Need help with first P4...

[#ball3r]

I just put this system together today....

2.4C P4 costa rica 06/05/03
Abit IC7-G w/zalman nb heatsink installed
2x256 OCZ 3700 gold (that I know has run over 300fsb in this board
Hercules 9700 pro
1 WD 36gb Raptor
SLK-947U w/92mm Tornado and Vantec Nexus fan controler


I'm not too sure how to adjust the bios for P4's and was wondering what someone can recommend for setting up the game accelerator so I can overclock this chip a little? Like I said I know what the board and ram will do with a different 2.4C in it, i'm just not sure what this chip can do since it's new. I'm noticing a heat issue kinda already. My overclocked 3000+ Barton was running cooler then this one is running stock speed and voltages. Any suggestion would be very appreciated.

[Nohto]

Leave all of the Game settings and below to Auto. It is kind of hard to compare a Barton to a P4 especially when you can't trust the onboard temp monitors. I suggest setting your voltage on the processor the default and try raising the FSB a little at a time and check for stability. If you have a aftermarket measuring device that should help.

[#ball3r]

k i did that and upped the fsb to 130 3:2 and ran pretty much everything stock, except I changed the one setting to psb800 (think that's what it was). I ran prime for 30mins and it ran no prob with MBM showing temps of 44C cpu, 25C system.

[Nohto]

You can just set it to SPD I think or whatever the 1:1 default setting is. It is the same thing if I am thinking of the correct bios setting.

[#ball3r]

no this one has choices of either 400, 533, and 800. I'm also running now at 3.08ghz 1.52 actual voltage (set to 1.55v in bios). 251fsb isn't bad to start for this brand new chip :). I had a problem cause I was running memory by spd and while I was upping the fsb I forgot that the timings will lower also so I was having problems. Now i'm just running the memory at 2.5, 3, 3, 8 2.8v (2.74 actual).

[Nohto]

had a problem cause I was running memory by spd and while I was upping the fsb I forgot that the timings will lower also so I was having prob

What do you mean the timings will lower? Do you mean your ram timings lowered? I am lost on this one. Your timings shouldn't lower, unless you had them set to a more aggressive setting and then there was a problem with the board setting the timings to less agressive timings. Abit didn't really have this problem, but the MSI board really had problems of resetting the timings no matter what you set them to.
The psb800 is the 1:1 setting. You get the same results if you set it to the default setting. I can't remember exactly what it is. It was either auto or SPD or one of those. I have my board out of the Promie at the moment so I can't actually look.

[#ball3r]

what i meant was as i was raising the fsb my memory timings were tightening up. They started at 2.5,3,3,8 at spd, but as I raised fsb I noticed it was at 2.5,2,2,6. Don't know how that happened since like I told you it was set to spd. I have it set to psb800 and the 3:2 ratio and am now running at 260fsb 3:2 same voltage as last time. At the rate i'm going can you take a guess at what you think I might top out at?

[Nohto]

It's hard to say, but since you are air cooling you should be able to set you ratio to 1:1 since your cpu should crap out before your ram does. In that case you want to ge the most out of your ram when you find your max OC for that 2.4. I never maxed out any of the P4's on air. I always used my Promie, so I wouldn't be a good source for that info.
That is weird about the timigs changing themselves. I haven't heard about that one.(at least not changing to more agressive settings) What are the default timings? What are the SPD timings for that ram suppose to be?

[#ball3r]

k now my problem is I can run prime95 for an hour with no errors at 260fsb 3:2 1.6v but once I enter a game it reboots after a min of being connected? What could be the problem?

[Nohto]

It could be any number of things. It could be driver issues, or it could be stability issues. I have had prime run for hours no problem and then have 3Dmark crash before finishing the 7 tests all of the time. Try changing your ratio to 1:1 and find out what your max RAM OC is. What game? What volt to ram? What timings?
Oh yeah and that bios setting is for the NB strap. It should be by CPU.
You could also run Memtest 86 test 5 to check for ram errors.

[#ball3r]

ok since i bought ram and board from a trusted friend who reviews/tests parts I know that this combo has benched at 306fsb 3:2 with a different 2.4C, so I don't think it's a ram issue. Could be driver related possibly, maybe the fact i'm still using the beta17 bios that he preloaded for me. The game is Enemy Territory and the ram voltage is set to 2.8 (2.74 actual) and timings of 2.5,3,3,8. Thanks for your help dude, seems like your the only one that wants to help. One thing i'm going to do tomorrow is reseat the heatsink, and mount the nb fan on the zalman with crazy glue.

[Nohto]

Try raising your cpu voltage a little and see if that helps.