Old school: Overclocking a Northwood P4-3.0 on Asus P4C800-E Deluxe

[Hamilton]

I'm trying to overclock and old Northwood PC I've got here just for fun but for some reason it just won't budge a bit...

I set Vcore to 1.675V and then try to raise the FSB but anything above 200 is just a no-go. It posts but won't load windows.

Trying to raise FSB with SetFSB in windows results in a lockup within seconds.

Any hints?

[Kurumi]

What kind of RAM and cooler do you have?

[Hamilton]

RAM is some budget 2x512MB Kingston PC3200 and CPU-cooler is a Scythe Infinity that I previously used on a C2D.
Possibly it's the RAM that's holding me back but at least a few MHz more FSB should be possible even if the sticks are ...

[Kurumi]

The RAM is most likely the thing holding you back. Depends on the ICs on the RAM. You might also try raising the RAM voltage a bit to see if that works. Maybe also have a fan blowing on the RAM or voltage regulators to see if that might help.

[FlawleZ]

Why 1.675? Even for a 90nm that's super high on basic air cooling. Default voltage should see a 200-300 Mhz bump for the 3Ghz Northwoods no problem. What are your temps?

[Hamilton]

Temps are in the 50C range under load so they are definitely not the problem.
I raised the Vdimm to 2.75V just to give the mem some extra juice but it didn't help.

FlawleZ: I set 1.675V after reading some Northwood OC'ing articles. And it's just .125V above stock so I wouldn't call it super high. Also the Northwood is a 130nm CPU.

[[XC] Oj101]

Watch out for NSDS (Northwood Sudden Death Syndrome) with that voltage.

[FlawleZ]

Well, which board do you have? Its very possible your board is a no go on an increase in bus speed.

[[XC] Oj101]

Asus P4C800-E Deluxe. Hint - it's in the title That board is more than good enough

[Hamilton]

The board is an Asus P4C800-E Deluxe with the last beta bios from Asus website.

[Hamilton]

Asus P4C800-E Deluxe. Hint - it's in the title That board is more than good enough

You beat me to it!

[Falkentyne]

Yeah I had several Northwood 3.4C's degrade (though not die) with ONLY 1.675v. And I still remember the hate posts from people that called it a myth, and "user error."

Speaking of which, isn't 200 FSB the default speed for a 3.0C Or did they run at 166?
I KNOW 200 was the default speed for a 3.4...

[FlawleZ]

Yeah I had several Northwood 3.4C's degrade (though not die) with ONLY 1.675v. And I still remember the hate posts from people that called it a myth, and "user error."

Speaking of which, isn't 200 FSB the default speed for a 3.0C Or did they run at 166?
I KNOW 200 was the default speed for a 3.4...

200 was default yes. That's quad pumped of course to be 800 FSB on the motherboard. Multiplier was the difference.

[BiFfMaN]

I had Pelt/Water on my P4 northwood 2.6..ran it 3.4 for gaming for awhile, 3-4 years i think. The cooling kept it alive for as long as it did.

I actually i think i still have that CPU and Board in storage...might have to break it out.