Help on overclocking my NF7-S v2 and XP 2500+?

[zvrkan5]

Hey all,

I just stumbled upon this forum trying to find out how to overclock my system.

Currently i have a Abit NF7-S v2 and Athlon XP 2500+ (Barton core) with OCZ 2x 512 MB PC3200 running in dual channel.

I know that in bios i can select 2500+ or 3200+. However if i put it on 3200+ my system is not stable, mostly i get CRC errors from zip files and what not. My memtest86 showed that my memory is ok so i don't know what's going on.

When i put up FSB to 181 and left the multiplier at 11 and its been running stable (ran prime95 for 3 hours with no errors).

I looked around the forum and found modified BIOS'. Which one should i be using? I don't use SATA...and i just want to be able to run a bit higher speeds.
I have a CPU heatsink..but have no idea which one it is...runs at 4300rpm all the time though.

What do you guys suggest? Merlin's BIOS?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[JackNSally]

You might need to up the voltage. I think your processor currently runs at 1.65. Try upping it to 1.675 or 1.7. That should get you up higher. Max I would run is 1.8 and thats if your temps don't go above 50-55c full load.

 

[zvrkan5]

Ok, i'll try that.

Should i be flashing my Bios?...i haven't touched it since i got the mobo.

Any way to go above 3200+ speeds?

 

[jiggamanjb]

I would suggest this BIOS
http://www.ocforums.com/showpost.php?p=4596525&postcount=2402

Here is a nice guide
http://www.deep-powder.net/OC_Guide/Mem_Mobo_CPU_Overclocking_Guide.htm

Overclocking with a Locked CPU
Three situations get you to this point:

One being that you are using one of the newer AMD CPUs (those produced after ~ 3rd quarter of 2003) that are being locked.

In past years a number of creative folks have determined ways to unlock the AMD CPUs by modifying the bridges. No such method appears to exist for the newer CPUs with the locking being internal to the chips.

"c627627" of the Overclockers.com forum has gathered info related to the various AMD and INTEL CPUs, this link contains the info.


The second being that you are using an Intel CPU.


The third being if you are using an older VIA chipset (KT333) AMD mobo.
1) Go into your BIOS and set the memory timings, select either tight or losser timings based upon whether you have an Intel or AMD CPU. A suggest would be losser for Intel and tighter for AMD. Realize that it isn't critical you be absolutely correct in your choice of memory timing settings, you can adjust them later if needed.

What do these timing numbers mean? See LostCircuits.com or Rojakpot.com should you need help with the meaning of such things as CAS, TRP, TRAS and TRCD. Also realize that the order of these quantities may vary from one mobo to another so you should always get whoever is talking to tell you the ordering they are using.) We'll investigate the influence of these settings a little bit more below.

NOTE: The minimum TRAS should be TRCD+CAS latency + 2 cycles (see Mushkin).

2.) Start at a stock clockspeed and also make sure Vcore and Vdimm are set to default voltages.

3) At each clockspeed, run an application that really exercises the memory to see if you're stable (see Testing section below). Sandra doesn't cut it for this test. After you know this initial setup is stable, start increasing the clockspeed and retest each time. Yes, this takes a lot of time!

NOTE for KT333 or KT400 chipset mobos: For older AMD CPUs using a clockspeed of 133, the point should be made that the will seldom be able to reach the 166 clockspeed where memory operation shifts from asynchronous to synchronous operation. This results from the CPU being unable to work at this highly overclocked speed (166Mhz*default multiplier). This isn't a problem for nForce2 mobos because the memory ratio can be independently set to 1:1 for any speed.

4) When the test results are unstable, increase both Vcore and Vdimm one level above their default settings and try again. Continue increasing them till stable or you don't want to go any higher in voltage.

5) Using this process of increasing the clockspeed, testing and increasing the voltages as needed, work your way up to the highest clockspeed you can reach for the max voltages you're willing to run.

There are various strategies about how to minimize the time you spend reaching a maximum clockspeed but I'll not take up space to suggest those --- I'm sure you can figure several others out.

6) You can reduce aggressive memory settings to get higher clockspeed. You will need to do some testing to determine if the gain in clockspeed is sufficient to offset the less aggressive memory timings.

7) And test, test, test, …. ALWAYS watching your CPU temperatures!!! The CPU you save maybe your own.

Also read these
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=496270
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=494056
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=500069

 

[zvrkan5]

Thanks a lot man...i'll go through this

 

[jiggamanjb]

Lemme know how you progress, I'll try to help along the way

 

[zvrkan5]

I updated the bios with the one u suggested.

Well right now i'm at 185x11 ...and my temp is 49-50 at idle and around 56 at full load.

It seems stable..Prime 95 ran it for 3 hours and no probs (usually right away i get an error).

I left the ram timings to whatever you left them at (in ur bios).

Are my temperatures too high? Should i get a different heatsink?

Anything you recommend? That Thermaltake volcano 12+ looks like it delivers most air to cpu...(maybe its my thermal paste even...i'll try that first).

 

[zvrkan5]

Here is some info from Cpu-z if what i said above is confusing haha

Processors Information
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Processor 1 (ID = 0)
Number of cores 1
Number of threads 1 (max 1)
Name AMD Athlon XP
Codename Barton
Specification AMD Athlon(tm)
Package Socket A (462)
CPUID 6.A.0
Extended CPUID 7.A
Core Stepping
Technology 0.13 um
Core Speed 2047.7 MHz (11.0 x 186.2 MHz)
Rated Bus speed 372.3 MHz
Instructions sets MMX (+), 3DNow! (+), SSE
L1 Data cache 64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L1 Instruction cache 64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L2 cache 512 KBytes, 16-way set associative, 64-byte line size
FID/VID Control no
K7 Thermal sensor yes


Chipset
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Northbridge NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400 rev. C1
Southbridge NVIDIA nForce2 MCP-T rev. A3
Graphic Interface AGP
AGP Revision 3.0
AGP Transfer Rate 8x
AGP SBA supported, enabled
Memory Type DDR
Memory Size 512 MBytes
Memory Frequency 186.2 MHz (1:1)
CAS# 2.5
RAS# to CAS# 3
RAS# Precharge 3
Cycle Time (tRAS) 11


Memory SPD
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DIMM #1

General
Memory type DDR
Manufacturer (ID) (0000000000000000)
Size 512 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC3200 (200 MHz)
Part number 64MX64U-40B
Serial number 04011325

Attributes
Number of banks 2
Data width 64 bits
Correction None
Registered no
Buffered no
EPP no

Timings table
Frequency (MHz) 200
CAS# 2.5
RAS# to CAS# delay 3
RAS# Precharge 3
TRAS 8

 

[imposter]

Make sure you monitor your temps =)

forgot about xp's =P
imp

 

[jiggamanjb]

I updated the bios with the one u suggested.

Well right now i'm at 185x11 ...and my temp is 49-50 at idle and around 56 at full load.

It seems stable..Prime 95 ran it for 3 hours and no probs (usually right away i get an error).

I left the ram timings to whatever you left them at (in ur bios).

Are my temperatures too high? Should i get a different heatsink?

Anything you recommend? That Thermaltake volcano 12+ looks like it delivers most air to cpu...(maybe its my thermal paste even...i'll try that first).

That's looking pretty good. Temps are OK for me, I always like to stay under 60C under load.

Timings are fine, for now....

You could get a new HS. My favs are the SLK 800 & 900's, but you could also do a search over in the cooling section. Some nice paste always helps, and usually its cheap even for the good stuff, AS5.

I would now look to raising your FSB till prime starts failing. I would say once it does fail bump up your CPU voltage a notch, but your CPU temp is at its max that I would be comfortable with. You could max out your chipset, ram, and AGP ( some say this helps with the FSB ) voltage if you start encountering errors.

I would grab some good paste and a nice HS, and get your cpu temps down, then start trying to max it out a bit more.

What CPU voltage are you at?

 

[pimpinaman]

if that's the board I'm thinking it is... it should be a clocking beast with proper cooling, if the barton is up to the task.

What's the stepping on the barton and what kinda cooling are you using?

 

[emceepecks]

Your barton can take a lot of voltage as long as you have adequate cooling. It's not uncommon to go as high as 1.9 as long as your load temps stay under 50c

Here are a few different stable configurations I ran my (multi-locked)2500+ at

(200x11) @ 1.75
(210x11) @ 1.93
(219x11) @ 2.00