P4PE & BIOS UPD = chg in OC success!

I got my P4 2.4b (SL6EU, Malay, wk 32) stable @2916MHz using 1.7V (MBM5 showed 1.8!) using the original BIOS for my ASUS P4PE (1001).

Then yesterday I loaded the new BIOS release (1002) and could no longer claim stability* @2880, much less @2916 :O
(*my def. of stability is running 3DMark2001SE twice, Sandra CPU benchmark ~25x and a night's worth of UT2003 ).

I noted that there was no change in voltage (core0 & core1 reported the same figures ~ .1V over BIOS setting) and I'm wondering if there is any other reason why a BIOS change would affect your ability to OC!

I have no interest (read: guts) going past the 1.7V(1.8) mark - call me unadventurous, if you like (I call it budget-conscious).

I noticed several forum members sporting a P4PE - I'd love to hear from you & if you have tried the new BIOS, etc.

Thx & cu,

did you try going back to original bios to confirm the difference ?

I flashed the new BIOS yesterday and I'm running strong. 2.4b @ 3.006 with Corsair XMS PC3500 @ 446MHz and turbo enabled. I had a similar problem with my P4T533-C. If I flashed to any BIOS other than the one it shipped with I could not hit 150 with my memory x4.

Oh and by the way.
WELCOME TO THE FORUMS

THX

A big THX for both the info & the wholehearted welcome

I'ts clear I'm new to the forum as I just realised that my post is in the wrong section
When I saw the forum title Intel Motherboards, I thought it was odd that Overclockers
would dedicate an enitre section to just Intel OEM boards, lol!!!

Ok, my bust, moving on.

eva2000 - yes, a most methodical approach to verifying my empirical observations, however,
I'd hate to think that I will be forced to stick to the initial BIOS revision for the life of the board

Big Nuttz has with his reply, negated the need to fall back to rev 1001

To bring this post back in line with the theme of Intel CPUs, I have the sinking feeling that my 2.4b SL6EU
was basically made on a Monday. That is to say, it's just ain't none too happy @2916 -
at least, not without a lot of extra juice

I'm still surprised to see a CPU react in such a fashion - to run stable at speed x
and barely a few weeks later, show signs of performance degradation (is that even possible?)

My other rig sports a P3 866 (133FSB cC0 SL4MD) which has been running @1040 for over a year
without any signs of degradation (the Globalwin FOP-32i certainly helps it keep it's longevity!)

As for the 2.4b, I saw no need to replace the stock fan since even @2916, the diode temp
never goes above 49C @load (34C idle, 22C ambient).

Memory's not an issue as I've tested the system @150MHz, upping only the memory bus to 400MHz
(the P4PE's really nice to overclockers!) and it ran quite stable!

The only other possibility is a bad mobo, but hell, it's my fourth ASUS board, and I've had nothing but success with them.
Wouldn't even know where to begin to isolate the mobo (for testing). other than buying a second one!

Will keep you all posted on my research! Thx again for the friendly feedback

Cu,

Try to switch of the PSU and CLEAR C-Mos or REMOVE THE BATTERY.....Then power up and redo the changes you did in bios....I hope this will work.....Keep us posted....

Welcome to the forum...

This is my dream board ASUS P4PE. I think you have good platform for OC, and now it depends on the CPU's overclocking capability. I think you should re-flash the bios again, and clear the C-MOS after flashing it, just like hipro5 said.

2.9GHz is nice OC though.

back in business w 1003 beta

Thx to all for the suggestions!

I went ahead, not being one to look back, and flashed the 1003 beta.

I'm back to doing 2916 (162FSB) - albiet with 1.65V (1.74 overvolted a la ASUS),
52C@load (Sandra CPU benchx25).

Assuming I am reading my doodle sheet correctly, the first time around I logged success with
1.6V (1.7) & a max temp of 49C (no, ambient hasn't changed).
But I won't split hairs - it's still under my absolute limit of 1.7(1.8)V.

I'm not stating with my poorly co-ordinated experiment that rev 1002 was problematic,
but that reflashing is not a bad idea. Since I'm using ASUS' windows-based utility,
flashing's a breeze anyways. Their utility even includes a clear cmos switch.


Next step will be a better cooler - or at least a faster fan: the stock intel fan's got to be
the slowest cpu fan ever used since the P2 233MHz hit the market!!! This time,
I paid close attention to the RPMs - idle vs. load, and not a damned difference.
I thought this fan was supposed to be thermally regulated. What,
does it kick in before or after the CPU reaches it's max junction temp...


Now I feel better though - nothing worse than getting a lamer CPU!

Thx again & cu,

P.S. Rev 1003 added SDRAM Burst Length (4, 8, auto) - good for what, exactly...?