2.4C unstable at 240FSB

Hello everyone. I have stepped over into the overclocking world with my first overclock attempt today.

Sys specs:
Abit IS7
2.4C
2x Corsair pc3200
radeon 9500 pro

Right now it's @ 2.76 (230FSB, default vcore, 2.8v on the mem, and 5:4). Ran prime95 for 12 hours with no errors. I would say it is very stable at this level.

When I tried to bump it up to 240FSB (2.89), Windows loaded with no problems. As a light stress test I tried to play Black hawk Down and it crashed. Sound playback was choppy, and the PC froze after a while. Could it be that this chip is maxed out? I wouldn't say so... I have also tried bumping up the CPU vcore to 1.6v, and relaxing mem timings, but the same thing occured.

Any help is appreciated..

Thanks all

do u lock the agp/pci frequency?

Try disabling the last two options under GAT options in the BIOS. They're at the very bottom of the page, I believe.

How are your temps?

Temps are decent. 41 idle/50 load. Of course I'm running an IS7, so those temps are off by 3 - 7 degrees. I'm going to disable those options and report back.

Sounds like PCI bus too far out of spec. There is a place in the BIOS CPU menu that allows you to "fix" the PCI/AGP. Doing that will set the PCI bus at default 33 MHz no matter what you set the FSB at.

I would think if PCI/AGP wasn't fixed, he wouldn't be even close to 240 fsb without destroying his OS.

It is fixed at 33, I remember seeing it in bios.

Also the chip is a costa rica, if that makes any difference when compared to others... I would say no..

I'm at school right now, will try to do more adjustments when I get home.

Thanks all

I just came back from school....

The AGP/PCI freq was not fixed as I originally thought. I changed it and I am now @ 250FSB. Its 42 degrees idle, and I have yet to stress test it. Thanks guys

yah wow, just shows you how awesome a pci/agp lock is

what's the best motherboard?

I am just wondering what would be the best motherboard for the 2.4C?