Overclocking my 1.2 T-Bird

[nascarfan]

I have a 1.2 T-Bird with an EP-8kta2 motherboard and I can only overclock my FSB to 104 from 100 but thats as far as I can go(comes out to 1.25 ghz with multiplier at 12). If I go higher my system doesnt shut down(its only running about 2* hotter with 104 FSB than 100 FSB) so its not a heat problem. When I try to shut down I get a black screen while my cd-rom drive light constantly blinks.

Im thinking it has to do with my PC133 ram. If I set the RAM to 133 mhz and put the FSB over 104 it doesnt shut down but when I set the ram to 100 mhz and put the FSB over 104 it shuts down fine(but its a lot slower). Im wondering if anyone has any opinions on how to overclock my cpu more.
Thanks

[yermomlluvus]

thunderbird CPUs are really easy to unlock, you can just use a pencil to connect all the bridges to increase voltage to 1.85 and to get multiplier control. some motherboards read the 12.5 multiplier on the tbird as 13, i know mine does

[yermomlluvus]

the voltage bridges on the thunderbird are the l7 bridges, if all are connected then you get 1.85

the multiplier bridges are the l1 bridges. just use a pencil, i did and they still work 1.5 years later.

[nascarfan]

I changed the multiplayer from 12 to 12.5 and my motherboard is reading it as 13 with a FSB of 100. It shows 1.3 ghz for my cpu speed but is it really 1.25 then?

[BigBosun]

Is it a 200MHZ or 266MHz Athlon that you're using ? Also, from what i see, that motherboard has the KT133 chipset, not the KT133A.. So you may be stuck with what youre getting until you upgrade that old motherboard. the KT133 chipset usually wont go much higher than 109MHZ.

[nascarfan]

Originally posted by BigBosun
Is it a 200MHZ or 266MHz Athlon that you're using ?

Im not sure acually.

[nascarfan]

Sisoft Sandra shows 2x 102 mhz(204mhz data rate). Is that it?

[nascarfan]

I have another question about voltage on my motherboard. Using the DIP switches theres one switch where it can automatically detect vcore. Does that mean I dont have to mess around with the vcore at all? Ive overclocked my cpu to 1.33 from 1.2 and havent touched the voltage on it and it still runs stable at 45-47*C at full load.

[BigBosun]

what you want to look for in SANDRA is the stepping code of your cpu, to find out which one it is. I am not sure if it will show in SANDRA, in the end you may have to take your cpu out and look at it. www.ocinside.de has the explanation of the codes. if you bought it recently, its most likely a 266. as far as the vcore, you should be able to raise it up to 1.85V through the bios. The auto-detect feature will simply set it at the cpu's default Voltage, but you can still make the manual adjustments. I'd really recommend a newer MoBo with a newer chipset, at a minimum. if you are on a tight budget, and you have to keep that pc133, try the MSI K7T Turbo2, it has the KT133A chipset, and runs sdram.. but then your memory will be a bottleneck. Spend a little more, get a MoBo that supports DDR, and buy the best stick of it that you can afford. Newegg sells reconditioned boards at good prices.

[Supertrucker]

109 is good for a kt133, i only got 103 outta mine..., if thats his chipset, thats his problem

[nascarfan]

How is the EP-8KHA+? Its only $39 refurbished on newegg is that a good deal? It supports DDR memory too

[BigBosun]

i looked at it, seems like a sweet deal for the money. you will have to get some new PC2100 memory to go with it, but you can pick up a 256MB stick for around 50 bucks if you do some looking. check out this thread for the memory: http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=151830
with those two fixes and a clean install of your operating system you should be rockin'. Did you ever find out your stepping code? if your Athlon is a 200FSB model, you won't be getting the most out of the new MoBo and RAM by a long shot.

[bObOtheclOwn]

Hi there , I'm having the same problem with my 900 t-bird ,Asus a7v(KT133) 200mhz FSB ,pc133 SDram . I have all the jumpers available on my m/board , but can only run the fsb up to 104(stable). do I run the Vcore up to 1.85v (1.5 default) in the bios? There is also a jumper on the m/b for the Voltage I/O , it is default 3.56v , should I go to the 3.69v setting ? One last question , I have it on the jumper-free mode where I just screw with the FSB setting , should I go back to the manual Dip switches and try the lower multiplier, higher FSB thing?
Any help with this would be appreciated , I am just a noob , trying some stuff out.............but it sounds like it is futile with this equipment :cool: :cool:

[The Coolest]

Welcome to the forums!!!
Unfortunatly the KT133 chipsets couldn't OC on FSB very well, I did hear of some success stories but they weren't much, your best bet is to unlock the Chip and OC via the multiplier. the extra 4MHz FSB will let you squeze more out of the chip once you have hit the highest stable multi. You shouldn't up the I/O as it may screw up your RAM. the FSB is limited by the chipset and not any other component, unless ofcourse you have PC-100 RAM, so RAM might be it, but not worth the trouble and risk of frying the RAM with upping the I/O. just unlock the chip using the pencil trick, connect the 4 L1s and you're done

[bObOtheclOwn]

Thanks for your reply Coolest, I guess that is my only option to squeeze something out of this rig before handing it to my kids and buying a new one ......hehe. :cool:

[jszent]

Thunderbirds 1.2 are factory unlocked,don't need a pencil for them just overclock it from your bios on your mobo