Yet another "Should I OC my 2500" thread

[flyboy84]

Here are my system specifications:

Barton XP 2500+
Asus A7N8X rev.2.0
512MB Geil PC3200

I have been running it as a 2500+ for a year now, but I'm thinking of finally overclocking it. I've never overclocked anything before, so I'm seeking a little bit of advice. My understanding is that all I need to do to get this to a 3200+ would be to set the system bus to 400 MHz. I already have PC3200 Ram so that shouldn't be a problem, but what about cooling? Is my stock cooler good enough? Or should I invest in some fancy shmancy HSF device?

On another note:

My PSU is only 300W, and I am thinking of doing this overclock, as well as getting a GeForce 6800 NU. Should I look for something with a little bit more juice?

Thanks in advance!

 

[flyboy84]

bueller? bueller? bueller?

 

[charloscarlies]

My PSU is only 300W, and I am thinking of doing this overclock, as well as getting a GeForce 6800 NU. Should I look for something with a little bit more juice?

I definitely would. Even if it's a quality 300 watter it'll still have a lot of pressure on it.

As for overclocking...you might as well try it with the stock hsf. Just make sure your temps are ok and if it doesn't work you can always revert back to stock. Just try and see how high you can go on stock voltage first.

 

[flyboy84]

well i really just want to do the bump to 3200+ i dont want to go any higher and I'd prefer not to mess with the voltages if i don't have to. what is the best way of measuring my cpu temp? the asus probe program that came with my mobo?

 

[JeffCY]

motherboard monitor 5

 

[BlackMamba]

I prefer SpeedFan for it's simplicity over MBM (which is now discontinued). The 2500+ to 3200+ bump should be easy. My 2200+ Barton XP-M does 2.3 with quiet cooling on a cheap, generic 300W PSU.

 

[someone16]

Meh, bump teh voltage to 1.75 and change to FSB to 200 and see if it atleast boots into windows.

 

[Mik3y]

you dont even need to increase your voltage. just slowly raise the fsb up from 166 to 200 and see where its stable at. its as simple as taht.

 

[flyboy84]

ok, so this was my esperience: i raised the FSB to 200, the system would post, recognize the CPU as a 3200+, and then reboot as soon as the posting and ide recognition was over. I then lowered the fsb back to 166 and rased the multiplier to 11.5x. the system registered the CPU as a 2600+, and booted just fine into windows. I tried again for the 200, 11.0x combo, and increased my Vcore from 1.650 V in increments of 0.025V to 1.825V. I was able to boot into windows. however, my idle temp was 77 C as recorded by MBM. as my CPU diode temp is 51 C at idle and 70 when running call of duty, this didnt seem kosher. So, what should I do? get a new HSF and PSU? any reccomendations?

 

[SickBeast]

First of all, you shouldn't be running that CPU at 1.825v on stock cooling.

Second, you shouldn't require 1.825v to hit 3200+ speeds; there's something wrong there.

You should be trying to run at 1.75v or so. That seems to be the sweet spot with the Bartons. Better cooling would definately help, but from the sounds of it your CPU is a bit of a dud. It wouldn't make it into windows with anything less than 1.825v? What kind of PSU do you have?

 

[flyboy84]

generic 300W that came with my antec sx830. it would boot into windows with 1.725V but would reboot at the welcome screen

 

[iamaelephant]

I disagree SickBeast, for me to run at 2.20GHz I need at least 1.80 volts to be stable. Even then Prime 95 calls up errors, but the system is stable enough.

 

[flyboy84]

so can someone explain to me what upping the core voltage does exactly? and why i should be careful doing it? i dont want to get yelled at by sick beast again (being that i'm studying electrical engineering in school, i should know this anyways lol)

you could also perhaps just refer me to some good readin' material on the subject as well.

but anyways, what reccomendations do you have for a new PSU and HSF? keep in mind I just want to make it to 2.2Ghz (200 Mhz Bus, 11.0x Mult) and for the PSU I'm thinking 400W

 

[im2good4u]

that would be good, just don't increase Vcore voltages unless ur having stability issues with your overclock

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: Falcon39
I disagree SickBeast, for me to run at 2.20GHz I need at least 1.80 volts to be stable. Even then Prime 95 calls up errors, but the system is stable enough.

Are you sure it's not a memory problem?

There don't seem to be too many 2500s that can't do 3200+ especially with a nice voltage boost.

 

[discostusback]

I run mine at 2.4 with 1.75 volts . . . .

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: Falcon39
I disagree SickBeast, for me to run at 2.20GHz I need at least 1.80 volts to be stable. Even then Prime 95 calls up errors, but the system is stable enough.

Hmmm. First of all if Prime95 is giving you errors you should not be running at that speed.

Second, if you arduously tweaked your BIOS settings you could probably run at 3200+ speed at lower voltages than you are right now. 1.80v is alot of juice for a Barton.

Try raising your memory timings, increase chipset voltage if you can, and give the memory a little more juice as well. There are tons of variables which can impact an overclock.

In any event, the two of you may just have duds. I haven't seen very many 2500+ duds that can't even do 2.2ghz on 1.75v though.

Oh yeah, and welcome to AnandTech. :beer:

 

[flyboy84]

well my question is: when I get the better cooling, will that allow me to boot into windows at a lower voltage? or are the two unrelated?

oh yeah, and thanks I'll take a white russian though, not much of a beer drinker :-D

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: flyboy84
well my question is: when I get the better cooling, will that allow me to boot into windows at a lower voltage?

Maybe. The main impact that good cooling has is that it allows you to use higher voltages and hence run higher speeds than you did before, within reason of course. If you want to run at 1.80v on good air cooling you would maybe hit 40C under load and remain 100% stable. On stock cooling you would probably hit 55C or something and the CPU would be unstable.

Being able to run at lower voltages is mostly governed by the core of the CPU itself AFAIK. It's the luck of the draw.

 

[The Green Bean]

im running 2.2GHZ on 1.7V. with 1.675 volts I can get 2.16GHZ. Max temps 60C Aeroflow2 HSF. But again case temps are 55 load.