How do I up the Vcore on my Duron 1600 / PCChips M811LU?

[deadken]

I bought a Duron/Mobo combo from Outpost.com. I wanted this for a Budget rig. I am always tweaking, and I of course would like to overclock this set-up. I threw a stick of PC2700 in the combo and set my FSB up at 150 (from the stock 12x133=1600), it is now running at 1800. It's unstable (it fails P95 fast) I would like to raise the Vcore, but with no BIOS settings I don't know how.

Isn't there a 'wire trick' or some other way to increase the Vcore on this combo?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

 

[o1die]

Pcchips and ecs boards don't come with any overclocking options. That's one reason why they are so cheap. I have an ecs nforce2 board. It works ok, but I knew of it's limitations when I bought it at Fry's. You got the board almost free, so it's still a good deal.

 

[deadken]

Originally posted by: o1die
Pcchips and ecs boards don't come with any overclocking options. That's one reason why they are so cheap. I have an ecs nforce2 board. It works ok, but I knew of it's limitations when I bought it at Fry's. You got the board almost free, so it's still a good deal.

I know for a fact that this PC Chips board DOES come with overclocking options, THAT IS WHY I STARTED THIS THREAD! I also figure that I got the board 'FREE' (not just cheap), find me one place that has a Duron 1600 for less then $40, then I will know that I paid the difference for the PC Chips mobo.

I asked if there is a 'wire trick' or some other mod I can do to increase the Vcore. Maybe I just explained it poorly... Does anyone know of two CPU pins I can loop with wire or two sockets I can jump with a piece of wire that will let me increase the Vcore? How about soldering a jumper between two terminals on the mobo? Any links/sites/help would be appreciated.

Again, Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

 

[o1die]

You should be able to run your duron at 150 fsb on your board without any modifications. 150 is a safe setting for the 811, since it has no agp/pci lock. If you want to go higher, I would sell that board and get an nforce2 board. Newegg has refurbs for about $30-35. I bought the same combo at my local Fry's for $39.95, but had to return it cause my agp 8x card wouldn't post with it.

 

[deadken]

Thank you for trying to help. I appreciate your effort, but I think there is still a mis-understanding....

I have a Duron 1600, PC Chips 811LU Mobo, and a stick of 256MB 333 Memory.

I also figured that a 150FSB would be a safe bet, but it fails P95 miserably (as I have said). I doubt that the memory is failing at 150FSB since it is PC2700 that I am using. This leads me to believe that it is the Vcore that needs to be bumped a bit (it runs at 1.5 stock). Well, since I can't bump the Vcore in BIOS, I wanted to bump it a different way. I thought that I had heard of a way to do that.

If anyone knows of a way to do that, then I'd like to hear about it.

I'd rather not sell this board, buy a re-furb, etc... The object of this 'package' was a low dollar 'bang-for-the-buck' rig. As I have said, I got the Mobo + CPU for $40, I also got a Antec 1650B Case (w/Antec 350W PS) for $25 (after MIR), and I got a HP 52X CDRW (also black) for $10 (after MIR). The Idea was I put together a decent 'barebones' for $88 (after S+H). If I can run it at 1800 at this price then I will, if not, then I will run it at 1600 and be happy. I am not going to jump through hoops for a bargain rig.

 

[o1die]

Well, unfortunately, alot of overclocks fail prime 95, including mine. But about 99% of the time, my setup runs fine for the applications I use it for, and my p4 is overclocked by 30%. I would try running your setup awhile at 150 in normal use on the internet, gaming etc, and see if you get any error messages or bluescreens.

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

The following guide has the information you're looking for:
http://www.ocworkbench.com/2004/articles/ocduron/p1.htm

 

[deadken]

Originally posted by: o1die
Well, unfortunately, alot of overclocks fail prime 95, including mine. But about 99% of the time, my setup runs fine for the applications I use it for, and my p4 is overclocked by 30%. I would try running your setup awhile at 150 in normal use on the internet, gaming etc, and see if you get any error messages or bluescreens.

I won't run a rig that can't run P95 stable for more then a few hours. My Family rig (XP2400+ @ 11.5x202FSB (2323MHz)) passes 13+ hours on P95 (13 hours is my 'expectation' of a 'stable' overclock). My sons XP2400+ runs a lot slower (still overclocked, but around 2200MHz) because higher then that it won't "pass" P95. So yes, you can run an overclock without having it solidly stable, but I won't. IMHO, an O/C without stability is useless.

Originally posted by: ChineseDemocracyGNR
The following guide has the information you're looking for:
http://www.ocworkbench.com/2004/articles/ocduron/p1.htm

THANKS!!! This is EXACTLY what I was looking for.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

Now.... If I can only find a link to show how to enable the other cache.....

 

[FriedRiceBob]

Originally posted by: deadken

Originally posted by: ChineseDemocracyGNR
The following guide has the information you're looking for:
http://www.ocworkbench.com/2004/articles/ocduron/p1.htm

THANKS!!! This is EXACTLY what I was looking for.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

Now.... If I can only find a link to show how to enable the other cache.....

i'm in the exact situation as yourself.

the remaining cache is unlocked by the l2 bridge that's been lasered. (should be the last one, currently { | | | : }L2; needs to be { | | | | }L2 )

i've tried to unlock mine using copper model paint (testor's copper enamel), which i read somewhere was probably conductive (genius me doesnt double check first) and failed miserably. now i'm trying to find a damn defogger repair kit...with no luck.

does anyone know what other readily available conductive means can i use?

also, deadken, i believe that something in the PC-chips mainboard might be limiting us before the duron, mine is only stable to 140FSB (1680 Duron), and this is with ram which i've run to 210 before with no issue.

and finally, i've fished through this thread over at ocforums and i'll feed you the sweetened condensed version: if you can successfully unlock the middle two L5 bridges (end result { | | | : }L5), you can use CPUMSR to soft-raise the multiplier once in windows. once you find your stable overclock, you can run CPUMSR from a command line (toss a shortcut in your startup folder or registry) and it will OC for you upon entering windows every time.

edit: missed a tag in there somewhere

edit again: i guess i get to eat my words as far as the 811 is concerned. i used the wire mod to volt up to 1.775 (getting actual fluctuating between 1.77 and 1.79). FSB is up to 150, and after memtest86'ing for awhile, i'm now in windows folding + prime95, currently stable, currently 41C. hell, i may try for more

bedtime now: at 1860 (12x155) hitting a high of 43C so far, gonna leave prime overnight and see whatsup whatsup. oh, and this is a cheap SVC GC-68 or whatever cooler

 

[DaNorthface]

if i remember correctly, connect all the level 6 L6 bridges with a pencil and you'll get 1.85 volts. Overwise, find your voltage regulator chip and look on online to see how to mkae you vcore higher. It's easily done by soldiering in a resistor.

 

[FriedRiceBob]

Originally posted by: DaNorthface
if i remember correctly, connect all the level 6 L6 bridges with a pencil and you'll get 1.85 volts. Overwise, find your voltage regulator chip and look on online to see how to mkae you vcore higher. It's easily done by soldiering in a resistor.

DaNorthFace, the L6 to which you are referring is correct...if you're using an old Spitfire Duron or T-bird athlon. The new package has different bridges; in the current one, users were cutting the L6 bridges in order to unlock all multipliers for use with CPUMSR, until it was found that bridge 2 of L5 circumvents that much more easily.

 

[deadken]

I have done the wire 'trick' and set my voltage at 1.675 (the easiest one since it's only 2 wires) which I hope should be adequate since it is a decent increase from the default 1.5V. I have the FSB set @ 150 (12x150=1800) and I am running P95 and F@H on it.

I left for work around 2:30pm, and just got in arount 4:45am. I'll have to check out how long P95 ran after I get a bit of sleep. I am SOOOO tempted to hook up a monitor and USB mouse and check it now, but I know that no matter what I find, I will get sucked in and be up for a few more hours when I could really use to get some sleep.

I will post back in a few hours (probably 6+) and let you know how long it ran for (for all I know it was only 15mins, I needed to reset the monitor and mouse back to my 'family' rig so my kids could use it when they got home from school).

 

[gwag]

does the board have a PCI lock on it at 150? earlier poster said no? are those chips super locked?

 

[gwag]

seen this?: http://www.ocworkbench.com/2004/articles/ocduron/p2.htm

 

[FriedRiceBob]

Originally posted by: gwag
does the board have a PCI lock on it at 150? earlier poster said no? are those chips super locked?

there is no locking of any kind, so my PCI is nearing 40mhz, suprised nothing has given up the goat yet.

the chips are superlocked, but probably capable of >2ghz with volts and cooling. if i was *really* bored, i'd toss it in my nf2 board and see just what kind of hell it will sustain. but i don't feel like tearing down my main rig.

 

[deadken]

Thanks for all of the help. I raised the Vcore to 1.675 yesterday and reset the FSB to 150. I just finished running P95 with F@H for 22 hrs and 42 mins! I had stopped the test (anything over 13hrs of P95 and F@H I call stable). :thumbsup:

I chose the 1.675 Vcore setting partly because it was the easiest. It only required 2 pieces of wire. Maybe some other time I will try it again with a lower Vcore, but for now I am VERY pleased.

I had seen that link (from 'Gwag'), but I had also heard that the newer Duron 1600's are 'SUPERLOCKED'. I am assuming that the one I just got from Outpost is from a 'newer' batch. That multiplier mod/program sounds very cool. I would like to take the time to play around with that, but for now this rig is going to the background. I have 2 other pc's coming to me soon that need some work. When I can afford more time to play, I just might try that software multiplier program.

I know that I shouldn't 'thread crap' and that I should post this in another thread but:

Does anyone know the closest choice (in Motherboard Monitor 5) for a PC Chips 811LU Mobo? I currently have it set as a 810 because there is no choice for a 811. My 'Case' temps aren't accurate, they keep jumping around. I have tried 'speedfan' and am not entirely happy with that program. Any suggestions?

I am using a stock AMD HS/F that came from a XP2700 (333 FSB). I have lapped it with 600grit (I was out of higher grits) and it is certainly smoother and flatter then before. I used a mixture of Shin-Etsu and a silver compund (the one that comes with the Arctic Coolers). I mix the two because I find the Shin-Etsu a little hard to work with. It always seems to 'claylike'. I have gotten a few tubes from more then one person, and all seem to be claylike. By adding about %25 of another compound, I find it a lot easier to work with.

 

[FriedRiceBob]

Originally posted by: deadken
Does anyone know the closest choice (in Motherboard Monitor 5) for a PC Chips 811LU Mobo? I currently have it set as a 810 because there is no choice for a 811. My 'Case' temps aren't accurate, they keep jumping around. I have tried 'speedfan' and am not entirely happy with that program. Any suggestions?

glad to hear of your success too, deadken

after not finding the 811 in the easy-setup thingy for MBM, i set it up the ol' fashioned way, and also have one sensor which bounces from 5c to 75c with no clear method to its madness...i just ignore that one alltogether, and use the CPU and NB/Chipset sensors.

another issue of which i'm curious...does anyone know if it's possible to change the mulitpliers on superlocked processors using the wire-trick?
it sure would be a pain in the ass, but i wouldnt mind so much i think (although it did take me a good 10 mins to finally get all 3 wires that i did place to sit correctly...finicky boogers)

edit: oh goody, i've got more information
According to this page at Fab51, both L2 and L9 might control the cache. also, in the notes near the bottom it says that in the new package type (ours), bridges including the L5's may be closed by simply exposing some metal in the laser pit and filling with conductive material...however the L2 and L9 laser pits must be insulated first, and you have to (VERY GENTLY) scratch some of the surface on either side of the bridge to expose some of the copper there, while not scratching too deep or around and breaking a trace. sounds nervewracking. is 256k cache worth it?

 

[deadken]

Originally posted by: FriedRiceBob
According to this page at Fab51, both L2 and L9 might control the cache. also, in the notes near the bottom it says that in the new package type (ours), bridges including the L5's may be closed by simply exposing some metal in the laser pit and filling with conductive material...however the L2 and L9 laser pits must be insulated first, and you have to (VERY GENTLY) scratch some of the surface on either side of the bridge to expose some of the copper there, while not scratching too deep or around and breaking a trace. sounds nervewracking. is 256k cache worth it?

I am wondering the same thing. I assume that it would be like getting another 100-200 MHz of performance for free. Of course, one small slip and it wasn't for free anymore! It'd be another $40 or so to get another 1600 Duron (and I don't know if the next one would give me 1800MHz stable).

It seems the 'easy' performance gains are a thing of the past for the Durons. Trying to enable the 'extra' cache might not really be 'hard', but I would say it seems 'tricky' and there seems to be a potential for loss (I'm not sure what the effect of damaging the circuits underneath would be). I'd like to hear of others who have tried this mod, so I can get an idea of if it's successful or not.

 

[FriedRiceBob]

ok. i gave up on the cache entirely...after trying L9 along with L2 and netting nothing

i went ahead and pumped the voltage to max (two more wires in the socket) (1.85v) while i had the chip out, and i successfully connected the second and third L5 bridge...giving me multiplier access in windows (woo!)

once that was done, i set my FSB to 150, and headed into windows. tried for 2100...failed prime almost immediately. backed down to 2025 (so easy to do...), and left it to prime while i was at work. before i left, i noticed that the core voltage is sagging under load to 1.8v instead of the 1.85 that it gets at idle...this may be why it failed prime before i got home, as i also saw in MBM that the Vcore dipped to 1.78. now i don't know if it's the board's fault, or the hella-cheap powmax that's running this thing, but i'm almost certain that with a solid 1.85 i could run 2100 stable.

anyway...now i've backed it down to 2010 (149fsb x 13.5) and am going to let prime go overnight. i might try a stronger PSU to see if i can get stability at 2025 or even 2100...but i dont have any free for taking right now .

Temps were reaching 45C at 2025. currently high of 44C at 2010

here's a screenshot of my 1.6 Duron @ 2010 on PC Chips M811LU

 

[gwag]

Bob why dont you sett the fsb to 166 now that you have multiplier control and 166x12 =2Ghz and no PCI overclock so you wont risk wright faliures or HD coruption form overclocking you PCI bus not to mention other issues taht can occur? or does you MB not allow a 166 fsb? even if you ram wont support it most boards will let you set you fsb at 166 and ram at 133?

 

[FriedRiceBob]

Gwag, the PC-Chips board that came free with the Duron is a KT266A Board. the max FSB setting is 165. i've only found 155 stable...and it even seems sketchy sometimes so i'm gonna stay at ~150

 

[gwag]

gotcha, i have had bad experinces with overclcked pci buses...

 

[itshondo]

mine is Prime stable at 140 fsb with a 1800 Pally-