Overclocking a Dell XPS-T800

[irousso]

Hi,
I own the above system - (Dell XPS-T800) and as far as I know it has an intel motherboard which cannot be overclocked. However - I was told that I can increase the FSB using the SoftFSB. The problem is that when you run this utility it asks for the type of motherboard - which I have no idead which one.
I would appreciate if someone knows which one this system has .
Thanks in advance,
Itya

[Endeavor]

i THINK the big name systems cannot be overclocked because of thier bios settings, maybe if u got a new bios chip it might work

[William]

check dell's support sight, it will be somewhere in there.

[irousso]

you are right Endeavor - this is why I want to change the FSB...
Itay

[*spazzed*]

Endeavor (Jun 22, 2001 04:48 p.m.):
i THINK the big name systems cannot be overclocked because of thier bios settings, maybe if u got a new bios chip it might work

I think it would be easier to just get a new mother board. I was afraid to swap my bios, is seemed to be epoxied or something, but then again it was made by a different maufactuerer

[Phil]

It is true that the big names like Dell Gatway take out the overclocking functions in the bios, but the boards still have them. what cpu is that that you have? is it an E (100mhz fsb) or EB (133mhz fsb) ?
I will send you softfsb if you want as you should be able to overclock with it. First check out what clock generatr you have, it is a small chip about the size of a memory chip (bit smaller actuall) and it has a silver chip (the quartz) next to it, it is usally either next to the agp slot, inbetween the ram and cpu, or in the top right hand corner of the board. read the serial number and write it down. I'll send you softfsb and tell you how to use it when you have done that if you want it.

[*spazzed*]

Phil (Jun 22, 2001 06:13 p.m.):
It is true that the big names like Dell Gatway take out the overclocking functions in the bios, but the boards still have them. what cpu is that that you have? is it an E (100mhz fsb) or EB (133mhz fsb) ?
I will send you softfsb if you want as you should be able to overclock with it. First check out what clock generatr you have, it is a small chip about the size of a memory chip (bit smaller actuall) and it has a silver chip (the quartz) next to it, it is usally either next to the agp slot, inbetween the ram and cpu, or in the top right hand corner of the board. read the serial number and write it down. I'll send you softfsb and tell you how to use it when you have done that if you want it.

If you can't find the right clock generator in SoftFSB, then try CPU FSB :)

[Phil]

I've never had any look with cpufsb it either just doesn't change my fsb or crashes. Softfsb is a lot more straight forward and even if it doesn't have your clock gen you can just use one similar as it searches the smbus for the correct registers it needs to modify and to list your fsb's. Selecting an great overclocking board with 1mhz incriments on a board with only a handfulf of fsb options will still only show a board with a handfull of fsb options. Before I realised it actually had my clock gen I just used to select a board with the bx chip like mine and it still worked right.

[*spazzed*]

meh.......he should just expiriment for best results ;D

[Phil]

it doesn't matter whether he uses softfsb or cpufsb as niether will be more stable (if it works in the first place) or give more options. I obviously am a bit biased towards SoftFSB as it actually works on my system and I prefer the interface

[irousso]

Phil thanks a lot!
I will check it out tonight and let you know.
As for E Vs. EB I will need to check it:
from dell support site it sais the following:
"Intel® Pentium® III microprocessor that runs at 100 MHz externally" - so I would assume it is E.
Again many thanks!
Itay

[Phil]

Yeah it's an E, I presume it's an 800 as well in which case you may be able to just insulate one of the pins (a13) and run at 133mhz if it can handle that speed

[irousso]

Ok - so I found two that can fit your description, I am sure you will know from the number:
1. Intel E2800487 85 5V 50170022A

2. W149H B707 1013KA

As for switching to 133 MHz this would be great - I guess I will need some more descriptive instructions - it you would be kind enough to help.

I do have softFSB 1.7 - so I think this is the latest version?

Again - many thanks!!!
Itay

[Phil]

Is it a slot 1 or socket 370 p3? (slot one is like a cartridge and s370 is just a chip with pins)
The thing I mentioned about getting a 133mhz fsb by covering a pin is differant on both.
For slot 1 you need to cover pin A14 (the side with the heatsink on, pin A1 is labelled and you count from there) you can use several ways of disconecting it, you can slice the track which I don't recomend as it may not run at 133mhz, or use something like nail polish or varnish to over it. I would test it with nail polish and if it does work then use something a bit more permanant like varnish or epoxy resin.
For the socket chip though it is a bit harder, it is pin AJ31 which when you look at the pin side is in the top right hand corner, 3rd row down, 4th from the end when you have the corner with pins missing in the top left. For this you would need to get something to cover the pin, I've heard of people using the ruber insulation from round wiring to do this by taking the wire out and slipping the rubber tubing over the pin but it is very fiddly.
Of course you would likely need more voltage as well if it didn't work but I'll wait until I know which type of p3 you have before I go into detail on that.

As for the clock gen thing I'm not sure if that is your clock gen or not, it won't be the intel as I don't beleive they make their own clock gens, and the one beginning with a w sounds like it may be it but I'll have to check out the specs of it

[irousso]

thanks a lot Phil!
I don't think I will mess with the pins - I don't feel confident enogh to do it - it sounds like I could damage my system pretty easily.. I don't feel confident enough - I think with the FSB I could get a nice and relatively safe overclocking.
How much high do you think I could go? I guess 10% would be nice - although I know people were able to push the 800 to 1G...

Will be waiting for you clock info - and again - many thanks!!!

BTW - my e-mail adress is irousso@mindspring.com
Itay

[Phil]

I would say that 950-1ghz is quite possible, with out being able to increase the voltage though 950mhz is a good target, your board should have options from around 110-120mhz fsb which will do nicely, the . W149H you listed is described as a 440BX AGPset Spread Spectrum Frequency Synthesizer, it's listed in softfsb as ic works w149x, don't know what options it has as it just detects my boards options so give it a whirl, just take it slowly

[irousso]

Thanks Phil!
I also run Sandra and here are the details:
The MB - SE440BX-3
CPU clock generator - PLL-IC-W0
Another question which is not related - I saw that my AGP runs at 2X... I have a GeForce3 which supposed to run at 4X - I did not find an option to change it in the CMOS - is there other wayt to modify this value?
Thanks,
Itay

[irousso]

Ok - so I tried it and I got what I always did.
Initially I thought it was because I chose the wrong MB or clock, but this time I entered the clock type you told me - and as always -as soon as I pressed get FSB the computer froze - ctrl-alt-del did not help - nothing - just turn off and back on.
Any idea?
Itay

[Phil]

The 440bx chipset that you have only supports agp 2x but don't worry the speed gains for agp 4x are negligable.
As for the crashing thing, before you press get fsb, press options and set type to special access then try it.

[irousso]

Phil - thanks a lot for the reply - and sorry for not responding sooner - but I was away.
Anyway - I tried your suggestion with setting the options (to special) and I am still getting this freezing.
Any idea?
Thanks,
Itay