Max voltage for Northwood 478 3ghz core

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
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Yeah actual readings of 1.65 on air cooling is the max I would go. In fact my 2.6 overclocks to 3.2ghz on 1.65 V in the BIOS (actual readings 1.58-1.63), but also runs 3.06ghz at 1.575 V Bios (actual readings 1.46-1.55). I decided to sacrifice 150mhz to run at lower voltage. So even if you could run 1.65, try to find a good balance of voltage/overclocking/stability and cpu temperature.
 

inveterate

Golden Member
Mar 1, 2005
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WEll, is it possible to get this thing beyond 3.2 ?? I've seen some people do it without water, just want to make sure thx,,
 

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
126
Originally posted by: inveterate
WEll, is it possible to get this thing beyond 3.2 ?? I've seen some people do it without water, just want to make sure thx,,

For sure. P4 3.0ghz Northwood should go 3.5 gigs on air.
 

jiffylube1024

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2002
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Originally posted by: inveterate
at what voltage should 3.5ghz be at

You tell us. Every chip is different. The series/stepping the CPU is from makes a very big part of how good/bad an overclocker the chip is.

You might be able to hit 3.5 Ghz at 1.60V actual or maybe a bit more or less; you might not be able to hit 3.5 GHz at all if it's a very early stepping 3.0C chip.

Test it out - just make sure you go by the voltage rating in Windows/measurement in the BIOS - do not go by the voltage you set in the BIOS because different motherboards under/over-volt the ratings (eg a setting of 1.55V in the BIOS for ASUS, notorious overvolters, might run at 1.61V actual, while my Abit IC7 (a heavily undervolted series) needs to be set at 1.625V in the BIOS to get 1.56V actual in the chip).

Use the program MBM5 ("motherboard monitor 5") to get your voltage readings in Windows.

I'm running a 2.8C @ 3.3 Ghz using 1.57V actual on an IC7 motherboard and this my thrid 2.8C; the previous ones only did about 3.1 or 3.2 GHz stably. Like I said, stepping/revision makes a big difference.
 

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
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L310A678-->3.7ghz@Vcore=1.55
L310A847-->3.7ghz@Vcore=1.52
L310A744 @ 3.6GHz@Vcore=1.55
L311A763 -->3.5ghz@Vcore=1.62
L309A614-->3.5ghz@Vcore=1.58
L310A744-->3.5ghz@Vcore=1.52
L310A579-->3.48ghz@Vcore=1.52
3312A486-->3.48ghz@Vcore=1.52
3317A235-->3.42ghz@Vcore=1.55
3312A431-->3.42ghz@Vcore=1.49
3312A296-->3.36ghz@Vcore=1.52
L309A586-->3.3ghz@Vcore=1.5
L310A742-->3.3ghz@Vcore=1.5
L311A867-->3.36ghz@Vcore=1.58
L310A598-->3.26ghz@Vcore=1.5

This is the list I saved long time ago when I first bought my chip and users on Anandtech reported their steppings to see which overclocked better.

Look at your chip to determine where it is from:


1st letter or digit=plant code
0=San Jose,Costa Rica
3=Costa Rica
1=Cavite,Philippines
R=Manila,Philippines
7=Philippines
9=Penang,Malaysia
Q=Malaysia
L=Malaysia
8=Leixlip,Ireland
Y=Leixlip,Ireland
6=Chandler,Arizona

Example: Q320A269

Q=plant (Malaysia)

2nd digit=Year of production (2003)

3rd & 4th digits=week (20th week )

(A269)=some kind of traceability number

As you can tell, Malaysia chips were consistently best overclockers. Not sure if this holds true for current 3.0ghz northwoods.
 

Mloot

Diamond Member
Aug 24, 2002
3,038
25
91
^^^what jiffylube said...

I have a 3.0C on a P4C800-E Dlx, and it's only stable up to 3.3. I don't know if it is the chip itself that is at its max overclock, or if it's because the board's vcore regulation is not all that great. Or maybe the PSU I'm using isn't beefy enough to sustain a higher overclock. What overclock you can get with any particular chip is not only detemined by the chip itself, but can be influenced (to a large degree) on which particular components you use to flesh out your rig.