Overclocking Help

[DragonClaw]

Tell me what I can Do with this please.<BR><BR>Windows XP Pro <BR>Asus A7N8X (not Deluxe)<BR>AMD Athlon XP 1800+ (Palomino)<BR>11.5x133 (.18-Stepping 2)<BR>2 x Samsung 512 meg DDR PC3200 (3-4-4-8)<BR>40Gig/8MB WesterDigital<BR>Gainward Nvidia Geforce 4 4800se (ocd @ 300/660)<BR>Creative Audigy 2<BR>Volcano 9 (coolmod)<BR><BR>Id like to get a litte more Juice out of this until I can get my 2500. The processor is Retail straight from box no mod if that helps.

[TranceJunkieXL]

Welcome to pcstats DragonClaw!<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"><BR>For starters, you may not have a whole lot of luck with a Palomino core. If you are comfortable with running that thing hot, start by lowering your multiplier and raise your FSB to see how high your motherboard/RAM will go. When you reach a point where it won't post or run Prime95 without erroring out. This will be your max FSB. Then drop your FSB back down and raise your multiplier to the point where it won't post or run Prime95 stable. This is the max your CPU can do. At that point you will be able to combine the 2 in different manners to get a similar overclock. ie: <BR>12x200FSB=2.4GHZ <BR>11.5x209FSB=2.4035GHz<BR>11x219=2.409GHz<BR>The higher the FSB, the faster performance you will notice.<BR>Also, you might start by lowering your RAM timings to 2-2-2-5 to start. More aggressive timings are generally better for performance than those incredibly slow ones you have running now.

[DragonClaw]

ok i tried the ram timing at 2-2-2-5 but comp did not start. I didn't up the voltage b/c you didnt say to but its is set to 2.6 and gives options for 2.7-2.8 so let me know.<BR><BR>I did however change it successfully to 2.5-3-3-6 which i guess from reading the pc stats is a little better. Id like to get it higher and would be glad to go spend the 20 bux on a ThermalTake Active Mem Cooler (the one with a fan lol).<BR><BR>And as far as the processor goes lets put that off for now b/c I'm just going to buy a 2800 of googlegear in the next couple weeks. You guys can help me play with that one if your willing.<BR><BR>Well anyway I have the antec case with side blow hole so it has 2 fans in front and 2 in back 1 on side so let me know if this is going to be enough if i kick that mem up and about the power thnx.<BR><BR>Ill try some timeing while i wait for a reply and play with the voltage as i go and post again if I have any Luck!

[Colin]

DragonClaw welcome to PCStats! <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif" border="0"><BR><BR>First thing have you unlcoked your processor? If not you won't be able to change multiplier unfortunately. It's not hard to do if you're interested in attempting it. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0"> <BR><BR>I'm going to assume your processor is locked so the only way to raise overclock is by raising the FSB. Do you happen to know what stepping it is? You're going to have to look at the actual core as according to CPU-Z/CPUID they;'re all the same.<BR><BR><img src="http://www.pcstats.com/articleimages/amdxp2ksys_1900core.jpg"><BR><BR>See the AGNGA? What does yours say? <BR><BR>I'm not surprised you can't run 2-2-2-5 as most Samsung PC3200 DIMM's cannot handle tight timings. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif" border="0"> Don't bother with those ramsinks as they're more for looks then functionallity.

[DragonClaw]

Ok well im not going to worry about OCing the 1800 ill get you to tell me (or show me a link) on how to unlock a processor when i get my 2500 or 2800. Money wise I would like to go with the 2500 but i want to hit the 2 GHZ point. I saw somewhere that it is possible to run a 2500 at the same speed as a 3200 and would be very interested in doing this. I would like to keep my Valcono 9 though so if thats a problem let me know.<BR><BR><BR>As far as memory goes the place where i bought my memory said they will give me 1/2 what i payed for it back in Febuary back toward new one. They now carry Cas 2 copper heatsinked Samsung modules. Do you think it would be worth it? I dont really have the money to go out and buy 2 new 512's but if i did it that way I'd really only have to pay for 1. What I really need to know is if running at cas 2 is going to increase my peformance over cas 2.5 enough for me to spend the $135 USD that it will cost me.<BR><BR>I played with my timeing only and didnt touch the voltage and got no Prime95 errors at 2.5-3-3-5 much better then the old timeing i imagine<BR><BR>Oh and Colin your tip section has greatly improved my XP preformance THNX VERY MUCH!

[TranceJunkieXL]

Colin's right about that RAM cooler, RAM doesn't really get hot enough to really be helped by that thing.<BR>As for unlocking an XP2500, you don't need to. The T-Bred and Barton cores come unlocked by default. Unlocking a Palomino, though, is a bit more labor intensive, which is what Colin was referring to. The Palominos are locked by default, and you have to bridge some gaps with a conductive paint, or pencil.<BR>If you aren't a serious overclocker/benchmarker, you really won't notice that 5-10% difference between CAS2.0 and CAS2.5.

[DragonClaw]

I know what your talking about to bridge but i was under the assumption, by the kits ive seen, that you have to solder it. I also saw somewhere that there is like a hole you have to fill. Hell if all i got to go is draw a line with a special pencil sign me up. Just let me know what to do.

[Colin]

DragonClaw as rithemking said you don't need to do anything to unlock the T-Bred/Barton's. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"><BR><BR>With an XP 2500+ you're very likely to break 2 GHz... From what I see most hit the 2.4 GHz range on high end air cooling. I'm not sure if hta't possible with the Volcano 9 but you might as well give it a shot first before you buy something better. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"><BR><BR>I wouldn't trade in your memory for that CAS2 Samsung memory... Officially there is <b>no</b> Samsung PC3200 DRAM that supports CAS2 so they're all overclocked memory. If i were you, I'd try to sell your current DIMM's as you can probably get a better price that way anyway then put that $$$ towards better memory. It's better to buy good stuff then buy something lousier and to buy again later.<BR><BR><img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> Well I'm glad thye helped! Thank you for supporting PCStats! <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif" border="0"><BR><BR>You don't use solder to fill the gaps as it'll short out your processor. You need to fill the gaps with something that's not conductive, I used Polyinstafil (found at your local hardware store). Unfortuantely a pencil does not lower resistance enough and you'll have to use some conductive paint to cross the bridges.