newb oc for 2400+ on NF7-S

[Davegod]

I'd like to have a go doing a little overclocking of my XP 2400+. With my previous mobo, a GA-7VTXH (KT266a), if I tried to overclock the FSB like 1mhz using the gigabyte overclock utility it would quickly become unstable. With everything else the same though, now I have a NF7-S.

Currently at stock the CPU is 15x 133. Would it be better to try upping the FSB a little, or considering the problems before would it be better to try going to 16x muliplier? I'll be making a ghost of the install but dont want to damage any hardware.

2400+
NF7-S
3x 256mb Crucial DDR266.

According to CPU-Z, the cpu is
family 6; model 8; stepping 1
ext family 7; ext model 8; revision B0

Strangely it says the voltage is constantly fluctuating a little, always either 1.600, 1.616 or occasionally 1.630v; and when it does this the core speed is either 1996.9 or 1997.0. (PSU= Antec TruePower 430w, I read the NF7-S tends to undervolt cpu slightly).

 

[Elbryn]

i'd give it another shot. up the fsb and see what happens. unstable, try upping the VDimm, unstable? try relaxing memory timings. see what you can get.

 

[Davegod]

tried 140 FSB, about 5 seconds into windows loading there commeth the BSOD. Seeing as it isnt even only flaking on benchmarking/stress testing, I guess it's not worth bothing upping the vdimm? Timings are already quite pants, 6-3-3-2.5 according to bios (or is that 2.3-3-3-6). Maybe its poor ram or a cpu that barely passed being a 2400+

Would I likely need to increase vcore if I upped the multiplier to x16? It can add in 0.025v steps, 1.65 to 1.675, 1.7v etc


edit: I thought NF7-S had PCI lock, all i can see is AGP? doubt the Audigy would tolerate the PCI freq being farted about.

 

[Fern]

Seeing as it isnt even only flaking on benchmarking/stress testing, I guess it's not worth bothing upping the vdimm?

That's exactly why you should up the vcore (for cpu; vdimm is for ram which you may need to raise as well given its pc2100).

Both AGP and PCI are locked on this mobo.

Your ram is pc2100, you may need to up the vdimm to get to operate stably at speeds higher than 133. I suggest you run Memtest86 immediatley after increasing FSB to help rule out ram as the cause of instability at new settings. If ram can't handle the FSB (fails memtest) then increase volts, ur timings appears to be relaxed. Oh, you could set ram to "optimal" in BIOS, that;s the most stable auto setting

Once ram passes, go on to cpu and vcore increases keeping an eye on temps

BTW, here's a new site fro NF7's that's pretty handy link

 

[screw3d]

The PC2100 is seriously holding you back.. Get some PC3500 pronto!

 

[Davegod]

£$£$£$£ for a gig of decent PC3200, over £100 just for twinmos DDR400.

Nice tips Fern. Noticed something odd on that site though -

CPU Interface

CPU Interface should be set to enabled as noted in the bios section. CPU Interface disabled will generally give you a higher front side bus overclock at the expense of performance. An estimate of 15 to 20 more fsb is needed to compensate for memory performance with CPU Interface disabled.

WTH? I thought this thing just enabled or disabled overclock settings? Thought that was a bit odd given the "User Define" setting.

I'll see if enabling it does anything for memory benchies while everything is still stock. After that I'll have a go upping the vcore and vdimm by 1 step, and putting FSB at 140 again.

 

[myocardia]

Dave, you have 3 sticks of cheap ram, you should have your vdimm at 2.8v, if you don't want to overclock. Then raise the vcore to 1.75v or 1.775v, and raise the multi to 16x. That's 2.125ghz, and about all you're going to get with that ram, since you can't raise your fsb. I would definitely consider getting 2x512MB sticks of PC3200 or PC3500, though. You would gain more system performance from that than you would gain by buying a new processor, unless you bought a mobile Barton.

 

[Davegod]

bumped up vdimm to 2.7, and vcore to 2.675 (speedfan still only shows 1.63 though :/)
bumped fsb to 140...

XP didnt even load, lol . where it should have opened the desktop it just went black screen and led's turned off on the keyboard. Crucial isnt cheap ram, its meant to be normal ram, I'd have thought it would handle +5% FSB . Never expected a serious overclock, just enough to get a bit of a boost on cpu-dependent games (i.e. Enemy Territory).

Looks like it's 16x or nothing, unless I pay out £££, and then I wouldnt exactly be shocked if it turned out to be the CPU and it still wouldnt oc. Hopefully the multiplier isnt, erm, "super locked".

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Davegod
bumped up vdimm to 2.7, and vcore to 2.675 (speedfan still only shows 1.63 though :/)
bumped fsb to 140...

XP didnt even load, lol . where it should have opened the desktop it just went black screen and led's turned off on the keyboard. Crucial isnt cheap ram, its meant to be normal ram, I'd have thought it would handle +5% FSB . Never expected a serious overclock, just enough to get a bit of a boost on cpu-dependent games (i.e. Enemy Territory).

Looks like it's 16x or nothing, unless I pay out £££, and then I wouldnt exactly be shocked if it turned out to be the CPU and it still wouldnt oc. Hopefully the multiplier isnt, erm, "super locked".

Dave, it looks like you're too scared to overclock, so you're gonna have to either be happy with what you have, or shell out the pounds for a faster system. If you change your mind, start with your cpu's vcore at 1.80v, then raise your multi to 16x. Once that works, and it will, then you can see if 1.775v vcore is still stable.