[42o DrEwTiMe 42o]

Hello evreryone. I have recently done some overclocking to my system and wanted to run it by everyone to see if i did everything correct and im not just slowing down my system.

If you look at my system info i have the p4 5 series with the DDR2 533 ram. Tonight i put the FSB from 204(stock 3.2) up to 240(3.8ish) and i set the Dram to DDR400 giving me the 1:1 divider.

I am just wondering if this was a smart move with my system in terms of getting things to be a bit tighter and faster. I use my system a lot for high stress 3d online games and using music editing software to make songs.

Was the options i did actually gonna help me or did i just do nothing lol. I was under the impression that using the 1:1 divider and lowering the ram would make things faster. But i wasn't sure if the views on this have changed or not. I have the MCU set to 800, the other option higher then ths was 1066 i believe.

Just looking for a bit of guidence here, or for someone to tell me im an idiot hehe.

Thanks again

 

[CL3P20]

bah... screw your 1:1...you have fater RAM, use it. Running a 1:1 is usually the most efficient way to run RAM, as most boards will match the NB speed to the FSB....so that when you are truly 1:1, you FSB, NB and RAM are all running at the same mhz. If you have faster RAM you will no doubt have a faster more responsive cpu.....

RAM + intel= {faster, always better}

If you are still looking for a boost in performance, try to lower the latencies of you RAM a notch er' two. That will help speed up its efficiency at its given speed.

 

[42o DrEwTiMe 42o]

So should i be looking to up the divider to use more of the RAM's speed and have a more responcive system. This has always confused me somewhat. So im wondering if what i did was the right choice. Also i didn't have to mess withe the Vcore setting, and to be honest im glad becuase im not sure which this is talking about. I have a setting in BIOS that says CPU core Voltage. Is this what i would nbeed to be messing with. I read the Guide and it says not to go over certain temps, but im not sure if i have the northwood or prescott chip? could use some assistence

 

[42o DrEwTiMe 42o]

I have people telling me different stuff. Some say that i should be using a divider so that im using more of the rams capability. But others say that using the 1:1 Divider is best for performance. which is right lol?

 

[The Viper]

1:1 is optimal...all dividers do is give you the option of running the CPU speed independtly of RAM speed...Normally as you up the FSB u incresease the CPU speed as well as the RAM speed...typically the CPU speed will be able to OC much higher then the RAM, hence dividers, run your CPU with a high OC and keep a stable speed with the RAM. At 1:1 your CPU and RAM run at the same speed according to the FSM...For example, with my CPU and RAM they are currently running 1:1... (I have DDR2 800 RAM), so with a FSB of 400, my CPU is running @3.6 and my RAM is running at stock speeds of 400x2=800

 

[CL3P20]

If you are looking to go higher w/ your cpu, you need a program to stress your system. Stress testing is important to determine the stability of the speed you are attempting to run at. Most of the time you want to start out small until "learn" how the cpu reacts to vcore increases, as some cpu's will want more voltage than others to run at higher speeds.

ie.-> my other rig has a P4 630j, 3ghz stock. My overclock settings are as follows;
stock-> FSB,200 [800mhz] / vcore 1.26v @ 3ghz
FSB,230 [920mhz] / vcore 1.30v @ 3.45ghz
FSB,250 [1000mhz] / vcore 1.38v @ 3.75ghz
FSB,267 [1067mhz] / vcore 1.42v @ 4.00ghz

These are settings that I determined worked for my cpu, on my board, after long hours of testing,stressing the cpu and RAM...and of course numerous re-boots.

*So for starters download something like Prime95 or Orthos, to test your system after you OC. Remember you do NOT need to increase the vcore EVERY time your increase fsb. More than likely you will have to increase it a small amount for every 15-20mhz increase in fsb speed. **Also make sure you have a good temp monitoring program like speedfan or another equivalent. Dont let your load temps get over 50ish.

Good luck

 

[42o DrEwTiMe 42o]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CL3P20 If you are looking to go higher w/ your cpu, you need a program to stress your system. Stress testing is important to determine the stability of the speed you are attempting to run at. Most of the time you want to start out small until "learn" how the cpu reacts to vcore increases, as some cpu's will want more voltage than others to run at higher speeds. ie.-> my other rig has a P4 630j, 3ghz stock. My overclock settings are as follows; stock-> FSB,200 [800mhz] / vcore 1.26v @ 3ghz FSB,230 [920mhz] / vcore 1.30v @ 3.45ghz FSB,250 [1000mhz] / vcore 1.38v @ 3.75ghz FSB,267 [1067mhz] / vcore 1.42v @ 4.00ghz These are settings that I determined worked for my cpu, on my board, after long hours of testing,stressing the cpu and RAM...and of course numerous re-boots. *So for starters download something like Prime95 or Orthos, to test your system after you OC. Remember you do NOT need to increase the vcore EVERY time your increase fsb. More than likely you will have to increase it a small amount for every 15-20mhz increase in fsb speed. **Also make sure you have a good temp monitoring program like speedfan or another equivalent. Dont let your load temps get over 50ish. Good luck

Thanks for all the info CL3P20. However i didn't touch my Vcore temp at all when i did this over clock. I went from 204 fsb up to 240. I ran memtest for the RAM and prim 95 for several hours and had no errors. Just to get tis straight Vcore=CPU voltage correct?

Since i did not turn up the Vcore, does this mean the the CPU is not really working the best that it can be? I figured that since the system is stable that everything was ok for the OC that i just did. Let me know if i have to up the CPU voltage in order to get the real speed of the overclock. I do have a fan utility, it comes with my mobo so im able to monitor all temps and fan speeds. Right now the CPU temp is holding at 48' C.

 

[CL3P20]

Boy I hope its not 48c...idle, thats a little too hot

. If your system was prime stable and memtest stable w/ no voltage increase..then my hats off to you on a nice OC!

*Next to lower temps in pursuit of higher clock speeds. I dont like to idle any higher than low 40c's, usually that keeps my load temps from being over 55c.
-> There a few different techniques to lowering your temps...AS5 grease, lapping your Heatsink and or CPU...more fans etc....the list goes on and on. Lapping is especially effective, and by far the cheaper alternative to spending money on a more effective cooler. If you can idle around 30c, at your current OC...you could push quite a bit further w/ your cpu. As you get closer to a 20% OC, your RAM is going to be strained a bit more...a bump in voltage might be in order. Whatever the case, Memtest and Prime are going to bring out any flaws.

 

[42o DrEwTiMe 42o]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CL3P20 Boy I hope its not 48c...idle, thats a little too hot . If your system was prime stable and memtest stable w/ no voltage increase..then my hats off to you on a nice OC!

Ok thanks for the tip. My current fan eq utility is in the same screen as where i would make BIOS adjustments, im not sure if you were looking for my temps while i was actually doing something. I guess i would need to get some kind of windows program so that i could see that type of information in windows. However after i did the OC and ran the tests. I was playing an online game for about 3 hours just to make sure that i didn't get any lockups when the machine encountered high stress due to graphics, RAM usage ect.
After that point i restarted the machine and checked the temps and thats when i saw that it was at 48c. Should i still be worried about this? Or is thta ok when the system is "under load" so to speak?

*Next to lower temps in pursuit of higher clock speeds. I dont like to idle any higher than low 40c's, usually that keeps my load temps from being over 55c.
->
Quote:

There a few different techniques to lowering your temps...AS5 grease, lapping your Heatsink and or CPU...more fans etc....the list goes on and on. Lapping is especially effective, and by far the cheaper alternative to spending money on a more effective cooler. If you can idle around 30c, at your current OC...you could push quite a bit further w/ your cpu. AWhatever the case, Memtest and Prime are going to bring out any flaws.

Ok when i first put my system together, thanks yet again from the many helpful people here, i was told to junk the grease that came with my heatsync and picked up some AS5 so i did that from the start.

Ok a bit of my noobness comes out here, what exactly is "lapping"? could you give me a bit of insight as to how i would go about doing this? I have no idea what that means hehe. But if 48c winds up being my idle temp( PC has been off for hours, so im gonna start it up and see what it runs at when im not doing anything.) should i reverse my current OC until i can get the temps down? I would definitely not like to fry my CPU because of too much heat.

Quote:

As you get closer to a 20% OC, your RAM is going to be strained a bit more...a bump in voltage might be in order.

I actually already did this before i even OC'ed the system at all so that i could get tighter timings. I overvolted the RAM maybe one volt? can't remember exactly but i know at the time it worked because when i just tightened the timings the PC would not even boot up hehe. So i think i have that taken care of too.

 

[CL3P20]

Sounds like your on the right track...
go here-> www.guru3d.com

search in the download section for speedfan. DL it, install it. Its a very small temp monitoring program, gives current cpu and mobo temps + it has a graph function to check what 'was' going on when you were playing your games. it makes checking your highest temp easier. This will ensure that you can check your temp, real-time, just by looking at your taskbar.

*Next-> search under this forum for lapping under the Air cooling section, read for more info.

"lapping" is the term used to describe the process of sanding your heatsink and or CPU down to a level and highly polished surface. This technique is usually very effective at lowering temps, sometimes by more than 10c ! It is not very hard to do...it looks scary though!

*Lastly, while playing a game, cntrl+alt+delete, to exit and check your temp as seen on the taskbar by speedfan. You might want to open the graph on speedfan so you can look back and see what your temps were like when actually playing.
Shy away of load temps higher than 55c...however you can.

 

[42o DrEwTiMe 42o]

You have been a massive help bro. Thanks a lot for breaking it down for me.
I picked up speedfan yesterday but i just cant seem to get it to work. I have a post about it but i can't seem to get the thing to give me my temps. =(

 

[CL3P20]

Have you set the motherboard type in the program? You have to specify the board type and the IC type that does the monitoring. If your not sure which one to set...use a flashlight and check your mobo.

Your looking for this type of chip->Attachment 37273

the numbers will correspond to the choices you can pick from in Speedfan. Once you set the Ic type in Speedfan, all the functions will work.

 

[42o DrEwTiMe 42o]

I found a chip that said Winbond and then had some numbers after it. but none of those matched anything i could enter in the program

 

[CL3P20]

Hmmm....try to look up some images online, of your board, you might be able to get some help off of the Abit site, or search the Winbond chip for your board type....which I cant see while typing..

Good luck

 

[42o DrEwTiMe 42o]

Well i got another program that actually works for me. Its a Uguru program that works in windows. I assume that that one is fine cause all programs would monitor the same temp.

But the temp that it gives me in the windows program is about 7-9c off of what my temp reads in my BIOS temp monitoring area. Do you know why this would be?? Since i seem to be running into all this weird crap i have lowered my OC from 240 down to 220 till i can figure this stuff out.

 

[CL3P20]

What are your temps at idle? Have you run Orthos or Prime95 to stress and measure load temps? Stressing will help you get the lowest voltage on your OC also, as you will be able to see if the cpu can handle loads with lower or higher voltages and their prospective temps.