IC7/P4C 2.6 MHz/OCZ 3500 EL DDR

[sbain]

Picking up my new deck this week:

Abit IC7
P4C 2.6 MHz
2 x 512K OCZ EL DDR
ATI AIW 9700 Pro
Thermaltake A6000A
Enermax 465W PSU
Pioneer DVR-A05
Pioneer 16X DVD-ROM
2-WD 120Gb Caviars
1-WD 80Gb Caviar
Just stock cooling... no fancy stuff.

First off, any comments... did I do alright? I tried to listen to feedback I got from you guys and other forums/reviews.

As I am sure is obvious, I am a total newbie to overclocking. I have read about some of the issues you guys are having with this mobo and I was hoping somebody would be generous enought to walk me through my first overclock...

I have very modest expectations and don't want to be getting anywhere the limits you speed demons do. But, at the same time, even with stock cooling, I was thinking that what I have setup (esp. in terms of RAM) should buy me some modest OCing without sacrificing stability. So, any suggestions for modest OC settings? I assume I should go to bios rev 1.1?

Sorry to be a burden but I do hope to be a contributor here one day once I learn a little.

Thanks again so much!

 

[mcortz_2000]

Congrats on your purchase. I believe it was a wise one.

I myself am going to using a very similar cpu/board/memory combo.

I have already ordered

Abit IC7
P4 2.6c

memory and cooler is all I need left to order....

Based on what people have said yes I believe u made a good decision.

 

[sbain]

Thanks for the positive feedback... but I'd still like some help on my first overclock. Rembering I know virtually nothing about overclocking (as in what these #-#-#-# numbers mean and what v core etc... means... I mean nothing), is there some basic settings and/or explanation web page that can walk me thought how to achive a basic say 15% overclock?

Once again, any help is more than appreciated.

 

[mcortz_2000]

Thanks for the positive feedback... but I'd still like some help on my first overclock. Rembering I know virtually nothing about overclocking (as in what these #-#-#-# numbers mean and what v core etc... means... I mean nothing), is there some basic settings and/or explanation web page that can walk me thought how to achive a basic say 15% overclock?

Once again, any help is more than appreciated.

Ok here goes..... this is sort of standard and I cannot guarantee this on every board...

1. After setting up your system do the following....

Download "Prime95" and "memtest86"

These 2 free programs will be used to test stability of your overclocking as you go up and up...

2. Go into you bios and set the following...

AGP/PCI must be locked at 66/33. 66Mhz for AGP and 33Mhz for PCI.
Set CPU strap tp 800Mhz FSB
Default voltage is 1.525 for CPU.... this can be adjusted higher for added stability.
Ram needs at least 2.7 volts for overclocking.... 2.8 should help even more....
There should a setting in the bios to set the CPU and FSB ( Front Side Bus) with a ratio.

I would set the ratio to 5:4
Let you Ram timmings be set using SPD....

N.B. important........

Make sure you have at least bios version 1.1 or 1.3...

Now slowly up the speed of your FSB until windows will not boot anymore.
It it does not boot don't worry you can reset it using a jumper.
The manual will tell exactly how to clear cmos...
I would set your CPU voltage @ 1.575....helps a bit....
Set you ram voltage to 2.7(or 2.8 if needed)
run 5:4 ratio

Try and work up to about 250-275Mhz FSB (or higher)

Once you have worked out the highest you can boot into windows then run those programs to test stability.
If you can run both those programs with no errors you should be fine.

None of this is certain because everyones mileage vary's but many people have been getting 250-275 with your setup....
And remember voltage helps a lot with overclocking......

Feel free to post more questions as you go through this.
I will be glad to help as will many other people here......

 

[sbain]

Thanks. I really appreciate the help... One other thing, as I know this is too long to go through in a post (and you have been very nice and I wouldn't ask you to) is there some sort of FAQ on this stuff as it relates to OCing on P4s that I could read to get a better understanding of the whys of the specific directions you gave.

Thanks again so much. I'll make sure to keep you posted on my progress.

 

[sbain]

What about DDR Settings... Given what you have recommended lets say I set RAM voltage at 2.7... I have seen settings of 2-3-7-3 and 2-7-3-3 used with this ram (the latter on slower chipset motherboards)... Which settings of these two or others should I use?

 

[Vedder323]

Is the 2.6 really much better than the 2.4???

 

[sbain]

No idea...

Any thoughts on my question above:

What about DDR Settings... Given what you have recommended lets say I set RAM voltage at 2.7... I have seen settings of 2-3-7-3 and 2-7-3-3 used with this ram (the latter on slower chipset motherboards)... Which settings of these two or others should I use?

 

[batboy]

It's not that the 2.6C is any better than the 2.4C, but rather that the 2.6C seems to be a better choice for the IC7 and PC3500 RAM. I have almost the same setup except with the 2.4C and now wish I had the 2.6C instead.

Mcortz had lots of good info, but it is a lot for a newbie to absorb at once. Let's walk before we run. First, Run the system at default speed and check temps. Make sure it's running ok now before trying to overclock. BIOS version 1.3 is currently the best one for the IC7 (until they release a newer version which will be fairly soon).

Your question about the memory timing is that the two settings are the same. The 2,7,3,3 is the order of the timings in the IC7 BIOS. I've seen these same timings called 2,3,3,7 and 2,3,7,3 and other combinations. Don't worry about the RAM timings at first. That is part of the fine tweaking that will come later. Just leave the RAM timings at "SPD" for now (which for the OCZ PC3500 is 2.5,7,3,3). The SPD setting just uses the default timings of the RAM. Later, when you are stable you can try 2,5,3,3 and see what happens.

With stock cooling, you are going to be limited to default voltage or at most a modest increase. Raising the voltage will run things hotter. So, for now let's see how high we can go with a default of 1.525v or maybe 1.55v.

"Fix" the PCI/AGP bus and set the memory ratio to 5:4 on the 800 CPU strap. I'd leave the mem voltage at 2.6v (at least for now). Change your clock speed to "user define". Run your FSB up to 231 MHz for a 3 gig overclock. I see you're smiling because you just got a cool overclock. Check temps and test stability. Congrats!

Depending on voltage and temps, I would not go above "about" 250 FSB with stock cooling. Even for modest overclocks, you'd better have good case ventilation. These high FSB speeds heat up the mobo and that Radeon 9700 Pro runs a little warm too. Good luck. PM me if you need more help.

 

[batboy]

Oh yeah.... just wanted to say I'm jealous you have a DVD burner. Also, to connect 3 harddrives and 2 optical drives, one or two of the harddrives will need a SATA adapter (which don't come with the IC7).

 

[sbain]

Actually, not even a SATA adapter will do the trick. Apparently, when you activate one of the 2 SATA channels you have to give up one of the IDE channels. As such, I ended up having to buy a Promise 133 controller anyway... Such is life... Even so, it was still cheaper than going with the IC7-G.

 

[Konnan10101]

i am lookign at the ic7 probably not g, and i have one 512 stick of pc3500 corsair xms memory (if i got the canterwood setup i would get another stick of 512), but i heard batboy mention earlier that the 2.6c would be better for the pc3500 ram, why is it better and would it be worth spending the money (extra 50 dollars), also i hope to really push this thing liek crazy cause i am working on a waterchiller at the moment, that should cool it quite nicely (are there any good websites for good ocing tips) i understand most of it except ram timings

thnx

 

[Jo-Jo]

i am lookign at the ic7 probably not g, and i have one 512 stick of pc3500 corsair xms memory (if i got the canterwood setup i would get another stick of 512), but i heard batboy mention earlier that the 2.6c would be better for the pc3500 ram, why is it better and would it be worth spending the money (extra 50 dollars), also i hope to really push this thing liek crazy cause i am working on a waterchiller at the moment, that should cool it quite nicely (are there any good websites for good ocing tips) i understand most of it except ram timings

thnx

does 2 sticks of identical ram have better performance then just one stick? i thought that dual channel ram was a bit faster? is this why the reason why you get another stick, to make it a 'pair'?

 

[nikhsub1]

Actually, not even a SATA adapter will do the trick. Apparently, when you activate one of the 2 SATA channels you have to give up one of the IDE channels. As such, I ended up having to buy a Promise 133 controller anyway... Such is life... Even so, it was still cheaper than going with the IC7-G.

No you dont! I have both SATA channels and both IDE channels filled, no problem!

 

[nodsetse]

does 2 sticks of identical ram have better performance then just one stick? i thought that dual channel ram was a bit faster? is this why the reason why you get another stick, to make it a 'pair'?

It takes two DIMMs in order to operate in dual channel mode. There is no "dual channel ram" single stick solution. And yes, dual channel mode provides much greater memory bandwidth.