need advice from expert overclocker

[daveqb]

i have 2 7VRXP MoBo's here and my 1800 AGOIA

i ran some tests today between the two and theres a difference.

the board i will call Board #1, wouldnt run Prime95 @133 FSB without freezing unless i raised the Vcore 10% to 1.92 (max on this board)

with it @1.92 it managed to pass (completed 6 tests) at 136FSB, but failed at 137 after test 2

the second @1.92 Vcore managed to get to 141, but failed 142.

managed to get my hands on an Athlon T-Bird unlocked (it appears to have come out the box that way) and run up the FSB to 166 to see if the board was coping with the previous tests
and it went thru Prime95 errors free.

so the question i have is that with the first serious of tests where it fails @142 FSB, is it the CPU limiting as the board can go up to 166+ FSB without CPU restriction, or does the MoBo play a big part it the limit of the CPU? (ie 141 FSB on board #2)

thanx for advice/answer

 

[Duvie]

NO...The motherboard is a major piece of hardware that can definitely limit the oc...With most of my athlon the board aways was the limiting fator...The chipsets have sort of there spot where they have issues....


But the fact you ran the tbird at 166fsb makes me think it is the cpu more then anything.....If you fact used that tbird on the same mobo #1 & #2....


Plus I want to add....Running 6 tests is by no means stability test for prime95....I run it for 8 hours....Some do it for a day....I notice that it really fires up quiet aways into the testing.....MOst of failures wouldn't happen until 30min to an hour....I have even had them at 3 hours...After 3 I have never seen any, but I usually run it overnight so it seems to be about 8 hours or go to work for 10-12 hours....

 

[Duvie]

You got a dud for a cpu.....I would think of rma'ing it...If it wont run stable at 133 and you have tested the ram and the mobo ran a tbird fine at 166...send it back....


The xp should be running fine in prime at 1.75v not 1.92v...And I have almost never seen an 1800+ that couldn't get a 8 mhz fsb boost out of it that couldn't do it at default or 1.85v or less...The default is 133fsb so at 141 you are only inceasing it 90 mhz....not much of an oc...

 

[daveqb]

hey Duvie, your lke my personal mentor at the moment huh ?

ok, i realised that its probably not the most complete test, but i know that if i start it up and it errors in test one it fails,
if it makes test 5 or so, then thats good enough me, running several different configurations here if i ran them 8 hours each it would take months to get the results i am after (by then my s%^t would be all old and outdated )

ok, so the board can limit hey ??
hmmm , i might try a higher FSB then 166 then, just tried that seeing if it can go above 141FSB without a CPU holding it back


the CPU is a AGOIA week 6 which is suppose to be the best overclocking XP ou can get, apparently.

@142 FSB it gets errors in test 1 or 2

havent tried board two with the T-Bird yet, spent too long at this as is...

i might try the XP in a Duron ECS system here, but can only overclock thru software @FSB's of 142 146 and i think 150 and 166

see what i get

 

[daveqb]

yeah that was board #2, had to up the voltage to get that running without freezing, (remember that from the other post of mine you replied to?)

i dont htink i have tried it at default Voltage (1.74) in Board #1 though , i assume it will be ok, as it can get a higher FSB,
but i will and if it fails that, or freezes again, then i will feel 100% confidence in complaining and getting a replacement

 

[Duvie]

I don't think that ecs lets you vcore adjust so it may be tough there as well...may have to pencil close a bridge to get 1.85v....


I really think the fat the tbird ran on board #1 when the the xp didn't even at its default speed with .17v more then default....


How fast does it fail when you leave it at 1.75v???? Does it say FU when you hit the torture test button...


I still this doesn't sound right and get a different chip and rma this one...

 

[daveqb]

yeah ECS doesnt allow for much, and dont really want to pencil any bridges if i am going to RMA, just in case i screw it all up

rather try to prove its failure another way...

i dont think i have tried Board #1 at default voltage and 133 FSB on prime95 yet
dunno, with all this testing here, (been checking the RAM as i thought it was faulty, maybe its been the CPU all this time, oh hang on had trouble with the RAM when i had my 1700 in there) i got paper everywhere with results written done, confusing myself

well i got the t-bird in now, so i might try setting the mulitply back to default and overclock it ,ummm say 100 mhz, and see how it goes on Prime95,
and when i can get to the ECS system , i will drop my XP in there, seeing's it is out now, and run prime on that, say a 138 FSB (using SpeedFan) and obviously at default Voltage


sound like a good plan ???

 

[Duvie]

Sounds good.....Just remember if it can't do 133fsb at 1.75vcore in the ecs right out of the gate....PUNT IT!!!! It is defective...plain and simple...

 

[daveqb]

yeah exactly,
ok, but now i am getting conflicting results,

i am running the T-bird right now on this system @145FSB and Prime95 is going strong! (@default Vcore)
1/ which points to the CPU being suspect

but, on the ECS system the 1800 is running Prime95 strong too at 138FSB and default Vcore (which it couldnt do on this system without freezing it)
2/ which points to the Motherboard cauing the freezing

not sure not whats going on !! AHHHHHH

any idea's??

 

[daveqb]

ok, just upped the 1800 in the ECS system to a 142FSB, at default Vcore, started Prime again, and it didnt freeze (so far)

i guess i'll have to wait and see ....

 

[WarCon]

Swap powersupplies with the ECS system and try the gigabyte boards with the ECS's powersupply.

Also (if you can swap out your ram - or up your DDR voltage).

If that board has an option for increasing the I/O voltage you might try that too.

 

[daveqb]

hehe , just read back some of what i wrote i think i maye have confused you with board #1 and #2

sorry mate!

board #1 IS the sux ass board!

well still no different, got the T-bird running here, going strong at a FSB of 145

the 1800 did in fact freeze on prime, but took a FSB of 142 to get the freeze and test 4

started it again and its surpassed test 5 so far , okee !!

i dunno what angle to attack, seems the 1800 and the GA-7VRXP boards dont get on

 

[daveqb]

ok, i will try that now, swapping PSU over....

but howcome the t-bird is going strong here, on the very system that the 1800 wouldnt go over a FSB of 141 on ?? (the T-bird is on FSB145 right now)

 

[daveqb]

ok, just went out o the other room , where the ECS is at.

the 1800 just had errors at test 10, its at a FSB of 142 to get that , and frooze before at test 4

it does appear to be the CPU,

i am going to try and see how far i can get this t-bird to go on this system, if it makes 150 FSB stable, then the 1800 must be a bit dodgy, but will attack that if i can get a high FSB on this system with t-bird....

 

[WarCon]

It is very possible you just got a bum overclocker. It happens (seems like I never get the super-chips myself).

Anyway, hope you have some luck man.

 

[daveqb]

yeah, perhaps,
its just a concern it struggles to run Prime95 at default settings,

it cant in the #1 board,
but not sure if i tried it in the #2 board (better perform, well was based on tests using this very chip)

the t-bird got an error at 148 FSB, but passed 145, so it falls somewhere in there, sounds about right,
so i guess i can rule this MoBo out then.....

this is #2 i am runing here, will have to put the 1800 back in a further investigate it,
if i can find a quick way to prove its faultyness i can return it.....

but i think the boord is cool , with old (week 26 2001) T-bird
* 145 stable FSB at default multiplier
* 166FSB stable at 7 multiplier

 

[daveqb]

one thing i have noticed haviong the t-bird in here, is that when it boots up, or restarts
i am able to see the BIOS screen with the CPU and RAM check on it.

with the 1800, the monitor wouldnt kick in til the WinXP screen came up, dunno if that means anything or thats just useless information