Should I RMA my CPU??

[Veegee]

Howdy:

First time poster here. Despite trying it with an A7N8X Deluxe and a NF7-S, my 2100+ (0249) craps out at anything above 180 FSB or 13.5 multiplier. I can get to about 2400Mhz. at 1.85 core voltage. Newegg, being the gods that they are, are willing to take the chip back for a replacement. Is it worth my while to rma the chip and see if the next one can run at a higher FSB/multiplier or should I leave well enough alone?? Before anyone suggests a vdd mod, I have no soldering skills. I would be willing to try the pencil mod on the NF7-S, but don't want to fry my chip or the Northbridge in the process. Thanks for any and all advice!


Veegee:)

[xcelerator]

wut kind of ram do you have? i think theres a reason with your settins you kan't get high fsb's, once i set my memory timings to optimal it could get up to 203fsb.....so yeah, damn ur 2100+ is better dan mine, mine kan only get up to 2.23ghz stable with 203 fsb....

[Veegee]

BTW, I'm using 2x256MB of PC3000 Hyperx memory, a SLK-800(u) heatsink, Thermaltake Smartfan 2, and Artic Silver 3. Let me know if you need more specs. Thanks!

[james.miller]

well pc3000 is rated for like 180fsb or somewhere around there. that doesnt help lol


i say its the ram. slack the memory-timings off a little, and up the memory voltage to 2.7 or 2.8 and try again. Plus there's the fact that its an asus an78x, which are know to max out at around 185mhz fsb without mods. That doesnt help, either.

[IR1]

that would be unethical. you shouldnt RMa things if they aint broke.

I can get mine to 2400 but not stable. I would only suggest selling it on ebay... for maybe a profit even since its such a great overclocker. and then maybe try again....

but 2400 is awsome.. I dont know what the hell your thinking.

9 times out of 10 your gonna get one slower than the one you have now.

Wait James what happened to you and your anti-unethical or ethical overclockers army? I always see you jump on people who want to RMA working parts.

about the not being able to go over 185 fsb. Its not the CPU... its either your memory or your Northbridge.

[xcelerator]

He just needs to relax his timings.......to get good fsb's.....

[Veegee]

On the NF7-S, I set the FSB/DRAM to 3/3, the FSB to 180, the Multiplier to 13.5, the core voltage to 1.9v, DDR voltage to 2.7v, and memory timings to 6-2-2-2T. Couldn't even run 3dMark 2001 once without it rebooting. BTW, I already successfully pushed the RAM to 200Mhz (running the FSB and RAM asyncronously) and I've already flashed to the latest beta bios.

[IR1]

then its ur northbridge/ motherboard.

[Veegee]

How can I correct the problem, since both the Asus and Abit motherboards display the same limitations??

[IR1]

I cant get past 189 fsb... and 186 is about highest stable for me. Not all motherboards are created equal. Sounds like yours just cant handle the higher fsb.

I mean... you can try and put a better heatsink... I know the Asus Northbridge heatsink is passive. and adding a fan.. or a new higher quality hs/fan combo might help.

Not sure how Abit does their northbridge.

[xcelerator]

wut version is ur nf7-s, did you try upping ur voltage on your memory.....i use like 2.7v

[xcelerator]

try 2.8v

[Skiing Squirrel]

active cooling the northbridge might help. 2.4 is pretty good, i wouldnt rma it.

[Talyn]

i had a similar problem it turns out it wasnt the ram, in order to increase my FSB i had to increase the cpu volts more than i had to if i had just used the multiplier to overclock, for example:

xp 2600+ tighest ram timings (cas2,2,6,2,4,1) FSB of 272mhz(136x2) multiplier changed from 16x to 17x, resulted in speed of 2312mhz, voltage at 1.78

the same chip but the ram spped changed to 140x2, for a 280mhz fsb, would not run no matter what i tried, then i increased the volts to 1.8 and it was stable-
but at a much lower clock speed (2240mhz).

dontknow if any of this was of much help, but i thought i would try even tho i really bombed on morphine

[Talyn]

btw,
the lower clock speed benchmarks faster as well, so im getting a new PSU because i beleive its holding me back (my +5v is only getting 4.86v, so i figure i need a new PSU, this 400 watt generic isnt cutting it)

[Veegee]

Got to 200 Mhz FSB, and even slightly beyond, last night. Had to set back my my multiplier to 8 and it crashed in 3DMark2001 (even at a core of 1.9v and DDR voltage of 2.8). But still, I believe this means that the CPU isn't holding me back. Assuming the "problem" is in my motherboard/Northbridge, is better cooling the only solution?? Thanks in advance for the advice!

[timmyqwest]

how could you not be happy with a 2.4xp?

[AcEmAsTr]

im now at 177FSB with my 2700, nothing changed to the RAM, as i dont know f*** all about chnaging the timings :p

[Veegee]

It's not that I'm not happy with 2.4Ghz, but that I see lots of posts of people running FSB's in excess of 200Mhz and I was curious why my CPU (which I originally thought was the problem) was holding me back. I just upgraded a lot of stuff on my computer and I'd like to make sure I'm getting the most for my money.

[AcEmAsTr]

lower the multi and u shall reach any FSB under the moon lol

well...almost any :p

yea, lower multi and raise FSB to get what you would like

[timmyqwest]

i dont think it's your CPU...buy better ram