HELP: Overclocking P4 3.06 Northwood

[archy121]

Hello,

I would like to clock my CPU & its the first time I am doinf this.
Please offer some advice:

I have:

abit BE7-Raid Mobo (i845Pe)
p4 3.06 HT Northwood
PC 2700 DDR

I have managed to over clock it to 3.2G but im not sure if its the best or correct way.
In BIOS I have set CPU settings to User defined & set the FSB to 140 instead of default 133. I locked the PCI to 33 otherwise it would increase it to 50 when changing the FSB
The multiplier is X23 - the same as was being used for the 3.06 default settings.
Im getting a steady CPU temperature of 45 Degrees after the system has been on for an hour.

Have I over clocked it correctly?
Is there a better way to do this more effectively?
Would setting the FSB to a even higher value of 150 (3.4G) be unwise & leave my system unstable or really reduce the CPUs life??

Please help out with some tips/advice

 

[canadianpsycho]

Quick and dirty explanation:

You've done it right so far.

Don't expect a lot out of a 533FSB 3.06 CPU. Best thing to do is:

-Increase FSB by maybe 5MHz at a time.
-Boot into windows.

Repeat this until windows locks up. Then either a) stop and go back to the last stable setting or b) increase cpu core voltage (vcore) with a northwood, I wouldn't go past 1.6V or so.

Temps will go up the more you add vcore. If you can overclock using the standard voltage, your temps should be fine. Try not to eclipse 50-60 degrees C

EDIT: frequency/speed will not kill your CPU, voltage/heat will. Test stability with a program like Prime95 running a torture test with max heat. If Prime95 give errors, you need less FSB or more Vcore.

 

[archy121]

" canadianpsycho "

Thanks for your response - Very helpful

After seeing the stabilty at 140 FSB, I increased it straight to 150 FSB.

The temperature has now increased to average 48-50 whilst im fully utilising my system.
Typically
-few firfox windows
-Azureus
-Nero burning in background
-Tiny Personal Frewall
-Norton AV
-edonkey
-Did some unRARING of large files

I ran that Prime95 with torture test with max heat (option 2) & it sacred the hell out of me !
The temperature of system got close to 70 Deg whilst CPU was in 60's. I stopped it before the first test was over.. Should i be concerned ? Or is this normal ?
Maybe i should invest in a new COOLER . Present one is a copper Master Cooler (copper CPU with heat pipes) i have had for 2 years or so & is using Arctic Silver 5. Any recommendations for upgrade ? Not really interested in water cooling.

 

[fAlCoNNiAn]

the pentium 4 can handle up to 70C before it starts throttleing. also do you have HT enabled on the cpu? if so then you should run two instances of prime95. if you get a constant 65C+, then i would consider upgrading the cooling.

 

[JasonandBecky]

My northwood 3.06 is running at 3.6 in my Shuttle SFF. They can overclock pretty well.

 

[archy121]

Originally posted by: JasonandBecky
My northwood 3.06 is running at 3.6 in my Shuttle SFF. They can overclock pretty well.

Wooww .. 3.6 ! What cooling are you using ? What are your MAX temperatures fpor CPU ?

 

[archy121]

Originally posted by: fAlCoNNiAn
the pentium 4 can handle up to 70C before it starts throttleing. also do you have HT enabled on the cpu? if so then you should run two instances of prime95. if you get a constant 65C+, then i would consider upgrading the cooling.

Im sticking to Windows 2000 Pro for long as i can.. Hate XP & lack of reason for its justification. Means HT is not running. Thanks for TIP.

 

[archy121]

Currently im using a x23 multiplier with 150 FSB to achieve 3.4G. This gives me an average CPU temperature of 45-46 degrees.
This is similar to the CPU temperatures i was getting before overclocking the 3.06G.

I was wondering what would happen if instead i drop multiplier to x20 & increase FSB to 170 to get 3.4G.

- Would CPU temperature be higher as CPU is doing more cycles per sec (increased FSB)
- Am i more likely to have probly with RAM as i only have regular PC2700 ?

 

[fAlCoNNiAn]

Originally posted by: archy121

Originally posted by: fAlCoNNiAn
the pentium 4 can handle up to 70C before it starts throttleing. also do you have HT enabled on the cpu? if so then you should run two instances of prime95. if you get a constant 65C+, then i would consider upgrading the cooling.

Im sticking to Windows 2000 Pro for long as i can.. Hate XP & lack of reason for its justification. Means HT is not running. Thanks for TIP.

im pretty sure win2k pro supports HT/Multicpu

 

[JasonandBecky]

Stock SFF ICE heatpipe cooler. I dont remember the exact temps on mine from MBM but they were not out of the ordinary. I do have a 120mm fan with then downtake mod of the outside of the rear so it pulls a LOT more air out than the stock fan.

Your temps with a higher FSB should not be any higher on your CPU, they might be higher on your RAM though. Are you able to drop the multiplier on your northwood?

 

[archy121]

Windows 2000 does not support HyperThreading as it should - does not see 2 logical CPU. MS said they would fix it in next service pack but now it seems MS are not going to do service pack 5.

 

[archy121]

JasonandBecky - Yes i think you right i cant change the Multiplier - OOps

 

[stevty2889]

Let me know how high she goes. Once I get my tax refund, I am gonna rebuild my 3.06ghz northwood system and see if I can get it to 3.6ghz. Aleady got the chip, the motherboard, a Thermalright XP-120, and a gig of PC3500 DDR, gonna pair her up with a 6600GT and a good PSU.

 

[ShadowBlade]

just for future reference, intels usually do not overclock well because intel markets using high clock speeds so most of the time, theyre gonna be pushed about as high as theyll go (usually)

also consider upgrading to PC3200 RAM, this will let you overclock more

 

[HockeyZ39]

I have a 3.06ht northwood as well and i was wondering what would be the best mobo to pair it up with for OC'ing?

 

[JasonandBecky]

just for future reference, intels usually do not overclock well because intel markets using high clock speeds so most of the time, theyre gonna be pushed about as high as theyll go (usually)

This statement is 100% wrong and makes baby jesus cry its so dumb. Intel chips normally overclock BETTER than AMD chips. I think even most hardcore AMD fanboys would be the first to admit that. All the world record overclocks so far are on Intel chips just FYI.

Northwoods and the newer Prescotts all overclock very well. My 3.2 prescott is at 4gig on Air atm.

 

[Conky]

I guess I got lucky with my P4 3.06 Northwood.

It runs fine at 150fsb(3.45GHz) at default voltage. It runs a bit warmer overclocked but doesn't get particularly hot either as I have an Alpha heatsink on it with a fan rated at 68cfm and I leave the case open.

My motherboard is an Asus P4P-800.

 

[Daaavo]

FWIW, here is what my 30capper 3.06GHz does at default voltage with HT turned off.


Link.

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: Daaavo
FWIW, here is what my 30capper 3.06GHz does at default voltage with HT turned off.


Link.

Nice! Here's mine with nothing turned off. Link also a 30 capper.

 

[archy121]

Thanks all for your feedback, ideas etc.. !
Just some update..

I have OC the CPU to 3.46 succesfully.
Did this by just setting the FSB to 150, locked AGP & set memory to 1:1. All tested out ok with CPU Stability test program.
My memory is very bad GENERIC 2700 so used 1:1 setting - any higher & blue screens under testing. I can now be happy for 12-18 months before doing a major upgrade to 64bit processor, DDR2 mem etc..

I also upgraded Heatsink to ThermalRight xp-90

What an amazing piece of hardware - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

 

[djspl]

I use Windows 2k and I am using hyperthreading without a problem. My task manager shows 2 CPUs, I get hyperthread scores from benchmarks. Try it, it works fine.

 

[JasonandBecky]

Well Win2k does not support HT so I have no idea how that is happening. You would be the only one out there who is works for.