overclocking a p3 500

[buffboy]

hi i've never overclocked my p3 before i wanna actually start to get some speed, does ne body know how to do it? I think i heard somethin about a jumper switch on the cpu, but i'm not sure, thanx for the help!

 

[acroig]

Buffboy:

I have a P3 500e (Flip Chip) and I have it running at 145 FSB or 725. No jumpers on the cpu. Is yours a slot 1 or socket 370?

Alex

 

[buffboy]

i'm almost pretty sure it's a slot 1 what's a socket 370 look like?

 

[Dark4ng3l]

do you have a katmai core? what steping? sspec? what cooling? what motherboard? we need this info first.

 

[buffboy]

i'm pretty sure i don't have a katmai core, i got my cpu from fry's so if that helps... Ummm, i dunno what steping & sspec are? The cooling is just some cheapie fan and the mobo came w/the case i got for free, so, sorry if i couldn't really provide very much info, but thanx for the try ne wayz

 

[Dark4ng3l]

ok when did you buy it? is it a 500e? check in your bios. We realy need your motherboard chipset and manufacturer. Is it jumper free???

 

[buffboy]

I bought the cpu around may of 2000, it's actually a P3 400E i just realized so yeah it's a 400e. No i do think there is a jumper on it.

 

[Dark4ng3l]

p3 400's do not exist. 500e's are rare. I think you have a 533eb underclocked.

 

[Dark4ng3l]

oh yea there are no jumpers on a cpu.

 

[buffboy]

yeah when i bought it it said 533e from fry's, so it probably is underclocked to 400, so yep u got the cpu right, so now do u know how to overclock it? I didn't know ne thing about the jumpers, but my dad told me something about a jumper so that's what i thought.

 

[Dark4ng3l]

go into your bios and set the front side bus to 133 mhz(should be in cpu speed or something it should show 4x100 set it to 4x133) if you dont have pc-133 ram it will probably not work and you wil have to use the reset cmos jumper on your mobo. if your mobo is not jumperfree you have no way of knowing what the jumpers do without the manual. you mobo might even not suport 133mhz fsb.

 

[buffboy]

i've already gone to the bios and changed it to 4x133 but it doesn't actually run at that speed, it only runs at 400 mhz, that's why i thought there had to be a jumper switch or something i had to change to get it to take effect. Alright i got the model of my mobo, it's a ATX Form Factor.

 

[Dark4ng3l]

atx form factor only means it wil fit in an atx case. what is written on the northbridge? and if you cant run it at 133 fsb you wil not be able to o/c it since it wont even run at stock speed. Try disabling speed hold error in the bios. That may do the trick.

 

[Dark4ng3l]

oh yea and what kind of memory do you have? brand or generic? post the markings on the chips so we can tell if it's pc-100 or pc-133. if your memory is at cas2-2-2 in the bios try it at cas3-3-3. It may work at 133mhz and cas3.

 

[buffboy]

I think i see the problem there's a turbo jumper on the mobo for o/c, i guess i'm supposed to open it and then it will allow the 133 mhz fsb to work. i'm gonna try that so i will not respond for a while, thanx for all the help Dark4ng3, it's users like u that make anandtech the best, thanx!!

 

[Dark4ng3l]

wel if you have a 533eb runing it at 133 fsb is not overclocking at all. If you want to o/c you need to take the fsb higher than 133. You might also need to increase voltage(if you mobo supports it)

 

[buffboy]

thanx for all the help man there was a little jumper i had to remove to get it to go 533 mhz, so now that i did that, how high should i o/c and how do i know when it is the limit?