Overclocking the Abit KT7a with Duron Processor

[dud]

Hey, I was wondering if someone could provide some advice on this issue. My son's system is getting dated and I wanted to see if I could push a little more out of it (for 3D games) before upgrading the hardware, Here's what we are dealing with: Abit KT7a MB, Duron 750 processor, 256 meg Crucial memory and a Gigabyte GA-GF1280 GeForce 2 MX video board. Before I get into it deep I just wanted to let you know that just about every game he like to play (except Battlefield 1942) works well onthis system, including Unreal 2K3. That being said, here's what I've tried:

1. I used 3Dmark2001se to benchmark his system. The reference number was a lowly 1638.

2. I updated his Nvidia drivers to the latest Detonator release and re-ran the tests. Results showed an increase to 2087 (27% increase!).

3. I removed his processor and tried to "unlock" the CPU by using the "pencil trick". After rebooting everythis if fine, I go into the softmenu and try to change the multiplier (from 7.5 to 8 or higher) but upon rebott it still shows a 750 MHz Duron instead of 800 or 950. I can change the FSB and it does show up that the processor speed has changed, based upon the change in FSB. I cannot figure out why I cannot change the multiplier! Maybe I need to go over those bridges with more graphite?

4. I tried overclocking the video board and it works. The problem is that even large increases in speed (say from 175/166 MHz to 190/180 Mhz) only achieve an overall increase of about a hundred 3Dmarks (2157 marks).

I am pretty certain that the Duron processor is the bottleneck. I am frustrated that while I can change the FSB, I do not seem to be able to change the multiplier to the point where the system recognizes the change.


Thanks for reading. Please PM or post any advice you can to help with this project. My goal is to maximise the video performance of this system without having to go out and purchase additional hardware. I would like to be able to overclock the Duron to about 950 MHz and the video to 200/190 if possible then run the benchmarks. Thanks for your help ...

 

[DieHardware]

Originally posted by: dud
Hey, I was wondering if someone could provide some advice on this issue. My son's system is getting dated and I wanted to see if I could push a little more out of it (for 3D games) before upgrading the hardware, Here's what we are dealing with: Abit KT7a MB, Duron 750 processor, 256 meg Crucial memory and a Gigabyte GA-GF1280 GeForce 2 MX video board. Before I get into it deep I just wanted to let you know that just about every game he like to play (except Battlefield 1942) works well onthis system, including Unreal 2K3. That being said, here's what I've tried:

1. I used 3Dmark2001se to benchmark his system. The reference number was a lowly 1638.

2. I updated his Nvidia drivers to the latest Detonator release and re-ran the tests. Results showed an increase to 2087 (27% increase!).

3. I removed his processor and tried to "unlock" the CPU by using the "pencil trick". After rebooting everythis if fine, I go into the softmenu and try to change the multiplier (from 7.5 to 8 or higher) but upon rebott it still shows a 750 MHz Duron instead of 800 or 950. I can change the FSB and it does show up that the processor speed has changed, based upon the change in FSB. I cannot figure out why I cannot change the multiplier! Maybe I need to go over those bridges with more graphite?

4. I tried overclocking the video board and it works. The problem is that even large increases in speed (say from 175/166 MHz to 190/180 Mhz) only achieve an overall increase of about a hundred 3Dmarks (2157 marks).

I am pretty certain that the Duron processor is the bottleneck. I am frustrated that while I can change the FSB, I do not seem to be able to change the multiplier to the point where the system recognizes the change.


Thanks for reading. Please PM or post any advice you can to help with this project. My goal is to maximise the video performance of this system without having to go out and purchase additional hardware. I would like to be able to overclock the Duron to about 950 MHz and the video to 200/190 if possible then run the benchmarks. Thanks for your help ...

Yeah I'd recheck the L1s. Also BF1942 would run much better with 512MB RAM.

 

[tchybrid]

yeah, like die said, recheck those bridges. as far as ur set up goes, its not too far from what i had a year ago.
my specs:

Duron 800 @ 1066 (142FSB 7.5x 2.0v)
KT7A-Raid with Voltage Mod
Crucial 512MB PC133
Radeon 7200
CoolerMaster HCC-001 with 40CFM fan

this sucker was egged out of EVERY MHz, tho urs may be a luck of the draw, try out everything, and if worse comes to worse, try the voltage mod, you'll definately get to 1ghz. @least anyways =)

 

[lenjack]

You should easily get this to 1G, maybe more, with good cooling. my 700 Duron did 1G.

 

[yodayoda]

Originally posted by: lenjack
You should easily get this to 1G, maybe more, with good cooling. my 700 Duron did 1G.

not necessarily. the Duron 600 and 650s generally hit 1 GHz without fail, but on average chips branded at 700, 750, 800 were very poor overclockers. i could hit 1 GHz with my duron 600 at 1.85V with no problems, but it depends on the chip.