Is this just bad luck 4 me??

[avatar51]

Hi i got the Epox 8kha+ mobo + Ahtlon XP 1700+, + 256 Crucial 2100 ram

Now i here how everyone can hit 150-160 even 145 fsb, but sadly i have problems hitting 140

whenever windows trys to boot i get a bluescreen.. i put up the voltage on both the cpu & mem, with no success

Im pretty sure its the ram holding me back maybe i was not lucky and got a bad crucial stick.. or could it be the CPU??


any help is really apreciated thanks

[Holst]

I had problems hitting high FSB at first.

Firstly id suspect that the CPU cant go any faster without more voltage or more importantly cooling.

What cooling do you have ?

Im running a Duron but the pryncipals are the same.
I couldnt get a FSB increase to work without unloaking the CPU and reducing the multiplyer, once i did so i could get stable at 150fsb, any higher and i think my PSU flakes out.

Unfortunately unlocking a XP isnt as easy as a duron.

What settings have you got your ram on ?
Try running normal settings and then increase the FSB, you might find that more voltage helps although it didnt help in my case.

Get the latest bios.

Good luck

[avatar51]

Hi

My ram settings are set to most aggresive, got the latest bios 11/02

and cpu is not that bad 41C idle 46C full load.

running at 136 FSB right now

anything higher like 138 i get blue screens

[Superman]

Originally posted by avatar51
Hi

My ram settings are set to most aggresive, got the latest bios 11/02

and cpu is not that bad 41C idle 46C full load.

running at 136 FSB right now

anything higher like 138 i get blue screens

The RAM could be the problem. For problem solving, try using normal timings on the memory and see if it goes higher on the FSB. Then you'll at least have an idea if that's the problem. And I hope someone comes out with trace tape before I buy and XP.

[SteveI]

Sounds like bad luck to me...
My XP1600+ is running 146.8FSB rock solid, using 2x Crucial DDRs at full speed, and stock voltages no less.. What is your PSU?... if you have MBM, check your voltages, to make sure you have enough juice to feed the new baby. Definitely slow down your timings on the RAM to see if the CPU responds to the FSBs.

[Superman]

Originally posted by SteveI
Sounds like bad luck to me...
My XP1600+ is running 146.8FSB rock solid, using 2x Crucial DDRs at full speed, and stock voltages no less.. What is your PSU?... if you have MBM, check your voltages, to make sure you have enough juice to feed the new baby. Definitely slow down your timings on the RAM to see if the CPU responds to the FSBs.

If you don't have MBM, feel free to download it from our wonderful File Download Center (www.aoafiles.com). I believe it's under Other files.

[SteveI]

Originally posted by Superman53142


The RAM could be the problem. For problem solving, try using normal timings on the memory and see if it goes higher on the FSB. Then you'll at least have an idea if that's the problem. And I hope someone comes out with trace tape before I buy and XP.

I've heard if you boo-boo on the L1s and short them, all XPs default to an 11x multi. If newer Xps come much higher, it may be a good fall back position in a sense. I'm thinking of trying it on my 10.5x just to see if it helps.

BTW, it might be possible to make your own trace tape. I thought about it. If you start with scotch tape, defogger repair kit at a few toothpicks.... create the lines and wait til it dries before you apply, it should not short out in the pits if you use AS2 in there.

[avatar51]

Ya i got the Enermax 431 wat PSU so its good the +12 is always over 12 and +5 rail is usually 5 sometimes drop to 4.95-96 under full load

everything seems good... hmm if i could only get my hand on another peice of ram to test and make sure its actually the ram.


as for unlocking the XP i have no idea how and im not good at these kind of things i might screw it up

[Superman]

Originally posted by avatar51
Ya i got the Enermax 431 wat PSU so its good the +12 is always over 12 and +5 rail is usually 5 sometimes drop to 4.95-96 under full load

everything seems good... hmm if i could only get my hand on another peice of ram to test and make sure its actually the ram.


as for unlocking the XP i have no idea how and im not good at these kind of things i might screw it up

Did you try your current RAM with normal rather than aggressive timings? That would be Step 1 in my opinion.

[avatar51]

yes i had no help

damn looks like i have run out of options other then find another stick of ram

[Superman]

Originally posted by avatar51
yes i had no help

damn looks like i have run out of options other then find another stick of ram

That sucks. You did strip it down to bare necessities to boot already I assume? That's last ditch option. Then if you get farther add parts in one by one.

[avatar51]

no havent tried that yet sounds good ill give it a shot it the morning hopefully i figure out the prob.

ill let u know what happens tommorow

thx 4 the help

[mrpcman]

Sounds like ram problems to me. i had the same problem.

[EPoX Tech]

As we have said before - this is very dependant on all components being in balance, and realistic targets being acheived.

I know that with air cooling my XP1800+ will only hit 1700MHz internal core speed. I also know that my memory can do 170MHz Host Clock no problem on KT266a, SiS735 or AMD761. So in order to acheive my host clock of 170 I know that I need to retard the memory timings a little to make the memory able to achieve the high speed and reduce my multiplier to 10.

Now I know that if I want to increase the multiplier I may have to reduce the memory clock or introduce more cooling for the processor.

These are the ways that you need to look at when overclocking - this is something that seems to be overlooked of late with many people reading of mainboards that achieve high FSB and just expecting that they can achieve them also "just like that" after purchasing one.

I think that to combat the frustrations that many are encountering, they really do need to unlock their processors.