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Athlon XP 3000+ Barton

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TimBlake84

Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2004
Location
New Hampshire - GO SOX!
Hey, I have an AMD Athlon XP 3000+ Barton Core CPU (2.17Ghz), 512mb of pc2700 (DDR333) RAM, and the Chaintech Zenith 7njs mobo. I increased the FSB to 169 (supposed to be 166) and kept everything else default. I realize pc2700 is spec at only 166mhz but it seems fine at 169. CPU is running a little hot but that is expected. But here is my problem, the CPU is benchmarking at 2200mhz. I want to get it to at least 2500mhz but I know my RAM cannot handle any FSB above 169mhz unless I screw around with the voltage or timing ratio (which I don't know how to do). Can someone PLEASE help me out to figure these settings... I have screwed around with it for about five hours trying to get them right and nothing is working except for the setting I have. Do I need faster RAM to do any better or what? Help me out here.... oh, FYI the 7njs runs pheonix award BIOS and supports OC'ing... just in case that helps.
 
WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!

Because your cpu is locked (I'm assuming) you cannot adjust your cpu multiplier. So truely you do not know if you're running as fast as your cpu can go, or as fast as your ram can go.

You can try loosing your ram timings to allow more headroom on your ram, and raising your ram voltage (vdimm) to about 2.9 volts. If that doesn't stabalize your oc at 169+, your cpu is probably the issue. Try raising your cpu core voltage.

Also you should remember, stock cooling is not terribly efficient and you need to keep a look at your cpu temperatures. If you're running hotter then 50 degrees idle, and 55 degrees at full load then you're running too hot.

Try downloading memtest86. It will concentrate on testing your ram, to help you determine if it's your ram or your cpu that's maxing out at 169 fsb.

Also you may want to check your voltage rails. If you don't have a good quality power supply, it could give you unstable voltages and significantly limit your overclocking potential.

FYI - I haven't heard of many XP 3000's making it near 2500 mhz. I'm not saying it's impossible, just not likely at all. If you really want to get into overclocking, you'd be better off buying a new mobile processor - an XP 2500 Mobile or an XP 2600 Mobile.

Good luck - hope this helps.
 
I wouldn't consider my PC stock cooled... I have four case fans, two HDD fans, northbridge fan, CPU fan, and AGP cooler.... 9 fans in all... I think I get plenty of circulation. I am idling at about 49 degrees (C) so I don't think that is an issue yet. If it becomes one, I already have my sights on a liquid cooling system. I don't think my CPU is locked. When I enter my "advanced chipset features" in my BIOS, I can change my FSB and multiplier as well as RAM timing. I have options such as aggressive and turbo but those seem to make it crash (my display won't come on and my DigiDoc boots a #d1 which means RAM incompatability).... I tried running it at 217x10 with tighter timings (7,3,3) and upped the Vcore and Vdimm to 1.73 and 2.8 respectively (I can't quite remember this... I am at work right now...=) But the boosted voltages didn't seem to help at all.... Any more suggestions?
 
FYI... it's running 169x13 (13x is the default mutliplier) right now and is running fine (but yet again, only 2200Mhz clock speed)... posted 19,875 points on 3Dmark03.... not bad if I do say so myself.... but could be better.
 
I have the same proc. and my system run 198 x 13, 1.80 v i have pc3200 memory corsair xms, timings 2-3-3-6, my proc. is locked, but in the bios setup i can chage the multipler 12,11,10 but is lie, the multipler cannot change. If you see in windows CPUI the same value from the factory 13.
 
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