xp2100 overclocking help

I'm trying to overclock my xp2100 and msi k7n2-l nforce 2 motherboard and i'm not having any success. This is the first time i've tried to overclock anything. Until now i had my fsb at 133 and my cpu ratio (same as multiplier i think) set at "by h/w". I assume this is the default setup for an xp2100 and "by h/w" is setting the multiplier to 13 so 133x13 = about 1733. Is this correct?

First I tried to set the fsb to 166. After I saved changes to the bios the monitor went blank and nothing happened. I tried restarting and turning the computer off and on but there was still no signal to the monitor. I cleared the cmos with a jumper and still nothing. Finally i turned off the switch on the power supply and let the computer sit for a while. When I tried again the system posted and i went to the bios. It said my cpu speed was 2166mhz so i guess the "by h/w" setting kept the multiplier at 13 when i uped the fsb.

I set the fsb back to 133 and started playing with the cpu ratio (multiplier). The multiplier can go anywhere from 7.0 to 13.0, but if i set it to anything but "by h/w" the system won't boot. After i save changes to the bios there is no signal to the monitor. Even if i hit reset, the monitor stays blank, though i see my hard drive led lighting up as well as the cd drive and floppy, almost as if my system is booting but not showing anything on the monitor. Ussually i can make the system boot by turning the power supply off and on, though once i had to reset the cmos again.

Why is this happening? If i set the multiplier to 13.0 with fsb at 133, isn't that the same as setting the multipler to "by h/w"? And isn't setting the multiplier to 7.0 a massive underclock? Why won't the system boot? Right now i've set the fsb and multiplier back to default settings and the system is running fine.

I don't know my processor stepping, any way i can find out?

Here are my system specs:

Athlon xp2100
msi k7n2-l
2x256mb 333mhz pc2700 azen ram
13gb maxtor hd
60gb maxtor hd
350 watt antec smartpower psu
ati radeon 9500 pro
sb live value
us robotics 56k modem
hitachi cml174 lcd 17 inch monitor

Two more quick questions:

I've read that system performance is best if the fsb and memory speed are syncronous. Since my memory speed is 333mhz and my fsb is 133x2=266, my memory and fsb are currently NOT syncronous, right? Would it make sense to try to underclock my memory to 266mhz? Otherwise, would i get big performance gains if i somehow got my fsb working at 166mhz to match my memory speeds?

If i set my fsb at 100mhz and leave the multiplier at "by h/w", the bios still says the cpu is running at 1733mhz. How is this possible if the multiplier can't go higher that 13? 13x100 = 1300.

Drop your multiplier as low as it can go (7.0x), and leave your core voltage at stock.

Now find the highest possible FSB by starting at 133 and going up by ~5 and then test stability with Prime95.

Then, once you've found your highest FSB, increase the multiplier by .5 and core voltage until you reach your maximum overclock.

I believe your system is going black b/c the core isn't recieving enough voltage. Up the Vcore until Windows boots. Test with Prime95 for stability, and always keep and eye on your temps. Most people don't like to see their temps go over 55c full load.

If i set my fsb at 100mhz and leave the multiplier at "by h/w", the bios still says the cpu is running at 1733mhz. How is this possible if the multiplier can't go higher that 13? 13x100 = 1300.

Click to expand...

I guess if you set one of them as defualt the other won't change. Looks like it's still running at 13x133 = ~1768

Not 100% sure but isnt it possible that because you have an XP2100 with a default of 13 (hence 8x bit set to high) you cannot get the multis 12.5 and lower (8x bit set to low) because your mobo cannot toggle the 8x bit?

Kdog154 said:

Drop your multiplier as low as it can go (7.0x), and leave your core voltage at stock.

Now find the highest possible FSB by starting at 133 and going up by ~5 and then test stability with Prime95.

Then, once you've found your highest FSB, increase the multiplier by .5 and core voltage until you reach your maximum overclock.

Click to expand...

I tried three multiplier settings with fsb 133: 13.0, 10.5, and 7.0. None of them worked, the system doesn't seem to like it when i manually set the multiplier (as opposed to setting it to "by h/w"). I haven't tried changing the vcore, but why would i need to if i'm underclocking my system?

You're going to have to use the upper range of multipliers(13x-22x), as your motherboard can only read 4 bits at a time. On the 13x multiplier, increase your core voltage to 1.85v, and change both your front side bus and memory bus to 166mhz, to keep them in sync. Do not use any "by h/w" settings. What kind of cooling do you have?

Ok, i got the newest bios for my mainboard and got another case fan. I set the fsb to 100 and multiplier to 7.0, and to my suprise, the system actually booted. It registered as an xp1800 (1.5ghz) and when i set the fsb to 133 (leaving the multiplier at 7.0) it booted and registered as a xp2400 (2.0 ghz). This must mean that the multiplier is actually more than twice what i'm setting it to. Maybe it's based on the double pumped fsb? (since 133fsb is really 266 on an amd system). It also means the "by h/w" setting is using multiplier settings that i can't set to manually.

This is a big problem since i can't set the multiplier lower than 7 in the bios. I tried setting the fsb to 166 with the multiplier at 7.0 but the system wouldn't post. I haven't tried upping the vcore or using fsb settings in between 133 and 166.

If i can't get the fsb working at 166, would it be worth underclocking my ram to get it syncronized? Btw i have cheap generic ram and i'm using the stock hsf.

Right now i'm happy that i've at least gotten it to 2.0ghz.