New Build

[TwoBills]

OK, after hanging out here for 4 months I finally took the plunge and assembled a machine. Nothing fancy, but , I hope, a solid, stable unit. Here's what I've got so far:

-Chenbro mATX case w/a 200w fortron psu
-Chaintech 7vif4 mobo
-Barton 2500+
-512mb pc2700
-Seagate 160g HDD
-Optorite cd/rw (coming from NE)

This thing went together pretty quick (only tools needed were the screwdriver and diags that have been hanging on my belt for 30 years), but I'm still kinda fooling around with it (savoring my 1st build). I was able to get it together for $275 (thanks to a couple of free ddr sticks from my brother).

Anyway, I've been looking around in the Bios, 1st time for that, too, and have a few questions. Hope you guys can help (figure you got me into this, afterall ). So here it is:

-I've set my fsb freq. to 166 with the board jumpers. Am I going to have any stability problems w/that setting?

-My dram freq. is set at 166 by default. Is this reflecting the sticks I have installed?

-Dram clock is defaulted to spd, whatever that is. Do I set that to 166, also, or leave it alone? I'm not looking to oc, even if I knew how. I just want a stable system.

-Dram timing is "auto by spd" (default). I've got the choices of manual, turbo, and ultra, in addition to auto. What do I do with this?

Like I've stated above, I'm looking for a stable system, but at the same time, I'd like to take it to the max. whatever that is, before losing stability. Kinda like adjusting the air/fuel mixture on a carburetor, for you old(er) mechanics out there.

Am I even in the right forum?

 

[o1die]

Your settings will work fine. Try them awhile. Your power supply isn't designed for overclocking, but is a great brand. If you have stability problems, I would go for a higher rated power supply. In micro atx, I've seen them as high as 270 watts.

 

[TwoBills]

That puts my mind at ease. This is my 1st machine, so I'm probably being overly cautious.

Yeah, the stock power is a bit low, but I'm not looking to oc, just get it set up to run at it's full, stock potential. I'll be keeping my eye out for a deal on a 270w. My power calculations are coming a bit too close to max for me. Better to have a bit too much than too little.

Thanks for the reply. I was begining to think I was all alone out here.

 

[Sonic587]

SPD means default.

For your DRAM clock, you'd be running @166MHz with SPD. You can manually change it to 166MHz like you mentioned, but it'd be the same thing.

As for your DRAM timings, best to leave those at SPD. Switching them to turbo, ultra, ect will tighten the timings, making your RAM work very slightly faster. This can cause instability if the timings are set below what the RAM is rated for, however. Best not to fool around with it until you know what you're doing.

Your PSU is fine, BTW. Fortron's are great. It's not uncommon for their power supplies to beat their rated output by 50-75W. You should have a decent amount of power reserves left over.

 

[TwoBills]

Ah, that's what I was worried about. I didn't want to "tighten up the dram timings", because I definately don't know what I'm doing. If it was an engine I'd crank the timing, listen for the spark knock, and back it down a little.

I'm just going for stable, right now. With this cheap mobo/locked cpu combo I can't get into much in the way of overclocking anyway. Maybe the next build, after I muddle thru this one.

Thanks for the input. I just might get this machine up afterall. Just waitin' for my cd/rw so I can load Gentoo and see what I can do with it. Jeez. Old dog trying to learn lottza new tricks.