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P4 1.6A - Overclocking Hell!

N

Nightstalker

Junior Member
After reading all the good news about 1.6A overclocking I decided to replace a dead system with one instead of a nice Athlon. What a mistake that was. I bought a 1.6A Northwood (retail), an ASUS P4B266 mobo, an Antec PP352X 350 watt dual fan power supply, a Radeon 8500 (retail box) video card, and reused a Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 30gb 7200 rpm drive, Crucial cas 2.5 PC2100 256 mem 2 sticks, a Sony CD-RW CRX-0811, a generic 48x cd, a Linksys LNE100TX network card, and a Fong Kai 603 case with intake and exhaust fans. This is in a room with ambient temp of 72f and a case temp (closed case) os 73f - 75f. I am not able to even get this system to run at a fsb of 110 with the cpu @ 1.650 volts. It will reboot by itself, lock up, or get real jerky when playing games. I have tried lower voltages as well, in case the cpu was getting hot, but it does not help. Also the cpu temp is never over 40c/105f. It is never lower either. No matter what, the cpu temp is always 40c/105f. I removed the cpu, reapplied thermal grease, no change. I never used the original thermal pad that came with the cpu, just Artic Silver. Also there is a squeal/buzz/scratching sound that comes from the speakers after the system has been used to play games when overclocked. It takes anywhere from 20 - 90 minutes of play before it starts. I disabled the on board audio and installed a SB Live card and still got the sound. After a couple attempts to run at a fsb of 133mhz, the system will no longer get past the bios post at any voltage setting unless at 110 fsb or lower. And yes I have flashed the 1005 bios update. I also noticed something never reported in any reviews of this board, the onboard audio makes loud popping and crackling sounds during intense game play such as Serious Sam the Second Encounter. Next Celeron 300A? Not hardly, I have one of those that has been running @ 512mhz for a year and a half or more with no problems. I am running Win XP if it matters. If anyone has any ideas, I would really like to hear them. It really burns my ass that my "old" Athlon TBird 1.4 system will smoke the "new" one. "Help me Obi Wan Kanobi, you're my only hope"!
 
EDIT

Are you sure you used the right bios update? There are like 3 or 4 different version of the asus p4b266. They have different ending letters.
 
The Asus Probe works for me

But anyway the Asus probe will always read 40 C when the temp goes below 40C . If it goes above 40 C it displays the correct temp.

 
Have you increased your DDR voltage yet? Sounds like your running cool enough. If you can load MBM and see what your 12v rail is doing as you overclock more. I just sent back an Antec 400watt because it was worse than my Enermax 330.

But I just caught the "gets real jerky" when playing games. That sounds like throttling from overtemp. Try MBM, it seems to report the temps pretty well for me on the -C revision of that board.

Is this with the retail heatsink? Maybe it was like my friends were the pad (black coated metal film) was kinda loose before I removed it. Maybe it didn't seat right.

My suggestion is to install MBM and run Prime95 and watch your temps. (The CPU temp is the Asus 2 setting on MBM).
 
Here's the dealio with CPU's... although the Northwood is using the new .13micron process, that does not mean that ALL the 1.6a will be highly overclockable. The reason why we have so many successful overclock is because for the most part, the chips produced are mostly fast enough to be marked as 2+ghz BUT, since they need to have a certain quota to fill for 1.6a parts, those good chips are marked as 1.6a and we the consumer get them can take advantage of it. Like in all process, there are variation and it is very possible that the a 1.6a IS really only able to run at 1.6ghz. Does this mean that Intel is ripping it's customer's off? Of course not, you still got what you paid for. And IF you want a personal "guarantee" that your p4 will run at say.. 2.2Ghz.. you will need to pay the premium. 🙂 I don't think this made it any easier for your situation but hopefully you have a better understanding of what happens.
 
I have never used the p4b-266, so what I suggest may not even be an option. I am using a th7-II board, and had the same problems you have at 125fsb. You need to make sure you have the correct divider for your pci bus. If the asus board has a "fix" option to always run the pci bus in spec, I would suggest not using it. Set the correct divider for your fsb.
 
In answer to the questions:
The bios was updated using the Asus windows based update that automatically loads the newest bios.
I did run the mem at 2.6 volts once, but that was after the system quit posting at 133mhz.
I am using the retail fan, but I removed the black metal film and applied thermal grease. Is the metal piece required as a spacer or something?
I did a clean install of Windows XP.
I understand about the "luck" in getting the right chip, half the reason I posted this is to make the point that one may want to think twice before deciding on the P4 instead of an Athlon. It is a gamble after all.
I have set the memory divider to auto and set it manually.
Now for three questions:
Any ideas why the system will not even boot past the post screen @ 133fsb anymore?
Any ideas how to get it to get past the post screen @ 133fsb?
Any ideas about why it starts making that wierd noise?
 


<< Is the metal piece required as a spacer or something >>

What metal piece? You mean the heat spreader (metal plate with a small hole in it)? That's supposed to remain fixed to the CPU and aids in heat dissipation.
 
no ideas about your problems, but one word of advice - ALWAYS use a DOS flasher, preferably from a bootable floppy to update your bios!
 
if the "spacer" you are talking about is the foil layer in the thermal interface material, then you need to remove that if you are going to use heatsink compound. the stock TIM has a back gunk layer, foil, and then another black gunk layer.

--jacob
 
I would run your memory at +.2 volts (2.70-2.76) for a more stable system. Anything higher causes problems. 1.6-1.65 volts is plenty for the cpu to be able to run at 133 fsb, if it wants to. My cpu\memory ratio is 4:5, so pc2100 is read as pc2700 at boot up. Good luck.
 
do people ever read the other threads? geez...even though some people can get huge overclocks it is NOT GUARANTEED! there is nothing wrong with your chip if it runs at it's rated speed
rolleye.gif
 
Nightstalker...

A few things to try:

Run with a single stick of DDR
Unplug all USB devices(with the exception of the mouse, if you use a USB mouse like I do)
Set the Turbo1 option in the BIOS

I have the same Mobo, same CPU, same Memory(only one stick). I've found that at 150fsb and above, my rig will lock at the POST screen and just sit there. If I just reach back and unplug my USB Printer while it's just sitting there frozen, it will magicly continue booting. I know you said 110fsb was your limit at the moment, but maybe the USB thing can cause problems at different FSBes with different USB devices. I've also hear some people gaining a good amount of o/c ability by running only one stick of ram, as opposed to two sticks. The Turbo options in the BIOS are a huge help when ramping the FSB. Set the Turbo1 option (locks PCI/AGP at 36/72) and try your luck again.

I believe I was fortunate and recieved a 2Ghz+ chip rebinned as a 1.6, but the things I just mentioned should apply to any P4 running on the Asus P4B266.
 
The spacer I referred to was the foil strip on the heatsink.
>>Nate420<< Thanks for the tip on the USB devices. Unplugged them and booted right up at 133mhz. I pulled one mem stick and set mem voltage to 2.6. Again thanks.
Also thanks to everyone else. I am going to try out some of the ideas and will post the results. Also will get MBM as soon as I find where to download.
 
MBM5

Glad the USB tip helped out😀 Remember to set the Turbo1 option also, locking your PCI/AGP bus close to spec will greatly improve your chances for crazy high FSB speeds.
 
Why would his USB devices prevent his overclocking ? Might seem like a stupid question, but i need to know...
 
Well, after going with one mem stick, setting mem voltage to 2.6, unplugging USB devices to boot @ 133fsb and setting cpu volage to 1.7, the system has been running for almost 24 hours now (@2.13ghz) with no problems. I have played several hours of Serious Sam:SE at 1024x768 32bit max quality settings and some C&C Renegade with no lock ups or reboots. I also run Seti @ Home 24/7. I ran MBM on Asus 2 and checked sensor one and sensor two for temps. They both read the same and seem to go from 30c - 42c. That is the highest temp I have seen after two hours of Serious Sam. It also will show 42c when just web surfing. In fact it is at 42c now. Other times when surfing it shows 32c or maybe 36c in that range. Does that seem normal? Also the +12 volt reading in MBM is at 11.43 no variation. Is that too low? If it is I have other systems and can check this supply with another board and another power supply in this board and check to see what readings I get.
 
The idle temp you are seeing aren't valid if you have SETI or something else running in the background. That 42C sound correct though for load temp. MBM5 seems to show the 12V rail lower than it realy is. I read about 11.8V in the BIOS, but MBM5 shows about 11.2-11.4. I wouldn't worry about it.

Have you tried running with any lower core voltage? Running at 2.13 usually doesn't require much of a Vcore bump, if any. I'd try 1.55-1.6 if you haven't already. The lower the better, so long as it's stable. I'm running 1.6V @ 2.5Ghz.
 
>>Nate420<<
I had tried running with the voltage set at 1.600 and 1.625 and was getting system reboots and a wierd screeching/buzzing sound through my speakers. I disabled on board sound and installed a SB Live card and would still get the sound just before the system rebooted. I don't remember if I tried 1.650 volts or not, but when I finally got it to boot at 133fsb again (after your usb tip) I just maxed it out to see what would happen. If it stays stable for awhile, I will try lower voltage settings and may try for higher fsb settings. If it goes higher great, if not I will be happy at 2.13ghz. Is that noise anything you have run across before? It was definitely in the sound system since it stopped when I turned off the speakers. Also I have not heard it since I have been running at 1.700 volts.
 
I don't recall ever hearing about the screeching thing, but if you have the on-board sound disabled, I'm not sure what would be causing it. Strange that it went away by raising the Vcore.

All chips are different, so perhaps your P4 simply requires a higher Vcore to be stable. The more I read day to day, the luckier I feel to hit 2.5.
 
I would also be sure to have your settings set for Turbo1 (I believe this is in the memory timing section in the BIOS) and turn off on board sound as well (you have already done away with USB).

Now I had issues with my setup w/o it being in Turbo1. I switched and immediately straight to 150fsb w/o trouble. I run 150 at 1.6 and can play HOURS upon HOURS of MOHAA, RTCW, MP and pretty anything I want.

My chip will actually run fairly stable at 160fsb but it will lock up occassionally during games so I leave it at 150 fsb and she is smooth as glass.

In my readings I must be one of the luckier ones because not does my chip o/c very well but I am doing all of this with USB enabled (and in use) and the onboard sound running.

But check that Turbo1 setting and see if that helps. And of course you can always try moving around your PCI cards.

My specs for reference purposes:

Asus P4B266 (using onboard sound and USB)
P4 1.6A @ 2400(150fsb) with the new P4 Alpha and a 120mm Panaflo L1A Fan
PNY GF4 Ti4400
1GB of SEC 2700 DDR Ram
100gb Maxtor HDD
16X Lite-On DVD
52X Lite-On CD
40X Lite-On CDRW
Onstram SC-50 SCSI Tape Backup
Intel 10/100 NIC
Tekram UW SCSI Card
Floppy
Enermax 430W (I think thats their 400W model) Whisper PS
Lian-Li PC71


Max temp is about 50 degrees C under FULL gameplay or full load prime95. It runs a little hotter than I would like but its stable.

Good Luck

Greg
 
Hmm, I'm using the onboard sound on a P4B266 and I've never EVER hand any problem with the sound: no popping, clicking or whatever, not even once. I do not use the USB 1.1 ports on this motherboard, only the 2.0 ones.

Try using just the USB 2.0 ports and see if you still get the problem.
 
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