Just OCed my Northwood 2.8ghz

[HorseShoe]

Hey guys, after reading for months about how to OC and asking everyone for their imput I finally OCed my 2.8ghz Northood to 3.4ghz for the very first time, and I must say that it was relatively easy. I know its only a 600mhz increase but I'm running it on stock cooling and its staying at around 35c~ on idle and 55c-60c on load. I just wanted to ask you guys if this is acceptable or not.

I'm planning to get an xp-120 anytime now and hope to hit around 4ghz with it. Currently i'm running it at 1.57v at a 5:4 ratio. It runs very stable and I have been able to see some improvements in games like Counter Strike Source and Civilization 4.

The only thing that worries me is if I could just leave it running like this all the time. I don't really tend to turn my computer off because I usually have some stuff doing in the backround, and I don't really plan to making it a habit to turn my computer off.

 

[stevty2889]

Thats a pretty nice overclock, reasonable temps for stock cooling. Except for the 30 cappers that came near the end, 3.4ghz-3.5ghz is generaly the max for a northwood. @3.4ghz a northwood performs similar to a 3.8ghz Prescott in a lot of things.

 

[Thor86]

I highly doubt you'll get 4Ghz on air cooling with these chips. 3.6Ghz if you are lucky.

 

[HorseShoe]

Oh wow I didn't know they capped at around 3.6Ghz, that really puts a damper on my plans to go even further. Well with this new info I'm kind of having doubt in getting a XP-120 heatsink for this, I don't see the extra $80cnd justyfying another 200mhz increase.

Well good thing I learned this early or else I would have gone and blew my money unnecessarily.

 

[Thor86]

Originally posted by: HorseShoe
Oh wow I didn't know they capped at around 3.6Ghz, that really puts a damper on my plans to go even further. Well with this new info I'm kind of having doubt in getting a XP-120 heatsink for this, I don't see the extra $80cnd justyfying another 200mhz increase.

Well good thing I learned this early or else I would have gone and blew my money unnecessarily.

IMHO, anything is better than the Intel stock HSF. Even a Zalman 92mm unit would be better, and cooler/quieter, and doesn't cost a lot.

 

[HorseShoe]

Originally posted by: Thor86

Originally posted by: HorseShoe
Oh wow I didn't know they capped at around 3.6Ghz, that really puts a damper on my plans to go even further. Well with this new info I'm kind of having doubt in getting a XP-120 heatsink for this, I don't see the extra $80cnd justyfying another 200mhz increase.

Well good thing I learned this early or else I would have gone and blew my money unnecessarily.

IMHO, anything is better than the Intel stock HSF. Even a Zalman 92mm unit would be better, and cooler/quieter, and doesn't cost a lot.

But is that really needed? I thought that my temps were good. But if its safer to take it even lower its not a big deal, I guess I'll just find a cheaper HSF than the XP-120.

 

[Avalon]

You can always grab an XP-90, or a Zalman CNPS 7000-ALcu. I'm sure both are much cheaper than an XP-120, and I believe they both fit your socket. Should be an improvement over stock either way.

 

[Duvie]

You say stock cooling but what type of vcore are you putting through it??? My 2.4ghz did 3.5ghz with only .06v more over stock...It would boot and bench at 3.6ghz but back in those days with a 12x multi, 300fsb was a lot....

I think if you have done 2.4ghz on stock vcore and cooling then 3.6ghz seems attainable...

The best I have seen with latter fabbed 2.8's was 3.8ghz....

 

[HorseShoe]

Originally posted by: Duvie
You say stock cooling but what type of vcore are you putting through it??? My 2.4ghz did 3.5ghz with only .06v more over stock...It would boot and bench at 3.6ghz but back in those days with a 12x multi, 300fsb was a lot....

I think if you have done 2.4ghz on stock vcore and cooling then 3.6ghz seems attainable...

The best I have seen with latter fabbed 2.8's was 3.8ghz....

Right now i'm putting a 1.57v or 1.58v, can't remember which but its within that range. I didn't wanna go any higher because I only had stock cooling and didn't want to burn out cpu, but thats not to say that I didn't try it . I tried pushing it further but it would just crash. Now I assume that its because it wasn't getting enough power and since I didn't have a good cooler I didn't want to test my luck.

Although I have heard that RAM sometimes would need more power, so I was just wondering if RAM is the one that runs at around 2.5v because thats the only one that I can change other than my CPU's vcore. Also would the heatsinks thats on my OCZ RAM be enough for cooling it?

 

[Duvie]

NOw the Asus mobos were known for strong power droops...under loading conditions how much does the vcore droop???

List your PSU as well....You should want a high +12v amp rating...


If you can get an XP-90 or XP120 on there I am sure you will get quite a bit of headroom in loading temps.....I wouldn't hesitate going up to 1.65v actual...10% is more then safe....Many had 1.5v northwood chips as high as 1.75v with no real reports of death....I had a 1.6a that did 2.74ghz at 1.71v...did it for more then a year and I sold it and the guy ran it at 2.66ghz for more then a year and then I lost in touch with him....I dont think he was doing more then 1.65v though with his board....

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: HorseShoe

Originally posted by: Duvie
You say stock cooling but what type of vcore are you putting through it??? My 2.4ghz did 3.5ghz with only .06v more over stock...It would boot and bench at 3.6ghz but back in those days with a 12x multi, 300fsb was a lot....

I think if you have done 2.4ghz on stock vcore and cooling then 3.6ghz seems attainable...

The best I have seen with latter fabbed 2.8's was 3.8ghz....

Right now i'm putting a 1.57v or 1.58v, can't remember which but its within that range. I didn't wanna go any higher because I only had stock cooling and didn't want to burn out cpu, but thats not to say that I didn't try it . I tried pushing it further but it would just crash. Now I assume that its because it wasn't getting enough power and since I didn't have a good cooler I didn't want to test my luck.

Although I have heard that RAM sometimes would need more power, so I was just wondering if RAM is the one that runs at around 2.5v because thats the only one that I can change other than my CPU's vcore. Also would the heatsinks thats on my OCZ RAM be enough for cooling it?

BUmp the ram to 2.7v.....If you go higher make sure fans are aiming at them in an active cooling manner....When you get XP-90's and such they actually help cool the ram...at least in my case they did with my Gskills....


May want to drop those timings a bit more and use a 3:2 divder when trying to OC to see if their are other limiting factors...

 

[HorseShoe]

Originally posted by: Duvie

Originally posted by: HorseShoe

Originally posted by: Duvie
You say stock cooling but what type of vcore are you putting through it??? My 2.4ghz did 3.5ghz with only .06v more over stock...It would boot and bench at 3.6ghz but back in those days with a 12x multi, 300fsb was a lot....

I think if you have done 2.4ghz on stock vcore and cooling then 3.6ghz seems attainable...

The best I have seen with latter fabbed 2.8's was 3.8ghz....

Right now i'm putting a 1.57v or 1.58v, can't remember which but its within that range. I didn't wanna go any higher because I only had stock cooling and didn't want to burn out cpu, but thats not to say that I didn't try it . I tried pushing it further but it would just crash. Now I assume that its because it wasn't getting enough power and since I didn't have a good cooler I didn't want to test my luck.

Although I have heard that RAM sometimes would need more power, so I was just wondering if RAM is the one that runs at around 2.5v because thats the only one that I can change other than my CPU's vcore. Also would the heatsinks thats on my OCZ RAM be enough for cooling it?

BUmp the ram to 2.7v.....If you go higher make sure fans are aiming at them in an active cooling manner....When you get XP-90's and such they actually help cool the ram...at least in my case they did with my Gskills....


May want to drop those timings a bit more and use a 3:2 divder when trying to OC to see if their are other limiting factors...

I'll try doing that. I really want to get another HSF other than my stock one before I attempt raising my temps any further. The reason why I think I've been getting away right now with this stock cooling is because the ambient room temp in my basement is freezing to say the least. Its really cold down here and I got used to it and it seems to be really good for my comp too.

As for the 3:2 timings I still want to try and see how much I can push the 5:4 timings first, I was able to run at 1:1 while OC 30mhz on my RAM so I want to see if I can pull that or close to it on the 5:4 first.

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: HorseShoe

Originally posted by: Duvie

Originally posted by: HorseShoe

Originally posted by: Duvie
You say stock cooling but what type of vcore are you putting through it??? My 2.4ghz did 3.5ghz with only .06v more over stock...It would boot and bench at 3.6ghz but back in those days with a 12x multi, 300fsb was a lot....

I think if you have done 2.4ghz on stock vcore and cooling then 3.6ghz seems attainable...

The best I have seen with latter fabbed 2.8's was 3.8ghz....

Right now i'm putting a 1.57v or 1.58v, can't remember which but its within that range. I didn't wanna go any higher because I only had stock cooling and didn't want to burn out cpu, but thats not to say that I didn't try it . I tried pushing it further but it would just crash. Now I assume that its because it wasn't getting enough power and since I didn't have a good cooler I didn't want to test my luck.

Although I have heard that RAM sometimes would need more power, so I was just wondering if RAM is the one that runs at around 2.5v because thats the only one that I can change other than my CPU's vcore. Also would the heatsinks thats on my OCZ RAM be enough for cooling it?

BUmp the ram to 2.7v.....If you go higher make sure fans are aiming at them in an active cooling manner....When you get XP-90's and such they actually help cool the ram...at least in my case they did with my Gskills....


May want to drop those timings a bit more and use a 3:2 divder when trying to OC to see if their are other limiting factors...

I'll try doing that. I really want to get another HSF other than my stock one before I attempt raising my temps any further. The reason why I think I've been getting away right now with this stock cooling is because the ambient room temp in my basement is freezing to say the least. Its really cold down here and I got used to it and it seems to be really good for my comp too.

As for the 3:2 timings I still want to try and see how much I can push the 5:4 timings first, I was able to run at 1:1 while OC 30mhz on my RAM so I want to see if I can pull that or close to it on the 5:4 first.

OK...keys to ocing are Isolation and Consolidation....Without isolation it does make it a bit more difficult analysing your results...

If you go 5:4 still try cas 3 and/or, but definitely bump the vdimm to 2.7v min.

Also look at bumping the northbridge chipset voltage if you have an option...other boards sometimes tied that to vagp which you may want to bump to 1.55-1.6v....

 

[JoKeRr]

Just for a point of reference, my 30 capper 3.0C can do 3.75ghz with 1.55V, or 3.6ghz with 1.475V, yes it's also a northwood core processor, but it's a nice chip. I use XP90 and 92mm panaflo low, it never went above 48 degree celcius, I live in Canada as well and that's in the summer.

I'm pretty sure my processor can go a lot higher, but the limitation right now is my Asus p4p800 board has a crazy Vcore drop problem under load. I set it to 1.55V and it's 1.48V under load, I'm too lazy with drool mod, so I keep it at 3.6ghz and ran my crucial ballisitix at DDR480 2.5-2-2-5. (2x512mb)

 

[HorseShoe]

Originally posted by: JoKeRr
Just for a point of reference, my 30 capper 3.0C can do 3.75ghz with 1.55V, or 3.6ghz with 1.475V, yes it's also a northwood core processor, but it's a nice chip. I use XP90 and 92mm panaflo low, it never went above 48 degree celcius, I live in Canada as well and that's in the summer.

I'm pretty sure my processor can go a lot higher, but the limitation right now is my Asus p4p800 board has a crazy Vcore drop problem under load. I set it to 1.55V and it's 1.48V under load, I'm too lazy with drool mod, so I keep it at 3.6ghz and ran my crucial ballisitix at DDR480 2.5-2-2-5. (2x512mb)

Thats kind of weird. I set my vCore to 1.57-.58 but I see it running at 1.6 with AsusProbe and CPUZ.

But the temperature that you are getting is very nice, and its done with a XP90. I read that the XP-120 will force me to bend a couple of caps to make it fit right in the board and that was my biggest reluctance to get it, but if you can get that temp with the XP90 then I'll try looking into it and seeing if I should get that over the XP-120.

 

[RallyMaster]

Pretty damn good on stock cooling.

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: HorseShoe

Originally posted by: JoKeRr
Just for a point of reference, my 30 capper 3.0C can do 3.75ghz with 1.55V, or 3.6ghz with 1.475V, yes it's also a northwood core processor, but it's a nice chip. I use XP90 and 92mm panaflo low, it never went above 48 degree celcius, I live in Canada as well and that's in the summer.

I'm pretty sure my processor can go a lot higher, but the limitation right now is my Asus p4p800 board has a crazy Vcore drop problem under load. I set it to 1.55V and it's 1.48V under load, I'm too lazy with drool mod, so I keep it at 3.6ghz and ran my crucial ballisitix at DDR480 2.5-2-2-5. (2x512mb)

Thats kind of weird. I set my vCore to 1.57-.58 but I see it running at 1.6 with AsusProbe and CPUZ.

But the temperature that you are getting is very nice, and its done with a XP90. I read that the XP-120 will force me to bend a couple of caps to make it fit right in the board and that was my biggest reluctance to get it, but if you can get that temp with the XP90 then I'll try looking into it and seeing if I should get that over the XP-120.

That is not the issue...

Most Asus mobos will overvolt from what is set in bios, but under loading conditions while some boards may see onl;y a .02-.03 vcore drop some of the Asus mobos saw .06-.07v....

YOu need to run 2 instances of prime 95 then look at cpu_z and see what the vcore is...

 

[TheRyuu]

On my New Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe, I have it set for 1.3+200mv overvolt (which should equal 1.5v). In Asus PC Probe I get 1.52v, but under load it backs down to 1.5v. Seems even with 8 phase power they still can't get a steady voltage.

I'd shoot for a XP-90 or SI-120 (not sure why everyone is saying XP-120, SI-120 is newer, and has better compatiblility). Since it's socket 478, installation is a breeze with those. Just take off old HS, clean off, put some AS5 on it, then plop the new one on. Don't even have to chage the bracket.

 

[Duvie]

The extreme droop happened more so with the intel boards with northwoods.....

 

[HorseShoe]

Originally posted by: wizboy11
On my New Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe, I have it set for 1.3+200mv overvolt (which should equal 1.5v). In Asus PC Probe I get 1.52v, but under load it backs down to 1.5v. Seems even with 8 phase power they still can't get a steady voltage.

I'd shoot for a XP-90 or SI-120 (not sure why everyone is saying XP-120, SI-120 is newer, and has better compatiblility). Since it's socket 478, installation is a breeze with those. Just take off old HS, clean off, put some AS5 on it, then plop the new one on. Don't even have to chage the bracket.

Ya sorry about that, I meant SI-120, I always get those two confused .

And I just looked at the voltage readings with AsusProbe while running the benchmark feature on Prime95, and ya I see it drop to 1.53-1.52.

And is Prime95 the best way to check the stability of the OC?