Originally posted by: Garfield3dHiyas everyone! I'm... new here so if I stay a few truisms and miss others in the same sentence, then there will probably be a lot more such sentences.
Before I launch into my tirade, I guess I'll lay out the computer specs:
P4 2.8C
Asus P4P800 Deluxe
Zalman 7000-AlCu (Temperatures between 32C and 37C)
Corsair 512MB PC3200
120 GB Western Digital Serial ATA (WD1200JD)
Radeon 9800 Non-Pro
Audigy 2
Two weeks ago I put a new computer together based off of the Asus P4P800 Deluxe motherboard. Since the motherboard was recieving good reviews, I was happy. The computer turned on and I was still happy. When I started to poke at the BIOS I became unhappy. I'm hoping if any of you can shed some light to my issues.
First, reading through this thread, it seems as though a lot of people are leaving Performance Acceleration Mode to "Auto" and never enabling it. Likewise, when I try to enable Performance Acceleration Mode, Windows won't boot up. Has anyone had any success with enabling Performance Acceleration Mode?
Secondly, I'm running on Corsair XMS PC3200. I know Corsair's had a good reputation for being overclockable and reliable, but apparently the P4P800 seems to grind with Corsair RAM and several posts on this board seem to confirm it. Whenever I run at 2-3-3-6, the computer tends to crash intermittently. Sometimes I'll get a BSOD too. Is this... um, normal? Corsair usually carries a price premium with their RAM and I was expecting it to be fairly overclockable, but I can't squeeze across very aggressive timings on the RAM. Have I been handed a weak RAM stick or motherboard, or am I just going to have to be conservative with the RAM? What are the timings that everyone with Corsair PC3200 is using for the P4P800? Memory Acceleration Mode is enabled too.
Finally, I've discovered that my system can't seem to overclock worth crap. I'm a bit new to the specifics of overclocking, so I might need someone to hold my paw and walk me through this.
I'm trying to run the CPU and RAM synchronously 1:1, but I can't get past a FSB of 210 without Windows crashing on loadup. After kicking the wall in an attempt to motivate the computer to stabilize, I decided ask here for help before frying something. Many other people seem to get into the 3.0 Ghz range very easily. Even the ones who complain about getting a bad chip reach 3.0+ Ghz with relative ease. I think I'm missing something. I've backed the RAM to SPD but I haven't messed around with the Vcore or voltage settings to other parts of the computer. I was hoping I could nudge the CPU clockspeed up by at least 100 Mhz before needing to play with voltage settings. Do you guys have any recommendations on common voltage settings to overclock with stability? Or do you guys think that the Vcore might not even be my problem and I need to play with the RAM timings or other motherboard settings? This is the first time that I've overclocked a P4 firsthand, so I'm a bit cautious and I would greatly appreciate any info that anyone can provide.