IM AT 750MHZ... WHAT TO DO WITH VOLTAGE?

[GERRY136]

ok guys 750 works fine so i tried 800 and got to windows screen then the black screen. i upped the voltage 1 notch to 1.85 from stock 1.75 onthe GFD but got same thing. got scared about settin voltage any higher til i spoke to u guys.

amd athlon slot-a 600@750 1.75volts
2 80mm fans
coolerguys.com modified hsf with dual fans
arctic silver 2
46gb 7200rpm ibm deskstar hdd
open case
load temp 42.4C (1 hour of unreal tournament)
8mb agp voodoo 3, 1000

so how do i get that 800 gentleman?
thanx!

[Slake]

Congrats Gerry136! Why not just enjoy the 750Mhz for a day or two? Play some games and fold some proteins while monitoring temps. Sit back and beam with pride .... Then see how high you can push that baby!! WTG :-)

[GERRY136]

thanx bro but now im really hooked!!

[Dr_Kildare]

Mmmmmmm you're L2 cache may be holding you back... Try setting it to 2/5 or 1/3 & see how high you can go....

What motherboard you running?

Also if you want to have a look check the code on-top of your CPU... This will give you a rough idea of it's overclocking capabilites as well as it's die process (.25 or .18)

[GERRY136]

how do change the L2 cache?
my mobo is the stock gateway (jabil kadoka)
my chip has a 650 core.

[Aman99]

Well there is a program called Mathlon that should let u do it with any motherboard. You can pick this program up at http://www.tweakfiles.com/memory/mathlon.html
I'm not exactly sure how to use it, but all the info you need should be available here http://plusabit.tvnet.hu/html/_rovatok/english/mathlon/index_1024.php

Hope this will let u get another good 50-100 mhz out of that thing :)

Aaron

[GERRY136]

thanx bro! u da man

[Murphy]

Dr_Kildare (May 18, 2001 02:52 a.m.):
Mmmmmmm you're L2 cache may be holding you back... Try setting it to 2/5 or 1/3 & see how high you can go....

What motherboard you running?

Also if you want to have a look check the code on-top of your CPU... This will give you a rough idea of it's overclocking capabilites as well as it's die process (.25 or .18)

Yep, most certainly L2 cache...

[GERRY136]

ok i cant get the mathlon to work cause everytime i try to set the L2 cahe (options being... 1/2 1/3 2/5 )
i reboot and cpuid shows this pic. notice at bottom it says... L2cache NA
so now what do i do, im still at 1.75 v which is stock.
any help would be great!

[Dr_Kildare]

Mmmmmmmmmm weak... :o(

Not sure of any other L2 cache programs.. I have the option in my bios... Anyone else know?

D/l SiSoft Sandra or something & see excatly what m/b (model) & chipset you have... AMD 750 or KX133...

You can always resolder the PCB to alter the L2 cache... :p

[GERRY136]

ill dl sisoft and give u my board and chipset.
thanx for all thelp man!

[Aman99]

You may have done all this already, but here are all the steps u need to do with Mathlon: STEP 1 IS WHAT WILL DETERMINE IF IT WORKS OR NOT. Now since your thing says L2 NA, is what my belief is, is that you did step 2 correctly, but not step 1 :) so read over it carefully and hopefully this will get it workin for you!

1.4 - Usage.
------------

MAthlon should be loaded from your CONFIG.SYS. The most efficient
method is as follows:

1) Place a line in your CONFIG.SYS (make sure it is the FIRST line in
CONFIG.SYS) that installs MAthlon and sets the desired L2-cache
multiplier. Assuming you have put MATHLON.SYS in C:\MATHLON, and that you
want to use the 1/3 multiplier, this is:

DEVICE = C:\MATHLON\MATHLON.SYS -1/3

Now save your CONFIG.SYS and reboot (CONFIG.SYS can be found in the C:\
directory).

2) Get into the BIOS setup of your motherboard, and DISABLE L2-cache (often
called as External-cache). Don't worry, MAthlon will reenable the cache
as soon as it gets called from CONFIG.SYS.

Now, turn off your computer.

3) Next, use your GFD to set the CPU multiplier.

4) Turn on your computer.
Your system will not even boot if you skip Step 2), since the GFD cannot
control the L2-cache multiplier (and I assume you want to overclock
higher than what your cache can handle at the default multiplier) and
your computer cannot even get to MAthlon before it locks up.

5) Presto, everything should be rolling..


NOTE: unfortunately, some motherboards that I have tested do not disable the
L2-cache correctly, even if you disable it from the BIOS Setup. This is
a problem I cannot fix and it is the responsibility of the motherboard
manufacturer to create a stable and working BIOS anyhow.

This is particularly true for the ASUS K7M, which only turns off the L2
cache if you disable the L1 cache from BIOS Setup as well. Unfortunately,
MAthlon cannot reenable the L1 cache (I am working on it.. hard!).

Please note that even if you cannot disable the L2 cache from the BIOS
(as some mainboards don't even have the option to do so), MAthlon will
still function! So, disabling it gives excellent results, but leaving it
enabled still gives better results than ANY OTHER Athlon L2 adjusting
utility.

MAthlon will always be more efficient than other Windows based utilities
that control the L2-cache (WCPUA2, for example), as it sets the L2-cache
multiplier way before Windows loads.

[GERRY136]

ok man ill try it!
thanks bro ill ler u know how it goes

[GERRY136]

lol i cant find the config.sys anywhere!!!
when i tye it in from start, run, it says i must create an association with the file in "my computer".
im an idiot so please help again!!!!

[Murphy]

GERRY136 (May 19, 2001 11:54 a.m.):
lol i cant find the config.sys anywhere!!!
when i tye it in from start, run, it says i must create an association with the file in "my computer".
im an idiot so please help again!!!!

I think I see your problem: You are using the OLD version of mathlon!!! Only use version 3.00beta, with the startup disk. The older version did NEVER work for me too! So get 3.00beta at plusabit (http://www.nexus.hu/plusabit/english/index.html). In your bios you have to set L2 to disabled. The startupdisk will start it for u. I use all the maximized settings (asked during install of Mathlon floppy). Should be no probs. Succes!

[GERRY136]

thanx murphy ill try that!

[Murphy]

GERRY136 (May 19, 2001 11:54 a.m.):
lol i cant find the config.sys anywhere!!!
when i tye it in from start, run, it says i must create an association with the file in "my computer".
im an idiot so please help again!!!!

Let me tell you what happened to me when I tried to edit the config.sys. After some searching, found it. But every time I rebooted, the system restored the config.sys file to it's old form. Must be some new feature in WinME. So if you run ME, it won't work anyway on the oldfashioned way. Then I got the beta version, with bootfloppy's. Works like a charm!

[GERRY136]

im running 98se and i have the boot floppy version 3.00.
it gives me the option of doing it the old and the new way and ive tried both. if anyone would like to call me collect ill send u my # thru private message here. it would really help in that u could walk me thru it.
iknow its a lt to ask but i really would appreciate it!!!!
thanx

[Murphy]

GERRY136 (May 19, 2001 01:38 p.m.):
im running 98se and i have the boot floppy version 3.00.
it gives me the option of doing it the old and the new way and ive tried both. if anyone would like to call me collect ill send u my # thru private message here. it would really help in that u could walk me thru it.
iknow its a lt to ask but i really would appreciate it!!!!
thanx

Ok, here it is.
First when you run mathlon, take care of a clean empty floppy. Start mathlon, which will ask for the disk. Select your L2 speed. Then there come 2 more difficult questions. First one about the Method; as the new one is recommended, I would advice you to use this one, it's the one I use too. Second question is about some more optimalization of clock select, I don't know what it is, but it seems to be good... aaaalllright! So Just try the optimized method. When your disk fails when booting, you can always make a new one without the optimalization.

Then mathlon will start copying files to the disk, it's done. It tells you again to disable L2cache in the bios. It's located near the frequency setting, for me (asus K7V) it's under FSB and RAM speed, after the voltage and L1 settings. Now the floppy is done, restart the PC and go into the bios. Set L2cache to disabled (NOT the L2cache ECC (fault detection), but l2cache itself!). Reboot with the floppy inserted. Also have the diskdrive as first device in your bootsequence, but this is standard config, so it should be no problem. When your PC boots, it will search for the floppy, run it, and says "cache configured succesfully" or something like that, and continue to boot. Sometimes for me, it tells me to remove the floppy after that, because it's no system disk. Just a little glitch in the program, but not a big or fatal one. If you even hit OK with the disk inserted, it will run the l2config again and start in windows.

You can check your results with WCPUID.

hope this short how-to suffices. Succes! Let me know how things go
Murphy

[GERRY136]

unfortunately i dont have those options in my bios.
i only have ecc cache option. (sigh)

[Murphy]

GERRY136 (May 19, 2001 02:47 p.m.):
unfortunately i dont have those options in my bios.
i only have ecc cache option. (sigh)

please see my mail with possible solutions, including Mathlon V2.00 and www.h-oda.com 's L2 modifier.

[GERRY136]

i am just not mentally capable of finding thi config.sys thing lol ! can u gys give me idiot proof step b step instructions to find this so i can enter the command line to change my L2 cache multiplier?
please

[Aman99]

lol :)
Yeah I had trouble finding it my first time looking as well (it can be a real doozy!). Anyway, I'd be glad to help you get to it. Just follow these steps.

1. Go to the start menu, then go to "run"
2. type "sysedit" and hit enter (this is what i didn't know to type when I couldn't figure it out, and i'm sure it was your problem as well)
3. Click the Config.sys tab
4. Add the needed info
5. Click File, then save.

And you should be done. Need anymore help with it let me know!

Aaron

[GERRY136]

awsome, thanx bro! im gonna go try it now!!

[GERRY136]

son of a b**ch !!! lolol
well that didnt work unfortnately.
u guys have been great with all the help!
i think what i want to do now is the dangerous idea of soldering the L2 cache, maybe that will alow me to get 800. any pics or anything about the soldering process and where the hell the thing is i need to solder would be great! thanx

[Dr_Kildare]

Tom's Hardware had an article on it a while back...

http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/99q3/990826/

Good luck :o) You can buy some GFD's that allow L2 cache adjustments as well...

[GERRY136]

cool thanx.
i guess the gfd i bought doesnt allow it.
my stupid gateway mobo sux.
irongate northbridge
mobo is Jabil Kadoka
whatever the hell that means. lol

[Aman99]

Well I would be careful with the soldering, and make sure you afford to get a new CPU b4 you do it. Actually though, that might be your best bet to get higher overclocking speeds, would be moving to a Socket A motherboard and CPU. But good luck on the soldering :)

Aaron

[GERRY136]

thanx man!
i checked out toms hardware but couldnt fid anything to show me in paticular how tu disable the L2 cache which is supposed to be the way i can get 800 cause the mathlon didnt work.
also, soldering the L2 cache WILL definitely allow me to change the 1/3 1/2 2/5 settings right?

[-=UR=- Ranger]

MATHLON will also work from config.sys, you don´t need the bootdisk so.

You can try a little more voltage also. Remember, it´s not the voltage that kills your CPU, it´s the heat it creates.
So, if you have a good heatsink, a little more voltage won´t harm.
But always have an eye on your temps.
Good luck