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P4 2.8c overclocking

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sylv456

New Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2005
Hi,

My PC starts to get quite old and I wanted to boost it a bit before changing in some months, when PCI-e and other new suff are affordable.

So, my current configuration is:
- P4C800D-E
- P4 2.8c with Alpha PAL8942M82 cooler
- Corsair Twinx XMS PC 4400 C2.5
- Antec 380Wt TruePower
- WD 360Gb for the OS

Now my problem: I'm stuck at FSB 230Mhz. Above, system in unstable. I've tried to raise voltage (1.55, 1.60, 1.65), no change.
It's quite frustrating because the memory is 45Mhz below its specs, CPU is running a 33° in idle, and I see a lot of people going much higher.

Any idea/help?

Cheers

Sylvestre
 
Check your RAM timings. My guess is that they are set improperly and set to AUTO in the BIOS. You need to manually change them to:

Cas Latency = 2.5
TRP = 4
TRAS = 4
 
Sentential said:
Check your RAM timings. My guess is that they are set improperly and set to AUTO in the BIOS. You need to manually change them to:

Cas Latency = 2.5
TRP = 4
TRAS = 4

Currently I did set the timings to 2-3-3-8 as I read in a review that the PC4000C25 could handle it without problem up to FSB250.
Anyway, I'll follow your advice and set the real FSB275 timings and eventually lower them once the CPU limit is reached. I'll post the result of the test later on.

Thanks
 
what is the stepping on the chip? if u dont have it written down use cpu-z to at least get the stepping revision.
 
batboy said:
CAS 2 with PC4400 RAM? That might be tough. Yeah, try CAS 2.5 and maybe a bump in vdimm.

Yes, I've read it there: http://www.viperlair.com/reviews/memory/corsair/DDR1/pc4400c25/
You can see that CAS2 is ok up to FSB242, which I'm quite far of.

For the tension, specs are FSB275 at 1.75v, tested on same mb as mine, so I hope I can get such values as well.

Anyway, I'll try to lower the timings at first.
 
agentbad said:
what is the stepping on the chip? if u dont have it written down use cpu-z to at least get the stepping revision.

I'm at work now, but from memory, if it's the bottom right cell of the CPU version details, it's D1.
 
Results when setting the memory timings the highest possible (3-4-4-8), still at 1.75v: FSB245 boot but don't load windows, FSB240 loads windows but hangs later, FSB233 is still the maximum stable FSB I can keep...
At this speed, I should be able to run the memory at 2-2-2, but it fails also.
Is the CPU really the bottleneck? Could be the MB? The power supply?
 
I assume vdimm is at 2.75v not 1.75v.

I would say you eliminated the RAM as the problem. It's probably either BIOS settings or the CPU that's holding you back. Well, 3.3 to 3.4 gig is fairly typical for the average 2.8C. Your PSU should be adequate, unless it's defective.
 
batboy said:
I assume vdimm is at 2.75v not 1.75v.

I would say you eliminated the RAM as the problem. It's probably either BIOS settings or the CPU that's holding you back. Well, 3.3 to 3.4 gig is fairly typical for the average 2.8C. Your PSU should be adequate, unless it's defective.

Yeah, 2.75 of course :)
I've read some overclocking guides on the web for BIOS settings and it should be optimized, but nothing changes, FSB233 is my limit.
As PSU seems ok, as you say it must be the CPU that reached its max. I'm still impressed by the temps I got that look very low (31°c as I type, 40-5 in charge).
 
I used to have a 2.8C that would do close to 250 FSB, but I sold that one a while back. Now I have one I'm putting into a budget system I'm building for a co-worker that barely does 220 FSB. It's luck of the draw.
 
hm... it's the same with my cousin, his 2.8c doesn't do higher than 230 FSB regardless of voltage or anything. I used to own a chip that only did 230 too. I had an older D1 and it does 250 prime stable. does 255 non prime stabe but stable enough. cooling didn't improve it at all
 
The 'M0'-stepping 2.8C's almost guaranteed 250FSB and up on watercooling (see my sig) but it always stays luck of the draw. I had a 3.2E 'C0' that didn't do anything more then 3.4-3.45-ish with high Vcore...
 
My 2.8C does 238fsb solid. Only puts me at 3.34 Ghz tho. Idles at 30C and under load never goes past 49C.

However I don't know how reliable ASUSProbe is.
 
I don't know much about P4s, but as noone mentioned it:

is a 380W PSU enough to overclock this northwood?
Maybe this is the source of issues.
 
Lifthanger said:
I don't know much about P4s, but as noone mentioned it:

is a 380W PSU enough to overclock this northwood?
Maybe this is the source of issues.

I'm using 420W. Suppose to be true power, heavy as hell but the 12v rails are really crappy under load. I guess that would be my problem.
Any suggestion on a much better & stable PSU? People say antec ones are great but I have also tested and the rails are far from stable. Or have I been getting fake psu? :mad:
 
Danger! This is only my oppinion :
I'm in need of a new PSU, too and after reading through the internat for more than 3 days, I came to the conclusion, that the Fortron Bluestorm 500W model has the best price/performance ratio for my needs.
As overclocking a P4 2.8c isn't really extreme, it should suit you well.
Check out this review at SilentPCReview: link
According to Fortron Specs, its a 460W PSU, that puts out 400W at 50C still.
The Enermax Noisetaker Series is also often recommended in this price segment.

If you happen to have endless funds, you may try the OCZ Powerstream 520W, or a PC Power and Cooling 510W, which belongs to the very best.
The Powerstream is in brackets, because I've seen to many of them failing in various forums.. unfortunately noone found out why.


A link to Deceptions Sticky in the AMD CPU forum, to provide another oppinion on the matter:

link#

Well, I hope this helps a bit.
 
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