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New to overclocking, please help.

K

Kilroy

n00b
Joined
Mar 7, 2004
Messages
12
I've been wrangling with this system for about two weeks now, and either I've gotten really unlucky with my processor or I'm doing something wrong. Please help me figure out which.

I've got a P4 2.6C, an Abit IC7-Max3 MB, and Geil Ultra PC4000 RAM. I can not get the processor stable above 240 Mhz FSB. Based on the common overclocks I've seen around here, this is pretty low.

The first thing I did after assembling the system was to up the FSB to 250 Mhz and see if it would post. I wanted to "burn in" the system. It posted, but crashed whenever the processor was stressed (under Prime95). So, I increased the voltage one step at a time (on the Max3, that's 0.025V per step) until it was stable. Only, it was never stable. I took it right up to 1.75V, which is the max for the 2.6C according to here. So then I tried decreasing the FSB until it was stable. It got it stable at 240 FSB and 1.65V. I ran Prime95 overnight, no errors. So, I tried upping the FSB to 245. Crash, even if I raise the voltage again to 1.75. It seems it would not go above 240 no matter what.

A friend told me to try starting small. That is, give it a smaller overclock and burn it in at that speed, then raise it. So I started at 215, stock voltage and ran Prime95 overnight. I did this again at 225 and 230, again stock voltage, then at 235 I had to increase the voltage to keep it stable. And to keep it from reporting errors in Prime95 at 240 FSB, I have to increase the voltage to 1.65V.

I've got the memory at 3.0V, and I haven't touched the AGP voltage - it's at 2.55V. One thing that has struck me as odd is that, when the processor is under full load, the voltage will drop about 0.05V. So, at 1.65V, if the processor is at 100% load Motherboard Monitor returns 1.6V. Maybe that's normal though, I don't know. Also, this entire time, I have never seen the temps on the CPU go above 56C. Usually, it's around 50C.

Anyway, this is really pissing me off, considering that everyone and their mother seems to have no trouble getting overclocks of 290 FSB, while I can't even get 250. Am I just unlucky? Did I fry my processor? Is there something wrong with my methods?
 
Did you lock the AGP/PCI freq?

Is your powersupply up to snuff? Those are some great components, you'd better not be running them off of a 350W no name powersupply.

I wouldn't trust MBM for voltages. Get a good voltmeter and measure that way. MBM is known for under/over reading voltages and just being generally bad at it.
 
Originally posted by OneMadPoptart
Did you lock the AGP/PCI freq?

Is your powersupply up to snuff? Those are some great components, you'd better not be running them off of a 350W no name powersupply.

I wouldn't trust MBM for voltages. Get a good voltmeter and measure that way. MBM is known for under/over reading voltages and just being generally bad at it.
Click to expand...
AGP/PCI is at 66/33. I've got the Antec Sonata case which came with a 380W Truepower supply which is supposed to be pretty good. Perhaps 380W isn't enough?

How can I be absolutely sure it's the processor? I've run 15 passes of memtest86, is this enough to rule out the memory? I'll let it run while I'm at work just in case.

edit: Forgot to say, regarding the power supply, I have two serial ATA hdd, a Radeon 9800Pro, and two optical drives.
 
I do think 380W is a little skimpy for what you've got going there. I'm no expert on overclocking, but everyone here will back me up when I say that the powersupply is the most underrated part of a great overclocking machine.

If the budget isn't too tight, I would consider an Antec True480 or 550. Best power supplies around, and you won't have to upgrade that sucker for quite a while.

Getting a better PS may not help your problem, but its the least you can do to give yourself the chance.

I think 15 runs of memtest will rule out your memory as the source. It's by no means faulty.
 
Originally posted by OneMadPoptart
I do think 380W is a little skimpy for what you've got going there. I'm no expert on overclocking, but everyone here will back me up when I say that the powersupply is the most underrated part of a great overclocking machine.

If the budget isn't too tight, I would consider an Antec True480 or 550. Best power supplies around, and you won't have to upgrade that sucker for quite a while.

Getting a better PS may not help your problem, but its the least you can do to give yourself the chance.

I think 15 runs of memtest will rule out your memory as the source. It's by no means faulty.
Click to expand...
I should point out that I get solid rails all the way up to 240 FSB, no more than +/- 0.05V on the 3.3, 5.0, and 12.0V rails. Regardless, I'll pick up a True480 tomorrow and see if that does the trick. If not, this CPU is going back. Thanks for your help.

Also, I ran memtest86 again for 5 hours/40 passes. No errors.

Update: I disconnected everything non-essential from my system. The optical drives, both case fans, the LED on the front of the case. While it wasn't stable at 250 FSB, it at least reported errors in Prime95 after about a minute at 1.65V and 1.675V (it froze at 1.7V), where before it would just immediately crash or freeze regardless of voltage. So it looks like I have reason to be optimistic.

Follow up question. How worried should I be about having damaged my CPU, etc, after having overworked this PSU? Would say, 24 hours or so in Prime95 at stock speeds and voltages assure me that the processor hasn't been damaged, or could there be more subtle errors resulting from this?

Also, OneMadPoptart, you are my new forum hero.
 
prime for 24 hours or more will generally find almost any error. you may want to try 5:4 or 3:2 memory ratio to rule out the memory before you buy a power supply. but a power supply should be on your short list (it is on mine... right after motherboard/cpu/video card)

good luck.


o, have you tried relaxing ram timings?
 
Originally posted by rogue_jedi
o, have you tried relaxing ram timings?
Click to expand...
Yeah. I also tried the 5:4 and 3:2 memory ratios and still got errors or shutdowns that I didn't get with 1:1 and 200 FSB. I'll get the PSU tomorrow, run Prime95 for a day at default voltages, try to overclock, and post the results. Thanks for all the help.
 
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