P3 800E overclocking

[1sikbITCH]

I'm sure this has been covered before but I failed to find what I need in other threads.

System:
P3 800E@920
MS6163Pro
256K PC133 Mid grade (don't know who made it)

In bios I have multiplier set at 8X. Was running at 110- 876 with 128 PC100. With the new ram I cranked it up to 120mhz. On boot up the cpu speed was only 886 and windows would not load. I set FSB back to 115 and then the cpu was at 920 and booted fine. What do I need to do to get past 115 successfully? I have a GORB on it and the cpu idles at 33 Celcius. With the PC133 ram I thought I could go much higher. If I go past 120 to 133 will it work? I am afraid to try.

 

[acroig]

Two things:

1) The CPU may need more voltage to run at a higher speed. Check your motherboard's BIOS,

2) You may have reached the limit of your particular CPU. Check the spec (the SL... number) and see if it's a cB0 or cC0 stepping, cC0 overclock better.

 

[1sikbITCH]

Is there a way to check the spec without taking the heatsink/ fan off? Also the mobo is a slot1 so I had to use a converter card if that makes a difference.

 

[Sunny129]

first of all, why would you be afraid to pass 120 mHz and go straight for 133 mHz? worst case you'll get the same results as you did while trying to OC it to 120 FSB. possible problems:

1) PC133 or not, if its only mid-grade then dont expect it to do wonders. not all PC133 is rated to do 133 mHz @ cas2. try setting it to cas3. RAM is one computer component that you just dont settle for mediocre. save up until you can afford the best stuff. John, and a few others in the Anandtech forums sell PC133 rev2 (w/ mosel vitalic chips) for very good prices. its the same stuff Mushkin uses, only they sell it with a label on it. while still using your mid-grade, you might want to try a 3/4 memory divider if your mobo supports it. that way you can OC to a 133 FSB while running your memory @ 100 mHz.

2)like 1sikbITCH said, if you cant boot at a certain speed, raise your Vcore one increment at a time as your BIOS provides you with this option. then try to boot again.

3)like 1sikbITCH said again, you might have reched the limit of your CPU, but i would try the few things mentioned here first, b/c it sounds to me like you havent tried much yet, and there is a good chance that it will go higher.

4)people talk about CPUs running at great idle and full-load temps. however, these measurements are taken in windows. what they dont realize is that a CPU works its @ss off while in the boot process. if you ever notice your CPUs temp just seconds after booting into windows, you'll see it dropping drastically in temp (provided you have sufficient cooling once in windows). just b/c your CPU idles @ 33C doesnt mean that its temp isnt 10C higher than that while booting. if the CPU cant handle the temp while booting, it wont boot.

good luck with the OCing

 

[1sikbITCH]

Well I accidentally set it to 133 meaning to set it to 100/33 and now it won't even start to boot at all. So now I'm screwed I think