8RDA+ Barton 2500 Dilemma PLEASE HELP

Ok, I'm new to this forum so please take it easy on me. I have a situation that I need some help on and I've talked to several people and gotten several different answers and even more confused so I am looking for some good advice.

Here is my situation: I have an Epox 8RDA+ M/B revision 1.1, 2 sticks of Crucial 2100 256MB RAM and I am currently running a 1700+ but am going to upgrade to a Barton 2500. I am going to need to stick with the 2100 memory for a while so I need to know how to set this up.

Ideally I should run PC2700 memory or better at 166 MHz but in this case that is not going to be possible. So what should I do? Do I run the FSB at 133Mhz (133 X 14) instead of 166 X 11 or do I run the FSB at 166 and the memory at .8 times the speed of the FSB? What is the best option? Thanks for your help!!

I vote to run the memory synchrynous. (but I'm just a noob, so my vote probably does not count)
Maybe you will end up trying both and benchmark and see which is better.

for stock, run 133 sync, but you can also see how high you can get the ram if you like to overclock

i'm currently in the same boat. I have the same board, same chip, and my memory situation is similar. I have a 256 and a 512 stick of PC2100 memory. I have my chip at 195x11, and my memory is running at 80%. I find that this works just fine. Given that my memory is Crucial, and not aggressive, I'm not going to try and push it to 100%. Alternatively, you can try to run them both at 133 and just up your multi, but IMO you would take a performance hit....

Your memory should be able to OC pretty well, and you MIGHT be able to get to 166. The only thing I dislike about NF2 boards is that the memory FSB is set by %....I would prefer to be able to set it manually, but eh. If all else fails, just select the "By SPD" setting and it will run at what it's supposed to run at, no questions asked, and the CPU FSB won't be a factor.

btw, the bartons run at 166 stock. some of the newer ones run at 200 stock, but that's for the 3200+ I think.

DaveSauce said:

i'm currently in the same boat. I have the same board, same chip, and my memory situation is similar. I have a 256 and a 512 stick of PC2100 memory. I have my chip at 195x11, and my memory is running at 80%. I find that this works just fine. Given that my memory is Crucial, and not aggressive, I'm not going to try and push it to 100%. Alternatively, you can try to run them both at 133 and just up your multi, but IMO you would take a performance hit....

Your memory should be able to OC pretty well, and you MIGHT be able to get to 166. The only thing I dislike about NF2 boards is that the memory FSB is set by %....I would prefer to be able to set it manually, but eh. If all else fails, just select the "By SPD" setting and it will run at what it's supposed to run at, no questions asked, and the CPU FSB won't be a factor.

btw, the bartons run at 166 stock. some of the newer ones run at 200 stock, but that's for the 3200+ I think.

Click to expand...

Hey that's great news!! Not only did you get the memory to work but you were able to O/C the CPU while using PC2100 memory?!!? What were your steps in setting this up? I'm eager to hear how you did it since our platforms are almost identical!

it's very easy, actually.....

in the bios setting for your speeds, first set everything on expert so you can manipulate it all. I dunno if your barton can go that high.....

anyhow, the great thing about NF2 boards is that the CPU bus, the memory bus, the PCI/AGP bus, and the IDE bus are alllllll controlled seperately. The best part is that you don't have to worry about hard drive corruption when you up the FSB. The AGP clock can be controlled independantly. The memory is somewhat dependant on the FSB, but you can still control the memory clock.

The first thing you want to do is find a stable FSB setting. Before NF2 boards, the best overclocking method was to get the FSB as high as possible (safely), and then adjust the multiplier to get the CPU higher. The reason was because a higher FSB would make not just the CPU, but everything in your system much faster. So you could have a CPU at 200x10 or at 100x20. The CPU would be the same speed, but the 200x10 would be a much faster overall system.

With NF2 boards, all the bus speeds are independantly controlled. You still want to raise the FSB as high as possible, becuase it still makes some other things aside from the CPU faster, but it's not vital to a successful overclock.

Anyhow, the first thing you want to do is set your memory to "By SPD" That will ensure that it isn't overclocked and causing instabilities. THe next thing you do is try to find a stable overclock for your CPU. Most bartons should get to about 2.1 ghz no problem. I'm running at 2155 at 1.8v, which is 195x11. I find that a lot of 8RDA+ boards become unstable above 200mhz FSB. The way to correct this is by putting a new heatsink with a fan on the northbridge (or just modding it by attaching a fan to it, which is possible). I haven't done that yet....whenever I get some ambition I will, heh.

And then once you find a stable CPU speed, start changing your memory speed. Your crucial memory, at sensible timings, should run at least 150mhz....but just start slow and increase it bit by bit...

I find that a lot of 8RDA+ boards become unstable above 200mhz FSB. The way to correct this is by putting a new heatsink with a fan on the northbridge (or just modding it by attaching a fan to it, which is possible).

Click to expand...

This simple mod can do wonders. When I first installed my 8rda+ limit was 195. Wanted 200 but did not want to do voltage mods or remove anything. Reading posts I think well maybe I can squeeze 5 more mhz with cooling so glued a small 40 mm fan to the NB. Afterwards it just kept going and going, 220 now and just purrs along.

To DAVESAUCE and everyone else who helped out I'd like to say thanks! I should be receiving the Barton 2500 in a few days and I'll be sure to keep you updated as to how it works out. You've all been a great help!

Thanks Again!