1Gig AXIA Cooling, Voltage and Video

[Cool Breeze]

My first post here since this is my first AMD processor. I purchased it at a computer show along with a Soyo SY-K7VTA Pro 266 mobo to replace my PIII 600E. I've penciled my L2's and changed multiplier to 9x133 to get a stable 1200 at 1.75V... so far. Thing is, I've had it up to 1.3 between multiplier and fsb but am unsure where I should have the voltage at these settings. I guess, the same goes for the 1200. Is 1.75V enough?

Secondly, I am having intermitant video lockups. The CPU temp does not go above 46 with the case open, so I am unsure if heat is the culprit. I suspect FSB because I do not seem to have any trouble when FSB is set to default 133. I could be waaaaaaaaay off though as this is my first Athalon overclock. Video card is 3Dfx VooDoo 5500.

Lastly, I am going to buy yet another heatsink/fan. I purchased this Volcano II this past weekend before I did my research and am not happy with it's cooling capabilities with my case closed. I'm down to two as my final choice for air cooling. The OCZ Copper Gladiator or the Swiftech MC-462A . These seem to be the leaders in performance and are almost equal in their reviews. Question is, what one is going to make less racket? I will be closing my case, but really don't want to have to put it under the desk to hear myself think.

I know I've carried on a bit, but I've got to start somewhere with this Thunderbird and you guys seem to know your buisiness. I would especially like to hear from Hoot.

Thanks much - Cool Breeze

[GOD]

I think the lockup with your voodoo is that they don`t like over spec agp bus compared to the GF2`s.
try lowering your agp4x to 2x.
wont make much diff if u have sideband and fastwrite enabled.
if u don`t know if these r enabled then use sandra to find out if they r.
and if u want to enable them then try this prog.
http://www.nvmax.com/
very good if u know what u r doing...

GOD....

[Wega!]

First, the voltage question: If ur computer is stable, u don't have to increase ur Vcore. Let's pretend ur computer wasn't stable at 1,3 gig, then u could increase ur Vcore, and the comp, would probably be stable, so a higher Vcore can cure stability problems. But increasing the Vcore does create more heat, so keep an eye on ur temps. BTW what are ur temps?

I'm not sure about the vidcard, cuz I don't have it myself, but I have a suggestion anyway. Have u tried to update ur vidcard and motherboard drivers?

Do u have some kind of case cooling? Good case cooling can do a lot with ur temps. So before u go out and get yourself a new cooler, I think u should look at some case cooling. But if u are gonna get a new cooler, I think u should get the Swiftech MC-462A, this one should be the best.

[inertia]

AFTER you've run your rig at spec long enough to verify that the thing is working properly, THEN you fiddle with it.

If you're planning to OC the bus, do that FIRST because you get more from that than just changing the CPU multiplier. Change it in small steps with a reasonable burn-in in between to make sure the thing is still stable. When it's no longer stable, back off one step if they're big steps or maybe two if you want to be conservative or they are small steps and your bus will be rock stable. SECOND set your CPU voltage up a bit (2.1 V max for TBird, but 1.85 or 1.9 suggested) and adjust the multiplier up by small steps until you've reached where you want to go or have reached the limit of the chip. THIRD, once you've reached where you want to go, begin lowering the CPU voltage again to get it as low as possible and still be stable. FOURTH, if you're having heat problems you just can't seem to solve, you're gonna' have to slow it down :(

Test between every step.

TBird puts out 63-70W at 1.75v and 1.33 GHz. Increasing the voltage or speed makes it even more hot than the already phenomenal hotness of it.

[Cool Breeze]

Couldn't keep her stable. Erased my penciled L2's and went back to default +4MHz on the FSB. I'm not sure what the problem is, but I need to figure out what's up with the video card first. VooDoo 5500 64Meg AGP showing up in Sandra with 30Megs total, 27Megs for texture. Man.. I hope this is a misread by Sandra. I'm going to try and find another hardware utility to identify the mem on the card. If it's blown, I'm putting in an ATI Rage Fury 32Meger and slowly cranking things back up again.

Thanks for the posts guys.

Cool Breeze

[Wega!]

What was/is ur temps?

[Cool Breeze]

Walter:-( (May 25, 2001 10:01 a.m.):
What was/is ur temps?

Temps at 1266MHz 9.5x133 1.8v

Idle~44c / load~52c

I think my video card may have been the problem... not sure yet as I can't find a utility that will tell me how much memory is on the card. Supposed to be a 64Meg dual chip card, but Sandra calls it half that now. Looking for a second opinion. Perhaps one of the chips on the card is bad. Whatever the case, I'll still need a better processor cooler and exhaust fan.