Who is OCing

[Col]

Originally posted by Conan
We have the same board. How were you able to lock the PCI/AGP bus? Did you do this through the BIOS or within Windows? What FSB did you set that caused the lockup? Did you relax the memory timings when you overclocked?

You seen, i'm still new to this so, I have no idea what you are taling about with memory timings.

I used Clockgen to lock my agp/pci mhz, neat little program. And I did all this through the bios, and the FSB seems to freeze it up at 220

[martinsc]

Originally posted by Tinker
I am. Running a P4 1.7 at 1.87. That does not sound like much but it seems to make things run smoother.

Any one else? I hear that 10% is about the max that one should OC.

he he he that's exactly what i did

[Conan]

Originally posted by Col
You seen, i'm still new to this so, I have no idea what you are taling about with memory timings.

I used Clockgen to lock my agp/pci mhz, neat little program. And I did all this through the bios, and the FSB seems to freeze it up at 220

Ah I see Clockgen. Well I've been hanging around the MSI support forums and that's how I've learned more about overclocking and tweaking. Lot's of complaints there too though.

[Col]

Originally posted by Conan
Ah I see Clockgen. Well I've been hanging around the MSI support forums and that's how I've learned more about overclocking and tweaking. Lot's of complaints there too though.

Yeah, hard to find a constructive post there isn't it?

[Conan]

Originally posted by Col
Yeah, hard to find a constructive post there isn't it?

Yup, you hit it right on the dot! Sometimes I'm tempted to tell some of the users to stop complaining, it's not MSI's fault it's yours! They keep on complaining about instability when the RAM that they are using isn't even supported by the motherboard! Oh well, live and learn.

[Conan]

By the way Col, how did you find your way over here? Was it through my Sig/link over at MSI forums?

[FastGame]

Originally posted by zipp51
I must be doing something wrong because my system won't start and I have to clear the cmos with the jumper to get her going again.Have you also bumped up your core voltage Fastgame?I'm using Kingston HyperX 2700(512mb) single channel.If I leave my mutiplier at 12.5x and raise the FSB to 200 and raise the v-core from 1.69 to 1.85 I should get the speed to 2.5Ghz.Is that possible with the Barton 2800?

Hi zipp, I'm going to list the things for you too try but first I want you to understand that the XP 2800 Barton is *not* the best overclocker when using air cooling and that Kingston HyperX (unless it's the latest revision) is troublesome when run @high FSB in sync with the CPU. You’re going to have better luck because you’re running single channel, dual channel it gets real picky...

*WARNING!* Nforce2 boards suffer from sudden bios death, any bios change *can/may* lead to bios death if the setting's are incorrect!

First you need to see if your ASUS lets you get to the lower multipliers (9 9.5 10 10.5 11..), the early A7N8X's wouldn't do this unless you used the wire trick. The later bios took care of this as did the later revision of A7N8X boards.

Next you need to find the limits of both the CPU and the ram, most overclockers will tell you to lower the CPU multiplier to take the CPU out of the equation then up the FSB on the ram till you find its limit, then raise the CPU multiplier/FSB till you find it's limit. That sounds good but being the "FastGame" that I am I've found through testing that that's the wrong thing to do...why? Because ram will error from more reasons (volts, timings, CPU instructions, heat, single channel/dual channel, sync/async...) than the CPU will (heat, volts). It's best to find the CPU limit first.

I know that your XP2800 Barton is going to run @400fsb just fine, the question is how fast @what volts & will that Kingston HyperX PC2700 do 400fsb with the CPU in sync ??? From my experience the HyperX 2700 isn't going to run @400fsb in sync with the CPU @400fsb (tested in ASUS A7N8X-D & two Abit NF7-S's)

*WARNING!* Nforce2 boards suffer from sudden bios death, any bios change *can/may* lead to bios death if the setting's are incorrect!

Make sure you keep notes on all you findings

1. In bios your going to use the user defined/expert setting, set the CPU @200=400fsb @stock v-core volts & use the 10 multiplier, now we're going to take the ram out of the equation and set it @133=266fsb you can leave it @stock volts & 2 2 2 5 timing but don't set it @SPD or else it will be running @333fsb instead of 266! Now in the bios there's a setting that says "Halt on all Errors" you need to change that to "No Errors" now save changes and exit bios. Did it boot-up and go into Windows? if so then all is well so far now run Prime95 bench test (it will error quick on a bad CPU setting) or loop 3Dmark 2001 or 2003 and if they run fine without locking up or BSOD then your CPU is fine at that setting. Remember that if you can't boot into Windows or Windows & programs lock up then in *most* cases it's the CPU...if you crash (BSOD) it's usually the ram. Check temps on CPU and make sure it's ok.

If things are fine then go back into bios and up the multiplier the next step 10.5, this is the only change you make. Exit bios and repeat the above testing checking CPU temp *under load* also, if everything is ok then back to bios you go and up the multiplier again. You keep repeating this procedure until you get a lockup or crash that’s when you know the CPU has reached its limit @stock voltage.

Ok the next step is to go into bios and raise the v-core voltage and repeat the testing procedure once again @the multiplier the CPU locked up on, keep uping the v-core till the CPU is stable and make sure you keep checking temps! From this point on its back & forth with the multiplier and v-core until you reach 1.85volts v-core. why? Because IMO 1.85 is going to be the safe limit on air cooling and your CPU temperature is now going to enter the equation.....keep it under 47c load for a happy PC

Ok now once you've found the limit of the CPU @400 fsb we can move on to the ram.....

*WARNING!* Nforce2 boards suffer from sudden bios death, any bios change *can/may* lead to bios death if the setting/settings are incorrect!

You now know that your CPU is stable @such & such setting @400fsb but we need to take the CPU out of the equation in order to find the ram limits...how? Easy, you go to the notes you kept from the CPU test and see where your CPU was perfectly stable @what multiplier @stock v-core volts! note what was the GHZ the CPU was running ? It’s at this GHZ speed that we're going to set the CPU but because the HyperX ram is suspect @400fsb we're going to start out @333fsb both CPU & Ram at sync @333fsb. Since your CPU ran perfectly stable @what ever GHZ @400fsb @stock v-core it should be out of the equation @what ever GHZ @333fsb @stock v-core

2. Go into your bios, this time all your settings both CPU and Ram will be *User Defined/Expert* set the CPU @166=333fsb use the multiplier that gave you the last stable setting @stock v-core when you did the 400fsb testing. Set the Ram @166=333fsb now both ram & CPU will be in sync @333fsb, because I know Kingston HyperX PC2700 (trust me) well set the ram voltage to 2.7 and the ram times to 2 3 3 8. Now you will need Memtest86 to check the ram for errors...put the Memtest86 CD in and save changes & exit bios. You will now boot to memtest86 let it run all the test for 1 pass and if there are no errors then back into bios you go & raise the (cpu&ram) FSB and retest...on & on you go till finally you reach a point when the ram reaches it's FSB limit for those timings & that voltage. Once this is found then go back to the last stable error free setting and boot into Windows and use Prime95 and 3Dmarks 2001 or 2003 to make sure everything is ok.

I know what your thinking...< hey can't I change my ram timings and voltage and get better results ? oh and my cpu is still at stock v-core and not running at the same speed that I got in the 400fsb test can I up that also? > maybe...how much time do you have? the testing procedure is laid out, have at it, I've only given you a happy medium to which you can start from all my testing

The most important thing when it comes to performance with AMD and Nforce2 is that the CPU & Ram run in *sync* at what ever that FSB limit becomes. Overclocking is an art, a hobby, it's not a science, there are no absolutes, no guarantees, each system is an individual.......

*WARNING!* Nforce2 boards suffer from sudden bios death, any bios change *can/may* lead to bios death if the setting/settings are incorrect!

memtest 86 ISO

Prime 95

Sorry for long post, I was lonely today Prime 95

[Col]

Originally posted by Conan
By the way Col, how did you find your way over here? Was it through my Sig/link over at MSI forums?

Actually, yeap. Seen there was an Overclocking forum and was hoping for some newbie guides to this, from start to finish.

And FastGame, got anything like that for a person with say.... a MSI 865PE Neo2, 2x512 Infinion PC2700, P4 2.4c Pentium processor?

[FastGame]

Originally posted by Col
And FastGame, got anything like that for a person with say.... a MSI 865PE Neo2, 2x512 Infinion PC2700, P4 2.4c Pentium processor?

I wish I did...though the principle basic's are the same for overclocking it does change a bit when it comes to INTEL, I don't know the in's & out's of INTEL I think your in good hands with Conan he's done alot of research making sure his INTEL rig can kick our AMD butts...lol

[zipp51]

Thanks Fastgame.Excellent guide BTW.There are some reports of an A7N8X and Barton 2800 getting 3.46GHz speeds.Most of the others are right around 2.3GHz.Oh and thanks for the warnings LOL.I was just thinking that my best bet for a performance boost may be the dual channel route.What do you think?Specifically if I got another stick of the Kingston Hyper X 2700.Or maybe dump the X and get 2 sticks of matching 3200 or 3500 approved ram in 256mb qty each.

[FastGame]

Originally posted by zipp51
Thanks Fastgame.Excellent guide BTW.There are some reports of an A7N8X and Barton 2800 getting 3.46GHz speeds.Most of the others are right around 2.3GHz.Oh and thanks for the warnings LOL.I was just thinking that my best bet for a performance boost may be the dual channel route.What do you think?Specifically if I got another stick of the Kingston Hyper X 2700.Or maybe dump the X and get 2 sticks of matching 3200 or 3500 approved ram in 256mb qty each.

2.3 to 2.5ghz sounds do-able on air cooling

Dual channel would be the way to go, but if your going to buy ram then get some PC3200/3500 instead of PC2700. The newest (just came out) Kingston HyperX is fine now but for instant stable 400++fsb look no further than TwinMos or Buffalo PC3200 with the Winbond CH-5 chips, then you'll get the best out of that Barton

BTW are you saying that your XP2800 Barton @333fsb in sync with that HyperX @333fsb is slow.........I didn't think so

[phishhead]

hey fastgame looks like you're gonna need to buy into Intel to get some hands on experience so you can give us some OC'ing tips for the intel folks.

[FastGame]

Originally posted by phishhead
hey fastgame looks like you're gonna need to buy into Intel to get some hands on experience so you can give us some OC'ing tips for the intel folks.

uh thats some good advice phish....is there some motive behind that advice ?

INTEL #$@!^%&%#*).......ahhh feel better now

[jmg823]

2500+@3200+ (11*200) stock voltage
512(2*256) kingston valuram@400mhz 2-3-3-7 slight volt increase
geforce4 MX440 64MB(stock 270/405)@ 345/545 stock cooling