Help me push this XP-M 2500 fuuuurther!!!

[DoctaZ]

Howdy folks.

So I have myself a Mobile 2500, that I've had for the last couple months or so. When I first got it, did a bit of benchmarking and got a stable boot etc at 2405 mhz, (12x200 at 1.7) but I couldn't get it to stay stable for any length of time at 12.5x200 even at volts like 1.8. I've pushed the fsb up a couple times, doing things like 215x12, etc but it never seemed to perform as well as it does at simply 12x200...

Any clue why it would act like this... or is it my imagination..?

Second question is, it's been rock hard stable for 2 months now, and I've been doing some burning in... how should I approach pushing it past this point... what would you suggest I do, or what CAN I do to push it past it's current limit...? Trimmer memory timings, work the fsb... what do you suggest?

I run mid-high 30's (Celsius) idle, mid to higher 40's (around 47-49 C) under load... with a zalman CNPS6000-AlCu, and a whole bunch of fans, slot cooler, and good airflow.

 

[aka1nas]

Well 2.4Ghz is actually a better than average max OC for that chip on air. Your PSU is a good unit, so that probably isn't holding you back. As far as further FSB pumping goes, that could possibly be your RAM. You didn't mention what you were using to test your system. Are you running prime95 or memtest86? If not, then start doing so. You may not actually be stable at your current speeds.

 

[jagec]

Mid to higher 40's load? Up the voltage one more notch.

 

[BZeto]

Originally posted by: DoctaZ
doing things like 215x12, etc but it never seemed to perform as well as it does at simply 12x200...

How is that possible? Not only is your FSB running faster (meaning better overall system performance, memory bandwidth, ect) but your CPU is still running 180 Mhz faster than at 200x12.

 

[SickBeast]

My mobile 2500+ is stable at 2500mhz on 1.8v on my A7N8X 2.0. I guess it's just luck of the draw dude. You could try relaxing your memory timings and making sure your CPU interface is set to "optimal" in your BIOS.

 

[L00PY]

Originally posted by: BZeto

Originally posted by: DoctaZ
doing things like 215x12, etc but it never seemed to perform as well as it does at simply 12x200...

How is that possible? Not only is your FSB running faster (meaning better overall system performance, memory bandwidth, ect) but your CPU is still running 180 Mhz faster than at 200x12.

Could be that another bus isn't happy running slightly out of spec -- there's probably the right divider for 200 but not for 215. It might even be using too high of a divider and bumping speeds down below spec.

 

[aka1nas]

He should have AGP and PCI lock on his board, if they are not enabled, then that could also be the problem.

 

[DoctaZ]

Ahh some good suggestions.

Just to note, I am using prime95 (12 hour test) to double check anything I do... I never thought to use memtest again... Good Idea on that one.

As for bumping up voltage, I will try that when I move it a bit faster. Definately will get done.

I'm going to check what my CPU interface is set to, I'm unsure, if it's set to anything else, I'll set to optimal.

my AGP/PCI freq is locked at 66mhz

One question however, if I relax my memory timings, wouldn't my board not perform as well and make it harder to oc further? I've probably just got it mixed up...


Thanks for all the responses guys.

 

[SickBeast]

If you relax your memory timings, yes, your system would not perform as well for the moment. You need to overclock one thing at at time until you can determine the maximum speed for everything. At this point, since you're focusing on your CPU, set the memory timings to default/optimal so that you eliminate it as a potential failure point.

Relaxing your memory timings generally allows much higher overclocks. By the way, make sure you run 12.5x200 and not 12x215. What is your memory rated at? If it's PC3200 I doubt it would be stable at 215mhz, especially with tight timings.

As for voltage, that motherboard should top out at 1.825v. If it doesn't, don't go any higher than that.

 

[DoctaZ]

It is PC3200 and when I think about it from the way you described it, yes my memory would probably not be very stable at 215. Very good point.

Okay I will relax the memory settings and up the voltage attempting to make 12.5x200 then prime 95 until Sunday .

I'll make sure to stay under 1.825.

Thanks for your help Sickbeast, as well as others.

 

[SickBeast]

No problem, good luck, and welcome to the AT forums. :beer:

 

[DoctaZ]

thanks

 

[pelikan]

You've got some really nice ram. On my system, testing with UT2003 benchmark, going from Cas 2-3-3-x to 2-2-2-x is worth 200 cpu MHz. I'd max the vdimm (what is it, 2.8V or 2.9V on that board?) and run it at Cas 2-2-2-11. Then boot into memtest86 and make sure you can pass test five before going into windows (to avoid corruption). Then check prime95 again.