Overclocking BH7

[YoungPrince]

basically, i have a
BH7
Intel 2.66@500mhz
GF FX 5200
512mb Kingston ram(not sure of model. i kno that the timings are around 2-2-6)
Antec 400 Watt PSU (SL400)

that should be about all that needs to known to suggest a good overclocking #.
Iam sorry, iam a noob at overclocking and i wanted to try my hand at it. Iam on stock cooling for the CPU and have 2 case fans along with 2 PSU fans

Thxs in advance

 

[Boyne7]

well im guessing you meant 2.66 533fsb cpu not @500mhz
Also its kinda handy to know what speed your ram is. Is it hyperX or just normal kingston?
I had a 2.66@3.2 perfectly stable with watercooling, but i had to bump the voltage up quite a bit to do that and i had corsair xms ram.
I have some experience with the BH7 and it is a decent overclocker.

Well i guess the first thing to try is raising the fsb
do you know how to do that?

 

[Duvie]

I am assumming by 2.66@500mhz you actually meant this is the 533fsb chip, right???

Well the BH7 chipset is a good ocing chipset and the best i845pe chipset overclocer I know of....

It is capable of 200mhz on the fsb though it is unlikely you could even achieve that with this chip....


You really need to tell us more bout the ram...Is it PC2700, PC3200, or what???

The 2.66ghz P4 chip is a 20 x 133....I would assume if it is a C1 stepping chip and again we would need to know the SL code on the box or the top of the chip to figure this out it should be able to achieve 3ghz....If it is a B0 stepping chip 3ghz may be the limit and might not be possible....So lets think c1 right now....

I think it is more likely 3.2ghz would be a great oc for you and 160fsb would be all you need to attain it...that chipset can easily handle that with no additional cooling to the NB chipset necessary. With 160fsb you should be able to run a 1:1 with PC2700 and maybe even a 3:4 or 4:5 with some PC3200....

I would make sure the agp/pci is locked...

I would not go over 1.65v actual on this board which with the board undervolting like most abit mobos may take a 1.675v set in the bios.

 

[YoungPrince]

thxs for ur posts guys. I did mean 533fbs.
the ram is pc2700(says in my sig bio thingy)
iam not sure about the c1 stuff and don't know exactly how to change the fbs. Sorry, iam a real noob at this. i did try before and i hit 3.0 easily, but i wanted to do it the safest way and ge tthe most out of it

any other info u need is in my sig. my rig will send u to my anantech computer profile. Just incase u need it. And i did try a hyperX in the comp, and it didn't work right so iam at a regular kingston for now.

 

[Duvie]

The pc2700 will not hamper an oc in this system in my opinion...The fsb is rather low due to the higher multlier of the 2.66ghz chip....

The SL code is one the retail box if you have it.....


I would leave the vcore alone for now and go into the Bios and bump the fsb up incremental up to 150fsb for 3.0ghz.....Set ram to 1:1 and spd for now....Nothing else needs changed right now....

Go into windows...get yourself a monitoring program that will read your temps and voltages...report those....Then run a program like prime95 torture test and see if it can run stable...try it for 2-3 hours now...If it fails within that time, close windows and go into bios and switch the vcore up from 1.5v to 1.525v bios...Also remember I said that abit mobo undervolt so likely 1.525v in the bios will be running at 1.5v or default...So don't be afraid to take this up a few notches....

Definitely watch the temps...nothing raises temps like vcore boost....

 

[YoungPrince]

i did change some things in the bios, iam gonna try and run @ 3.2 with the ratio set to 1:1 and low, i will go high if low seems good. I set the v. to 1.6 and left the vcore volts the same. I don' t have the retair box nemore but i don't think i would be limited to 3.0. Wish me luck, I will report back in 2-3 hours. Btw, got ne suggestions for a good temp monitor, iam using winbond hardware doctor.

 

[Duvie]

you have 3 main voltage options:

vcore = cpu voltage, set this from 1.5v to 1.65v
vdimm = ram voltage...set this to 2.6v for now though you are not really running spec now so don't go higher unless we determine you need it.
vagp = voltage for gp or vid card but sometimes has an effect on the vcore of the northbridge chipset...i would set this to 1.6v...I always do and it is safe...


Good temp monitoring program is speedfan....i like it better then motherboard monitor MBM cause it sets up on its own without having to set anything for it.

 

[YoungPrince]

the vore with the BH7 shows up as %5, %10 ect.... i tryed to boot into with 3.2 with the vcore are %5, the dram at 2.56 and the apg at 1.65 and i couldn't, it would keep rebooting. i managed to get in @ 3.10 so far. my settings are as follows

533fbs@1:1
37MHz fixed pci clock
20x multiplyer
5% vcore
2.56 dram(i will go and make it 2.65 right now)
1.6 Apg

it seems to be stable enough right now, but i can't seem to get into windows when i oc to 3.2

Thxs for the help so far

 

[YoungPrince]

after i set the vcore to 10% i managed to boot into windows properly. So, here i am ready to test my underpowered machine.

 

[Duvie]

OK...I am glad they went away from that lame method with the board I have!!!

The 10% of 1.5v is .15v for 1.65v so if you don't make it here I would not go higher...i would start dropping fsb until I got it to be stable....

Good luck...


i would run the vdimm to 2.6v at least and the agp back to 1.6v....

Also make sure ram timings are spd and not turbo or any other high settings...

 

[YoungPrince]

I can't get the system stable @ 3.2GHz with the vcore set to 15%. But at 5% i can get the system stable @ 3.10 GHz

any suggestions?

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: YoungPrince
I can't get the system stable @ 3.2GHz with the vcore set to 15%. But at 5% i can get the system stable @ 3.10 GHz

any suggestions?

I would probably just be happy with that....

However at this point even minor bios settings a hair too agressive of ram timings, or a NB chipset getting a bit warm though in this case I know the BH7 chipset can handle 200 to 218fsb frmo reviews with nothing extra....

1) vdimm to 2.7 or 2.8v
2) vagp 1.6 or 1.65v
3) try cas 2.5 and lower
4) look at temps thorughly...watch that system temp is low cause other components on the board can get hot and effect stability
5)look at voltages...watch that +12v line in particular....you want it as close to +12v as possible and never below 11.4. Also big swings from idel to load may also be big swings in vcore and you want to avoid that as well...
6) look at bios settings
a) bios cacheable = disabled
b) video bios cacheable = diasabled
c) just run spd or normal settings for now

 

[YoungPrince]

gotca, the system seems to be perfectly stable for the time being. I will keep u posted on any interesting changes.