help with 2800+ oc

hi guys,
i've been visiting this forum for around 2-3 months. and it really helps me in lots of things. so thx to you all

k, i have a 2800+ with this steppings: AQXCA 0308MPM. its an unlocked oneand from the amd faq thread i see that it has a score of 6 for overclocking.
here's my system specs:
a7n8x deluxe rev 2.0 (i was going to get abit nf7s but somehow it wont work (do not POST) on my comp, the store also give up so i get a7n8x deluxe instead)
2x512mb mushkin lvl2 black pc 3500 (winbond bh-5). got it from ebay for $270 .
hercules 9800 pro with stock cooling (goin water as soon as i solve my fsb prob)
antec truepower 550 (it might be overkill, but i cant get the 480/430 version here, so had to shell out 25 euro more)

cooling: watercooling with d-tek whitewater, eheim 1250, heatercore from old mazda.
and i use 3 120mm fans (enermax on 63 cfm). 2 on the radiator for push and pull, and 1 on top blowing hot air out. and 1 tt sf2 on window cooling my 9800pro (for now)
temp: idle @Default diode:27-29, socket:28-30, case: 22-24
load : diode:29-31, socket: 30-33, case: 24-26

and i use uberbios 1007 from nforcershq.

so my prob is i cant seem to get past 207 fsb with my 2800+ (i use 7.5 and 6.5 multiplier for testing). i can get to 200 fsb with only 1.700 vcore, dimm and chipset @Default. but on 207 i had to use 1.750 vcore and i set my vdimm @ 2.9 (the highest possible on bios, i believe i can run it on 2.6-2.7 stable) and default chipset volt. oh my ram timing is 6-2-2-2

then i can boot up up to 209 fsb and run 3dmark2001 ok, but as soon as i start prime95 it fails within 15 mins. i tried to max the vcore, vdimm, chipset on the bios, but it changes nothing. still cant run prime95 stable. vcore: 1.850, vdimm: 2.9, chipset: 1.9.
so i thought i tried to change the ram timing up to 11-2-2-2, but not working, even tried 11-3-3-2.5/3 . still doesnt work.

so i tried to up the multiplier to see how far it can go. i can run it @205x12=2460mhz prime stable, and i play lots of games with it with no probs. well, i havent tried 12.5 cause i actually aim for this speed but with higher fsb, lower multi.

so what do you guys think holding back my overclocked??. the only thing i can come up with is my cpu, since it has a score of 6 on the amd faq. any advice, suggestions will be welcome. thx in advance. i'm burning in my cpu atm @Default speed with 1.850 vcore with prime95 (been on for around 24 hours)


oh, 1 more thing if my cpu really holds me back, i'm thinking about getting a new one (2500+) and give this one to my bro cause he never overclocks (nice christmas give huh). but now amd locked their proc, so i want to ask if the newer barton (locked ones) stepping is good for achieving higher fsb or not? and in a local store (tweaking store) they have 2800+ with AQXEA 0325RPIW steppings guaranteed for 159 euro which is around 15% more expensive than the locked version(newer ones) and no warranty (oem version). but the stepping is a great one right??
so, should i buy those 2800+ AQXEA (unlocked) for 159 or get a new locked barton 2500+ for ~90 euro (box version).

ok thats all sorry for the long post guys, and thx in advance

Have you tried putting you ram in different slot combinations? On my setup if I put my sticks in 1 and 3 Dual Channel, I can't get stable above 205, but in 2 and 3 they are good up above 220.

Hoot

yea i tried that already.
i'm currently running it in slot 2+3 on dual channel. if i used 1+3 it fails running 3dmark2001 over 205 fsb. with 2+3 it runs 3dmark fine up to 209, just not prime95

o and i also runs sisoft sandra 2004 memory benchmarking and the burn in wizard with no problems up to 209 and also memtest

if you change the multi on the cpu and the ram timings and all that , but you still cant get past a certain FSB, then the culprit is probably your motherboard, the NB chip probably could use some better cooling.

my 2 cents

rezon8

yea, thats what i thought, bad motherboard.
how do you solve the prob then?? just by better cooling for the northbridge? i'm currently using zalman nb 47 heatsink for northbridge, i might using water as soon as i got the money for it .

so if get a fan to blow to the northbridge, i will be able toraise the fsb again?? whats the safe voltage for the chipset? i can change it up to 1.9.
and can it possibly the cpu or not??

looks like i got lots of questions now.