Squeezing out every degree!

[Arta]

I've recently installed watercooling on my machine. basic specs:

ehiem 1024 (133GPH)
DangerDen CPU block
Some weird radiator that seems to work well :)
AMD Palomino XP 1800+
Abit KD7-G RAID mobo
512Mb PC2700 SDR
Ti4200 128Mb Geforce4

On to the numbers. Right now, my CPU core temp is hovering around 41/42C, surface at 40/41, System (whatever that maybe, does anyone know?) at 50C. These all seem high to me. All are measured with an idle CPU. My waterblock was loose, tightening it has shaved off ~10C. I'm using thermal paste (nothing special, just what I had lying around) but not a huge amount - since I read that using a thin layer is more effective. My block is well lapped. It's not shiny anymore but it's good 'n smooth. I have a fairly standard setup of Pump -> Radiator -> CPU -> Reservoir -> Pump.

I'd really like to get this under 40C - preferably significantly under 40C - before I start seeing how much I can overclock it while maintaining sensible temperatures. Any suggestions?

Unrelated question: My board and memory's rated bus speed are both 333Mhz, but my processor is only 266Mhz. Is it possible/wise to overclock the FSB from 266 to 333Mhz? It would be nice to eliminate the bottleneck, and I can't really afford a new CPU.

[Tical]

The "system" temp you mean is probably your PWM temp, which is Pulse Width Modulatiuon. That is all fancy terminology for your MOSFET's, it's basically your voltage regulation hardware for the CPU or the mobo circuitry that tries to feed you CPU even power. Those bad boys do get pretty hot & some people put HS on them & the new ABIT-MAX III has a special cooling device for them. Next, I'd get some good HS compound, like AS3 or AS Ceramique, it CAN make a big diff. You should tighten your WB until the springs are totally compressed to get the right amount of pressure which should help your temps & I'd also try remounting the block to make sure it's on nice & flat. Tighten the WB in a X pattern until it's tight, this makes sure it gets nice even pressure pn the CPU, could be that right now part of the WB isn't touching the CPU. Lastly, as far as overclocking your FSB, why not try it, just use some caution & don't get in a hurry. Crap I typed a lot.

[fafnir]

drop ur multipliers and then run 166fsb... search in the amd section of these forums for "unlocking"....

and also get the lastest bios....

[Slaught]

Hey, no one said,

Welcome to the forums!

(and keep your hands off my water wetter :p)

[Fast420A]

He's got a pally chip so he'll have to unlock it to change the multis but even then not many pally's were good overclockers. I have 2 of them that are going to be going in to folding rigs once I get another PSU and mobo or 2.

The Tbred B chips are MUCH better overclockers and run much cooler. I got my 1700+ from Newegg for $42 and am hitting 2322MHz as compared to my 2100+ Pally that could only do 1900Mhz on a cold day and my Unlocked 1800 that could only do 1850 or so.

If I were you, that would be my next purchase when I had the money.

[Raider84]

As for the fsb, mine is also a 266 fsb chip, but im running at (200*10.5) which is a 400 fsb!!! What radiator are you using?! and what size is it?!?!


*edit* Raising the fsb has other benefits as well, my 2100 ddr ram is now equal to 2700 ddr ram!!

[camel]

Maybe this 'weird radiator' isnt working that well. Any more info on it?

[Arta]

Originally posted by Slaught
Hey, no one said,

Welcome to the forums!

(and keep your hands off my water wetter :p)

Thanks buddy ;)

I'm not home atm but I'll post a pic of the setup when I'm back. Perhaps slaught could give more details on the radiator, since it used to be his? i dunno if he knows more about ti than me or not :)

It seems like a decent one to me though.

Addition:

I tried overclocking it (the XP 1800+) the other day, not very successfully. Got the FSB up to 150, running at ~1700Mhz before windows protested and crashed. After that it bluescreened whenever i booted (grrr) so I reinstalled. I doubt i'll try again. I also have 1000Mhz TBird sitting around at home, anyone got any experience with those?

[Slaught]

Aha, I bought this radiator from a guy in the US a while back, and i finally found an article he wrote which has it in:

http://www.overclockers.com/tips1030/

Its the main one he uses in that system. Im pretty sure its copper, although the fins appear to be aluminium. Im sure it gave me better temps when i was using it on my 1600+ AGOIA, so maybe its an airflow issue, as its situated under a desk against the wall?

[Raider84]

you reinstalled windows because it was blue screening!?!?! WHY!?!?! If you just lowered the fsb or raised the voltage windows would no longer have been blue screening. Im almost positive that no damage can be done to the operating system by overclocking.

[Darryl_D]

did you bleed the system??? and for how long... I'm just a noob learning about watercooling but my guess is taht quite possibly you still have air somehwere in that setup.. maybe inside rad....

[Arta]

Originally posted by Raider84
you reinstalled windows because it was blue screening!?!?! WHY!?!?! If you just lowered the fsb or raised the voltage windows would no longer have been blue screening. Im almost positive that no damage can be done to the operating system by overclocking.

I did lower FSP and raise voltage. I returned my settings to their original values and reset my bios several times, to no avail.

I'm guessing it was just bad luck. The file was probably in use when the machine choked, and got corrupted. :(