I'm not interested in overclocking, merely getting stock speed so I have a second computer until I graduate; I figure 133FSBx12locked multiplier ought to get me close enough to 1.6GHz. I'm also somewhat concerned about the extra voltage being pumped through it - it's rated at 1.3V, and most of the motherboards seem to default to 1.5-1.6V. What effect might this have on the longevity of the processor? Alternatively, can you recommend a reasonably good, but inexpensive motherboard that you have had success with in bringing the voltage down to 1.3V? I understand that the Asus P4S800-MX seems to be a popular choice, but have you had any success with either of the Shuttle systems?
I dislike breaking off parts unless absolutely necessary.
Don't be too concerned about voltage. Your CPU core is a Northwood and some of those are rated to that high a voltage and theoretically they all come off the same process, just that your chip is capable of running at 1.3v, thus making it ideal for a mobile setup. The voltage mod (bringing it down to 1.2v) is just bending a pin, not breaking it off. FYI I recently encountered a P4 3.4E chip (Prescott) that was installed wrong (rotated 90º) in a board that didn't support it (845GL chipset). The guy tried to run it that way, accidentally breaking off two pins and who knows what voltage/grounds were mixed up. The CPU still worked fine (even passed Prime95). The two broken pins were VCC and ground, and there are plenty extra of those.
I've tried two Shuttle systems. The SS51G works fine with a mobile Celeron. The SS61Gv2 works fine with a mobile P4 with the volt mod (no POST without it). My Shuttle AB60R worked fine with the mobile P4, but would not work with a mobile Celeron with or without the volt mod. My Albatron PX845PEV Pro would not overclock much without the BSEL mod. The Asus P4S800-MX is popular because it just plain works. In fact, I'd dare say that you can just pop your CPU into one and set FSB to 200, then you'd have a 2.4C without Hyperthreading. I don't think I've come across any mobile P4 that could
not do that (how many have I had... maybe 3 or 4 total including one 1.4GHz mobile P4). The Asus board runs about $60 new and is good quality and just plain WORKS. You can't go wrong. Just don't worry about the FSB and voltage. If you do end up frying your CPU, you can pick up another one on Eb@y easily for under $50.
Hello all..I bought a AOpen MX46/mobile celery 1.7/256 PC3200 combo here on the f/s forum. Anyways the chip runs fine at stock speed but has issues when trying to OC. For example I bump the FSB to 133 and mem 1:1 and run prime 95 for an hour or so and all seems well. Temps reported in everest around 46c. The porblems start when turning the PC back on after shutting down or if I simply reboot, windows finds errors and runs its scandisk or whatever its called and suposedly fixes a bunch of errors. I should back up and say I couldn't get this thing to even format my original 160GB hard drive, so I ordered a new 80GB HD and it formated and worked ok..maybe my 160 was going bad or something to do with the 137GB thing..I dunno...Also when I put the 80GB in itt was doing so good for a while at 133FSB(before I rebooted) that I went ahead and set the fsb to 150FSB..BIG mistake..
First thing is to run the drive manufacturer's test on the 160GB hard drive to determine if it is indeed failing. The 137GB problem would probably be from your Windows XP disc not having Service Pack 1 or 2 integrated (slipstreamed) into it. Windows XP without Service Pack 1 or 2 did not natively work with "48 bit LBA" mode drives - drives over 137GB. To get it to work without integrated service packs, you'll need a PCI hard drive controller and hit F6 when booting from Windows XP disc to install drivers.
With the 150MHz FSB problem, perhaps that board doesn't lock the AGP/PCI bus to the proper values. If so, then you are stuck with 100/133/200 or speeds near those. The other problem might be the BSEL pin. My Albatron PX845PEV Pro board wouldn't overclock past around 120MHz FSB or so and wouldn't even POST at 133MHz FSB and above until I broke off the BSEL pin (forgot BSEL1 or BSEL0) for the board to autodetect at 133MHz FSB. After that mod, suddenly not only would the CPU now POST at 133MHz FSB, but it would POST at all the way until 200MHz FSB (on an 845PE chipset board!!!). I had my mobile Celeron 1.6 running more or less stable at 180MHz FSB (some overheating issues from my NMB fan running probably under 1000RPM).
If using the 80GB drive was fine at 133MHz FSB, then you probably don't need the BSEL mod. My guess is that 150MHz bumped the HDD controller out of whack. Just my guess at this time. I don't have any hardware to fiddle with at the moment because I'm in the middle of moving to the Chicago area (from SoCal). The movers picked up my stuff 7/14. We'll get to the Great Lakes Navy base on 7/27 and have about 2 weeks after checkin for house hunting. Then, I'll get all my stuff in boxes... fun.
