should i keep raising the vcore?

[the_mistah]

ive been trying to OC my chip (semprom 3000+) ive gotten up to 2188.8mhz with fsb 182....when i go up to fsb183 my system crashes i have to clear the CMOS........so i tried raising the vcore to 1.675v (1.65 current setting) it crashed again, so my question is should keep raising the vcore until it loads normal? (im just being extra careful because i dont wanna mess anything up) any feedback is appreciated ;) should i start playing with the ram divider? maybe thats why its crashing? its running at 432mhz data rate...it should be at 400 right?? sorry for so many questions


MOBO k7n2delta L (400fsb)
RAM pc3200 512mb (2)

[STEvil]

run your ram 1:1 with the FSB

[the_mistah]

so how do i check the stability of my cpu?? i have sandra standard but i dont know how to use it...it has so many icons..

[timpanogos]

also, back your fsb down with loose memory timing to isolate/find max cpu independant of mem/htt

woops, maybe I've been spoiled with no locks

[Daveb2012]

I wouldnt take your voltage up anymore then that I dont personally think its worth it, I just fried ram this weekend due to voltage..

[the_mistah]

how much more do u guys think i can squeeze out of my cpu?? i wanted to reach 2500mhz.....keep in mind this is my first cpu OC....is it also a good idea to get a better power supply ? i currently 300watt

[Ref]

definetly get a better PSU

[the_mistah]

my graphix card started to give me problems now...what is the best setting i can put it in to keep it from being affected by the OC....

[STEvil]

less

[the_mistah]

i didnt OC my vid card.....i overclocked my CPU...do u mean lessen the OC on my comp or lessen the agp bus?

[STEvil]

your CPU overclock is pulling more power than the PSU can provide to the full system.

lessen the CPU overclock.

[the_mistah]

in other words get a better power supply?what would be a good power supply for my system?? im running 5 fans ,radeon x700 pro,sb audigy sound card....350 watts ,450 watts????

[STEvil]

make is very important.

You can buy 600w psu's that are only as powerfull as a good 300-400w unit.

This thread is a good idea to read before buying one usually.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=56231

[K.I.T.T.]

yep, watts isnt everything - You want something withh good AMPs on the 5V and 12V line, preferably 30A or more on both of them.
Something like an Antec NeoPower 480W, Hiper Type-R 480W or an enermax noisetaker 475W :)

[the_mistah]

i replaced my power supply but i still cant get over fsb-182 and then once in a while it crashes and i have to go back down to 181 because sometimes it will still crash on 182.......do u guys thing this is the top of my OC?? i have my ram ratio 1:1 , vcore 1.675

[STEvil]

what cooling on the CPU? It might be as far as you cooling will allow.

[the_mistah]

this is what my vid card says : VPU Recover has reset your graphics accelerator as it was no longer responding to graphics driver commands,,,does it sound that my vid card is just mest up?? my vid card is still giving me problems but anyway....my temps are cpu:35.c cystem:39.c i have the stock fan on it

[STEvil]

under load those temps probably go up quite a ways...

Might want to clock your video card down in case its overheating.

What power supply did you replace your other one with?

[the_mistah]

antec sp 400,,, how do i underclock it? sorry for sounding like a dumass but im new to this kinda stuff :confused:

[Major_A]

Do you have the AGP locked, I had that same issue on with my 9800 Pro. Come to find out the lock "breaks" on my board in the 250-260 range.

Why are you guys telling him to run his RAM 1:1? He has a better chance getting there with loose RAM timings.

[the_mistah]

i dont know if its locked and if it is how do i unlock it?or do i have to unlock it?

[Major_A]

You lock the AGP to 66 so it doesn't overclock with the rest of your system and give you errors. Since you are getting VPU Recover errors that leads me to believe your AGP isn't locked. This setting is usually in the same area of the BIOS as the FSB adjustments.

Just looked at your motherboard. I haven't seen a person with a Socket A Sempron overclock it with success like the socket 754 line. Maybe you are just hitting the ceiling.

[the_mistah]

it is at 66 maybe its just my cards driver..........it only gives me those errors while playing...

[Major_A]

I doubt it, if the AGP frequency is running out of wack it will cause those errors. Try gaming at stock speeds and see if you get the same error. This way you can isolate the problem to either clock speeds or driver issues.

[the_mistah]

im trying to OC my cpu again.....i tried lowering the multiplier and leaving the system with oem specs my system still crashed (im guessing my cpu is locked) ...can it really be the top of my OC? the problems with my vid card are gone though....

[LFATB]

Your motherboard most likely does not have a pci frequency lock, I owned the same model, probably older revision. Check to see what your pci/agp frequency is when your bus speed is above 166

[the_mistah]

it gives me these options what should i change?.......im above 166 im at 182 at 183 its when it crashes

agp clock control [default]
agp clock value [66]
pci clock auto detect [enabled]
ram ratio [by spd]

[Ugly n Grey]

change the agp clock control value to enabled and leave the setting at 66. The PCI bus will auto lock when the rest of the bus is out of spec so it's fine where it is.

[the_mistah]

i went ahead and did what u said and fsb/dram ratio [1:1] or should i leave it [by spd]???

[Major_A]

No run your RAM with a divider. Set the RAM to 166 and see if you can overclock some more.

[Ugly n Grey]

by spd will leave it at 1:1 on most BIOS, a previous poster suggested leaving it 1:1 . As to an earlier question you posted that 300W PSU can definitely affect a stable overclock. In any case, taking the Sempron up a bit at a time on the FSB side with small incremental changes to voltages whenever you hit a bottleneck is the best approach. Your memory supports DDR 400 and you're not there yet so leave it 1:1. You may not get to 2.5GHz, but see how far you can get it stable.

[the_mistah]

whats the most i can raise the vcore without frying the cpu??and thanx for all the replies :toast: im at 2.3ghz now

[the_mistah]

reached 2.4 :)

[Ugly n Grey]

very nice, what's your vcore at?

[the_mistah]

1.75 ......the only weird thing is that my system still has the same temps as when it wasnt OC'd....can my readings be wrong?

[Ugly n Grey]

It should really go up only under load, if it's not increasing temp at that voltage I'd be temped to wonder what the bleep is going on.

[the_mistah]

under rendering in 3dsm or gameplay it goes up to 42c cpu system 43c.....do the temps seem normal?

[Ugly n Grey]

Seems perfectly normal to me. I'd say there is more in that chip yet :)

[the_mistah]

its already at 400fsb and my mboard handles only 400 fsb.....can i keep going?

[Ugly n Grey]

that's the official line, it's an nforce2 mobo, my lanparty nforce2 mobo is running a 250FSB without qualms for over a year. It's all dependent on what your memory/CPU can get you at 1:1.

[the_mistah]

my memory is at 200mhz (1:1)now but before i changed the freq ive seen it handle 220mhz.......so do i keep raising the cpu freq???and what are qualms?

[Ugly n Grey]

qualm: uneasiness about the fitness of an action
In other words it was fine.

So you've established your RAM will do 220, so find out what your CPU will do, small increments at a time and test it with Super Pi 2M digits or something similiar just to get an idea if its stable. When you think it's stable you can switch to overnight stability testing.

[the_mistah]

''Super Pi 2M digits or something similiar just to get an idea if its stable. When you think it's stable you can switch to overnight stability testing''


where can i get those programs?

[Ugly n Grey]

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=12257

[the_mistah]

i ran super pi and i only get a bunch of numbers i will i know if its stable?? or results

[Ugly n Grey]

if it bombs or dies, you know your sytem is unstable and you should back off the FSB. If it finishes the 2M calculation sucessfully, you are probably OK to continue raising the FSB. When you get to a point where is starts to fail, go back to the last known good overclock and start running loops to test stability. Failure means the system is not Pi stable. There are other Pi programs used as well , just run a search here on the board.

[the_mistah]

i finally have it stable at 2505mhz :D 1 last question about my temps...my MOBO reads 57c but 2 other programs read it at 37c wich 1 do i beleive?

[Ugly n Grey]

Your motherboard is better than the programs. The BIOS Health readings are about as good as it gets without having a separate probe really. I am curious as to why the big disparity though, the programs aren't usually THAT far off. Is that 57 under full load? Because that's a bit warm, you might be looking at investing in better cooling for that OC.

[the_mistah]

THATS 57C IDLE I THINK :rolleyes:
THATS WHEN I RESTART FROM NORMAL USE
SHOULD I GET INTO BIOS SETTINGS AND LEAVE IT THERE FOR 15 MINUTES ?? AND AS COOLING GOES I REPLACED THE H/F WITH A (VANTEC AEROFLOW2 VA4-7245)

[Ugly n Grey]

Well look, cooling is important, is the heatsink fitted with a quality thermal past ? or did you use the thermal tape on the heatsink? What is the voltage at right now?

[the_mistah]

i used the thermal paste that came with the h/f.....and the vcore is at 1.75 just 1 step above normal, 2 intake fans 2 exaust fans and 1 pci exaust fan.....

[Ugly n Grey]

Nice :)
Well max temp is 90c so no real panic, just try it out if it becomes a problem try a different cooler
http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/desktop/details.aspx?opn=SDA3000DUT4D

[the_mistah]

thanx and besides when it starts to over heat it will start freezing and doing random crashes right?

[Ugly n Grey]

yes but keep an eye on the temp and you might want to set your BIOS up to shut down the system at say 75c automatically anyhow...should be under PC HEALTH options or something like that.
You've got a nice little system on your hands there :) Now that you've gotten a taste of OCing you might want to keep your eyes open for an Athlon XP mobile 2500 and push that sucker farther :toast: :woot:

[the_mistah]

thanx for all your help bro :toast:

[Ugly n Grey]

No worries, my pleasure, makes me smile to see peeps wring every last Mhz out their equipment, like we are getting the best of the hardware vendors or something :toast:
You can help me out if you like by adding to what is becoming a fun thread in the chat section
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=68642

[the_mistah]

i think i can actually push this 1 more but i need better cooling....i have a athlon xp 2200 1.8ghz ill practice more on that 1 ....