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Lots of Help Needed!!! Please!

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MetalStorm

Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2003
Location
England
Okay, to put it simply im a complete n00b when it comes to overclocking... okay i have overclocked my gfx card and done a little on another computer, but hey my friends dog could do that...(I dont have a dog of my own to compare against)

Anyway, as I was saying, basicly, im pretty much a n00b, but I have been researching this topic heavily, and you guys have been very very helpful in the past so this is my first port of call on how I should go about overclocking my brand new computer!

This is the situation at the moment:

NF7-S v2 (C1 stepping)
AMD XP1700+ DLT3C JIUHB 0310 XPMW
SLK-800 heatsink
80mm 80cfm delta (one noisy SOAB!)
2x256mb sticks of HyperX pc3500 ram (to be delivered)
At the moment using 256mb of PC2100 ram (spec unknown, timings something like 6-3-3-3-2.5)
GeForce2 GTS (for use when overclocking to make sure my PSU can handle it)
300W PSU of some sort or another! - no problems with it so far

Im really not sure where to start at the moment, I dont have the hyperx in it yet (i nabbed some from my parents computer) so i could actually make sure the thing worked! I have made a fresh install of win2k and running sp3. I have had a look through the bios, but frankly im confused, im not really sure where to start, I was looking for a PCI lock option, but I have no idea where it is, all I could find where a load of divider options, some of which i noticed were the same, like 3/3 and 6/6 (they are the same arnt they?) When the computer starts up, it shows a screen saying something about configuring the raid controller and asks me to press ctrl s or F4...neither of which do anything!!!

I have also actually noticed that when benchmarking with 3dmark 2001se i was getting ~3500, on my last system 1.4GHz athlon (tbird) 256mb sdram i was getting about 4200!!! wtf is going on here, its in a (slightly) faster system, and using ddr ram, what is going on !!! (I noticed a similar thing with my friends P4 (2GHz) 256mb sdram, he got about 3500 as well... same problem perhaps???)

As I have only just set up my system, should I start burning in now and leave it going overnight, or should I start the burning in when I get my PC3500 ram?

As I dont really have much experience with messing around with the bios, if anyone is willing to walk me through it overclocking as we go using some IM program (AIM or msn) that would be so much of a help, I would be so grateful if anyone with experience with overclocking on this board would be able to find some time to help me along with this

These are just some of the questions I have on my mind at the moment, thanks for reading them at least!

Thanks again :)

Ohh..one more thing to add, the core is at 33 degrees, considering its not overclocked, and it has an SLK-800 and 80cfm delta on it at full blast is that too hot? it seems a bit like it to me, but what do i know! (the board temp is at 20
 
First off, there is no PCI lock option on the NF7. It is AUTOMATICALLY locked and you cannot unlock it. That is why you cant find it in the bios. Those divider options are FSB/RAM dividers. And yes, whoever made the board was retarded and instead of making a 1:1 put all those in there that are exactly the same.

About 3d mark, the XP1700 is only a 1.433 ghz chip at stock. So it probably wont be much faster than your old 1.4 ghz computer. Were you overclocking the video card before and not yet now? Were the ram timings lower before than they are now? As far as your friends computer I have no idea.

I do not believe in burning in, but if you should want to, wait until you get the ram. Supposedly youll have to burn the ram in anyway, so why do it twice?

There isnt really much to OCing, but if you need help or the confidence boost, PM me when you get the ram.

33 is a good idle. The chip really doesnt start building up heat until you load up the voltage.
 
When you get your hyperX go into the softmenu 3 and start with you fsb. I have almost the exact same setup as you and I started with 166x12.5, If that proves stable than continue to push your fsb higher until the system becaomes unstable in Prime95. Make sure the option CPU Interface in the softmenu 3 is set to enabled so that you are using the overclocked settings. If you have any more in-depth questions PM me anytime I am always willing to help and since I have the same system as you (for the most part) I may be able to offer you some advice or experience. Good luck!
 
Okay, so if the PCI speed is automatically locked, then what are the fsb dividers for? what use do they have?

Are you sure idling at 34 degrees, at stock speeds is good considering I have an SLK-800 and 80cfm delta on it!!? some people say that they get 38 idle when overclocked! should I consider re-seating my heatsink?

As for the 3dmark benchmark I did, the point I was getting at was that my score was a lot lower ~600 points lower with a slightly faster system (1466MHz as apposed to 1398MHz) AND this has DDR in it!!! Im comparing it when it was not overclocked.

The other thing I wondered about was side band addressing, SiSofts sandra says I can do it, but it just isnt enabled...and I had a good look through the bios and I couldnt find it to turn it on...I think this is might be the reason for getting a lower score on 3dmark with a faster setup.
 
if what you are saying is....is that on your old system with your gfx card overclocked you attained a 4k 3dmark and on your new system without an overclocked gfx card you scored 600 points lower....then what I say is this....the scores will drasticly increase more from gfx card performance then processor and ram performance......3dmark is effected by better ram and a better proc...but it is more greatly effected by gfx card performance then anything.....with that card....when you get your 3500hyperX and run it in dual channel(adds another 400 points right off the bat) and take your fsb up to aroun 200-230(fsb is way more important in 3dmark then multi...so get your fsb as high as possible first and formost)....your score should increase quit a bit....then when you start overclocking your gfx card your scores will really start to jump.....with that setup I would invest in a gfx card first....then maybe a new psu(not that yours is bad....it's just what I would do to promote stability in my system)....I found that with the abit board...I had to pump my voltages up to get good stability....so you might wanna start there....also I hear that 1.8v on that chip may cause early death so I stick with 1.7 and I do just dandy at 2.3gHz...and this is with 2700ddr ram so with your ram I think you could hit 2.4...200x12 preaty easily:D...good luck I hope I helped:D
 
Sorry, I think I gave you the wrong impression, what I was trying to say was when everything is at stock speeds graphics card included, the supposedly superior system gets 17% less 3dmarks!!!!!

Thanks for the other info though, very much appreciated!
 
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