I'm ready to overclock my epox

[YankeesWin]

Epox 8k7a
T-Bird 1.4ghz.

Now, do I only mess with the Vcore adjust + CPU Ratio, or can I up the DDR as well? If so how high should I go with the DDR and does it really give my rig a signifigant amount of improvement when I mess with the DDR?

If some of you guys could post how high you got your Ratio+Vcore that would probably be helpful too.

thanx.

 

[eLiu]

Up DDR lets ur RAM reach higher fsb speeds...and the truth is, it really doesnt hurt anything to do it. (RAM at max DDR voltage is just like warm to the touch)

Anyways, to OC, I'd probably take the CPU multiplier to 10x, and start raising the fsb...see how high you can go like that. If you start getting pretty high...and you think the fsb can keep going, lower the multiplier some more.

High fsb=best. A system that's 166*9.5 would be preferable to say, 155*10.

And...when you have instability, raise the vcore. BUT: be wary of raising it past 1.85...heat becomes a problem.

ALSO: monitor you 5v rail: raising the vcore/DDR voltage will make it start to drop...if it gets below 4.8 or so under load, then you could start crashing.

Take it in small increments...dont go straight to say, 1600, try 1500 first.
And...after each OC, run like Prime95 for a bit (i let it go for ~30), then bump it up again. Once you think you've hit a good max, then loop Prime95 for a couple hours (like overnight)

-eric

 

[YankeesWin]

why's it better to have the multiplier lower? does it use less power or something? Right now I've got it at 11x140, its running stable at 1540. So from what you're telling me, trying it at 10x154 would be a better solution? Will it prolong the life of my cpu?

 

[HaVoC]

The higher FSB does results in better memory performance since your memory is being overclocked. However, your memory should be of high quality to handle the overclock. PCI bus speeds can be a problem since you are running them out of spec. I personally prefer to multiplier-overclock only just for a guarantee of stability since the FSB is at the default speed.

 

[DarkMajiq]

Just a note, your VCore shouldn't go up past 1.85V unless you've hard-modded the board.

Overclocking by the FSB route is better because everything runs off of the FSB, PCI, AGP, memory, it's all going faster and will give you a performance boost, if all of the components can handle the increased stress. The FSB route with the EPoX is also great because of its great overclocking ability, it hits high FSB speeds quite easily if your memory and other components can hack it.

 

[YankeesWin]

So increasing the voltage a little, leaving the multiplier at the default 10.5, and upping the fsb would be more effective then right? I haven't even upped my voltage yet and I'm still running steady. I'm assuming upping the voltage draws more power from the psu. I've got a 320watt psu so I dont think that should cause much of a problem.

 

[TruculentTucan]

i just got mine running stable at 1440 mhz (9x160). 1.2 ghz Athlon. Good Luck! It's a great o/cing board