]

Why wouldn't I want to run at 6/5 so that my FSB was 333 when my ram is at 200MHZ?

It's been well documented that performance suffers in asynch mode on XP systems (unlike Intel and a64).

Try it. You'll find that CPU @ 166 with ram at 166/333mhz is faster than CPU @ 166 and ram at 200/400mhz.

Another oddity is that for ram timings, the "row active delay" should be set to either 10 or 11 for best performance. Most ram will SPD at 6 or 8, but 10 or 11 will result in better performance. Seems odd to me since lower (tighter) timings are generally considered better. But not with this mobo.

For example, if your timings are 2.5-3-3-8, change it to 2.5-3-3-11 (or 10)

BTW: Instead of just jumpnig right up to FSB of 200, why not work your way up in increaments? Vcore of 1.85v is pretty d@mn high. Your load temps may reaching/exceeding 60c which can cause the cpu's to get unstable. Put MBM5 on there as I mentioned above to monitor your temps.

Fern

 

[GoingUp]

Originally posted by: Fern

Why wouldn't I want to run at 6/5 so that my FSB was 333 when my ram is at 200MHZ?

It's been well documented that performance suffers in asynch mode on XP systems (unlike Intel and a64).

Try it. You'll find that CPU @ 166 with ram at 166/333mhz is faster than CPU @ 166 and ram at 200/400mhz.

Another oddity is that for ram timings, the "row active delay" should be set to either 10 or 11 for best performance. Most ram will SPD at 6 or 8, but 10 or 11 will result in better performance. Seems odd to me since lower (tighter) timings are generally considered better. But not with this mobo.

For example, if your timings are 2.5-3-3-8, change it to 2.5-3-3-11 (or 10)

BTW: Instead of just jumpnig right up to FSB of 200, why not work your way up in increaments? Vcore of 1.85v is pretty d@mn high. Your load temps may reaching/exceeding 60c which can cause the cpu's to get unstable. Put MBM5 on there as I mentioned above to monitor your temps.

Fern

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...hreadid=1134922&enterthread=y&arctab=y
Woohoo! Just found my settings in an old thread of mine!

hmmm well I seem to be rock solid at 216x10.5 = 2252.... wish I could get a little higher though...

Well that seems to be about my limit.

I am at 1.875
2.7
1.7
1.5

Running at 10.5x216=2.27ghz around 46C idle 56C full load... im in a hot college room right now though, so once winter rolls around, I think the temps will go down quite a bit....

Memory is 11 2 2 2.5 and I turned off the AGP and FSB rate thing, and enabled the CPU OCin, and I am also running at 3/3 ratio...

Good luck OCin to all of you and thanks for the help!

yesterday in an air conditioned apt, I was at 41C and 48C under full load. I use the huge ass alpha 8045 cooler