Stability with different multipliers on L5 modded XP

I have a funny problem with my 1800 JIXHB after I cut the 5th L5 bridge to get higher multis. The main fault was my own when I cut the two bridges next to the 5th as my scalpel slipped
But I managed to get the chip going again by reconnecting all the bridges with silver paint (electrical paint not silver gloss so you dont try it at home ). But now it defaults to 16.5 rather than the 11.5 I should get if all the bridges were connected (except the 0.5 1st bridge which is cut by default on an 1800 xp). Soooo, I tried using 7x multi to get actual of 15x with the 8x being high, and it boots fine up to 120 ish FSB whereas 16.5x can do up to around 136 and is definitly stable at 133 which is enough for now. But I am confused as to why it would prefer such a stupidly high multi over 15x which is kinda what I wanted to start with. Could a bad quality connection on one of the bridges make it not do over a certain FSB on one multi? I was assuming that the actual voltage or whatever going across the bridges was very small, so just a basic connection should do. There is no visible damage to any of the core or pins at all.
Any ideas boffins ?

Hey, aren't the L5 bridges for SMP/Athlon MP, and not multipliers? afaik, the L5 bridges control the ID of the chip, ex, Athlon XP/MP/mobile.... I connected the last L5 on my two bartons to make them MP chips on my k7d, i believe you might need to be looking at the L1,L3 bridges,

or better yet, do the wire-mod trick here -
http://www.ocinside.de/index_e.html

this way you will not have to cut and scrape the CPU and risk permanant damage, i have fried 2 bartons by carelessness or accidents modding my chips. the wire mod is the way to go cuz it is reversable...

rezon8

Hi sorry I didnt reply sooner i had problems logging in due to email changes and settings etc. I think that maybe the L5 are different on the bartons and athlon XP chips. The thing is that whatever they are called it was definitly the multiplier selection bridges I cut on the chip because the multi has changed. I did actually try the wire mod before I cut them and it never worked for me. The thing I need to find out is why it can only take over 121 FSB on a HIGHER multi of 16.5 rather than a more sensible 15x which I can select but it wont post over 121 FSB.
Oh and i feel your pain as far as accidents modding chips, I ruined a good 1800 before this one cutting too many bridges by accident and now it has a 24x multi lol. SO it only boots at 90 fsb and high voltage which needs jumpers to set and basically noone makes jumpers for FSB and voltage any more that i can see. Its all in teh name of progression though eh

Why are you using high multipliers? You have awesome RAM that runs 166MHz, up your multi to x12.5, and run 1:1 ram ratio into the 170s

Coolest Im stuck on 16.5 because teh bridges are kind of messed. I cut 3, 4 and 5 instead of just 5. So it basically didnt boot at all till i fixed them with conductive paint and now for some reason its at 16.5 instead of 11.5 which I should get if tehy are all connected. If I could get 12.5 believe me I would use it :/

thinking about it logicaly,

what you want is a diagram of what bridges should be clossed and which ones not closed, then re cut the ones that should be open and repaint the ones that should be closed. if all you did is slipped with a scalple then that should be the only damage youve done - opened the wrong bridges..

but even if your locked at 16.5 you can still up the fsb till whatever, my mulit is locked but im still running a 2000xp @ 2700

Thats a good way to think about it for sure, the only problem is that i kinda tried it already. I have the bridges written down like which ine is which multi. So I tried using paint to connect the ones i wanted low and leaving the others high, but it didnt boot at all then. So the only way it will boot is using paint to connect all the bridges, and that gets me 16.5 which makes no sense, because all the bridges connected makes 12.5 when the .5 is cut at the factory like with an 1800+. I really just want to make 17x or lower stable so I can get a better FSB and speed up overall performance but at the moment like i said beofre, it just craps out at 123mhz if i use 17x, no matter what voltage I try. Then I have to reset the cmos which is annoying because i have to then reset the clock and all the boot options etc.
So basically Im asking if anyone has enough knowledge on multipliers as to why a higher one should be more stable than a lower one even at the same voltage and ram speed etc.