Help with newb OCing

[ITPaladin]

Several months ago I got this along with a Thermalright SI-97 heatsink in the hopes of saving money and getting higher results.
I fiddled around with settings that people mentioned across forums and in NewEggs reviews.
I could never get it to work at those, such as 12x100 and the various voltages. I was told you had to creep up to those settings (?) first. People saying "right out of the box" implied you just drop it in, set the bios, and go.

I currently have it at 1.9 GHZ and 400 FSB.

Just how do I reach those coveted 2 GHZ+ settings?

Remember I am a newb in this area.

I thought about just looking for an XP 3k or 3200+ but it seems they aren't being sold much.

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

To attain the highest speeds, you'll need to raise the voltage. There's no rules of thumb, here, but I'd try to keep it under 1.7v. But be *very* careful when you do so, because some motherboards don't have accurate controls. For example, I set my CPU to 1.5v in the BIOS, but the actual value was 1.62v. So make sure you walk up the voltage slowly, and monitor the actual value as you do so.

That's pretty much it. Your mobile should be able to overclock via the multiplier, but if you alter the system bus, make sure you have your PCI/IDE lock turned on (unless it's automatic).

 

[ITPaladin]

I am not familiar with this lock you speak of. It has been a while since I looked at the bios.

 

[ITPaladin]

bump for added question...

 

[Mogadon]

The lock he's talking about is automatic, well what i mean is you set the AGP speed yourself and if you haven't changed it it's set correctly.

Have you changed the volatsges at all?

You should carry on raising the multipler not the FSB yet .... if you raise the multiplier and it does not POST or fails to boot into windows, bump up the voltage a notch ... etc ...

 

[ITPaladin]

so leave the fsb at default mobile speed, do the mult first, if fails then up volts...if if it boots after upping volts raise mult again etc then finally raise fsb?

Is Athlon XP pretty much dead? I can't find alot of good sources for a 3000 or 3200.

 

[Mogadon]

Yeh, that's pretty much right. When you've found the highest multi, back off and find the highest FSB your CPU or RAM can get to, and then find the best compromise of the multi and FSB to get your best speed. If you can get to a similar speed it's better to have a higher FSB than multi. You'll want to test stability using something like Prime95, run it for 5/10 mins every few times you raise the overclock. You can increase your RAMs voltage too to helb stability when upping the FSB.

The last AXP was shipped last month if i remember correctly.

 

[ITPaladin]

almost seems better to get a new pci-e system if they are so hard to get now

 

[ITPaladin]

Got it to boot to windows at 1.65v, 2.21 ghz, 400 mhz. I haven't run prime95 yet though.
I didn't do anything to the ddr sdram voltage setting.

Do I run the "Torture Test"?

If I do, what option do I click?

update:

I started the blend option for about 40 minutes. Interesting to note that in BIOS I set the CPU core to 1.65 and the ABIT EQ monitoring program says Vcore 1.62-3. I tried starting Windows Media Player / Movielink to watch what I downloaded and they just quit. Could this be an instability?

another update: I can load other players but they don't support wmv. I will try reinstalling both programs.

and another....That didn't last long. Windows rebooted on me so I upped in BIOS the CPU volts to 1.7 ABIT EQ says 1.66-68 and 48 C for the CPU

 

[RiDE]

Is it stable with that voltage?

Where did you get your 2500+ mobile from? I've read people getting to 2.4-2.5 on that thing.

I have the desktop version but it's stuck at 2.2 and I'm very hesitant to upgrade because every damn AMD socket after 462 seems to have a lifespan of 6 months... 754, 940, 939... then M2 next year.

 

[ITPaladin]

Never mind. It seems to run fine for over an hour, maybe two....running the blend test for about 40 minutes before, then I am doing normal things and suddenly a reboot.

I set it back to what I had it before. I suppose I am not an overclocking person.

I just do not have the time to spend hours on hours to find that special setting.

 

[Bull Dog]

Originally posted by: RiDE
Is it stable with that voltage?

Where did you get your 2500+ mobile from? I've read people getting to 2.4-2.5 on that thing.

I have the desktop version but it's stuck at 2.2 and I'm very hesitant to upgrade because every damn AMD socket after 462 seems to have a lifespan of 6 months... 754, 940, 939... then M2 next year.

754 isn't dead/dieing. Semprons are made for it. Still a bit of life left.
940 isn't dead/dieing. Opteron Processors are still made for it.
939 isn't dead/dieing. Umm need I explain why?
M2 will still take months to come out, if you think AMD is bad..........take a look at Intel, hehe.

 

[RiDE]

Originally posted by: Bull Dog

Originally posted by: RiDE
Is it stable with that voltage?

Where did you get your 2500+ mobile from? I've read people getting to 2.4-2.5 on that thing.

I have the desktop version but it's stuck at 2.2 and I'm very hesitant to upgrade because every damn AMD socket after 462 seems to have a lifespan of 6 months... 754, 940, 939... then M2 next year.

754 isn't dead/dieing. Semprons are made for it. Still a bit of life left.
940 isn't dead/dieing. Opteron Processors are still made for it.
939 isn't dead/dieing. Umm need I explain why?
M2 will still take months to come out, if you think AMD is bad..........take a look at Intel, hehe.

but none of them are as flexible as Socket A. why would I go with intel when they're the ones who like changing sockets like they change clothes.

 

[ITPaladin]

Ran two, two-hour tests on both ram sticks I have in the same slot with no errors on memtest, but I received an error the first time running both after 2 hours. That leaves me confused.
I think I got the CPU from Newegg.

 

[ITPaladin]

Ran prime95 for 40 minutes no problems, then while it is running I decide to load up outlook and opera.
They both crash and the system reboots.

 

[Fern]

Give us the settings you in BIOS under the "SoftMenu" section.

Fern

 

[ITPaladin]

I started running tests following what Mog said. I am keeping my fsb at stock 266 while just upping the multi.
So far I have it at 16x at 1.65v (Abit EQ monitor says volt is 1.6 in Windows). I just completed at 39 minute small FFT test successfully.
I will try the blend for 10 minutes.

If I understand this correctly, the idea is to find the highest multi without going over say, 1.7(5)v, then back it down to normal stock again, then up fsb to find highest stable fsb, only this time using ram volts instead of upping cpu volts?

Then after that find the median between fsb and multi with volts...

btw my corsair value select is 2.5-3-3-8 in BIOS.

 

[ITPaladin]

Up to 1.75v in BIOS (Abit EQ monitor says 1.7) x16.5, Prime95 blend test for 40 minutes no errors, temp topped at 60C.

Anyone else with suggestions / tips? I think I shouldn't go any higher on the multi....

 

[ITPaladin]

well now testing with fixed 13.5 multi while raising fsb slowly. DDR volt at 2.9 maxed, cpu core at 1.7.
I guess time to bump the fsb some more trying to reach 400 mhz.

 

[ITPaladin]

Seems from this all day testing that the best I can do is 200x11 1.775v, DDR 2.8v.
19 minute blend test on P95 topped at 59C no errors.

 

[Fern]

Well, you're up to 3200+ speeds :thumbsup:

Although that vcore and those temps are a bit high IMHO.

Some of these chips can exhibit instability at around 60c, others won't.

Depending on the chips in your Corsair VS, you may not be able to get above FSB 200/400mhz anyway. So 11 x200 is pretty good for the moment.

Might wanna make sure your HS is cleaned out, no dust bunnies and case airflow is good. I'd also try to lower the vcore a little at a time to see if you can keep it stable at 11 x 200, and running a little cooler.

Don't know type/brand HS you've got on the cpu, but may not be worth investing in a better one. Certainly not an expensive one.

BTW: Motherboard Monitor 5 is good proggie for monitoring temps and voltages. Voltage flucuations will make cpu appear unstable. When I'm OCing I'll use the "sys log" feature and have it record readings every second to a text.doc. If it re-boots etc, can go in a have a look at the text'doc to make PSU wasn't acting up or temps too high thus causing the problem.

Fern

 

[ITPaladin]

It is not stable with prime95. I did blend and small fft tests while sleeping and woke up to my computer rebooted at pw screen.
I am lowering cpu volts and lowered the ram to 2.8. I am not done yet.
I have SI-97 on it.

 

[ITPaladin]

Yes on my SI-97 fins there is a coating, or a clotting...of dust.
I took off the side of the case and temps during testing fell from 60C to 55C.

I guess I should run to a radio shack or compusa and get a can or anti-static vac...

Are those vacs needed or can I just use a normal attachment while keeping a hand on the metal case to ground?

 

[ITPaladin]

rrrr. Trying to get a stable prime 95 run is annoying. I run for nearly and hour then suddenly a reboot.

It seems it isn't worth the trouble.

 

[ITPaladin]

I thought maybe trying to achieve stability by staying at 400 fsb wasn't necessary so I backed down to 190x11.5, 1.75v, DDR 2.6, and Prime95 for 24 minutes had no errors with temp topped at 55C.