Ugh. Got my P4 2.4C, Memory and I can't hit 3.0ghz :(

[Wintrmte]

I got everything installed on Friday. The P4 2.4C chip, Abit IC7 motherboard, and 2 256 Corsair PC3500 memory (CAS2, etc.)

Anyway, seems the best I can do is 2.8ghz using the FSB overclock only.. How can I get to the magic 3ghz and beyond??

Thanks.

 

[Mikewarrior2]

Try 5:4 FSB/memory ratio? Possibly 3:2?


Mike

 

[beatle]

Nothing's guaranteed. I wish people weren't so quick to say "get a 2.4C and clock it to 3.0 EASY!" My 2.6C won't go past 3.0 so far... I'm hoping to get a bit more with better cooling.

 

[Wintrmte]

Cool, I'll give 3:2 a try.. It's at 5:4 now with the AGP and PCI speeds locked at 66/33..

I know that nothing is a sure bet, but, I'm not complaining about 2.8 either.. Just wanted to see if there is something I overlooked and if anyone had suggestions.

 

[paullawr]

Hi Wintrmte,

First up, before attempting any faster speeds, I recommend a burn in test on the CPU. Ensure its happy at 400Mhz. People oftem assume that because its posting, and booting into Windows there system is a 100% stable at that clock.

In anycase, I guess your not running a standard H/S to achieve a 400mhz additional clock? Water cooling? If not its a nice fan you have bolted there. Also, what temp and VCore is your CPU at? If your chip isnt cooking too much, you could try adjusting the Vcore a tiny bit further, but only depending on what cooling you are using (BE CAREFUL).

If the above is as far as your wiling to try with the Vcore, then heres a few other pointers which might help.

1st up)
Ensure its the latest Bios your using, to remove any O/C gremlins on the Abit board.

2nd)
Try playing with the Memory/FSB Ratio Divider as already stated, and also try relaxing the memory timings, increasing the FSB wont just stress the CPU more, but just about everything else as well.
If you have a decent heat spreader on the RAM, give it a bit of extra juice. I usually add a little to the AGP as well when trying larger overclocks.

3rd)
If your not having any luck with the Dividers, theres still some other things you can try.
In the Bios, ensure any "Aggressive" auto memory settings in the mainboard are set to auto, or try disabling them altogether. That can seriously allow for better overclocks. Some of the Abit boards struggle with all memory settings active or on auto, so when breaking into a higher FSB its necessary to disable them.

Really though, theres no Fast or Slow rule with overclocking, just a bit of common sense. To be fair, a 400mhz overclock is a nice freebie, and certainly shows up people who don't believe in overclocking, willing to spend that extra cash on a stock system the same as your achieving O/C'd.

Lastly, incase you havnt tried it (didnt state in your post), buy a decent Northbridge cooler, if thats getting too hot the board will crash out.

Good Luck
Paul.

 

[BlvdKing]

Aren't you the one that went from an XP 2800+ to the P4C just so you could overclock the P4C? What do you think of the speed difference so far? Can you notice a difference from the stock 2.4C over the 2800+? How about the 2.8 GHz over the 2800+?

 

[MoeStooge]

Originally posted by: paullawr
Hi Wintrmte,
In anycase, I guess your not running a standard H/S to achieve a 400mhz additional clock? Water cooling? If not its a nice fan you have bolted there. Also, what temp and VCore is your CPU at? If your chip isnt cooking too much, you could try adjusting the Vcore a tiny bit further, but only depending on what cooling you are using (BE CAREFUL).

Actually, the 2.6C I just purchased was running stable at 3.2Ghz with the standard stock HSF (57C under full load at default 1.525V). I purchased a Zalman CNSP7000AlCu so that I can overclock further though- it drops the full load temp at 3.2Ghz to 46C.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: paullawr
Hi Wintrmte,

First up, before attempting any faster speeds, I recommend a burn in test on the CPU. Ensure its happy at 400Mhz. People oftem assume that because its posting, and booting into Windows there system is a 100% stable at that clock.

In anycase, I guess your not running a standard H/S to achieve a 400mhz additional clock? Water cooling? If not its a nice fan you have bolted there. Also, what temp and VCore is your CPU at? If your chip isnt cooking too much, you could try adjusting the Vcore a tiny bit further, but only depending on what cooling you are using (BE CAREFUL).

If the above is as far as your wiling to try with the Vcore, then heres a few other pointers which might help.

1st up)
Ensure its the latest Bios your using, to remove any O/C gremlins on the Abit board.

2nd)
Try playing with the Memory/FSB Ratio Divider as already stated, and also try relaxing the memory timings, increasing the FSB wont just stress the CPU more, but just about everything else as well.
If you have a decent heat spreader on the RAM, give it a bit of extra juice. I usually add a little to the AGP as well when trying larger overclocks.

3rd)
If your not having any luck with the Dividers, theres still some other things you can try.
In the Bios, ensure any "Aggressive" auto memory settings in the mainboard are set to auto, or try disabling them altogether. That can seriously allow for better overclocks. Some of the Abit boards struggle with all memory settings active or on auto, so when breaking into a higher FSB its necessary to disable them.

Really though, theres no Fast or Slow rule with overclocking, just a bit of common sense. To be fair, a 400mhz overclock is a nice freebie, and certainly shows up people who don't believe in overclocking, willing to spend that extra cash on a stock system the same as your achieving O/C'd.

Lastly, incase you havnt tried it (didnt state in your post), buy a decent Northbridge cooler, if thats getting too hot the board will crash out.

Good Luck
Paul.

Nice system you have there. 4ghz, huh? What kind of 3dMark 2001/2003 scores are you getting? BTW, that's got to be the best 1st post I've seen anywhere! Oh, one last thing, to Wintrmte: try going with 3:2 first, then relaxing the memory timings second. There's a good chance that you'll be happy with the 3:2 divider at the tighter settings. Keep us informed, huh?

 

[ttlntl]

Originally posted by: Mikewarrior2
Try 5:4 FSB/memory ratio? Possibly 3:2?


Mike

Where can I find some articles about memory ratio?

 

[SpeedFreak03]

Vapochill XE
P4 - 3.2@4.03ghz
512MB OCZ PC4000
Abit Max 3 (252FSB)
2 x 19" Digital TFT Samsung 191T Montiors
Gainward 1600XP - GeforceFX 5900Ultra (500/1000)
2 x 120GB Western Digital HDDs
Pinoneer A03 DVD Writer
DVD ROM
*-30 Idle, -23 Full Load.*

HOLY SHIETTTTTTTTTTTTT nice system there! Welcome to the boards (u to Wintrmte)! And I would try the 5:4 or 3:2 ratio and see what happens. Good luck and keep us posted!

-Josh

 

[Shimmishim]

first of all

achieving a 400 mhz overclock on air is no biggy for the p4's...

maybe cuz you're running a 3.2C @ 4 ghz you've lost perspective of what air cooling and the retail hsf are capable of...

people are hitting 3.0 ghz easy with stock cooling so don't worry about that...



burn in? it's all a myth... i think the anandtech faq has a section on burn in... even if it's at stock...

i think like everyone else has said... you've hit a wall oc-ing at a 1:1 ratio...

use the 5:4 divider or 3:2 and you should be able to hit a higher clock speed....

i haven't seen a 2.4C hit lower than 3.0 from what people have posted...

 

[orion7144]

Originally posted by: Shimmishim
first of all

achieving a 400 mhz overclock on air is no biggy for the p4's...

maybe cuz you're running a 3.2C @ 4 ghz you've lost perspective of what air cooling and the retail hsf are capable of...

people are hitting 3.0 ghz easy with stock cooling so don't worry about that...



burn in? it's all a myth... i think the anandtech faq has a section on burn in... even if it's at stock...

i think like everyone else has said... you've hit a wall oc-ing at a 1:1 ratio...

use the 5:4 divider or 3:2 and you should be able to hit a higher clock speed....

i haven't seen a 2.4C hit lower than 3.0 from what people have posted...

Not to mention that most are hitting 3gig with default Vcore. I have built 10 systems with the 2.4C and all have gotten to 3gig plus.

 

[Boogak]

Might want to try relaxing your memory timings too, the 865/875 boards seem to be really picky about memory and timings. Try running it at 2.5-4-4-8 first to see how far you can push the fsb and CPU. My 2.4C/P4P800-D combo couldn't go past 3.12ghz @ 2.5-4-4-8 stable with CH5 PC3200 and HyperX PC3500, with Mushkin PC3500 Level2 I have it running at 3.26ghz @ 2-3-2-5. This is with stock heatsink, temps are below 50C under full load.

 

[Wintrmte]

Wow awesome replies, thank you all!

As for my cooling, I'm running the Zalman all copper cooling unit. I can't remember the exact model, but I got it from Newegg for about 42$.

Given the cooling, should I be able to run the vcore at about 1.65 if I need to, without worry?

 

[Wintrmte]

Originally posted by: BlvdKing
Aren't you the one that went from an XP 2800+ to the P4C just so you could overclock the P4C? What do you think of the speed difference so far? Can you notice a difference from the stock 2.4C over the 2800+? How about the 2.8 GHz over the 2800+?

Yep, that's me.

According to my PCMark 2002 scores, I'm getting about 1500+ increase in score over the AMD XP2800+. This is with the P4 OC'd to 2.8ghz (can't hit 3.0+ but am going to try some of the suggestions in this thread).

My 3DMark SE2003 score went from 5800 to a nice 6800+ rating. I'm trying to find the links to my projects over at futuremark, but am unable to do so.

All in all, I'm pretty satisfied with my change from the 2800 to the P4.

 

[Wintrmte]

Originally posted by: Mikewarrior2
Try 5:4 FSB/memory ratio? Possibly 3:2?


Mike

For what it's worth, I did try this and I was able to at least post at 3:2, but the machine would randomly reboot and lockup.

 

[Big Lar]

OK, as to the "Burn In" nothing but Hogwash there, the trick is to not just go Bam, from 200 fsb to 240... most won't do it... or will give you an OC error. Bios setting: Nothing in Bios should be set to "Auto" other than Possibly the last 2 timings config in bios,(as to memory), experiment a bit, and start out slow. Also, when trying to clock up, try a few fsb, then run it for a bit,(an hour or so), then try higher, too many try to boot at say 220fsb, and say Yeah, peice of cake/ and Immediately go for more, not realizing the the chip is not "settled down as to heat" from the initial boost.For a true/stable Overclock, it takes time, I won't go into particulars, but rationalize this, You go on a date with a Hot babe/ do you.... immediately go for the kill? Or... do you gently coax your way to where you wanna get? The latter is most of the time the best approach, and is the same in OC'n...LOL good luck

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: Wintrmte

Originally posted by: BlvdKing
Aren't you the one that went from an XP 2800+ to the P4C just so you could overclock the P4C? What do you think of the speed difference so far? Can you notice a difference from the stock 2.4C over the 2800+? How about the 2.8 GHz over the 2800+?

Yep, that's me.

According to my PCMark 2002 scores, I'm getting about 1500+ increase in score over the AMD XP2800+. This is with the P4 OC'd to 2.8ghz (can't hit 3.0+ but am going to try some of the suggestions in this thread).

My 3DMark SE2003 score went from 5800 to a nice 6800+ rating. I'm trying to find the links to my projects over at futuremark, but am unable to do so.

All in all, I'm pretty satisfied with my change from the 2800 to the P4.

Don't listen to that guy....i have seen him crap in the threads few times now and I see he usually has nothing constructive to add...

That p4 2.4@2.8 with HT will trump that 2800+ run some multimedia apps and you will beat 3200+ systems...Some AMD fans take it personal when ppl leave to buy Intel systems...





Make sure....

1) bios version 17 or newer

2) set in softmenu...

a) NB strap 800
b) 5:4
c) vcore of 1.575 or greater...Abit mobos undervolt up to .05 below set vcore in bios...
b)vdimm to 2.8v...this is pretty safe with that pc3500 ram
c)vagp to 1.6v also safe and once again abit undervolts on all settings....

3)advanced chipset

a)manual
b) cas 2.5,7,3,3 settings for now....
c)GAT settings to all auto except last 2 at bottom of screen...set those to disabled for time being...
d) system bios cacheable = disabled
e) video bios cacheable = disabled

 

[BlvdKing]

I thought it was a legit question.

Don't listen to that guy....i have seen him crap in the threads few times now and I see he usually has nothing constructive to add...

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: BlvdKing
I thought it was a legit question.

Don't listen to that guy....i have seen him crap in the threads few times now and I see he usually has nothing constructive to add...

Ok I apologize I assumed you were being sarcastic!!! My fault I see I was beeing way too presumptuous....

It is a legit question...Since I have ran an xp 2800+ system and a p4 at 2.88ghz I can tell you at the surface no real speed difference but in apps that I run like tmpgenc, ifoedit, besweet, Autodesk Viz Studio, etc.....The p4 is noticeably faster....The tmpgenc is major increase over same speed athlon....It already was faster with multiple cpus turned off and then turning that on was a 22% increase...

Want a system that feels snappy at the surface get a Raptor...Things load very quickly, folders open in a snap, and file transfer from drives is much faster....

 

[BlvdKing]

Cool :beer:

I actually had my own overclocking disappointment with a Barton 2500+. Soon I will be done with this overclocking business though - next computer will be a laptop with a P4 or AMD64 in it. That HT is some snazzy stuff. I am looking forward to seeing Prescott in laptops.