XP and unstable overclocking

[TgcRizzo]

My computer (PIIII 600 @ 900Mhz) used to run ROCK solid in Win 2000, I ran it for 24 hours with no CPU fans and it didn't crash once (this was while playing Q3 all day).

I recently upgraded to XP, and it now won't run anywhre past 840Mhz (140FSB). I haven't changed anything, just the OS. From rock solid at 900 to stable at 840 (has crashed once or twice in UT).

Any ideas about what to do?

 

[HexVector]

Put a CPU fan on it?

 

[aircooled]

I hear your pain man. I ran my Duron 800@1000 without a single burp on win2k, but once I got XP I had to clock it back down to 800. In fact I had to do a complete re-install at default clock speed before getting everthing working right again.

No matter, I really don't care if my computer is overclocked anymore. I'm very happy with the price/performace ratio of processors these days..but it's still fun to squeeze some free mhz from them...;-)

Try clocking it to it's default speed and doing a clean install, then gradually oc it again and see if that makes a difference.

 

[CTho9305]

if the OS you use affects your overclocking ability, then the CPU is not actually stable at whatever speed you were at. Like, if in win98 you can OC 200mhz, but only 150 in XP, at +200mhz you ARE NOT running a stable hardware setup

 

[TgcRizzo]

I see what you are saying, but from being rock solid (never crashed once) to not even getting to the 'Welcome' screen, that is weird.

As for clean install, it was default clocked on install, it would not complete the install otherwise. I dunno, I will have to reinstall soon anyway (major H/W upgrade in new year), so I will see what happens then.

 

[aircooled]

It's theory vs practice.

CTho9305 is right about OS not effecting the OC, but I do think win2k shows more tolerence to it than XP to the point that any problems were transparent to the OS. I'm sure I could buy a better HSF and have the same results with XP.
I like XP better, it's rock solid and processors are cheap as hell now.

 

[NWRMidnight]

You are incorrect about an OS not effecting overclocking. An OS can mess up your overclocking due to incompatabilities with hardware, which, at the moment, xp has a long list. There OCed processors may be 100% stable, it is XP that is not stable due to the hardware incompatabilities and driver problems.

I too, had the same problem with my system, I have an athlon 1200. With windows 2000, I ran it at 1400 with no problems, and no lockups, no matter what I threw at it. But with windows XP, It would only run at default speed. It wouldn't even install without locking up, unless it was at default speed.

For the last month or so, I have it back up to 1400 in windows xp with it being 100% stable, and all it took was to flash my bios (abit kt7 mb) to the newest one available, which I've noticed that there are quite a few people who have had to do the same to get windows xp to run stable, even at default speeds, and all different makes and models of Mother boards. This leads me to believe it to be a XP problem, and not a unstable OCed chip to be the problem.

So, my advice is check and see if you have the latest bios for your MB, if not, flash it, and you may find out that you will get your system backup to your previous OC speeds.

Regards,
Daniel

 

[RudeBoie]

I say Prime95 it!

NWRMidnight, you're right- XP can indirectly affect oc stability because of hardware support.

 

[Suki]

FYI... I have a 600E PIII and oc'ed it to 840 with no complaints from XP. I installed XP while oc'ed.

 

[TgcRizzo]

<< I say Prime95 it! >>



It runs Genome@Home (http://gah.stanford.edu - www.thegenomecollective.com) whenever it is on (about 10 hours a day). It is stable at 840 with this.