Overclocking a p3 733EB

[Spooner]

I've heard that chips @ pc100 can be overclocked easier than pc133.

How easy is it to overclock a p3 733EB?

this is what I'm probably going to buy, so I wanna know how high I can get.

 

[damien6]

It'll be easy to overclock but not too high mhz level. The chip is already running at 133fsb and anything higher than that will depends on the limit of your Rams more than anything else. You system's parts and everything that makes it what it is will/could be stressed as well which could add more instability into that system as a whole. That's why people are saying to get 100MHZ CPU because it gives you more FSB in the low end before straining your parts/Rams but at 133FSB you already lost the 33mhz (edge) before any overclocking has even begun.

 

[Sukhoi]

Damien6 is correct. And Spooner, why would you consider buying an EB processor if you want to overclock? Even if you could get it up to a 150 MHz FSB which would be very hard because it really stresses your RAM and peripherals, you'd only be overclocking it to 825 MHz.

 

[Spooner]

Sukhoi, I'm not really sure if I'm going to get involved in any overclocking, as I really haven't dabbled in it that much to feel comfortable enough.

I wanted to learn whether you guys thought it better to get a p3 733EB or a p3 700E and overclock it for someone with no overclocking experience.

I really want to get the Asus p3v4x motherboard with has a 133fsb, so I don't know if it even makes any sense to go with a 700E.

 

[Sukhoi]

Well, incase you don't know, the 700E has a 7x clock multiplier and the 733EB has a 5.5x clock multiplier. Thus for each MHz you up your FSB with a 700E you will gain 7 MHz processor speed, whiile for each MHz you up your FSB with a 733EB you will only gain 5.5 MHz. I would buy a 600E or 650E (depending on how lucky you feel ) cB0 stepping processor, and overclock it to a 133 MHz FSB. The overclocked 600E would be running at 800 Mhz and the overclocked 650E would be running at 866 MHz. I would think you could get a 600E cB0 to 800 MHz with a retail heatsink fairly easily, if you don't feel comfortable with putting custom heatsinks on your processors.

As for the motherboard, I would suggest getting the Asus CUSL2 rather than the P3V4X. I'm not saying the P3V4X is a bad motherboard, I just think the CUSL2 will be somewhat faster, and should have less conflicts with video cards, and things like that. You can look at Anand's review of the CUSL2 here: http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1274 and find out some general information on the motherboard. Also, if you look at the benchmarks on page 4 of hte review, you'll notice how the CUSL2 outperforms the P3V4X by 4.5% in the SYSMark 2000 test, 6.8% in the Winstone 2000 test, and 6.0% in Quake 3 Arena.

Also, I would suggest to get good quality PC133 RAM so you can run it in CAS2 mode rather than CAS3.

If you decide not to overclock at all, then I would suggest the 733EB.

 

[Spooner]

To be honest, I'm probably leaning toward not overclocking at all, which kind of negates this thread topic, oh well, sue me

What I'm really trying to do is put together a custom case/mb/cpu system. The problem is, the site I was considering buying from http://www.markeonecomputers.com does not offer the Asus CUSL2

Do you know of any good system configuring sites that offer this motherboard? (the reason i need a package dealer is that just like with overclocking, i have no experience in putting together a cpu and motherboard and stuff, and even though i've been told it is easy, i'd rather find a dealer that will do it for me and ship it out).

 

[Spooner]

Just in case you actually care, that above link should be

http://www.markonecomputers.com

 

[Sukhoi]

Well, since you decided not to overclock then I would suggest the Asus CUSL2 as a first choice with the Asus P3V4X as a second choice. I would get the P3 733EB too.

You might want to check out http://www.resellerratings.com for ratings of different computer stores.

As for a pre-built system, you should check out http://www.compucheap.com. It's run by Russ here in the forums, and although I've never ordered from him personally, I've heard he has awesome service, and the last I checked he had a 6.9 out of 7 rating on http://www.resellerratings.com. I don't know how his prices are for complete systems, but I'd pay a little more just to get good service. Russ's e-mail address is russ@compucheap.com if you want to give him an e-mail.

 

[Ulysses]

The ASUS CUSL2 is so new it's really not available yet at too many places. It will probably be pretty expensive too, especially when at first.

If you're not going to overclock then you really don't need a board with all those tweakable features the CUSL2 board has (and which make it expensive). Maybe get another board with the same 815E chipset. See:
http://www6.tomshardware.com/mainboard/00q3/000706/index.html

 

[Sukhoi]

Wow, I hadn't seen that MSI MS-6337 before. It seems to be a pretty good board also. I don't know if I'd recommend the Abit SE6 though because I've been hearing of people having problems with it, and Abits aren't the most reliable boards in the first place.

 

[Spooner]

Bottom line:

Is the Asus P3V4X a good enough motherboard that will last at least a year and a half (usually the time when i upgrade again)?

It's gotten great reviews, and I'm leaning toward its purchase with a slocket P3 733EB as its chip, all running at 133mhz fsb.

 

[AL77]

Spooner, I also agree with the 733EB choice if you're not overclocking. Because of system bottlenecks (video, memory buses, etc), the difference between 733 and 800 (i.e. 600E overclocked to 800) is insignificant when running common applications (e.g. browsers, office apps) or games. I doubt you would notice any difference. It is important to note that the 600Mhz processors have fallen off of Intel's roadmap and the price advantage, while still there, is small.

If you really wanted to overclock, I would consider the 700E and try for 868 or 933. But, an 800EB becomes attractive after the next price, and it gives you guaranteed speed and a 133 FSB at that speed.

I myself would lean towards a 733EB or 800EB with an 815e motherboard if I was building a system right now.

Note: prices fall a little bit July 16, anything over 800EB is still too expensive IMO. I have found this info to be accurate for the last two price cuts: http://www.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/articles/intel_cpu_roadmap_3-2000/9.shtml)

Edit: The Asus p3v4x will definitely last you a year and half. This is the board I used to build a system for a friend. Everything is running great. It is a good, solid motherboard. Still, now that the 815e boards are out, I would prefer the Asus CUSL2 (and you don't have to bother with a slocket).

Good luck.

 

[Sukhoi]

Yeah, that should work fine. Just make sure you get the newest VIA drivers for the motherboard. I think some of the older drivers had big AGP problems.