Ga-7vrx

Ive not heard very reassuring stuff about this board...

I have got a 1700 Tbreb B, and would like to overclock. Apart from getting the newest BIOS update, can you guys tell me everything I need to do to get the most FSB out of this thing?

Im a newbie so please speak in english

my system in in my sig..

First thing, is your mobo Rev 1.1 or 1.2?
Second do you know the stepping of the 1700, if its a 1700 DLT3C JIUHB your a lucky *******.
Third thing is to dump the PC2100 as you are unlikely to get the FSB to 166 with it let alone 180 (which you should be aiming for).
Answer these questions and I will be in a better position to advise further, but then again it will just be my opinion and others may disagree.
Hood

EDIT
Im a fool Ive just noticed you have a VRX I was thinking VAX but regardless if you could answer the questions but the Rev will be 1.0, 1.1 or 2.0.
For a bit of info on the 1/5 divider look here

thanks Hood, im away from home but when I get back Ill post that stuff.

I fully intend to ditch the 2100 when I start overclocking, its also generic.

Also by some fluke I got the good 1700, I already checked that out.

JIUHB, DLT3C 0308 etc.

PS - how do i find out the revision? I purchased it last summer.

Either look on the mobo between the DDR and North Bridge or if you are in the BIOS and on Harware monitor page you have,
Rev1.0 VCore adjustment only.
Rev1.1 VCore, AGP and DDR volt adjustement.
Rev2.0 VCore, AGP and DDR volt adjustment and temp shutdown option.
Hood.

Hood:

I have the BIOS in which pretty much nothing can be changed except for FSB. I have the oldest BIOS, and according to the site, there are new BIOSes which allow me to change these things...but when I get home in about 3 days, Ill get the new BIOS, and find out.

Just as a guess, what revision would a board purchases last summer be expected to be?

Sounds like you may have a Rev 1.0, if you do its bad news for OCing as you wont be able to get the 1/5 divider.
Hood
BTW the new BIOS wont allow you to get these options if you dont already have them.

They were there, it just wouldnt let me change them, like they were greyed out or something.

Dont understand that, I have a Rev1.0 and even with the latest BIOS all I can adjust is FSB and VCore and none of the other volts (memory and AGP) are shown, and neither is the shutdown temp.
Let me know when you get back.
Hood

Ok Hood, ive checked the board and its Rev 2.0. Im hoping thats good news
Im downloading the latest BIOS now

Yes thats the best Rev to have.
Hood

Ok I was having trouble doing 150mhz FSB, but I did the divider thing and was running at 170x12.5...

The thing prime95'd ok, but any 3d grafix were scrambled: wouldnt 3dmark.

HElp!

how do i use high FSB without gfx going crazy?

Thats a weird one, I mean 170 FSB isnt high its only a 2MHz OC on the AGP. Do you have any other probs apart from the graphics? If not then I would look at the drivers and see if there are updates. Did you have any probs when running lower FSB(before 1/5 kicked in) ?
Hood

Without 1/5 I couldnt get 150 FSB.
Ive made a list of my successes at 3Dmark, changing the OC on my GFX card and the FSB:

Score------------------GFX------------FSB
10697 3DMark --- 250/444 --- FSB = 163
11025 3DMark --- 260/520 --- FSB = 163
11262 3DMark --- 265/525 --- FSB = 163
11289 3DMark --- 265/525 --- FSB = 163
11339 3DMark --- 265/525 --- FSB = 163
11143 3DMark --- 270/525 --- FSB = 163
10685 3DMark --- 250/444 --- FSB = 164
FAILED 3DMark -- 260/520 --- FSB = 164
11211 3DMark --- 270/530 --- FSB = 160
10017 3DMark --- 270/530 --- FSB = 161

At the moment im running FSB of 162 with GFX card on 260/520, because this setting is most stable (hasnt crashed yet).

My gfx card is Gainward ti4200 Golden Sample, which is supposed to overclock well I believe, yet I cant get my FSB above 134 even on stock speed gfx card.

The best I seem to be able to manage is 2020 Mhz (162*12.5), with 260/520. Currently CPU is at 31 and sys temp is at 36. No idea how hot gfx card is.

I cant believe my GFX card is crapping because of the FSB...ive had it overclocked for about 8months with no problems, yet it wont take >164 FSB even on stock speeds. That really does suck. Is this my mobo or my GFX?

Apart from GFX, I had no real problems at 170FSB * 12.5, seemed to prime95 for a while.

at 166FSB it prime95'd for just under one hour before it said there was a problem. DXDIAG tests even worked at 166 FSB, but no games or 3DMark.

I dont really understand whats going on. Maybe my only option is to get a better mobo. Is there no hope?