Ikonboard » Printable Version of Topic » Anyone got some good overclocking tips?

Forum: The Classroom
Topic: Anyone got some good overclocking tips?
started by: Hellraiser

Posted by Hellraiser on Jun. 01 2000,08:27

I can't seem to get my system to even post over a 124 FSB. My current system is a PIII 450 on an AZZA PT-6IBD, 256MB of PC100 RAM. I have put additional cooling on the CPU and a good case fan, heat is not the issue because it doesn't run much over 85-90 degrees. Everything works fine at 124FSB, but I am sure that it should be able to go higher. With the PIII 500 system I was using, I was able to hit several FSB settings higher than 133 no problem. I think the highest it got to was 148 FSB. And it was the same type of RAM, so I don't think that's the problem. Any ideas?

Posted by simulacrum on Jun. 01 2000,08:35

Two things:
The PII 450 generally doesn't get much higher than 558. Check out Overclockers, they have a database of CPU speeds, and the average speed atained is only 588.

Second, I would count on that PC100 being stable at much past 120, I'm suprised you got it as high as you did!

Another thing you could consider is the motherboard. Which one do you have?

[This message has been edited by simulacrum (edited June 01, 2000).]

Posted by marc c on Jun. 01 2000,12:25

What type of video card are/were you using?

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Posted by eng_man on Jun. 01 2000,13:59

My PIII 450 is happily chuggin along at 650. But I also have an Alpha on it.

The main problems with getting to high fsb (assuming it's not the CPU itself) is the AGP divider and your memory. When you say "it was the same type of memory" do you mean it was the same stick? or just that it was pc100? Not all memory is created equal. Same goes for the video card, once you start getting up around 133 most AGP video cards will crap out. Try sticking in a PCI card to see if that's what is causing the problems.

Simple troubleshooting is usually all it takes to get your CPU higher. All this is assuming it's not the CPU itself that is causing the problems.

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Posted by eng_man on Jun. 01 2000,19:10

Try getting the newest BIOS for your mobo, I know that has helped get a few people over that last little bump up in speed. May or may not work for you.

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Posted by Hellraiser on Jun. 02 2000,05:38

I have a ASUS V7700 GeForce 2 GTS DDR video card, and the memory I am using all came from the same batch presumably, I bought it all at the same time from the same company. I don't know who makes it, but it's stable at CAS 2 133 on one PC, and only 124 on another PC.

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Posted by Hellraiser on Jun. 02 2000,18:42

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I have downloaded the latest bios, but have to try to figure out whether it is a 1 or 2MB bios, and the instructions for finding this out are rather vague; the bios doesn't match either of the two descriptions for their bioses. This is the last time I get a MB from AZZA.

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Posted by Happyfish on Jun. 03 2000,03:19

I can't get my system past 105 FSB
I can go to 110, but UT freezes after a few minutes..

Posted by Hellraiser on Jun. 03 2000,07:39

I can play UT for hours, it's never crashed on me.

But anyways, I found out that I already have the latest version of the BIOS on the MB, so I can't very well upgrade it. One reason I don't like this is because my old MB (The one that fried) had the 124FSB option, but this MB goes right from 112 to 133, no 124, so now I'm stuck at 504. Do you think that if I get better case cooling I'd be able to get my system to post at 133? That'd be something I could do. At least I don't have to deal with this anymore after 2 months because I'm getting a CuMine 800 or so based system and a friend is buying what I have now. I guess I can live with 112 until then.

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Posted by Wookie on Jun. 03 2000,08:23

if the RAM is causing the problems, try looking for the RAM Clock Speed option in your BIOS
i know that on my ABIT KA7-100 (it's an Athlon mobo) i've got 3 otpions :
- HClck
- HClck + PCIClck
- HClck - PCIClck

if your RAM is PC100 and your FSB is 133, try using the HClck - PCIClck option to lower the RAM clock speed

Posted by eng_man on Jun. 03 2000,09:43

I think for your nest mobo purchase you should stick with the brands that are known to overclock well on.

Abit and Soyo come to mind, although there are a few others. How are you sure that this specific CPU will even make it to 133? That's a pretty big jump, I'm kinda doubting as to if it'll make it. If you had it in a board that it did 133, why isn't it in this board now?

Better case cooling _usually_ doesn't net you any higher fsb speeds. It's only really useful if you system will make it to a speed, only to crash a few hours later as heat builds up. Of course having good airflow won't hurt anything, but I don't think you wanna spend money/time on something that isn't gonna get you what you want.

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ya know ya wanna slap it ...

Posted by Kayy on Jun. 03 2000,14:04

The best solution for O/C'ing is not to do it at all, especially if your system is a prebuilt machine or its built from parts from a big, well known dealer and its still under guarantee/warranty. If you O/C and something screws up big time, and you take it back and say it died, if its a big firm, then chances are they are gonna have a full-on testing rig, and they will know what caused the problem to arise.

Trust me on that, I've warned friends about it, and they didnt listen, then when their parts screwed up under guarantee/warranty and they tried to get replacements, the companies said basically "Screw you, you overclocked it to unsafe speeds, you aint gettin jack from us". People learn from their mistakes, its true, but to never have to make the mistake to learn from, you're a better off person.

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Posted by Hellraiser on Jun. 03 2000,15:01

Never had a problem with that because I got my computer from a very small company and only had to RMA the power box and the old fried MB. They took it without blinking.

Thanks for the additional advice, I plan on getting an ABIT MB in my next 'puter. I will look into the RAM clock speed settings thing and see what I can do about that. The CPU should be able to handle 133, it's made it there before in a different rig.

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Posted by xaustinx on Jun. 04 2000,21:37

what was different in the p3-500 rig? im thinking it was a different motherboard.. or maybe you have other cards in your p3-450 rig that arent in the p3-500 rig.. remember when u push the FSB up like that the agp clock gets messed did they both have the same video card? some cards can't handle an overclocked AGP bus verywell *cough nVdia cough*

also u might wanna try cooling the chipset if it's a BX chipset.. it wasnt rated for anything over 100mhzFSB. Hope this helps..