About to add to VT7/p4 2.8 input?

hi, i have:

a 2.8 ghz p4 533 bus.
vt7 mb (is it important to update the bios? i didnt see any big new features since the main release)

zalman 9500 cu heat sink

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right now im OCing at 163 fsb 3442mhz clock. im running p95 now and so far no probs (40 min so far) at 159fsb i would get fatal errors on p95

Im about to buy some corsair TWINX1024-4400C25 / DDR-550 (XMS-4400C25) / 2.5-4-4-8 to replace the PNY 3200 crap i got from cusa one day when the had a really good deal on it. - is this my best decision $ wise? i'm willing to spend ~300$..i saw the ram for like 190.. any suggestions? from what i've read memory is big hold up some times.

a side question, im getting 37-41c idle and 53-56c peak with load on this nice zalman unit- any comments?

tia, i really appreciate all the info here and its helping me get back into this hobby again.

Welcome!

Your PC3200 is fine as long as you run ratio 1:1. Its stock speed is 200FSB, and your currently at 163FSB, that 4400 would be a waste of money.

Updating the BIOS is always a good idea, just for general bug fixes and, sometimes the odd tweak, worth doing when you have a free minute or two.

Those temps seem a little hight for that heatsink, I don't know it very well though. What thermal paste are you using? Artic Silver 5 (AS5) tends to be the best. What Vcore are you running that can always put the temps up a lot. How many fans do you have in the case? Good case airflow can always help temps, for now you can always take the side off the case.

thanks for the quick response..

crap, hit enter on accident..

as for fans i have alot of them....my box is only like 2-4 degrees warmer with sealed with the cover than with it off.

if its not the memory do you think the hold up is heat (54-56 MAX w/load) or the processor?

I would say PSU since i have a "tiger brand" 350w that came with my $50 case but any momemnt now i should be receiveing my coolmax 450w silent so i think that will cover the psu.

for psu load i have 2 x pci pny geforce5 2 vga port cards, 1 x catv tuner, 2 x 512mb pc3200, 2 x 7200rpm ide drives, 1 x 16x benq dvdrw, zalman 9500 hsink, 3 x 80mm fans, 1 x 120mm fan...oh zalman somenumber 6 ch. fan supply switch board.

thanks

im seeing the vcore drop by .02-.04 when i switch on these 2 big, high rpm fans..is that normal or do i need a bigger psu still?

tks

The new PSU may get you a higher overclock, the 350W seems to be maxing out a bit there. Heat is always a factor, if you could get 35c load for example then you may get a higher overclock. For a 2.8B, 3.4GHz is a very nice overclock, i'd be happy with that. See what the new PSU brings you. If 3.4 is your max then you can tweak the ram see how low you can get the timings.

Scott.

I've had that board before and it didn't have an AGP/PCI bus lock on it... Check your frequencies in the bios and expect problems if they're not 66/33 respectively.

those vcore drops are with the new psu, 450w cool max..right now im testing it at 3596mhz..171fsb..173 and 172 kept giving errors im p95..

alot of my softpc bios choices are greyed out..is there something i need to do to remove this limitation? i can change the agp and ram voltage, which should both be maxed out right?

tks

oh and with reguards to my temp and needing to get it around 35c - i know the zalman 9500 is one of the best hsinks..does anyone with a similar cpu have some results to compare (any hsink/heat setup).