Overclocking // Powersupply questions/troubleshooting

[`schr0et]

Hey guys I have a few questions about my power supply and my overclock on whether or not my powersupply is suffiecient enough to power my system. My comp spec is as follows:

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton @ 2.48 Ghz (225x11 @ 1.95 VCore, Chipset Voltage @ 1.7)
ABIT NF7-S V2.0
2X 256MB Corsair XMS3200 (225 FSB, 2-2-2-6 @ 2.9 VDimm)
Built by ATI Radeon 9500 Pro 3,0 ns Inf. (375/335) (AGP Voltage 1.5, unstable @ 1.7)
Antec TruePower 430W
Cooling - SLK-900U // Vantec Tornado 92mm 120 CFM
Samsung 52x24x52 CD-RW
AOpen 56X CD-ROM
Sony disk drive
Thermaltake Xaser III Case with the following -
7 Case fans, CPU fan, Crystal orb on Vid card, light on front of case, cathode inside case, Thermaltake Hardcano

Now I'm working on getting my new overclock stable, at the moment I get 38 C idle and 42 full load. Now I have my VCore set to 2V but my CPU only utilizes 1.94-1.95 of it. I need suggestions to make this stable, right now I have my AGP Voltage @1.7 and 3dMark crashed, but thats no surprise since it was never stable at 1.7 Volts since before I tried this new overclock, so I'm gonna try 1.5 AGP Volt after I post this. Should 2V be sufficient for my 225x11 O/C? Should I up it to 2.1V? Also I have a question as to whether or not I'm gonna fry the §§§§ out of my CPU if I go over 2V, remember I'm on aircooling. Any BIOS settings / Computer settings that would help me run stable is more than welcomed. Please feel free to post anything that would help me get this setting stable, just to make sure you guys aren't confused I don't get blue screens or lock ups with my current settings, I just ran 3dMark2k1 once and halfway through Lobby low detail 3dMark2k1 just closed itself.

Thanks for reading this guys :) Hope I can utlize the intelligence you guys have :toast:

Later

[Swiftdeathz]

IMO you shouldn't go over 1.95v.... I personally wouldn't go over 1.85v since the small gains are overshadowed by the danger of killing your chip fast...

the dropping to desktop while running 3d is usually your Northbridge not having enough volts or your memory not being up to the task...

[`schr0et]

Thanks for the post appreciate your opinion :toast: . I also like your thought that it may be my Northbridge not having enough volts or my RAM not being able to handle the worldload. I'm gonna try running 3dMark2k1 again @ 1.5 AGP Voltage and see if it runs the whole way through, if it does then it hopefully means the problems fixed. ATM my RAM timings are @ 2-2-2-6, 2.9 VDimm. I might change it to 2-3-2-6 to see if its any better. Are there any VMods for the northbridge? Also simple nub question, am I exposing myself to dead mobo if I do a VMod?

Thanks for your help :)

[Swiftdeathz]

Originally posted by PRanganathan
Thanks for the post appreciate your opinion :toast: . I also like your thought that it may be my Northbridge not having enough volts or my RAM not being able to handle the worldload. I'm gonna try running 3dMark2k1 again @ 1.5 AGP Voltage and see if it runs the whole way through, if it does then it hopefully means the problems fixed. ATM my RAM timings are @ 2-2-2-6, 2.9 VDimm. I might change it to 2-3-2-6 to see if its any better. Are there any VMods for the northbridge? Also simple nub question, am I exposing myself to dead mobo if I do a VMod?

Thanks for your help :)

for the Northbridge it's usually referred to as a VDD mod... If your motherboard supports changing the voltage in the BIOS like I suspect then you don't need to do a VDD mod...

go here (http://www.8rdafaq.com/)... That site has a ton of info...

And generally it's considered safe at around 1.8v for the VDD (northbridge voltage) with adequate cooling...

[`schr0et]

Ya my VDD / Chipset voltage is currently at 1.7, I would like to get it at 1.8 to see if I can get this setup stable :), I'm using BIOS version nf7d_14 - 5/13/03 (Final Release). BTW thanks for that website I love it, I wanna try the pencil mod, how much does a multimeter cost? Thanks again for your help.

[`schr0et]

I think I found my way home, I love this website!!! It has all the extremists working together to find more extreme solutions to fulfil our overclocking addiction, but only to lead us to more overclocking lol :D

I must say when I first started ordering parts for this computer my goal was to hit 233x11, I ran 235x10.5 for a good while until I settled upon 220x11 for about 1 day lol! Now I'm trying to get 225x11 stable, and I don't think I'll stop there either lol! Thanks for any more help you can give me!

[Swiftdeathz]

they can be found for $19.95

They have this one which is 29-range (http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F008%5F002%5F001%5F000&product%5Fid=22%2D813)

Then they have this one which is 15-range (http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F008%5F002%5F001%5F000&product%5Fid=22%2D810)

I picked up the 15-range since they were out of the other 29-range...

[Holst]

I wouldnt recomend the pencil mod, do it right and use a pot.

I doubt your PSU is insufficent, your most likely overheating, you are allready pushing allot of voltage.

Open the window and try overclocking a 4am when its coldest and see if you do any better.

[`schr0et]

Ya I went out at 930 in the morning to get my items for the VModding, I actually got the 29 Range one in your first link hehe. I'm gonna be using aligator clips instead of actually soldering onto the board, I'm gonna solder wires to my 10K Ohm Variable resister, solder those wires to my aligator clips then clip one on ground, and one on the 6th pin. then I'm gonna use the checkpoints to make sure my voltage is all right.

Um any suggestions?