Know some stuff but not enough. Advice needed.

[FluxCap]

I know a bit about overclocking but not enough. I currently have my 1700+ at 1750mhz(166x10.5) solid as a rock but when I cranked it to 2ghz it would freeze in windows. Is that graphics card related? Voltage related? It isn't heat. I currently run 37c after 9 hours of Prime95.

I see all the posts about upping different voltages and what not but how do I know what to up first and how much? I am amazed how much everyone knows about these numbers. Also, how do I make sure my PCI and AGP slots are set correctly "locked"? I want to hit 200fsb+ like a lot of others but need to be pointed in the right direction I guess. Any advice would be great.

I am using the latest bios (16) on my NF7-S FYI.

 

[skyking]

Ram could be holding you back. How did you try to get 2 gig? What ram, timings? Lay it all out for us.

 

[FluxCap]

Doh, forgot another point !!! Thanks for reminding me. I have a 512mb stick of Kingston Hyper X DDR. I have not a clue about ram timings and all that. Really need help there.

 

[flxnimprtmscl]

What speed of ram? PC2700, 3200, 3500, etc. Also what do you have your memory divider at? Dimm voltage? Go into your bios and look for your ram timings. Right above them it should have be listed "by spd". The numbers should be something like 2, 4, 4, 8 depending on when your stick was made. The newer HyperX sticks have tighter spd timings than the older stuff.

Edit: I have no clue about where your pci/agp lock is but it should be easy enough to find. Just peek around in your bios a bit. You'll want to set the pic/agp to 33/66 respectively.

 

[mindless1]

This is really beyond the scope of a forum thread, you might need to gain some background o'c knowledge at overclocking-related websites.

On the top of my head the first question is which stepping of T'bred do you have? An "A" step probably won't hit 2GHz or at least the odds are against it. As for memory timings, manually set them to the most conservative (highest numbers), then later reassess what FSB vs timings will give you max mem throughput. You might need to raise mem voltage slightly, but methink that's a secondary concern, it's more likely the CPU. For the time being you probably need to try small steps, not an immediate jump to 200FSB. Perhaps you HAVE been trying smaller steps, but you left out this bit of info. Of course you'd need to raise CPU core voltage, probably at least to 1.7, perhaps higher, and all the while monitoring temp, heatsink performance. It's very questionable whether your temps are accurate at 37C @ full load unless you're running a VERY high-performance heatsink or water-cooling, unless of course you haven't even changed the default CPU core voltage yet.

You'll have to check on the AGP speed, whether it's still in spec at 200FSB, though I suspect the AGP and PCI isn't an issue "yet", but again you need try lower speeds first, not that huge jump.

 

[ChampionAtTufshop]

here is some background info written by me

to find the limits of the cpu, just raise the multiplier by .5x at a time until it wont go any higher, then lower it, then play with freq again to get about where you got with just raising the mult (the performance will be better becuase of a higher fsb)

 

[FluxCap]

Ok, sorry for leaving out the ram timings as well. It is PC2700 with a 2-2-2-5-1 (cas 2) timing. I have a "B" stepping 1700+ (0302). That is the main reason I have posted. People with my ram, my mobo and CPU combo are hitting 200fsb easily but I don't know the finer details of ram synching and voltage adjustment and don't want to mess something up.

And yes my temps are accurate. I am in a very cold enviroment as well. Case temps are around 22 Check my sig and you will see why my temps are low. For example, my temps in my office are a little hotter this morning so I am about 40c right now

Thanks for the guide !!

UPDATE: Just went into bios and verified some things.

Vdimm voltage: 2.6
CPU voltage: 1.6 (1.57 actual, checking with MBM 5 as well)
Chipset voltage: 1.6

Ram timing:

5 - Row Active
2 - Ras to Cas
2 - Row Precharge
2 - Cas Latency

 

[rogue1979]

Your cpu is 1.6v at default. The average good overclock for these is 2000-2100MHz. Slow down your ram timings and change to cas2.5. Raise your vdimm to 2.7-2.8v. Raise the core voltage to 1.75v or so, make sure and check your cpu temps. If your board reads the internal diode, you want to stay under 60C at full load. I would lower your mutliplier way down first, and then check your fsb speed capability. Your PC2700 will most likely limit you to 180-190MHz. Then up the multiplier trying 1900MHz and slowly working up. My 8 year old son has the same stepping as you and runs 2100MHz at 1.80v.

 

[FluxCap]

Thanks for the info. I am at 1750 right now, solid as I can be. I will start changing some stuff and try for 1900 first and then post back. Thanks