Need Help overclocking my XP 1800+...

[FlyingHamster]

Man I cant seem to get this cpu oc'ed. I have an epox 8k3a+ with 768mb crucial ddr pc2100.

I think wut Im doin wrong is not setting any of the voltages right. Do any of u have similar system specs? Oh, and I keep my video card oc'ed usually too (295/325), but that shouldn't be a big problem right?

If u do, could u please tell me wut u are running your voltages at (vcore and everything else). I really have no clue as to wut to set them to when overclocking.

Once again, my system specs:
Epox 8k3a+
xp 1800+
768mb Crucial pc2100
Leadtek Geforce4 Ti4200 64 meg
Antec 300 watt psu

Thanks in advance...

[mixx666]

First off how are you overclocking? Do you have a Palomino or Thoroughbred CPU? You will find that the Palomino is multiplier locked witch means you can only overclock by putting your fsb up. With me so far? Any way if you have a Thoroughbred then oc'ing becomes a lot more easier I would recommend that you start by putting your multiplier to 9.5 fsb@166=1577mhz this is a small oc. If your pc boots up ok then you’re on the right track. Next try to put your multiplier to 10 fsb@166=1660mhz. now here is the important part I cannot stress how important good cooling is. A rubbish heat sink will kill your CPU Now the more you overclock the more voltage you will need on you CPU this =HEAT & HEAT kills ok. If it’s a Palomino then 1.8v should be ok. As for the Thoroughbred 1.750 should be ok. Better cooling means more voltage and that means more oc'ing. Now also bear in mind that some CPU's are not good oc'ers so you might be lucky to get more than 100mhz out of your CPU. If you have a good CPU like the 1700xp "JIUHB" then like my pal Dresuk you could overclock by 1000 MHz!! Yes 1000MHz (on air). so remember good cooling and good CPU are important. One more thing good memory would also be needed so since you have crucial ddr pc2100, through experience you should be ok? Let us know how you get on and good luck.

[FlyingHamster]

yea, I have the Palomino core. =\

one question though, how am I supposed to lower the multiplier, I havent unlocked my cpu yet. its currently at default settings: 11.5x133=1533 mhz.

I have good cooling- Volcano 7+, with arctic silver 3. that IS good right lol?

do u still think I could get it up to 166 and everything with just pc2100 ram?

oh, and do u still think 1.8v vcore is still a good setting?

Lemme know wut u think. thanks a lot.. peace.

[mixx666]

Yo

Now I know what CPU you have then I can help you a little more. The only way you will be able to oc at the mo is by putting up your FSB the one that say’s 133. Put it up slowly try 136. I’m not sure about the Volcano? I’ve not read any reviews so keep an eye on your temperatures in your BIOS under PC health. If it stay's under 55c then so far so good. It’s just a case of putting that FSB up till your pc crashers. As you do put up your FSB keep an eye on those temperatures. Like I say more voltage gives more heat so don’t get carried away 1.8 should be ok but if your temps stay under 40c then you most probably can get more out of it. You may also need to put your DIMM voltage up but since your ram is without heat sinks then I wouldn’t recommend that you put that up more than 1 step. If you’re confident that you can unlock your CPU then you will be able to get much more out of overclocking. I have unlocked a number of chips it is a very delicate process so be careful the last thing you want to do is kill your CPU. Good luck

[FlyingHamster]

Oh, in my BIOS, I have everything set to "Turbo". AGP Aperture (or however u spell it lol) to 256mb. fast-writes and SBA are disabled. Any of these things should be disabled or sumthin else enabled??

Anyways, here's how things went. I put it the vcore up to 1.8 and fsb to 142 and rebooted. When it got the xp logon screen, the mouse and the busy signal showed, then it all froze. so I had to reboot again. I tried a few different voltages but with no luck. So now im at 136 fsb and 1.775 vcore. (which is barely any overclock AT ALL lol.) =\

anymore suggestions? should I just increase the DIMM voltage? if so, wut should I increase it to? I really wanna overclock

Thanks in advance...

[mixx666]

Right first off put your AGP Aperture to 128m. Next put your AGP Frequency to 68Mhz. Put you memory to 6-3-3-2.5.

Then go to Power Bios features put you’re CPU@1.800v
AGP should stay @1.5v
DIMM @2.6 (2.77v is probably too much? it might damage you ram and 2.6 should be more than enough. I have my corsair 3200@200=2.77 so since you won’t be able to go that high 2.6v is fine)

Boot up

Put your FSB up slowly each time until it stops to work check temps and then if it’s all within limits put you CPU voltage up slowly.

There are no guaranties some CPU's are lousy overclockers ok.

[FlyingHamster]

1) I have a question. ima kind of a noob at this BIOS stuff. Ive heard ppl saying b4 their settings at 6-3-3-2.5. but what do these numbers mean? the 2.5 is the CAS setting right? but the others I dont know. there a lot of things I can change in there to 3,2,6, etc. so which one is which? lol srry for the trouble mixx, but I would GREATLY appreciate it.

2) Will setting the Aperture to 128 make me lose a lot performance in games? what exactly does it do? Remember, I have 768mb of ram.

3) Where in the world is my AGP frequency and my AGP voltage setting? I cant find where to set it to 68 mhz and 1.5v. Im lost in my BIOS lol.

4) oh, and when u say to restart after doing all this, do u want me to increase the FSB already, or just change the voltages without increasing anything else?

thanks again for all your help, I just need a lil help finding these things in my BIOS mixx. hope to hear soon.

-jesh

[mixx666]

1) Put your cas latency to 2. Because i'm not too famillier with your board I can't help much on your memory settings.

2) The AGP Aperture concernes your graphics card not your Crucial ram. 128 is the limit. no more no less ok.

3) I dont think you have AGP freuency on your mtbrd, sorry. Dont ask me to explain what it is, it would take too long to explain.

4) when you have done these changes try 140 FSB, see what you can get. if it all boots up then increase your FSB. If your pc stops booting to windows then put your Vcore up. Dont pass 1.85v ok.

Let me know if everything is fine ok

[mixx666]

If you have good memory and I think you have Turbo should be fine. But for now leave things on normal ok. And keep an eye on your cpu tems try not to go past 55c

[FlyingHamster]

sigh.. tried everything u said. and more. lol no luck at all. man this is pissin me off.

it sill freezes at the logon screen everytime I try to oc. >

[mixx666]

Try http://www.techspot.com/tweaks/bios/print.shtml there is detailed info on bios tweaking. One other bit of advice remember that you need very good components to overclock i.e. a great CPU that can oc by 500Mhz could be held back by not so good ram. A good power supply is an overclocker’s best friend, one that holds a steady voltage is essential. For me Motherboard is very important, I went through 5 boards last year each had its own characteristic’s. One with my components I have now couldn’t go stable @166fsb while my 8RDA+ is @200fsb stable. It’s taken a lot of time and research to get here. I always read hardware reviews and buy the best components I can for oc’ing, so one day I hope you can get here too. One more thing just try putting everything to default including your Geforce card and your bios voltages and just try putting your FSB up alone nothing else. Just by putting your FSB@142 gives you 1633Mhz. Good luck

[jcool]

Just one thing: Back in the day when I got an 8KHA+ (KT266A), I used a 256MB Stick of Crucial PC2100 CL2 as well, and in a crazy moment I managed to get the system stable @220Mhz FSB with 2,5-3-3 6 Timings@3,1V, so I don't think it's the Ram stopping you
You can give the Ram at least 2,8V it won't be damaged.
But be careful above 2,85V as it might shorten your RAMs life.

[SteveI]

Welcom to AOA FlyingHamster.

To answer some of your questions...
As the CPU is currently locked, you will not be able to run 166fsb. I highly doubt a pally can handle 1913mhz with only 1.8v. Also, 166fsb is the most likely limit of your memory as well. How many sticks are you running 2 or 3? When overclocking, the weakest part is the limiting factor, and not all sticks are equal.

If you want to overclock, it is a good idea to run conservative timings with you memory for now... Also, run with only 1 stick, and up the vdimm to 2.8v. You can then try overvolting the CPU to 1.85v. Your V7+ is a pretty decent heatsink and should be up to the task. Make sure you have SW that can check your voltages and temps within windows like MBM.

Now you are ready to oc... manually increase the FSB in the bios 3-4 mhz at a time... Each time, try to stress test the CPU for a while, while keeping an eye on temps. Then, when you think you have reached the stable limit of the CPU, take it down a few notches.... Power down, and put the extra memory back in. Check again for stability... If everything is good, you can try to improve your memory timings given the FSB you are running at.

When you are trying to stress test the memory, use memtest. (both memtest and MBM are available in aoafiles.)

Don't be in a rush. It can be difficult to troubleshoot, unless you are attempting to stress one component at a time.

Also, a word of caution... if you are able to run an FSB over 150fsb, manually force your HDD to run at a slower speed.. ATA66 or ATA33, just to play it safe while testing. AT 150fsb, the PCI is running 37.5mhz.. Some HDDs don't like running way out of spec, and you don't want to loose your data.

Good luck... just remember to take it one step at a time, and you should be fine.

[mixx666]

I had some crucial once too it was only pc2100 but it rocked. Crucial make very good ram. However I did get a bit aggressive with it till it stopped working, but since I had lifetime warranty then I was able to blag some new ram. I then went for Kingston ram which was ok, not as good as the crucial though. I’ve now got Corsair pc3200 and it’s the best Ram I’ve had yet.
In FlyingHamster’s case I’m not sure why he can’t get an FSB@140 at least. 145 will be hard to get I think. It might be down to your CPU some overclock 100Mhz some like mine go over 1000Mhz. My last chip was a 2200XP @1800mhz it only overclocked to 2050Mhz. I’ve now got the 1700XP JIUHB. It cost me £45 compared to the £100 I spent on the 2200XP and I’ve got my 1700xp@2200Mhz right now without sweating & easily more when I’m benching.

[mixx666]

Its sounds like i'm showing off there, sorry. My point is that your CPU might be a lousy overclocker. SteveI has some great advice there so follow his instrutions. Good luck

[Rainbow]

For what it's worth, my xp1800 overclocks to xp2000 at the default voltage. I'm using crucial pc2700 CAS2.5 in the same board as you. My heatsink is an Alpha PAL 8045.

[FlyingHamster]

I have 3 sticks. all the same speed and 256mb each.

well thanks for your help again. Im going to try to take out the oldest stick and overclock.. see if that has something to do with it. (then Ill have 512mb)

if that still doesnt work, Im going to get 512mb crucial pc2700 cas2.5 on newegg.com. I heard this is a good oc'er. wut are your thoughts?

Steve- Im going to try your method, and yours again mixx. thanks again.

I'll let u guys know my results.

[SteveI]

I think you should try with just 1 stick... makes it easier to troubleshoot... Also, this would be temporary of course.

Do not expect high fsbs from crucial pc2700's. They just don't make 'em like they used to. I just got 2 myself, and I was a bit disappointed. I managed to get them to run cas2.0 4w 6-3-3-2 @175fsb w/ 2.7v. With tight timings, I top out at 170fsb. I guess if I relaxed everything more, I could run higher but it's not worth going way out of spec for such small gains. These sticks are running on 2 separate systems, and getting identical results. If you want high fsb's, PC3200's are getting cheap.

Also, one last piece of advise, well known by old timers.. Fewer sticks of memory is a good thing when you want to overclock the FSB. The more dimms you occupy, the more problems you may have... not only with the weakest link in terms of sticks... but also with the mobo trying to power and maintain the dimms all at once. This may be a an ole' wives' tale, but All 5 of my personal computers are currently running one dimm each. I only run multiple sticks when necessary. (I don't own any Nforce boards.)

[FlyingHamster]

Steve- I don't think I could even get past 175mhz with my kind of cooling. So those pc2700 sticks should be ok. But wut do u think? With pc3200 ram, do u think I could get wayy past 175 with my setup?

I only have around $75 to spend, and right now the best deal I can find is on that Crucial. Do u guys know of a better one?

I really want 512mb of ram. Even know I wouldnt be able to OC as high with the 512mb of crucial pc2700, my games and stuff would still a bit smoother that if I were to have 256mb of corsair pc3200 right? Im just a lil short of $$$ right now lol.

Oh, and I took out that old stick, tried to OC still with normal settings etc, still no luck. Im about to trash my comp lol.

Lemme know wut u think... thnx.

PS- I found this site with a pretty good deal. Wut do u think? any tricks to it lol? CLICK HERE

and which one is the best deal out these do u think?
CLICK HERE

[SteveI]

Personally, I consider my self a ... "bang for the buck" overclocker. So I always look for bargains... on quality merchandise and only deal with well known reputable dealers. I checked your links, but I've never dealt with them. My only advise there is always be careful dealing with new sellers. If you've dealt with them before, great. If you found them looking for the best prices, be careful.

In all honesty, I don't push FSB much myself. I'm happy with my systems running 175-185 fsb. I was running 200 max timings for over a month with my PC3200, but I thought running 40mhz PCI might cause data problems down the road. PCs are such versatile tools, we all have different uses. If you really want to go for FSB, then go for the PC3200's. Otherwise, I guess 2700's will be enough... and at the price they are selling for right now, you really can't go wrong. Crucial is a quality outfit... even if they don't overclock like a mutha' any more, you still get reliable components.