O/C XP2700 via Multiplier Only?

[Tomac]

I just discovered that my Abit KD7-E has apparently unlocked my XP2700 in BIOS. Now the big question is how far can you push a 2700 via multiplier only? I've already pushed it to 14x from 13x w/a small vcore boost for stability and seen a significant (but not dangerous) increase in cpu temp (+3.5C). Anyone already tried this? How far will it go at what temps & vcore? TIA!...
Tomac

 

[OC Detective]

Why wouldnt you want to adjust the FSB as well though?
BTW welcome to the Forums. As to what you may achieve this is dependant on your temps, power supply and what you are prepared to up your vcore to.

 

[adelphia83]

You can up the Vcore to whatever you want (I wouldn't recommend any higher than 2.0V however), as long as your temps are decent.

Decent meaning at full-load LESS than 55C.

Higher the Vcore, greater stability is the general rule, unless you've maxed out the CPU.

Multipliers alone will increase CPU speed by significant amounts. Upping the fsb one by one, will increase the speed little by little, so you can achieve the max possible overclock.

Note when increasing the fsb, you will also increase the AGP and PCI bus speed, as well as memory speed, so it is not advisable to go over ~145 unless you have a board with a 1:5 divider. Also your RAM must be decent to be able to up the fsb.

 

[Tomac]

I'm already running at 166fsb w/5:1 divider and my 9700 & Maxtor HD are sensitive to the fsb running out of spec plus my memory (GEIL PC2700 Ultra) is stable at the most aggressive timings so I don't think increasing the fsb much is viable w/o changing my mobo. I'm stable at 14x (XP2900?) w/a .025v increase in vcore & 2.5C increase in cpu temp at load (46C) but trying to run at 15x (next available multiplier) w/vcore at 1.8v still isn't stable enough to reach the OS so w/o trying massive cooling I think I'll stick w/an extra 166mhz at lower temps & vcore.
Tomac

 

[adelphia83]

Great-- If you've reached your hardware's limits, then you've got the most successful overclock. Sound like you're doing things right.


You may try upping the Vcore a little more to see if you can get that speed stable, providing temps are okay.

Good luck!

 

[Tomac]

I'm new to AMD cpu's, what considered the safe vcore limit (temp notwithstanding) for the 2700? Thx!...
Tomac

 

[adelphia83]

You've got to consider that any overclock/overvolt will reduce the lifespan of the CPU...

That being said a normal stock-operated CPU should last a good 10 years. If you don't plan on keeping the CPU more than a couple years, then it's safe to say-- you can run it at 2V or more.

With air cooling, you are unlikely to reach that kind of voltage. So use whatever voltage with whatever overclock that your current cooling setup will allow.

There's plenty of ppl with watercooling running their XP CPU's at more than 2V with no problems.

Keep raising the voltage till your current overclock becomes stable. If the temps are too high (I.E above 55C full-load) you need to reduce the voltage (which will ultimately reduce the overclock till the system becomes stable).