Overclocking Blues

[deviantshadow]

I am having a lot of trouble getting my CPU to overclock. Last night I ran a CPUID on it and found that is not the AYHJA Stepping. Too bad. I know this doesnt limit the overclockableness (you like that word dont ya?). However, I cannot get it past 1.2ghz without crashes/BSODs/boot failure. The chip is (stock) 1.1. Im running it on a KT7-RAID mobo with the latest bios. Ive got a decent HSF. Ive tried upping the voltage. Has anyone had any success with the 1.1ghz tbird and an abit kt7-raid? Let me know if youve got any suggestions. Id love to get some more FPS in all my games. =)

[Krusty]

What kind of cooling do you have in there? "Decent HSF" isn't a very good description. First, find out what kind of hsf you have on there. If it's the stock one, it's time to get a new one. You will also need good airflow in the case. I strapped a 120mm fan and duct on the side of my case and brought my temps down 10C. For further overclocking, take a look at water cooling and/or peltier cooling.

[deviantshadow]

Youre absolutely right. Decent cooling wasnt a very good description. Ive got a Chrome Orb by Thermaltake that is rated up to 1.3ghz. I have 2x12v fans mounted in the back of the case blowing toward the CPU and one 92mm (blowing air into the case mounted up front. My idle temp is 45c. After a couple hours of gaming it will go as high as 52-55c. I guess this means the cooling is pretty bad. Ive been considering getting a water cooling kit from dangerden.com, mounting two side fans and a blowhole up top. Ive got the alienware hydraulic case...

[Coolio]

i do believe that orbs have a bad rep.

[skip]

Make the fans on the back REMOVE air from the case. You have a bunch blowing in and none blowing out. You're just blowing the hot air around in there.

Your CPU is way to hot to overclock reliably. Ditch the ORB and get something else.

[deviantshadow]

Well, the two fans in the back are only two little YS-Tech fans. They move a lot of air, but only foward. Fans do not suck air as well as they blow. Humorous. Anyways, yea... they dont. They arent meant for that. Im thinking of getting one of those PCI card type exhausts with a couple fans mounted to it and water cooling is becoming a very realistic upgrade for me... seeing as it keeps getting cheaper. The fan in the front, I dont even think it moves air. Maybe I should invest in better case fans? Any suggestions? I want to move a lot of air -- Ive got a big case...

[Krusty]

I'd go for the new hsf first. My temps dropped about 10C when I upgraded from the stock hsf to a glaciator. They dropped ANOTHER 10C when I mounted a 120mm 108cfm fan and duct to the side of my case. Eventually, I'll get to replacing the crappy 80mm case fans with some better ones, but I'm happy for now.

[dugans]

Try turning the ys-techs around, they'll still blow, just out instead of in!

I tried a Mini Super Orb, and actually got decent results, but I've heard about the fans crapping out and burning cpus- this is a BAAD thing!

Another thing that can help is ducting cool air into the cpu fan-easiest is straight through the case side.

The highest load temp (100% cpu utilization) I like is around 44/45c.

Good luck!

[jbslow]

Originally posted by deviantshadow
Well, the two fans in the back are only two little YS-Tech fans. They move a lot of air, but only foward. Fans do not suck air as well as they blow. Humorous. Anyways, yea... they dont. They arent meant for that.

Take the fans off and turn them around and ta daa now they blow air out of your case :D. This is going to help out alot oh ya I would suggest an SK6 with atleast a delta denki 38 or maybe the 68 well you could also buy a 60 to 80 mm fan adaptor and through a 45 cfm 80mm fan on there or more if you can get one. A duct with the sk6 will work better though but you'll need to do some modding.

Good Luck

[deviantshadow]

Well, even though I was skeptical, I turned the two YS-Techs around. The temperature in my case, from what I can tell, is exactly the same. It still goes above 50c after playing CS or UT for awhile...

[Angry]

I orbs have a very bad rep for cooling..to much aluminum...and they have a rep for crushing the cores of defenseless Athlons...
I would just get a different hs/f like that has been suggested...
Have you tried haveing your case open? Some say this works good others who have ALOT of fans keep thier closed for a specific flow air "paths"...
Hot air always goes up cool to the bottom..when I had a case I found that it worked to have a fan in the top of the case and at the bottom of the case held up by screws like legs to blow cool air up to the cpu...the only problem is aiming it at the cpu without have a card get in the way. Also 1.1ghz athlons have never overclocked good from what I have seen..even with water cooling...

[Thelemac]

Definately get a new heatsink. You'll not be able to get much of anything with that ChOrb. What size are the fans that you have in the back?

*Moved to "Cooling"*

[cool_hand_joe13]

:D What kind of memory?Some times your ram will hold you back.What is you core,too little core no good.Also air flow, is your air flow balanced?

[deviantshadow]

Well, since everyone is saying I need to get a new HSF, I am going to. That or water cooling. Decisions, decisions. =) Money, money. Haha. Being sixteen and broke sucks.

Anyways, I noticed one thing about my case today that was proly screwing up the air flow. Two of the pci slots were open (with no cards in them) for some reason, so i filled them up. Case temps remain the same. All my fans are little cheapies, save for the YS-Tech in the back. "Cooler Master" or something from directron.com.

The airflow would be perfect if the fans moved more air. So, Im gonna save my nickels for higher performance fans and a top blowhole. -- Still considering water cooling

Thanks for all the suggestions. Keep em coming. =)

[Zazuk]

What kind of power supply do you have, might not have enough juice to it, just a thought.

[ve6jhc]

Any CPU temp over 50 C is just waiting to crash...Forget OC until you get your load CPU temps under 45C if you want your system to be 100% reliable.