unable to OC processor

Hi, I havent done a lot of overclocking but I do understand how it works and what to do for the most part. I am kind of stuck at the moment and was hoping you guys could give me some advice.

First off I have an older system that I am working with:
PC Chips M811 Mobo
AMD 1800+xp proc. w/thermaltake 80mm HSF
Nvidia Ti 4200 64mb 4x AGP video card w/zalman copper HSF (oced)
512mb DDR SDRAM - PMI - PQI chips on it - pc2700 (which brings me to my Q)

I cannot get my processor to OC beyond 134-135 without system crashes at startup. This is not a lot of OCing since 133 is defualt. I was thinking that maybe my RAM is my bottleneck but didnt want to buy new ram without checking first. I cannot change the voltage on the mobo, just the FSB and latency timings. Does this sound like a RAM issue? The proc. temp will sit at 41c in around 78-80F room so I dont think that is a problem. If my ram is the culpret what should I do to fix the situation? I just want to get my proc. up to ~1.8ghz or around that area if possible. What RAM should I get or do you think that is the problem?

Thanks

Which 1800+ is this, Palomino?

You may not be able to do any overclocking to speak of with that motherboard though.

Sometimes voltage can be changed with physical jumpers on the motherboard, does it say so in the manual?

You'll definitely need a voltage increase for an overclock you can 'feel.'

Finally, you'll need a decent power supply for overclocking. Power supply brand is more improtant than simply the number of watts...

well, i am pretty sure it is a palomino because i bought it when they were fairly new on the market way long ago. I can overclock with the motherboard, well you can raise the FSB anyway, and I have a good PSU, Antec i believe that is 450 watts. I will have to refer to the manual about the jumpers, but I dont think it has that option.

i dont see anything in the manual that allows me to change voltage. It stated that any jumpers that are not mentioned are for testing purposes only, could one of these be what I am looking for?

If the manual does not specifically say that you have voltage jumpers, I wouldn't play with that.

Even if they were voltage jumpers, you're suppoesed to increase voltage only in small increments.


Here's the thing, if it was a Thoroughbred 1800+, maybe you could do something but with a Palomino and your setup, you won't really get an overclock you can 'feel.'

A slight FSB increase but that's it, on that setup I'm afraid...

New CPU and new motherboard is what you would need for overclocking you could really 'feel.'

well, I am going to build a new pc at some point, I am already buying parts but I want to continue tinkering with the one that I have. I am going to have to check on the cpu type, I was thinking that this evening I will load cpuid and see what info it gives me. Do you know a good link for unlocking the cpu, I didnt even know it was neccessary until today. Can you tell me more about it? I am searching a little to though.

thanks

Post in the AMD section about things you plan to buy.

You can Google unlocking Palominos or better yet do a search on this forum.

Does you motherboard have multiplier adjusting options even if you go through the hassle of unlocking your Palomino?


For future reference, CPUs that came after Palominos are EITHER locked or unlocked. If they're factory locked, they CANNOT be unlocked.

A big problem in your setup is the motherboard. PC Chips boards are not good for overclocking at all. They lack the ability to change imortant features such as voltage and multiplier adjustments. Are you rasing the FSB in windows or from the bios?

They also tend to use cheaper chipsets such as Via's KM chipsets which don't tend to OC well at all.

If your board doesn't have a AGP/PCI lock, I wouldn't move the FSB
If it's a palomino I believe they are all locked. There is a cpu mod to more the multiplier, but it's not easy. Palomino's run hot anyone, and usually only o/c 200-300mhz at the very most. If you don't have an AGP/PCI lock, your only hope is that it's an unlocked t-bred. Either way I don't think that setup is going to overclock well at all. Your ram will probably also hold you back. I'd say just get a new setup if your needing more.

Bios24 said:

If your board doesn't have a AGP/PCI lock, I wouldn't move the FSB

Click to expand...

That doesn't cause problems right away, people have been OC'ing to high FSB's long before locks. Going up to hte low 140's won't cause any problems, I ran a K7S5A at 150 for over a year with no issues.

I was raising the fsb through the bios but it wasnt working out. I am going to try cpuid and see if I can raise the multiplier and get more info on the proc. I am not looking to go big with the OC on the system, but I realize that the voltage is going to be a problem. If I can get it over 1.6ghz I will be happy with it until i finish my 64bit system sometime this winter.