Mobile 2500 overclocking problems

[jibraltor]

First off sorry for my poor english.. it's not my first language. Now here's my system:

CPU: Mobile 2500
HSF: Vantec Aeroflow with AS5
CASE: Antec SX630-II with SL300S 300 W Power supply
MB: MSI KT3 Ultra2
RAM: 2x512MB PC2700
VIDEO: Leadtek GeForce 4 TI4200

The temperature is about 43C cpu and 40C case when the system is idle and it can get to 50C cpu and 43C case when the system is on maximum use.

So here's the situation... I adjust the bus speed from 133 to 166 mhz.. I put the vcore voltage at 1.675 which is the maximum I can choose in the bios.. The multiplier is stuck on 14x.. When I try to run Prime95 or 3dmark03 my system is very unstable.. In prime95, one time it stopped after 10 minutes, the other time after 40 minutes. In 3dmark03, I tried it at least five times and it usually stops during the second run of the tests.

I'm very disappointed because I read a lot about this cpu before buying it and everyone was overclocking it easily so I had no doubt it would get to 166 mhz especially with proper cooling.. It sucks pretty bad!

I hope some of you have some advices or suggestions on what I could try to make it work.. You are my last hope! Thanks in advance!!

 

[myocardia]

You're either going to have to buy another motherboard (my recommendation, because ECS sucks), or do this pin mod: link to pin mod to raise your vcore.

 

[Necrolezbeast]

uhhh, he doesn't have an ECS, read the post maybe? But I would agree, that is 2300mhz probably 1.7 - 1.72v needed through there. You may also want toplay with RAM timings and using memtest to make sure your memory is stable at those speeds. Also, possibly try confirming the 1/5 PCI divider is working correctly.

 

[JeffreyY]

I would try increasing vdimm. I think I had trouble getting up to 200fsb until I raised it from 2.6 to 2.7.

 

[Avalon]

Have you ever done 166FSB and higher on your motherboard before?
Don't jump to conclusions and blame the chip until you try everything else.

 

[jibraltor]

Here's an update... Using memtest86, I realised that one my two sticks of ram had problems.. Now I'm using only 512 PC2700 ram and it passes all the tests in memtest86 without any error. BTW, my power supply is an Antec SL300S 300W. It comes in the Antec SX630-II case.

So after getting out the bad stick of ram I thought it would be ok but it still is having problem in 3dmark03 so I'm wondering what else could cause the stability issues..

About the 1/5 PCI divider.. could someone tell me how to check if it's working correctly.. i don't have any knowledge on this..

About the voltage.. is there a good chance that 1.675V is not enough because I want to be sure before doing the pin mode.. has anybody done it? Is it hard to do? Also should I change the voltage for the Vdimm and AGP?

Thank you again for your help, it's appreciated.

 

[maluckey]

Use SANDRA, and check the motherboard info. It will tell you the PCI bus divider, and speed.

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

14x166 is 2.32ghz, that might be too much for only 1.675. you'll probably need more voltage. try 157 or 158 FSB for 2.2ghz.

edit: you have a mobile processor,why is your multiper "stuck" at 14?

 

[jibraltor]

Here comes another update... Keep in mind that my cpu is currently at 14x166=2337 mhz. BTW the multiplier is stuck at 14x because of my motherboard. It's also because of my MB that I cannot put more than 1.675V on the vcore.

Ok so I did some benchmark today and the results are starting to give me hope.. first I ran Prime95 for 14 hours without errors on the custom test with 2048-4096. During this testing, the voltage went like this: 3.3V = 3.22V , 5V = 4.95V , 12V = 12.28V. Is it normal? Does it mean my power supply is good enough? The specifications of the power supply are : 3.3V-20A , 5V-30A , 12V-15A. After that I ran all 3dmark03 tests three times without any glitches.. Then I played Far cry for about 20-30 minutes without any problems either.

Now what I'm wondering is if I run Prime95 without any problems but that 3dmark03 works sometimes(3 runs without an error) and fail sometimes(this morning it failed after only one run), can it help you guys to tell me what could be causing the instability?

Thank you again for all your help!

 

[S4M33R]

1. At 166 FSB and 14 multiplier your processor is running at 2324. I would suggest bumping down the multiplier, but that might require a different mobo...

2. Try 3-4-4-8 RAM timings to see if ur ram is holding you back

3. You might need a more powerful power supply

good luck! Your english wasn't bad at all

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: jibraltor
Here comes another update... Keep in mind that my cpu is currently at 14x166=2337 mhz. BTW the multiplier is stuck at 14x because of my motherboard. It's also because of my MB that I cannot put more than 1.675V on the vcore.

Ok so I did some benchmark today and the results are starting to give me hope.. first I ran Prime95 for 14 hours without errors on the custom test with 2048-4096. During this testing, the voltage went like this: 3.3V = 3.22V , 5V = 4.95V , 12V = 12.28V. Is it normal? Does it mean my power supply is good enough? The specifications of the power supply are : 3.3V-20A , 5V-30A , 12V-15A. After that I ran all 3dmark03 tests three times without any glitches.. Then I played Far cry for about 20-30 minutes without any problems either.

Now what I'm wondering is if I run Prime95 without any problems but that 3dmark03 works sometimes(3 runs without an error) and fail sometimes(this morning it failed after only one run), can it help you guys to tell me what could be causing the instability?

Thank you again for all your help!

Those voltages are fine. Don't worry about it.

Interesting that 3dmark isn't working. What's your PCI bus running at? Is your gfx card overclocked?

 

[jibraltor]

Well I don't know what happened and I don't care too much because everything is now working!!! Like I said earlier Prime95 is rock stable and I was able to run 3dmark03 for more than 3 hours before it stopped and gave me the message: "wasn't able to bechmark because lost focus" something like that! I don't mind a little instability because I never play games for 3 hours straight..

Thank you guys for all your help.. and here goes another small question.. I just purchased a ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB.. will it produce more heat and will it take more power than my current Geforce4 Ti4200 128MB? In other words.. will it make my system less stable? If so I should put more voltage on the vcore or change the power supply if I understand? Thanks for the replys!