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[AMD-Trojan]

I come to this board to pick up cool tips now and then, but i finally registered b/c I needed a little help on my system.

I running a gigabyte 7vrxp, 1800+, Swifttech MCXC970, 256MB of 2400DDR, SCSI 10K RPM HD, and an ATI 8500 w/ dual monitors.

I unlocked the, mult., and have gotten as high as 1725mhz (12.5 x 138FSB @ 1.92V) my temps are about 120F,(which is a lot lower than the 135-140F I was getting @ 1667 MHZ w/ that crappy Dragon Orb 3) but I'm not satisified w/ the benchmarks I'm getting in 3dMark2001 or Sandra. My best 3D score is around 6500 and my Sandra score for CPU is like 3600/1700. These scores a really low when compared to the averages they give for the Athlon 1600+ and 1800+.

I've tried lowering the mult. to 12 but I can't get the FSB any higher. I've thought about lowering it even further, but I don't think I'd be able to squeeze more Mhz out in the long run. The RAM is a slight issue (I think) so I ordered Corsair 333mhz DDR (2700) at 2.0CL but I haven't gotten it yet.

Any ideas guys???

 

[plague]

First off, Welcome to the Forums!!

your temp (120F = 49C) is kinda high. you might wanna look into some more case cooling first. That PC2400 memory should do more than 138 mhz. either the memory is bad (in which case the Corsair 333 will help), It's getting too hot, or something else could be holding back your fsb. maybe northbridge cooling??

As for your 3dmark score, is your 8500 oc'd at all? I dont know what to tell you about your sandra scores. I havent really had too good of luck increasing them. I dont think theres much you can do to get a better score at a certain speed. Just make sure you do a fresh boot and dont load any programs before you run sandra.

 

[AMD-Trojan]

Thanks for the Quick RE

I haven't Oc'd my 8500 at all, i don't know if I can through the bios for the Gigabyte or not. Strangely enough (even thought the 7vrxp is BRAND new) the utilities that came w/ the MB didn't run in Xp at all. Only one or two worked, but most gave me error messages.
I'm gonna play around w/ the case cooling also, the case runs btwn 98-109 degrees depending on how hard I'm running it. The two things that I thought that could really be bringing my scores down are the RAM (it's generic) or the fact that I'm using a SCSI HD. I heard somewhere recently that XP doesn't deal w/ SCSi all that well. The "storage" scores for my HD on Sandra are so pitiful i just ignored them. Response time seems to be great from the HD, so I thought maybe the RAM is the biggest bottleneck.
If any of you know of a good site for tips on OC'in my 8500, could you post them?

Thanks

 

[plague]

Well youre gonna need a program to overclock that 8500, you cant do it in the motherboard bios. I dont know where to get one for a radeon, did anything come with the card? check the advanced display settings in the control panel and look around for any clock frequencies that could be changed.

If your case is up around 100 F, it needs better cooling. I wouldnt go buy that new RAM before you cool off your case, as the problem with your fsb may just be heat. your goal should be very close to the temperature of the room, which is possible. My case is usually only a few degrees C above room temp.

 

[AMD-Trojan]

Well that "case" temp...

is the "board" temp from Sandra. My "board" temp is around 102F and my CPU temp is about 120F, but I heard somewhere that the temp ratings on the Gigabyte 7VRXP baord are screwy. Something about the temp. probe touching the bottom of the CPU and taking Higher than Norm. readings off of the bottom of the CPU pr something. Not sure if this is true, but it would explain why my temp readings are so high.
I also don't know where Sanda comes up w/ that "board" temp. I'm assuming it must be from a temp probe that is attached to the Gigabyte board, but I'm not sure. You can't even get a "board" temp in the bios. I have two case fans pumping air in and out of the case, and right now I even have the side of it off, and I'm still running 102F on the "board" temp. ??? I don't really know what else I can do.