[stang8118]

I've been messing around trying to OC my prescot CPU. I can't seem to keep it stable over stock. I have plenty of cooling atm because i run about 36-38c idle, and about 55c under intensive load. I've tried getting it up to 3.4ghz and i get boot failures, but it still boots. I've tried bumping up the voltage, and it still won't get me to the windows screen. I can get about a max of 210 FSB, but nothing higher then that...

Is there any secrets on getting a Prescott around a 230-240FSB on air cooling??

[Osirus]

There a bunch of factors that will determine if you can overclock or not.
Your memory cant handle it.
Your board cant handle it.
Your cooling cant handle it.

you might want to check out the above mentioned.

I have a 3.0E and it overclocked to 3.75, on water. Memory is 250FSB

[stang8118]

Hmm i am thinking it's probably the memory then. Its only generic PC3200. What would be a good set of memory (preferably 512 x 2) ram + speed? I want to get around a 3.4ghz OC. I don't really wanna spend over $200 usd though.

[Osirus]

well I spend 300+ on Giel Golden Dragon Ultra 2 x 512mb PC3200 Dual Channel Kit.

This memory can hit 250fsb at 5:4. and Im at 3.75gHz

[madman22]

you only have a 380wat powersupply? you'd better buy a more powerful one if you want to OC much higher.

[Dcasole]

stang8118, there are a lot of reasons that you might be having problems . I am not sure of how experenced you are at overclocking so forgive me if I state some of the obvious reasons

I have my 2.8e running at 3.5 for everyday usage and can push it as high as 3.61 Stable ( but chose not to because of the heat issues)

1-Have you locked the PCI/AGP bus to 66/33 ?( or as close as your board will allow)
2- what are the specs(amps) on your powersupply rails? Prescotts will punish a powersupply when overclocking . My antec true power 430 just barely makes the cut and I plan on replacing it . My old 350 watt caused all kinds of problems
3-Have you tried runing your memory with at 5:4 Divider. 210 FSB with generic memory might be pushing it at 1:1 Try it at 5:4 and see if it boots
4- raise the memory voltage to 2.7 or 2.8 ( which ever is the lowest that it will run stable

Lets us know how it goes

Good Luck
Dave

[stang8118]

1) I have no clue on how to 'lock' it. I use an Abit mobo, so what would be the way to lock it??

2) my 3.3 is running at 3.30, 5.0 is running 4.97, +12.00 running 11.98, -12.00 running -6.60, -5.0 running 0.79. Is that good enough head room to OC??

3) I have tried to run the memory slower then teh FSB (to try to keep it at 200mhz), i can boot and all, but just not get into windows.

4) Haven't touched the memory voltage yet, because i wanted to get some info off you guys about oc'ing hehe.

[Osirus]

when you go into the BIOS of the board, and where you go to overclock it. It will say something to the effect of
AGP/PCI
66/33
or User defined.

you need to have that set at locked. or Fixed.

Memory wise, have you tried 5:4 divider?

[stang8118]

Originally Posted by Osirus

Memory wise, have you tried 5:4 divider?

Hmm is that where it gives me the option to run the dram/agp at 6:1,5:1,4:1 etc etc??

I don't see anything in my Bios to give me anything with a 5:4 ratio. Please forgive me i am kinda noobie when it comes to OC'ing lol. Off the top of my head here is what my Bios options are...

First it askes "run at cpu speed" or user define..

FSB
Multiplier (which i can't change obviously)
Dram/agp ratio - 6:1, 5:1, 4:1, 3:1, By cpu
CPU/memory/agp/pci ratio - something to the effect, 6:2:1, 5:2:1, 4:2:1, 3:2:1 settings

Then under that is....

CPU voltage - +.5, +1.0, +1.5 volts
DRAM Voltage - About 6 differant voltages to choose from
AGP voltage - about 5 to choose from, i have it set at .05 higher then stock for more stable OC on my vga card.


That's all the options i get under my Abit BIOS under the FSB menu. Is the memory divider in another part of the bios? or would it be under this menu?

[Zebbo]

VAGP doesn't affect when you're overclocking your graphic card, it raises Northbridge's volts too so that's why it's used by overclockers usually. I guess your problem is AGP/PCI frequencies, since you haven't locked them.

Originally Posted by stang8118

CPU/memory/agp/pci ratio - something to the effect, 6:2:1, 5:2:1, 4:2:1, 3:2:1 settings

Set this setting to Fixed and it'll lock your AGP/PCI Freq's to 66/33.

[stang8118]

ah cool thx alot for the info! You have given me something to do tonight hehe =)

[Dcasole]

Dram/agp ratio - 6:1, 5:1, 4:1, 3:1, By cpu
CPU/memory/agp/pci ratio - something to the effect, 6:2:1, 5:2:1, 4:2:1, 3:2:1 settings

Yes this is what you have to change but I do not have that board so I do not know what to tell you to set it at

Maybe someone who has this board can help????

CPU voltage - +.5, +1.0, +1.5 volts

Be very careful if you change this setting as the prescott uses what is called "Dynamic VID" which could cause you to end up with a fried chip( just my opinion)
Do a search on this to learn more about Dynamic VID

Hardcop has a great article about it but is seems that the server is down right now, maybe try this link later and see if it works
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NTg5


Some people have had great success raiseing the Vcore but I have been able to get 3.6 out of my 2.8 using just the stock vcore

DRAM Voltage - About 6 differant voltages to choose from

this is where you would change the memory voltage . you should see 2.7 and 2.8 as options . generic memory should be able to handle this ( do it at your oun risk but it was the only way I could get my Kinston ValueRam Dual Channel kit to run stable)

Good Luck
Dave

[Dcasole]

you only have a 380wat powersupply? you'd better buy a more powerful one if you want to OC much higher

I forgot this one .

My antec 350 watt would not let me go above 3.2 without causing "Bluescreens" or "windows lockups"

A Prescott is one power hungry hog!!
My second power supply ( antec true power 430) is just barely enought and I am looking to replace it

you need at least greater than 20 amps on the 12 volt rails if you are going to seriously overclock a prescott

Dave

[stang8118]

Yeah i picked up this PSU for $7.50+5.99 shipping on Ebay lol. Was better then my 300w POS PSU i was using before.

I plan on upgrading to a 500+w Sparkle PSU by the end of summer. I got my CPU up to 3.3ghz under stock voltage. It's 100% stable. I am gonna see how 3dmark03 will increase. I got Aquamark 3 with an increase of about 1k points.

[jenko]

Try setting the memory to ddr266 and then raise your cpus fsb and test it then to see if it is your memory.
Setting my ddr400 to ddr333 i could easily get my 3.0e to 3.7ghz with a 246Fsb so the memory set at ddr333 runs at 166fsb plus the extra 46 i raised the fsb is 212 so its ddr424 effective i didnt test stability for long though.

[situman]

Originally Posted by stang8118

Hmm i am thinking it's probably the memory then. Its only generic PC3200. What would be a good set of memory (preferably 512 x 2) ram + speed? I want to get around a 3.4ghz OC. I don't really wanna spend over $200 usd though.

is that a ABIT with a VIA chipset mobo? If so, that could be ur problem.

[stang8118]

Originally Posted by situman

is that a ABIT with a VIA chipset mobo? If so, that could be ur problem.

Yeah it is.

[Dakker]

honestly to me it sounds like your memory. Just for kicks I stuck a 512 stick of my friends generic pc3200 in my computer and I could only get to about 2.6Ghz. I put my ram back in, and it goes right back to 3.06 fine.

As a general rule to keep in mind, if you plan on overclocking any good bit, memory is something that you want to put more funds into than anything else. If you don't want to spend over $200 you aren't going to be able to get a gig of good OCable ram. You could however get 2x256. I believe newegg has a nice set of OCZ 2x256 for around 185 or so.

Forgot to mention, unless you play with your DRAM/CPU ratios, your seriously pushing ANY PC3200 because with a 3.0E (800FSB) you are starting that ram at it's max rated speed.

[situman]

that VIA chipset isnt doing you any favors. they arent known for overclocking very well, let alone handling a prescott. Sad to say, but your mobo is holding you back.

[stang8118]

I think i am gonna get a nice set of PC3700 OCZ ram. Might start off with 256x2 for now, then upgrade another 256x2 of the same pair.