ABIT BH6 v1.02 (SS BIOS) & Celeron II 633 (SL4NY)

[woodchuck]

Hi, I just got the Celeron II 633 (SL4NY) CPU and an ABIT BH6 v1.02 motherboard that I just upgraded to the latest BIOS (SS).

First thing, I think the multipler is 'locked' at 9.5 because if I change the FSB to 100 and play around with the multiplier it still says 950Mhz when booting up. Is this true? And if so, is there a way to unlock the multiplier?

Secondly, and more importantly, I think I'm very close to overclocking it to 950Mhz. I set the FSB to 100 and multiplier to 9.5 and voltage to 1.75 nothing happens. Then I change the voltage to 1.8 and it boots but doesn't go further. Then to 1.85, it boots and goes a little further. Then to 1.9 and I see the Windows 2000 loading bar screen and it stops after that (I still don't get into windows yet). But then when I try to set to a higher voltage (ie. 1.95), the BIOS doesn't have this option!! Ahhhh! Is there a solution/workaround for this? I checked the CPU database and some people with the same motherboard and BIOS reported overclocking with 1.95 or higher voltage.... how did they do this?

Lastly, do the other CPU settings matter? For example, what should the ASB/FSB ratio be (either 1/1 or 2/3)? Are there any other settings in the BIOS that are crucial to overclocking? (shadow cache, etc, etc) Or should I just use the BIOS defaults for everything else and just play with 3 things: FSB, CPU voltage, and Multiplier (even though this seems to be locked at 9.5).

What about the system memory? I recently bought a PC-133 256MB SDRAM CAS-2 memory stick directly from www.crucial.com so I know it's good memory. But I'm using it together with my old memory at the same time which is a GoldStar (LG electronics?) 128MB most likely a CAS 3... is this a good idea, or should I take the GoldStar out?

Thanks in advance!
woodchuck

[Shadow ÒÓ]

whoa! Stop!

Set all of your settings back to factory. I realize you're eager to dive into overclocking, but to avoid potential disaster, I strongly recommend you go to the front page http://www.overclockers.com and read the beginners guides. Running your voltage up like that is a sure way to fry a chip if you are not properly prepared. Cooling is a major factor when raising voltage.

Yes the multiplyer on all P III's are locked. There is no way to unlock them. Adjusting the FSB is what will give you the higher mhz, but I really don't recommend you attempt anything untill you understand deviders and voltage and FSB.

Patience may save you a lot of money........stick around and read a bit. Ask any questions you like, but try to keep them to a question or 2 per post. It'll help to keep from confusing you with multiple answers.

Welcome to the forums!

[woodchuck]

Shadow ÒÓ (Jul 31, 2001 11:22 a.m.):
whoa! Stop!

Set all of your settings back to factory. I realize you're eager to dive into overclocking, but to avoid potential disaster, I strongly recommend you go to the front page http://www.overclockers.com and read the beginners guides. Running your voltage up like that is a sure way to fry a chip if you are not properly prepared. Cooling is a major factor when raising voltage.

Yes the multiplyer on all P III's are locked. There is no way to unlock them. Adjusting the FSB is what will give you the higher mhz, but I really don't recommend you attempt anything untill you understand deviders and voltage and FSB.

Patience may save you a lot of money........stick around and read a bit. Ask any questions you like, but try to keep them to a question or 2 per post. It'll help to keep from confusing you with multiple answers.

Welcome to the forums!


Don't worry, I'm running everything at factory settings right now.

I did as you said and read the 3 articles in the beginners guide section relating to overclocking, but I didn't find anything there that answered any of my questions to help me overclock...

What are deviders? and why do I need to know about this? I know that in general, a higher voltage is needed for overclocking because the CPU needs more energy to run faster. And I know that higher voltage equals higher temperatures so cooling the CPU becomes important. Other than that, what else do I need to know about voltages that will help me overclock? I know that my CPU's default voltage is 1.7. For FSB, I just know that it stands for Front Side Bus and that FSB times the Multiplier equals the CPU speed. I don't presume to know what it is and how it works technically. Since my multiplier is locked then all I do is tweak the FSB and the voltage to find a working combination.

Some people with my motherboard (ABIT BH6 v1.02) and BIOS in the CPU Database had to set a higher voltage than is permitted by the BIOS, I want to know how they achieved this. In my tests, each time I incremented the voltage (0.5 increments), the computer would boot further. And I verified this by decrementing the voltage to see if it would boot less and less, and it did. So I was able to get consistent results based on my voltage setting (while FSB was set to 100 with multiplier locked at 9.5). My tests 'ran out of voltage' increments at 1.90 with the latest greates BIOS (version SS). If you were in my position, wouldn't you want to increase to the next level and see? What else would you do, given the results of the tests that I did? What else can I do at this point, other than tweaking the voltage, that can get the CPU working at the overclocked speed?

woodchuck

[Sklathill]

Dividers...for the PCI bus, you get 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4 dividers. Since that Celery normally runs on the 66 FSB, you need a 1/2 divider to get it to 33 MHz. AGP bus uses a 1/1 or 2/3 divider, since spec for that is 66 Mhz. As you up the FSB, you need dividers that will put you as close as possible to spec speed.

83 MHz is a scary speed. The PCI bus is VERY out of spec at that speed, and quite a few people have reported hard drives (mostly older models) that have crashed and burned thanks to running so out of spec.

Take it slow, be careful. If you just bought it, I would run the chip at stock speed for at least a couple of days. It's like a new car...you don't want to bust out the high RPMs right away, not until the engine's been burned in.

[Shadow ÒÓ]

since it's a 66 mhz bus chip, you probably only have 3 settings. 66/72?/83. Since the PCI speed is supposed to run at 33 mhz, that's why you have the 1/2 devider. If you ran it up to 83 mhz with the 1/2 devider, your speed would be 41.5 which is a great deal out of spec. if you have 1/4 deviders, the speed would obviously be 1/4.

What I would try first is bumping the FSB up a notch. Only one notch. See if the system will boot. If it at least gets you a bios screen, but then freezes, bump the voltage up a notch at a time as you did before. Do you have a temp monitor on that mobo? If not, I'd wait till you can at least get a probe of some sort (suggest Radio Shack) to monitor temps. I also wouldn't attempt to OC w/o a good cooler. The OEM sink that comes with it is NOT adaquate for real OC'ing.

There are guys/gals here that are far more qualified to help, but I'll offer all the assistance I can till they show up.

MR B!!! Where are you! =)

He's the celery freak. =)

[woodchuck]

Sklathill (Jul 31, 2001 03:08 p.m.):
Dividers...for the PCI bus, you get 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4 dividers. Since that Celery normally runs on the 66 FSB, you need a 1/2 divider to get it to 33 MHz. AGP bus uses a 1/1 or 2/3 divider, since spec for that is 66 Mhz. As you up the FSB, you need dividers that will put you as close as possible to spec speed.

83 MHz is a scary speed. The PCI bus is VERY out of spec at that speed, and quite a few people have reported hard drives (mostly older models) that have crashed and burned thanks to running so out of spec.

Take it slow, be careful. If you just bought it, I would run the chip at stock speed for at least a couple of days. It's like a new car...you don't want to bust out the high RPMs right away, not until the engine's been burned in.

Thanks for the advice. I will run at stock speed for at least a week, I bought the cpu yesterday and it is retail not oem, so it has the retail heatsink and fan. What is that Glacier thing on your signature? Is that a cooler? Can you recommend a good heatsink/fan/cooler? I'm currently using a "Slotket" adapter to convert my Celeron 633 FC-PPGA into the Slot 1 on my BH6 motherboard.

Thanks,
woodchuck

[woodchuck]

Shadow ÒÓ (Jul 31, 2001 03:23 p.m.):
since it's a 66 mhz bus chip, you probably only have 3 settings. 66/72?/83. Since the PCI speed is supposed to run at 33 mhz, that's why you have the 1/2 devider. If you ran it up to 83 mhz with the 1/2 devider, your speed would be 41.5 which is a great deal out of spec. if you have 1/4 deviders, the speed would obviously be 1/4.

What I would try first is bumping the FSB up a notch. Only one notch. See if the system will boot. If it at least gets you a bios screen, but then freezes, bump the voltage up a notch at a time as you did before. Do you have a temp monitor on that mobo? If not, I'd wait till you can at least get a probe of some sort (suggest Radio Shack) to monitor temps. I also wouldn't attempt to OC w/o a good cooler. The OEM sink that comes with it is NOT adaquate for real OC'ing.

There are guys/gals here that are far more qualified to help, but I'll offer all the assistance I can till they show up.

MR B!!! Where are you! =)

He's the celery freak. =)

Thanks for the explation of dividers, I didn't know it regulated the PCI bus. I think my FSB options where 66/72/83/100/112/124/133... and I can't set the dividers, they are hard-coded with each FSB speed. I remember seeing 66(1/2), 72(1/2), 83(?), 100(1/3), etc..

That is perfect because I just want to choose 100(1/3), so that would make my PCI bus run at the 33 spec speed, and give me the overclocking speed of 950Mhz. I would be happy to get that speed and it seems to be the most popular/attainable speed from looking at the cpu database results.

Yes, I bought the retail boxed cpu, so I am using the heatsink and fan that came with it. I am also using a "Slotket" made by ASUS to convert the FC-PPGA into a Slot 1 interface for my motherboard. Can you recommend a good heatsink/fan/cooler and the website I can purchase it from?

Thanks in advance!
woodchuck

[Sklathill]

The Glaciator is one of the best heatsinks out there...a bit overkill for a Celeron, one might say, but more cooling is better than less, right? :) Since you're on a slocket, a less tall heatsink is what you need, which is why I switched from a Thermoengine (which blocks as many as two DIMM slots with decent fans) to this Glaciator (blocks no slots at all). Glaciator is one of the best (http://www.millennium-thermal.com/) (http://www.millennium-thermal.com/) as is the Thermalright SK-6 and the OCZ Gladiator, which can be had REALLY cheap under the Golden Gate name at SVC here (http://svcompucycle.com/). I would recommend the Golden Gate 30 as you're still only cooling a Celeron proc, but you can upgrade the fan once you upgrade your proc.

[woodchuck]

Sklathill (Jul 31, 2001 05:47 p.m.):
The Glaciator is one of the best heatsinks out there...a bit overkill for a Celeron, one might say, but more cooling is better than less, right? :) Since you're on a slocket, a less tall heatsink is what you need, which is why I switched from a Thermoengine (which blocks as many as two DIMM slots with decent fans) to this Glaciator (blocks no slots at all). Glaciator is one of the best (http://www.millennium-thermal.com/) (http://www.millennium-thermal.com/) as is the Thermalright SK-6 and the OCZ Gladiator, which can be had REALLY cheap under the Golden Gate name at SVC here (http://svcompucycle.com/). I would recommend the Golden Gate 30 as you're still only cooling a Celeron proc, but you can upgrade the fan once you upgrade your proc.

LoL! I had to get the Glaciator as soon as I saw it! Thanks for the suggestion! I already placed the order and will post an update when I get it.

Cheers,
woodchuck

[Sklathill]

woodchuck (Jul 31, 2001 08:22 p.m.):

LoL! I had to get the Glaciator as soon as I saw it! Thanks for the suggestion! I already placed the order and will post an update when I get it.

Cheers,
woodchuck

Good choice. Since you're on a slocket, you should know that there MIGHT be some problems putting it on the slocket since it is so wide. I had to bevel one of the edges a bit with a file because the edge of the heatsink was getting on the plastic cartridge. It was very easy to do, two minutes of filing since the copper is so soft. This may or may not be the case with your slocket.

[woodchuck]

A sincere thanks goes out to Sklathill and Shadow for this one. Your suggestions helped me and I am finally running at 950Mhz!! I am happy with this speed and I won't push it further. :)

I received the Millennium Glaciator today and a new stick of Crucial PC133 256MB CL2 SDRAM.

First thing I did was chuck the PC100 128MB Toshiba SDRAM. Then I put the new stick of Crucial in, making it a total of 512MB of Crucial PC133 CL2 SDRAM! :)

Then I carefully switched the retail (Intel supplied) heatsink/fan with the heavy 99.99% copper Millennium Glaciator! :) I didn't have any trouble fitting it on my BH6 mobo as there is still a gap of 1.5 inches till it reaches the first memory stick.

I confirmed everything was working properly first by booting up with an untweaked BIOS. 512MB detected and 633Mhz natural cpu speed detected.

Then came the BIOS tweaking. It took me 3 tries to get it working, and basically it was the cpu voltage that made the difference. All I did was change the FSB to 100Mhz (ratio 1/3 and AGP/CPU was 2/3). I started first with 1.75v, then 1.8v, and then finally it worked with 1.85v!! Yahooooo! :)

I guess my initial overclocking failure was due to my memory setup/combination. I was using a PC100 128MB CL3 (Toshiba) stick with a PC133 256MB CL2 (Crucial) stick. That's my gut feeling anyway. The Glaciator will help to keep my cpu running at a lower temperature than would otherwise be possible with the original Intel heatsink/fan combo. Don't get me wrong, I love the Glaciator and wouldn't think twice about getting another one for my other computer but (correct me if I'm wrong) I don't think it was the succeeding factor to my overclocking. In my case, cpu temperature could be a small factor, but I think the memory was the decisive factor.

Anyhow, I'm just posting my results. Hope it helps someone else.

This is my setup:
Celeron II 633 @ 950 1.85v
Abit BH6 v1.02 (SS BIOS)
Millennium Glaciator
512MB PC133 CL2 SDRAM (Crucial)
Matrox Millenium G400
4 x Quantum 7200rpm 30GB
SB Live!
Symbios Logic 8751 Ultra SCSI card
Plextor 4/12 SCSI burner
Plextor 12/32 SCSI CD-ROM
Pioneer 16x DVD-ROM
21" Sony G500 Monitor
Klipsch ProMedia 4.1 THX Speaker System
IN-WIN Q500 300W Full Tower Case
Windows 2000 Professional