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OC Advice/Guides/Utillities

R

Ratha

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 22, 2003
Messages
328
Okay guys, i built this system (below) with the intention in mind to overclock it, however ive not run into any really good advice for someone being new to overclocking their systems.

I have heard of software overclocking programs, and i figured that those might be the safest way to determine whats stable and whats not without having to crack the case and reset the CMOS constantly for a bad overclock. If i can avoid that, that would be great as my case takes about 15 mins to get to every time i want to take the lid off.

One major concern and fear of mine isnt burning anything up really, but causing HDD corruption or future instability for install of programs or whatnot. Any suggestions here? Does/can overclocking cause serious damage to existing or new data on a HDD? I do have most of my stuff backed up onto my other drive on the same computer, but if its going to corrupt data on one drive, im sure it could do the other with just as little warning?

Anyway, what are your thoughts on this? Theres two programs that i might consider using, one is NVSU, nvidias system utility, which dosnt seem to have many options in it, and one i havnt installed/looked at called ClockGen (www.cpuid.com)

Neither of them seem to have all the options one would want, like multiplier options for example, dont seem to be in them. Would anyone even suggest using these programs, or similar ones?

Anyway, my questions extend down to the areas of what software i would want to test my overclocking and stability with. So far ive only located one. But ive also heard of people using prime95 and some other things, would it be too much to ask if anyone could provide links and suggestions? Im not familiar with most of these programs at all, sure ive seen a few benchmarks, but thats the extent of it. And before i just dig in, i thought it best to consult some [H]ard people. :)


3DMark 2001 - http://www.futuremark.com/products/3dmark2001/
3DMark 2003 - http://www.futuremark.com/products/3dmark03/
Prime 95 - http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm
SiSoft Sandra - http://www.sisoftware.net

I have used 3DMark before however, just cause i wanted to watch the demos mostly, sad huh? :p

On a side note, my system runs roughly 41°C - 105°F at idle reoprted by my bios

Anyway, if you guys can point me in the right direction, would help out a ton. Thanks.


Ratha

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OS: Win98 SE
MB: Abit NFS-7 2.0 - (Bios 23)
Processor: AMD XP 2500+ Barton @ 1.837ghz @ 333mhz
Ram: 2x 256 Corsair PC3200 @ 2-2-2-6-? @ 333mhz (CMX256A-3200C2)
Video: ATI Sapphire Radeon 9500np (128 bit)
Sound: Creative Soundblaster Live
HDD1: Western Digital 120 w/8mb cache
HDD2: Western Digital 120 w/8mb cache
DVD: Samsung - DVD SD-608 - 40x8
CDRW: Lite-On - LTR-52246S - 52x24x52 - (204310007215)
Case: 3DCOOL Tornado 1000
Power: Antec - PP352X 350 Watt
Monitor: Cybervision - 15" C50
Keys: AT&T - RT101 - 120275-101 Rev B - (52250188)
Mouse: Logitech TrackMan Stationary Mouse - T-CC2-9F (LU069305378)
NIC: Linksys - NC100U Ver 2 - (213005699-E57U-AB-D)
Router: Linksys - BEFSR41 Rev 2 - (Bios 1.45.7) - (C2122034371)
Modem:
Heatsync: Thermalright SK7
Thermalgoop:Arctic Silver Ceramique
Speakers: MLi 691H

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BARTON:
27488
axda2500kv4d 9581488270946
aquca0306tpaw
 
Well, after screwing around a bit, heres what ive come up with.

I determined 1.75 to be a safe jump-to number just to get my up and running on the 3200+ level. However, i would like to know what a stock 3200+ runs at, i think its 1.75v.. but im not sure. I started the overclock just as the day began, so im not entirely sure whether the heat increase was due to room temp increase, or actual core temp rising by adding 0.1v.

2500+ @ 1.65v
Idle: 41C
Load: 45C

3200+ @ 1.75v
Idle: 47C
Load: 51C

My system *seemed* stable at 3200+ speeds with the voltage at 1.75. I set my ram to its defaults for an AMD platform. 2.5-3-3-6.

I used both the previously mentioned software overclocking programs in windows to bump my computer up to 3200+ speeds, but i also increased the stock voltage from 1.65v to 1.75v per a handful of overclock results i saw, and because my system would crash every time at 1.65v. I ran both CPU tests in Sandra 30 times for a burn-in, then ran both CPU tests with both memory tests 30 times. It didnt fail. Thats with software overclocking.

When i dropped to DOS to run memtest 86, i switched my bios setting to 3200+ and ran memtest through all the normal tests, then ran the normal tests again in the "ALL" test category. The only problem that occoured was that during the last test, i couldnt seem to cancel out of it, i dont know if it errored, or locked. The timer was going up after test 11 reached 100% and i had already waited over 3 hours for that test alone to finish, i didnt want to wait another undetermined ammount of time for the last to finish, so i hit the reset button.

-

All in all, im not entirely sure i accomplished much. I didnt want to push things too far for my first go-around, and my only goal was to reach 3200+ speeds like i had intended in the beginning. I think i did that anyway. Whether it was stable or not is still to be determined.

Current room temp is 83F - 28C. Now, if any would be a good time to do more testing as this is going to be roughly the coolest it will be in this room during the day all summer. And i might just put this off until i can bring the room temp down some. I would still however, like to hear some thoughts you guys have. Jumping into this semi-blindly i feel as if ive missed a few things, need to do different and more extensive testing, or something.


Ratha
 
I would stay away from any software utilities for overclocking unless it came with your board. Does the Abit uguru program work with that board? I belive most new Abit boards you can hold the insert key right after powering on to restore the default CPU and memory settings so clearing the CMOS isn't that big of a deal. http://www.overclockers.com has a good database to see what others with the same CPU are getting and on what voltage. Prime95 is another good program to use to test your system.
 
Im not sure whether the uguru program does or not. Ive not used it. Only heard of it recently when looking at their new motherboards.. so i dont think it does. The software overclockers i used seemed to work fine, but now that i know my board can handle those speeds, id be willing to try it as a hard setting in the bios. Both overclocking utilities seemed to work, but the nvidia one is too big to fit on 800x600, so i didnt use it.

I do have a question related to HDD corruption still needing an answer, probably the most important thing im concerned about.

Do i risk HDD corruption if i do not overclock the PCI or AGP bussing? Do i need to overclock them if i up my multiplier or fsb?

I have visited www.overclockers.com, actually that was the first place i went after i posted, saw a database of processors, but very few were close to my situation, so it didnt provide the best of information. Most of their articles dont really answer any of the questions i have however.

I was noticing that most of the ones i was going to read just a little while ago were dated 4 years ago, didnt figure they would give too much help, i did read the articles associated with what im trying to do, they didnt tell me any more than i already knew though.

Anyway, any help you guys can give me on these things would be a great help in reaching where i want to take this.


Ratha

EDIT: I have not given Prime95 a go yet. I didnt want to spend alot of down time testing stability today while i was awake, im not familiar with the working of Prime95 anyway, if i can run it while im doing other things, if i shouldnt run anything else when doing a burn in test with it, or what exactly. Those are the kinds of things and recommendations that i cant seem to find anywhere.
 
Seems to pass the mem tests in DOS but i cant run a single test in 3dmark 01/03 without crashing or locking the system up.. i wouldnt expect that id need to increase the vdimm voltage from 2.6 would i? I mean the ram is afterall now running at stock speeds.

Whats the next step? Should i up the vcore from 1.75 (or lower it some maybe?) Should i relax the ram even further than stock? Really all im pushing for is 11x200 and stable, that should not be hard on this machine at all from what im told.

Something odd i noticed was that my clock has changed for my 2500+ setting down to 1830, and stays there solid, where before i was sure it was at one point closer to 1837. The really odd thing is that the overclocked core cpu fluctuates between 1-4 mhz, sometimes its 2194, sometimes its 2196.. and it changes realtime, displaying in the programs i use to read them. Never noticed that with 11x166.


Ratha
 
Man, you need to bump the vcore up to keep it from crashing in 3dmark @ 3200. 1.75 would only yield 190 fsb for me when I had my 2500+. If you're going beyond 1.75, I would suggest having a very good hsf or watercooling.

And btw, I wouldn't suggest using a software oc utility either.
 
Well, i took that suggestion to bump up the vcore, i kicked it up to around 1.775 and as best i can tell, it runs stable.

Ive run a handful of memtests (not the extensive ones yet) and ive run sets of 5 loops through 3dmark 01 and 03, a 50 sets of 2 cpu tests in sandra, 25 sets of 2 cpu, and 2 memory tests.

All seemed stable.

When i crash for the evening tonight i will likely throw a full memtest at this setup and see what happens, as well as try to run a very long loop of cpu tests during the heat of the day to see what the temps are.

Multi x11 FSB 200
2205mhz
Vcore 1.775 (Stock @ 1.65)
Ram PC3200 @ 2-3-3-6

Those are the only modifications ive made so far. Neither 3dmark tests really increase in score, kindof has me wondering a little bit about that. I was under the impression the gap would have been bigger. Anyway, ill keep posting when ive more news.

If at all possible i would like to hear from you guys as to if i need to be worried about HDD corruption if i am not overclocking my agp or pci any.


Ratha
 
Well, apparently it wasnt stable. Prime95 didnt like it at all. Then again ive read posts about people taking prime95 with a grain of salt for errors. I sure dont know.

So i upped the voltage to 1.8v and set the ram timings back to default and am now testing with Prime95, so far so good.. but im using the computer at the same time its crunching numbers, so i dont know if its pressing the processor as hard as it could be, or even if that matters at this point.

Failed prime95 after an hour and 22 mins instead of the 1-6 mins that it was failing constantly on before. Im not sure if it has something to do with not having enough vcore, or if i need to relax my ram timings further or what.. i would think that running them at stock there shouldnt be any problem at all.

Vcore 1.8
Multi - 11
FSB - 200
PC3200 @ 2-3-3-6


Ratha
 
So there isnt anyone out there that can tell me whether or not overclocking my processor could cause data corruption on my hdds? I know overclocking the PCI bus can cause it, but can overclocked processors?

Apparently my computer ran Prime95 for between 8 and 9 hours last night on a 1.825v setting. In your opinions, should i up the voltage any further and try to weed out those errors and do more testing, or should i just call it good where it is?

Any suggestions would help out quite a bit. Im mostly shooting in the dark here as to what to do, ive a few concerns and questions, but no one has responded to any of them. Mostly i just need to know if im going to be risking any serious problems like HDD/data corruption by either leaving my computer at this point, or if i need to try and work past this point in weeding out an error that occours after 8-9 hours of number crunching.


Ratha
 
Pretty sure overclocked processors dont cause data corruption. Your only concern there is instability.

OK
Something I am still curious about is whats wrong with the software overclock utilites? They seem to work pretty well.
 
I believe overclocking in software just allows more room for problems. Cant say much towards that though, i dont have any experience on that but for a brief time i spent toying with my radeon 9500np in 3dmark seeing if overclocking it actually made a noticible difference. I dont remember the results heh.

I can see where it'd be useful to overclock on the fly, i can think of quite a few times i would.. but thats yet to be seen.

If i can help it, id rather not just sit and run tests on my computer for days on end to determine if its stable or going to screw up calculations if im doing something important. Ive already spent rouhgly 42 hours away doing tests when i should have probablly been doing something on it instead. Considering most of my free time, and work time is spent on this computer, i dont have a whole lot of time that i want to devote to testing.

Id have been happy if i closed prime95 before it errored around 9 hours, but knowing it gave me an error then makes me wonder if i want to up the voltage to 1.85v and then test it for who knows how long to determine if its going to be stable. Or if i want to just use it at that speed and voltage and hope it dosnt error on me during something important down the road.

Seems odd to me that id have to take it to 1.85v in order to get a stable processor considering the 3200+ is supposed to have a stock voltage of 1.75v.

Also with it being summer im going to have to sit and push it hard for a half hour in the blazing heat to see exactly how hot the thing gets. This time of year the temps in here change every 5 mins by 2-5C up or down depending mainly on the output of the computer. Room is roughly 10C warmer than the rest of the house in the summer. Cant be good for a processor thats already running 8C hotter at idle from 2500+ to 3200+

Lol, if i keep going im going to talk myself out of this project till this winter, or until i get an air conditioner in here.


Ratha
 
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