P4 2.4B c1 Stepping Max Speed?

[Kingchicken2]

Got a p4 2.4 from newegg. Didn't know anything about c1 stepping until reading this forum and luckily I got a C1 says 1.525V max (SL6EF) packed on 1/15/03

I set my frequency to 163 to get to 2.93ghz but it is not stable; had to clock down to 150 (only a 2.7ghz) to play games. I have heard people can get to 3ghz with this chip. Could someone give me a few pointers? I heard people talking about changing the AGP/PCI ratio but not sure what that means. Also, do I need to change other settings or even the voltage?

System:
Albatron PX845PEV Pro mobo with Intel 845PE / ICH4
ATI all-in-one 8500 (128mb)
512mb PC2100 RAM from outpost.com
WD 80g

Thank you for helping.

 

[ErikaeanLogic]

did you lock the AGP/PCI bus? for example, if you're running at ~2930MHz, then your fsb is about 162, right? that would put your PCI bus at 40.5MHz (should be 33.33MHz, default) and your AGP bus at 81MHz. at 40.5MHz PCI, you'd probably be facing possible harddrive instability, to say the least; at 81MHz AGP, your video card may be crapping out (ATI doesn't like the higher AGP bus). try manually setting the AGP/PCI to 66.66/33.33 and go from there, if you haven't already. I've never heard of a C1 2.4B that wouldn't do at least 3GHz, but (then again) there are no guarantees, either.

hope that helps

 

[Kingchicken2]

thanks that was helpful.

in addition to settting AGP/PCI fixed at 66/33, is there any other setting I need to modify? eg. DDR ratio or voltage? I read some posts where people talk about vcoren (What is vcore?). The voltage in my BIOS read 1.525, do I need to up that?

Thanks again.

 

[ErikaeanLogic]

your PC2100 might be a limiting factor, too. you'd prolly want to relax all the mem timings, just to make sure.

 

[Kingchicken2]

what do you mean by relaxing mem timings?

sorry first time overclocker

 

[PhoenixOfWater]

PC2100 runs at 133FSB
Check your DDR speed in the BIOS
You should have your DDR ratio to 2 and DDR voltage at 2.6
if anything your mem is holding you back

Note
DDR Ratios on the Albatron PX845PEV Pro are setup like 1.5, 2 , 2.5 , 2.66
2 would be 1/1 its would run your CPU and your MEM at the same speed

 

[Kingchicken2]

when i got to 2.93 (166 FSB), i could get into windows and perform normal stuff. But when I played a game (broodwar), it kicks me out randomly.

sounds like a case of the ram?

 

[Duvie]

That mobo is a good board and can easil;y handle plus 166 fsb....I think the ram is a push....does it offer a 4:3 ratio (not 3:4)??? I think at 166 you would be running that pc2100 at 33mhz instead of 266mhz...What brand??? No name or generic???

Also list your power supply....brand and specs and look at your voltages...list idle and load voltages on the vcore,3.3,+5,+12v rails....

Are you getting freezes?? Random pc restarts??? Or just programs kicking you back to the desktop???

 

[huthut]

Up your core voltage. Do it in increments of .025 until it's stable. But if it never gets stable then you're SOL.

 

[Duvie]

Its not just the vcore yet....2.7 on a 2.4b c1 needing more then default??? That would be one crappy chip since it would mean he likely wouldn't get much better the 2.85-2.9ghz with vcore at or near 1.7v...Can you say act more lik a b0 stepping chip!!!

I think there are other factors at work here....at 150 the ram was running at 300 or pc2400 and that is pretty good for most generic non name brand pc2100...crucial and a few others can do pc2700 but I doubt generics do as regular...They have such low cost they would have likely rated them higher and sold them at that if they could do it...

 

[Kingchicken2]

Duvie-thanks for your posts.

I have generic PC2100 ram (got from outpost @$70 shipped). At 166FSB with stock voltage and 2x DDR (2.93 Ghz CPU), my programs kick me back to my desktop randomly and I ran Prime95 but could not last more than 10 seconds for the torture test.

Then I clocked it down to 155FSB (~2.79Ghz CPU) with stock voltage and 2x DDR. System seems stable; plays games find and has been running Prime95 for 3 hrs w/o a problem. Guess I need a better ram to push this higher?

How fast can I set the FSB without having to bump up the vcore (assuming I get a nice PC2700)?

 

[Duvie]

to be compared with other recent c1s I would think you should be able to get closer to 2.9-3.0ghz at default....with a possibility of 3.1-3.4ghz as be the highest you can go with air cooling and 1.7v vcore max boost..

 

[Kingchicken2]

cool...will wait for the next DDR ram deal to try it out...

man, this is becoming a new hobby of mine. all i am looking forward to everyday is to get off work and play with my computer. (my gf is somewhat unhappy w/ it...)

 

[Radelon]

Originally posted by: Kingchicken2
cool...will wait for the next DDR ram deal to try it out...

man, this is becoming a new hobby of mine. all i am looking forward to everyday is to get off work and play with my computer. (my gf is somewhat unhappy w/ it...)

You paid $70 for a PC2100 chip...... heck I paid $77 for 256mb GeIL PC3200 Ultra....

 

[Kingchicken2]

mine was 512...probably only a warm deal 2 wks ago