OCing epox 8kha+

[Kerry00]

Hi,

I've got a system running with epox 8kha+ with amd athlon xp 1600 and 2 x 256mb PC2100 corsair DDR RAM. When I try OCing this to anything above 133 FSB i either get a blue screen error, no post or no boot. Do i need to tweak my cpu voltage settings or voltage on my dimm slots? my CPU is running at around 45F, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Anyone have any suggestions? I've heard rumors that I should get a 512 stick rather than having 2 x 256 sticks. And also, what PCI slots should i use for my peripherals? I've heard yet more rumors that PCI slot 1 should never be used.

Any help would greatly be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[XingHa]

Kerry00,
I have the same setup as you. There's a lot of useful overclocking info here amdforums.com
Good Luck

 

[revvy]

Did you flash you mobo with the latest BIOS?
Also, you should try to give your DIMM slots a little more juice in order to improve stability. Also, try adding more voltage to your CPU.

Oh yes! Maybe you should try to do this with ONE stick of memory. I've populated one dimm slot with a Crucial 256mb PC-2100 module and it overclocks fine, but only up to 150 MHz FSB as I've a crappy HSF combo (GlobalWin WBK-68).

Speaking of HSF's.. it might not be a good idea just to overclock with just a retail HSF.. try something a little more high end like an Alpha or Thermalright...

Just my two cents.

 

[revvy]

Oh yes!
To add to my previous message, make sure you have good airflow through your case as you don't want the same "hot air" recycled in your case, whereby you just increase ambient temperature.. I leave the side panel of my Inwin S500 off, so that air is able to dissipate a little easier and I've got an exhaust fan to push out what hot air is left

Good luck on your overclocking endeavours!

 

[Kerry00]

Hey,

Thanks for the replies. Do you really think it's my bios that's not up-to-date? And /xinha you have the exact setup as me? what is your FSB running at now? Also, is 47F too high? do i need to get a better hsf?

I tried increasing my voltage on both my cpu and ram, but i still get no post or blue screen.
Xinha I would really appreciate it if you can give me a detailed specification on your configuration.

Thanks

 

[revvy]

You might want to overclock just with one DIMM slot populated.. increase the voltage on both your DIMM slot and CPU voltage as well.. you might be able to overclock that way.. if that doesn't work.. I dunno dood..

 

[chizow]

Could be a lotta things...PSU, heat, low voltage to CPU or dimms, hardware conflict etc etc.

You shouldn't populate PCI slot 1 unless you absolutely have to, and even then I would put something inconspicuous there as slot 1 usually shares the same interrupt as the AGP slot. I know this to be true on the 8KHA+ b/c I used to run 98SE with it and I had to manually configure my interrupts/IRQs through the BIOS. I put my USB header there now and a slot cooler below it.

As to the 2 dimm vs 1 dimm, thats a rumor that I've never heard before. I have 2 x 256 going with no problems, and others like Insane3d have had all 3 dimms populated with very healthy OCs.

You should really list out all your components, or fill out a rig sheet under my.anandtech and link it in your sig. Makes it much easier to diagnose issues. Btw, my rig is in my sig, and I'm running an 8KHA+.

Chiz

 

[XingHa]

Kerry00,
I don't think I'll be much help here. I'm currently running the 8kha+ with a 1600 Palamino with an Alpha 8045, 2 x256 Crucial PC2100, Geforce 4 4200, and SBLive card. I can get only up to about 143 FSB before I run into errors as well. My XP is locked so chances are that I may be CPU limited. I would follow the advice of those above, try a BIOS flash and new heatsink. Sorry I'm not much help.