1800+ Great Start then bleh

1800+ Great Start then hit wall fast

Ok, I'm beginning to get a bit frustrated. I just put my new 1800+ in today and decided to start the overclock. Tested with prime for a couple of hours at relaxed speeds. No problems. Tried a few overclocks with good results at first but I hit a wall right around 2Ghz. These are some overclocks I was able to achieve.

11.5x170, 1964Mhz, 1.5 vcore, mem sync, 44°C Prime stable
12.5x156, 1960Mhz, 1.5 vcore, mem sync, 44°C Prime stable

Absolutly anything I try above these settings, even slight fsb increases, is not stable. I've had the vcore to 1.75 still no joy. Exactly what happens is always the same. I can get into windows fine at some higher settings, but when I try to run Prime, the system restarts. I haven't recieved any errors with Prime, it will make like 3 calculations then bam, restart. I don't believe the temps are a problem because when I raise the vcore it increases the temp only slighly per vcore increase. Nothing over 52°C and only that high at 1.75 vcore. I also don't think the memory is the problem as I'm only trying to get to 12.5x175 and the memory passes memtest at that fsb. Besides I had the system stable at 170 fsb. It seems to me I should be able to run at least 12.5x170. I also think the cpu should be able to get more out of it as it will run 1964Mhz at stock voltage. My only guess is the power supply is giving me the problem. System specs are in sig. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I had an A core 1700+ before this and was able to run the system stable at 1.75 vcore. I'm not really sure how this translates into running a 1800+ B at these voltages.

P.S.S. I'm not looking to get a super overclock here as I know I will need faster memory first, but the mem did run stable at 170fsb so I assume it should be able to do the same at higher multi settings. I would like to stay sync until I can upgrade my memory.

i thinkt he problem lies with your psu it might just be giving out hehe

the higher you go with yoru oc the more juice you're gonna need to give to your computer.. and 300 watts is not a whole lot even if its a antec.. and that 300w is prob a smart power by my guess

Yeah, that was about my only guess. When I watch the 5volt with usdm (epox utility), while running prime it only drops to about 4.919. I don't believe I've seen it go below that, then again it may be dropping lower the moment it restarts. Does the amount of stuff running off the 12volt rail effect it. All I really have is a dvd drive, 2 hdds, and 6 fans. Perhaps the 5volt PSU mod discussed in cases and power supplies (the first sticky) would help me out? I'm not that thrilled about doing it, but I can't afford a new PSU at the moment. Also what rating PSU would you recommend? 400?

BTW, the Antec is model PP-303XP. I don't think thats a smart power.

One thing I noticed which seems strange to me when I try for more Mhz, my hdd makes different noises than it normally does. It does this immediatly after post, right when its going to start loading windows. It makes an audible click and then I can hear it spooling up. At first I thought I was crazy, but after checking a few times, it sounds completely different than at the speeds I'm stable at (the ones posted above). Much quieter at stable speeds with no click, no spooling sound. I have no idea why this would be happening, or if it is affecting the overclock. Perhaps its another sign of too weak a PSU?

You are hearing the clicking noises because:

A.) You stressed the PCI/IDE bus with the increase in FSB. Did you lock the PCI/AGP values?

B.) You're HD is gonna crap out sometime soon.. be ready for RMA. Let me guess.. a Maxtor?

If your hard drive makes different noises, it's probably just instability from overclocking (such as every time the computer resets, the hard drive shuts down and turns on again) or too much voltage (now that would be wierd,hehe). Ignore it, just increase the voltage to the CPU more until you get nothing. Just don't jump the voltage, go slowly up.

BEFORE ANY OF THIS, you definatelly need a new PSU. I have a Future Power 400W PSU and I never get low voltages, just above normal (not way above, so don't avoid this PSU). Had it since last year and still works great. I still find it for sale, so go look for it and happy OC

Yes it is a maxtor.. sorry, I just saw the sig. I dont want to draw any definate conclusions, but all my Maxtors, and everyone else I know who had a maxtor, has had their drives crap out due to O/Cing. I;ve since moved to WD, and have no problems since.

Actually I'm using an nForce2 board so I assume the IDE bus is locked right along with the PCI, is this incorrect. Also the drive making the noise is the IBM, the Maxtor is for backup/data storage. And like I said in my first post I've had the voltage the whole way to 1.75 and still no luck getting even a slightly better overclock (i.e. 1 or 2 fsb more) than the ones I got with stock voltage. Which seemed to be the start of a decent overclock.

the ibm is prob dying.. they're notorious for that.. as for the locking you have to set agp to 66 mhz for it to be locked...

I don't know what to say about the hard drive clicking, but the epox mobo keeps the pci/agp bus stable even at massive overclocks (like mine).
I run a seagate barracuda 17 gig split in two (two seperate sectors), and even when i push the FSB, the hard drive always stays the same, no matter what. (proved it to myself using sisoft sandra's file system benchmark)
The only thing i could suggest is to bring the multi's down to ten, then run the FSB up to where its a negligible OC, and set the memeory bus speed at a workable setting.
Example:
FSB speed = 200
Multiplier = 10.0
Real CPU speed = 2,000 Mhz
Memory speed = 80% of 200
Real memory speed = 166Mhz
Working around these settings should get you a real workable overclock, but again, the power supply is what will keep you down. My PSU is an antec true power 430, and it never gives me any trouble. even a smart power 400 is a good buy for $99.00 from best buy.
Again, happy OCing......

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I've pretty much concluded that the PSU is my limiting factor here. I decided to unplug some things (dvd drive and 2nd hdd) to see what would happen. I managed to get the computer to not shut down automatically at 12x170 while running Prime. Also the boot hdd didn't make any weird noises when starting up like before. So this leads me to believe that its not the hdd, or really anything else at the moment. My weakest link here has to be the PSU. Now if only I could afford a new one. Looks like I'll be running at 1964Mhz for a while longer at least. Maybe save up for a PSU and a nice stick of memory and really see what I can get outta this 1800+.

hehe good to know that you figured out your problem