Overclocking 3500+ Winchester

[Icepick]

OK guys, I've been struggling with overclocking my 3500+ Winchester. I currently have it set to 10x250 for 2.5GHz. I ruled out my memory as a cause for the problem by setting the divider to 100 and the timings to 3-4-4-10-2T. I can run Prime95 all day as well as run all of the 3dMark series and SuperPI without errors. The problem is that when I restart the computer it will hang while Windows XP is loading (on the first screen where the blue bar is moving.) This happens randomly and is the only problem I'm having while overclocking.

Do you guys have any ideas about what's causing it to hang while Windows loads? Is this usually indicative of a power supply problem? Here's my overclock specs:

FSB: 250
CPU mult: 10
CPU Voltage: 1.45 + 5% over
HTT Freq: 4
DRAM: 100, 3-4-4-10-2T
DRAM Voltage: 2.8V
Spread Spectrum: disabled
Cool 'n' Quiet: disabled

Athlon 64 3500+ Winchester
Thermalright XP-90 w/ Vantec Stealth
MSI K8N NEO2 Platinum
OCZ EL PC3200 2-3-2-6-1T
BFG 6800GT (stock, no overclock)
Samsung 160GB SATA
Western Digital 40GB IDE
NEC 3500 DVD-RW
Matshita DVD ROM
Antec TrueBlue 480 (12V=28A)

 

[Appledrop]

problem with SATA lock perhaps?

 

[Icepick]

I hope not. My SATA drive is connected to SATA port number 3 on the mobo. I hope the lock isn't broken . Oh and BTW, my AGP is set to 67 in the BIOS so that should be locked. I've also disabled the Nvidia ethernet port and the SATA 1&2 ports. I also went into the hidden settings and disabled the ATI/Nvidia speed up option.

I really hope that I didn't just receive an overclocking lemon in regard to the CPU overclocking ability. Seems that I should be able to squeeze out at least 300MHz considering what others are getting with little or no CPU voltage increase.

Is there a very high power draw on the CPU while Windows XP Pro loads? More so than when Prime95 runs?

 

[PClark99]

try the CPU at 250x9. If it gets into windows, it is the processor.

If not then something else is holding you back.

Try setting your core voltage to 1.5 +5%.

The MSI board undervolts the winchester CPUS by about 0.1V.

 

[Duvie]

I would test the ram...Most issues with these AMD systems especially once trying to OC is the memory and timings....Run memtest86 for awhile.....

I would think the PSU would be fine, but report voltages you are seeing...

 

[Icepick]

I ran memtest on the RAM for an hour and it passed with no errors. Additionally, to further rule out the RAM as the problem I set the divider to 100 and the timings down to 3-4-4-10-2T again. CPU at 250*10. Windows locked up while loading again. this happened at 230*10 too. Sometimes I can get into Windows but half the time it locks up while loading.

PClark99, I did as you suggested and set the CPU speed to 250*9= 2250 (stock is 2200). I booted into Windows fine, ran Prime95 for a little while, rebooted and had no lock ups. I rebooted about five times to prove the problem went away and had no problems.

Now, with the RAM still set at loose settings I cranked up the HTT to 300*7 (2100 Mhz). I was able to boot into Windows and run Prime95 for a few minutes. I did this at least five times successfully.

So now I'm sure the RAM is fine. The board is fine as it can get to 300MHz and still get into Windows and run Prime95 (at priority 10). The SATA lock is fine since I'm running a 300MHz HTT.

It's looking like I got stuck with a poor overclocker (a Winchester no less!). This CPU is good at stock speeds (so I can't really complain) but even at 100MHz over clock I have trouble booting Windows. DOH!

For anyone interested, this CPU is a week 37.

 

[Dadofamunky]

Yeah, and overclocking is not part of the manufacturer's warranty, so you can't even return it unless your vendor is VERY sympathetic.... The 3500s seem to be a little problematic, in my experience, since I have a Newcastle 3500. I see people getting ridiculous clocks with 3200+ or even 3000+ parts, but I still don't regret getting what I got, it works just fine for me....

 

[MrK6]

Try using higher HTT and a lower multiplier. It's been my experience with the A64's that 10x multi's and higher just aren't as stable as 8x and 9x. Try 270x9 with a 5:6 memory divider and up it from there. Also, you can't tighten your timings anymore? 3-3-3-10 is pretty loose for that OCZ.

 

[HannibalTheCannibal]

known problem. wait for a bios and driver updates

 

[420LoBoB]

whats ur temps at?? i have baskicly the same setup just shittyer ram! and i run totaly stable at 260x10 if ur temp idle is around 35-40 try uppin the vid to 10% i find it runs so nice i dont think its realy pushin to much my temps done realy change with 0% to 10%.. i idle at around 40

 

[Icepick]

I might have this figured out. Windows was crashing at random times during the boot process before the Welcome screen appeared. That could be a driver issue. I checked Device Manager and found that there was a generic Microsoft driver installed for the monitor. I downloaded the correct driver from Sony and installed it and it hasn't crashed since. I went ahead and started the overclocking process again and now am at 10x240 for 2.4GHz with 1.46 Vcore.

 

[Icepick]

The bad news is the post above ^ ^ didn't fix the problem.

The good news is after a format and fresh install of Windows and two hours of trouble shooting the problem is fixed. Once I disconnected the POS Matshita DVD ROM drive that I had ripped out of my 7 year old Gateway PC the problem went away. No more crashes at stock speed.

Now I've got my CPU cranked to 2600MHz (10x260) and am running Prime95 to test it!

Thanks for your comments guys!

 

[MrK6]

Wow, glad to see you gotta it fixed, good luck with the stress testing and overclocking :thumbsup: