Need help tweaking - AMD XP + FSB questions

[shandyboy]

Hi all,

Still trying to get my head around it all, but I'd like your opinion on whether I could squeeze some more performance out of the following:

Epox 8RDA+ (rev2)
AMD XP 2700+ (thoroughbred) 333 fsb
2 sticks x 256mb PC3200 (400ddr) ram
Sapphire 9600xt (550mhz gpu 652ddr ram) - fireblade version

Although the fsb for the cpu should be set to 166 (333 ddr) I have it at 175 (350ddr) which is the highest I can get it without booting problems.

multiplier is 13 I think - which gives 2275mhz.

I was wondering if I set the multiplier slightly lower then I could push the fsb a bit more - I read somewhere that higher fsb helped performance more than all out cpu speed?

Would more volts to the cpu help, or am I asking too much of a 333fsb chip?

Cheers

Neil

[Wishmaster]

perhaps giving it a bit more on the voltage side.

But bear in mind im onyl going on what i have read, :P

never overclocked a chip. Getting new comp 2moro!

[beppodmime]

Ok, your setup looks just fine for some dandy FSB overclocking. To see what your motherboard and RAM are capable of handling first, if you're using an UNLOCKED (at least for the lower multipliers) CPU, then you're going to want to set it low (around 9 should do) and keep upping the FSB until you get your highest stable clock, keeping the overall CPU speed close to stock (just to eliminate it as a possibility). Then, bump the multi up a bit at a time until you get your highest stable CPU speed. Keep in mind that most of the standard XP chips are going to reach around the same ceiling in most cases, usually around 2.2-2.4GHz. After that, it's all about cooling.

If you come to a point where the system becomes unstable or flaky, the Rev2 8RDA+ should give you all kinds of voltage adjustments for the RAM and CPU (possibly the northbridge, unfamiliar with this revision). Go a few MHz at a time, and run a few tests (Prime95 and the like) and make sure you've got it running solid. If the computer fails to boot, reset CMOS.


Raising the FSB does improve benchmarks more than raw CPU speed alone. Most games will benefit more directly with added memory bandwidth than CPU speed alone (although that may help, too). If you're unable to adjust the multiplier of the CPU, though, then maybe someone around here can point you in the direction of how-to's for unlocking current CPU's from the XP line.

[embj]

I would say the max that you could get on air cooling will be around 2.3ghz - 2.5ghz. I have a Volcano 12 Extreme for cooling running at about 3500rpm cooling my Athlon XP 2600+ T'bred. My chip which is also a 333mhz version is running at 222mhz FBS x 11 multiplier for a full clock speed of 2442mhz. I'm also using an Epox 8RDA+ but, I have a Rev. 1.1.

You can get more out of it by doing exactly what beppodmime says. As stated the best thing to do is drop the multiplier and up the FSB as much as possible because the FSB increases the speed throughout your whole computer and not just the CPU. When it starts getting unstable just raise the voltage to the CPU some...do it gradually and see what you get. Rev. 2 does allow the adjusting of the northbridge voltage unlike my Rev. 1.1 so I'm not really familiar with how to adjust those voltages. I have heard this though; the more FSB you get the more voltage your northbridge requires. Just make sure you don't go over 2v...even with extra cooling (not sure if you changed the cooler out on it for a better one) it can be deadly to your board.

One more quick tip if your system renders unbootable after an overclock....try turning it off and turning it back on while holding down the insert key which will put it in a watch-dog mode where it will put the speed of the CPU temporarily back down to around 1ghz until you can change the settings in your BIOS which make it bootable again. Just so you know....this doesn't always work and you will occassionally have to clear the CMOS via the jumper on the board.

I'm limited with the speed of my chip because of cooling. I can't get it much cooler with air cooling. You'll eventually get the hang of it and you'll get better and better with your results and you keep trying.

Also, your multiplier is already unlocked because of you own an nForce2 board...all nForce2 boards make your CPU unlocked so you have nothing to worry about there. Let us know if you need any more help and tell us your results.

EDIT: Also, you can find some good info about your 8RDA @ www.8rdafaq.com. It's a great site.

[shandyboy]

Brilliant and quick info - I love techimo

Gonna have a play tonight!

I just downloaded the nvidia system utility which allows you to try your overclocks in windows without rebooting - so if you go too far and make the computer crash, you just reboot and your back at your standard settings as it hasn't written it to the bios... once you are happy, you submit your new settings to flash - sounds ok to me!

Nice one, I'll let you know how I get on.

Neil
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