2500+ Barton wont get stable

[sjmX`]

Hey to everyone btw as this is first post...

...anyways...

my system is as follows (as i aint made sig yet)

2500+ Barton (bought before week 39, therefore unlocked)
NF7-S
1gb PC3200 Twinmos
Radeon 9700 Pro
Watercooling

Now i do know how to overclock and all, but im confussed of why my chip hates 1) overclocking past 2.3GHz and 2) 200FSB

Now...when i first got watercooling i went upto 2.3GHz stable as you like, the i pushed 2.4GHz with some probs but when i had a vcore of 2V it seemed stable, then i hit 2.5GHz which i couldnt get stable at all.

I have since had trouble having 2.3GHz stable and im now at 2.24GHz and it seems ok for now. But i hear about everyone getting like 2.3GHz on AIR and 2.5 on WC...what whats my problem?

Im currently at: 185 x 12 @ 1.85, @ 1.75 Chipset core

[sjmX`]

and i have just blue screened using 3dmark03 on the beginning of the second CPU test! so now im at 180FSB = 2.17!

what is going wrong??

[DCR]

Welcome!

I have a mobile...so things are a bit different for me. Try 200 x 11 once with 1.7 vcore...also did you leave the timings alone on the RAM?

++edit++

Oh, and what power supply do you have, and how many other things are hooked to it?

[sjmX`]

FULL SYSTEM IS AS FOLLOWS

2500+ Barton
NF7-S
1gb 3200 twinmos (512 x 2)
Radeon 9700 Pro
80gig IDE
18.2gig SCSI (with scsi card in pci)
SB Live 5.1 Digital
Wireless Network Card
DVD-Rom
CD-RW
Chieftec PSU 360W
Standard Mobo Connector Stuff
Watercooling
2 Blue LED Case Fans

Im tempted to totally reset bios so any settings i may have changed are undone. Oh and i have discovered it hates 200FSB and i dont know why!

[STEvil]

that psu could be topping out..

[sjmX`]

humm....thing is i dont want to buy a new PSU and then not have any better results.

for xmas im getting a 200gig SATA so i can get rid of SCSI and the SCSI card
i can get rid of the SB aswell if it would help...

[Cicero2]

Hi,

try 10 x 222 and, if it works stable, increase FSB one by one. 2300Mhz should be possible with the rigg.

What is the RAM frequency and timings? What is the GPU frequency, is it overclocked (This GPU OC was impossible with my rigg, btw!!!!!)

+cicero2+ :banana:

[sjmX`]

Ram is 2.5, 3, 3, 8 (what it came as)

222 will crapout my ram wont it, that will be asking my ram to act 444 when its only ment to be 400. 410-420 i can see but 444?

[DCR]

That is really odd....I haven't seen an NF7-S that couldn't reach 200 FSB...

[sjmX`]

thats what im thinking...

i mean it aint my ram, it must be something to do with the chip not liking 200FSB, but i aint never heard of that...

[$0m#0n#]

The ram should work @444Mhz I think

[sjmX`]

well something in my pc HATES 200+FSB and i duno what it is

[STEvil]

try staying around 185fsb.

Wouldnt be the first nf7-s to not reach 200fsb.

[bachus_anonym]

That is really odd....I haven't seen an NF7-S that couldn't reach 200 FSB...
unless it's either rev NF7-S 1.1 or 1.2 (non-ULTRA 400) or really crappy RAM.

[sjmX`]

http://img92.exs.cx/img92/2733/CPUZ.jpg

have a look at all the settings yourself, crap overclock for now though

[bachus_anonym]

it looks like it's rev2.0.... so if i were you i would just tear the PC apart...
just leave: mainboard and cpu. no scsi card, no scsi hdd, no SB.
put one stick in DIMM SLOT 3 (further from CPU) and in BIOS set timmings as it supposed to be run at 200FSB, 8-3-3-2.5. go for 200x9.5 and fire it up and run memtest86... if it runs OK with no errors then go to Windows and check it at 200x9.5 (prime95 or SuperPi 32M).
if it fail any of those tests, then try with the other stick, but still one of them in SLOT 3. repeat and report back here....

EDIT: what BIOS version are you using?

[sjmX`]

i havent updated bios since i have had the board, im scared to just incase it goes wrong!

tonight i shall take out my wireless card and SB live. i would take out SCSI but all my benchmarks are loaded onto it.

i hope it is my PSU or my bios version, as i dont really want to buy a new PSU and update bios and STILL have problems.

REMEMBER THIS IS NOT A XP-M! but it was bought before week 39 therefore unlocked when bought!

[di_entropy]

try one of tictac's nf7 bioses with L12 softmod built in.. im using D26 manta ray XT with good results

[sjmX`]

ok....im lost now!

explain what the softmod does please

im scared of updating bios due to not having the money if it craps up! let alone custom bios's

[di_entropy]

you have nothing to be scared of :) bios flash is really simple

i am not 100% sure of the technical details of l12 mod and im not entirely sure whether it applies to your CPU or not but basically it just tricks the motherboard into using different (166/200fsb) romsip tables that work better at high FSB..im sure someone else could explain it better :stick:

but imo whether l12 mod will help you or not is a moot point, you should try out tictacs d26 bios purely because it kicks ass :)

check out this thread here, http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=42076

[sjmX`]

well should i at first try my motherboards lastest bios?

and how do i flash them as i have never properly learnt!

[sjmX`]

i duno if its going to help but i have just repaired windows, just incase i had any curpurtion there causing blue screens

[masterofpuppets]

Just try the tictac BIOS. And get a higher watt PSU. Get a nice PCP&C Turbo-Cool :)

[bachus_anonym]

u really need to part your PC to find out what is going on.... if it works just fine at 200x9.5 without any add-on cards then it's not BIOS nor Mem nor CPU...
honestly, BIOS would be the last thing you should try. Power PC & Cooling PSU is an overkill as there are many other options that fit your desired OC.
and also, fresh windows install would be better than Repair.

bottom line is, start with basic troubleshooting and then move to BIOS and Windows...

[sjmX`]

well later tonight im going to make some space on main HD so i can take out scsi for now, take out wireless card and take out SB live and see how i go

[sjmX`]

just a thought, but i have one of those extra 4pin connectors on my mobo for voltage i think. but i never connected it up as i duno exactally what its used for...

any ideas?

and yes i do have the 4pins coming outa my PSU

[STEvil]

thats for power to the cpu. Plug it in.

[sjmX`]

it says "auxiliary 4-pin power connector placed near the voltage regulators for a short run to the socket."

so would that give me more stability?

[STEvil]

a lot probably.\

make sure you shut down before you plug it in or you might get a spark which would be bad.. ;)

[sjmX`]

well i have put it in and im @ 2.27GHz right now and all seems stable, im just upping at 4MHz on FSB each time and taking it slow. good thing i have the laptop to reach you guys if it goes crap!

[sjmX`]

quick update for you now:

been to 2.4GHz (200 x 12) but didnt like the 200FSB

currently trying 2.38Ghz (190 x 12.5) if its stable im going to leave it for a while
or i might just try 2.4GHz tonight...

i duno...

[STEvil]

12.5x192 ;)

[sjmX`]

tired and it werent stable and 1.9V dont sound nice to me!

im only 20MHz under 2.4GHz so im happy! i still might get a XP-M 2500 for xmas OR a new PSU and HD

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP!! IM VERY HAPPY WITH OVERCLOCK! :banana:

[STEvil]

no problem ;)

[sjmX`]

http://img51.exs.cx/img51/2678/overclock.jpg

it aint got anything on what you lot have done but its my best stable overclock with my system so far and im happy. SiSoft says im quite a bit infront of a 3.4E so :p:

Thanks again

[sjmX`]

UPDATE: Im now at 2.47GHz and it seems stable for now! *touches wood*

[STEvil]

Nice, keep going! ;)