Multiplier or FSB?? (Unlocked XP1800 OC results inside)

[meDave]

I just unlocked my XP1800 (Crayon and Window Defogger paint) and while I was trying different combos I was wondering
if I should just go with a higher mulitplier instead of FSB so I dont stress my other components. With the low cost of
CPUs now its a lot cheaper to replace them than harddrives ect. I dont think my board has 1/5 divider its a
AOpen AK77-333 I have 2 HDD IBM 60 & 120GB, ati tv wonder and lan card in it. I have thermaltake volcano 6cu in it
right now but ordering new fan this weekend (not sure what to get there, but space is kinda tight
maybe a 1/4" of space on each side of volcano width ways)

Now my questions are,
1:Is it safe to run at 12.5?
2:Should I avoid using a vcore of 1.85 or is that ok?
3:How high can I set my FSB without stressing out my stuff?

this is my chip info:

AX1800DMT3C
AGOGA 0204BPAW
98430450335

This is what i have so far Using 1 256mb stick of Crucial PC2100 and Enlight 340 watt p.s.
Using Sandra Cpu test benchmarks

12x

136 @ v1.7 = 1632
4562
2299

138 @ v1.8 = 1656
4582
2260
Memory banwidth
2084
1921

139 @ v1.85 = 1668
4677
2299
Memory bandwidth
2102
1939

140 @ v1.85 = 1680
Booted but was not stable

11.5x

143 @ v1.75 = 1645
4611
2267
Memory bandwidth
2164
1997
Cpu multimedia
9047
10009

145 @ 1.85 = 1668
4677
2322
Memory bandwidth
2164
1997
Cpu multimedia
9175
10149

146 @ 1.85v = 1680
4709
2339
Memory bandwidth
2209
2036
Cpu multimedia
9236
10219

so far no matter what setting the temp stays about 46-49 idle (acording to the hardware montitor software that comes with board)

Edit: gonna now try 12.5
Edit 2: here is the 12.5 results and added 11.5 x 146

12.5x

135 @ 1.85v = 1688
4730
2326
Memory bandwidth
2041
1887
Cpu multimedia
9278
10267

Well a higher FSB is definately faster but at what cost?
This is about as fast as it going to be until I get some faster ram, So what would be a good seting for me?
like I said I want to put the least amount of stress on my drives
Thanks for your help 🙂

 

[Boonesmi]

personally i like to keep the agp and pci bus in spec

sure you take a performance hit, but... you dont have to worry about usb not working... not to mention you dont have to worry if its going to damage your harddrives and data (ide controllers are on the pci bus)

my motherboard has a 1/5th pci divider so i run a 166mhz fsb with 166mhz memory

but if my board didnt have the 1/5th pci divider i would just increase the multiplier (maybe a slight fsb overclock but not much)

 

[meDave]

So do you think I will be ok running at 12.5 x 135 @1.85v = 1688 or should I stay away from running @ 1.85v?
or should I go with 12.5 x 133 @ 1.80v = 1663?
Or is a 12.5 multiplier too high?
If I have to go with a 12x and 1.80v is the 138 FSB (1656) ok or should I go lower with the FSB?
but I would like to speed over 1650 if I can 😀

Thanks Again 😎

Edit: Well after running for awhile at 12.5 x 135 @ 1.85v = 1688Mhz I got an error (kernal 32)
So I turned it back down to 133 Here's some numbers

12.5 x 133 @1.85v = 1663

Sandra benchmarks
Cpu
4661
2315
Memory bandwidth
2001
1873
Cpu multimedia
9135
10120

PcMark 2002
Cpu: 4893
Mem: 3037
Hdd: 759

 

[grunjee]

First off, congrats on unlocking your chip.

As for OC'ing in your case... IBM hard drives are notorious for being cruddy in general, and especially when run out of spec (OC'd). So you're gonna be limited there in terms of FSB/pci overclocking. Your mobo appears to be a 333 chipset, which means it has a 1/5 divider. Like Boonesmi said, you can run the FSB at 166 and pci/agp will be at spec. Definitely run your FSB at 166 if your ram can take it. But judging from your kernel errors I'm thinking your ram could be causing that. Since it is Crucial though it SHOULD be able to do 166 (you'll need to bump your ram voltage up to 2.8 -- don't worry, it's safe).

 

[Boonesmi]

true that the kt333 chipset supports 1/5th pci divider.... but not all boards based on that chipset actually have it implemented (for example the soyo boards dont) not sure what all boards do and dont have it....

from reading reviews im pretty sure the aopen AK77-333 doesnt have the 1/5th pci divider since neither were able to get the board up to 166mhz fsb.

what kind of heatsink are you using?

if the heatsink is any good at all i would just up the vcore to 1.85, and increase the dimm voltage up to 2.7... then just raise the multiplier as high as you can still keeping stability

 

[meDave]

Well I'm running @ 12.5 x 133 = 1663 with vcore @ 1.85 seems stable I've run PCMark 2002 a few times
and also 3DMark2001 SE (Bad marks due to Kyro II vid card) a few times. Someone on the AOpen website
forum made a new Bios for the board, I am using it now. AOpen did not put any Ram voltage adjustments
so I cant give the Ram any more juice. But it is running @ 2-2-2CL-2CMD

Here is the post form the guy who made the Bios:

Posted to MOTHERBOARDS on 8/17/2002 12:17:56 PM by Thomas T

Ok I Re did the aopen bios 110 for the ak77-333 motherboards I made alot of changes to increase performance by 25 to 30 %. I also added a few things that was missing on this bios and motherboard like cpu cooling. The list of changes are below Enjoy!

Please read the changes before you download it.

You May download the bios at the follow address.

http://www.webcom.com/highwebs/mystuff/7733110a.zip

01. CPU L2 Cache ECC Checking Disabled by Default.
02. Enter Aopen CD Player is Disabled by Default.
03. DRAM Timing Control Auto or Now Custom looks better.
04. Bank Interleave now selectable 2-way and 4-way.
05. DRAM Queue Depth 8 level now selectable.
06. PCI 1&2 Master 0 WS Write can be enabled or disabled.
07. PCI 1&2 Post Write can be enabled or disabled.
08. System Bios Cacheable is enabled by default.
09. Video RAM Cacheable is enabled by default.
10. Soft Off now set to delay 4 sec by defualt.
11. Wake Up Events LPT & COM set to NONE by default.
12. Wake Up Events HDD & FDD set to OFF by default.
13. IRQ's Activity Monitoring Primary Init turned OFF by default.
14. PNP OS Installed set to YES by default.
15. Clock Spread Spectrum set to Disabled by default.
16. V-Link Set to 16-bit Bus.
17. Fast Read to Write Turn around Enabled.
18. CPU Cooling Now Enabled by Default
19. Refresh queue for RAM now set to MAX.
20. PCI Master to DRAM Prefetch Enabled.

Bios Checksum is D100H

I have included with the zip file awdflash for dos but if you need a windows one I would search for winflash on www.google.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok thats the post, while I was poking around in the Bios under Advanced Chipset Features I noticed a setting in
CPU & PCI Control it's called "PCI Delay Transaction" but there is no explanation with it. just enable or disable
I'm going to try and find out what this does.
as the matter of heatsink i'm going to purchase one this weekend right now using Volcano 6cu (5000 rpm)
but with this new Bios my temps are now reading like 10-13c lower now but will buy new one anyways.
I'm gonna try the Arctic Cooling Super Silent Pro TC @ SVC.

BTW: just wanted to say thanks for the help it's been really hard to find info on this mobo seems like not too many
people are using it and the ones who are using it dont seem to be posting anywhere about it

 

[grunjee]

Originally posted by: Boonesmi
true that the kt333 chipset supports 1/5th pci divider.... but not all boards based on that chipset actually have it implemented (for example the soyo boards dont) not sure what all boards do and dont have it....

from reading reviews im pretty sure the aopen AK77-333 doesnt have the 1/5th pci divider since neither were able to get the board up to 166mhz fsb.

Man I wasn't aware of that.... that sure sucks! Glad I chose the 8k3a is all I can say.

meDave -- man I'm sorry, I don't know what else to tell you besides good luck. If you really want to have an overclocking adventure, I would check into getting a board (such as the 8k3a or 8k3a+) that has more features, such as good Vcore and Vdimm adjustment, and a 1/5 divider. Remember, there's always ebay (and the good old AT fs/ft forum) 😀

 

[XBoxLPU]

Running an Unlocked XP2000+, Abit KX7-333.

185 FSB, 9.5 Multiplier. with 5X2X1 PCI Divider

1.77ghz