My First OC ( 8RDA+ w/ 2500Barton )

[PonzSpyder]

Ok, its not that much of an OC at this point compared to the others I have seen on this board but this is my first go at it Right now I have only played with the FSB along with stock HSF and 2 Antec stock exhaust fans. I wont push it too much until I get better cooling.

Had the system running for about a week now, heres the specs:

Antec tower case w/400 SmartPower
Epox 8RDA+
2500 Barton
(512MBx2) 1GB Geil PC 3200 CL2 6-3-3
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro

- First I ran SiSoftware Sandra Standard to get base memory scores
Mem Timings 7-4-4 ( mobo default )
Mem Freq 166Mhz (CPU @ 1.826Ghz )
Temps right after test: 28 ambient 33 system 47 cpu ( its hot outside today! )
Memory Bandwidth Test: 2338/2183
Cache & Memory Test: 16060 MB/s peak with 8kb blocks

- Now I upped the memory timings to what is labeled on the sticks
Mem Timings 6-3-3
Mem Freq 166Mhz (CPU @ 1.826Ghz )
Temps right after test: 28 ambient 33 system 47 cpu
Memory Bandwidth Test: 2390/2241
Cache & Memory Test: 16322 MB/s peak with 8kb blocks

- Then I upped the memory freq to 170Mhz and locked the AGP bus at 66Mhz ( PCI gets locked at 1/2 the AGP automatically AFAIK )
Mem Timings 6-3-3
Mem Freq 170Mhz (CPU @ 1.870Ghz)
Temps right after test: 28 ambient 33 system 47 cpu
Memory Bandwidth Test: 2435/2286
Cache & Memory Test: 16691 MB/s peak with 8kb blocks

- The I felt adventurous so I bumped the memory freq 5 more ( while keeping an eye on temps although I wish I had a sensor on the NB and RAM, it would make me feel safer )
Mem Timings 6-3-3
Mem Freq 175Mhz (CPU @ 1.925Ghz)
Temps right after test: 28 ambient 33 system 47 cpu
Memory Bandwidth Test: 2512/2358
Cache & Memory Test: 17139 MB/s peak with 8kb blocks

Wheew, it all passed without any major problems so far.

Overall my Memory Bandwidth went up 174 points I then ran the burn in 10 times using both CPU and both Mem tests, CPU temp hit 50 but never went over, system temp stayed at 33 the entire time. As a final test I ran 3Dmark2001 at default settings and got a 12578! much better than my Gforce2 system

I think I will wait till a cooler day to play with it again as it probably was not the right day to do this with the temp outside, well... at least its not raining for once...

[Omardeth]

nice man grate . i got my barton 2500 at 185fsb at the moment might wanna try that when you feel good i bet it will do it easy

[Bruneau]

You're on your way. And just getting started. Be careful going beyond 200fsb. That ram should do 200 fsb but, the mobo may not. What does it show for voltage options in your bios? And what is your vdd. showing?

You'll want to increase the core voltage gradually as you increase the fsb. Just watch your temps and go slow...one boot at a time w/ about 5mhz steps. You'll be fine.

[PonzSpyder]

Voltage options are:

CPU 1.4 - 2.2 with .025 increments
AGP 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8
DIMM 2.5 2.63 2.77 2.9

Current voltages are:

[Bruneau]

Yea, your vdd is way too low to push the fsb over 200. Just my opinion from what I've seen.

Anyway you've gotta push some juice to that core and rock that lil honey. These latest steppings are pumpin out some good clocks. I've seen a couple o' 2700 clocks out there.

[PonzSpyder]

I'll take that info on the voltages into account later but I dont plan on changing voltages at all until I get more cooling. Right now I would love to hit even 190FSB. My long term goal is to try and break 2Ghz with the CPU at whatever FSB the mobo will do stable.

I am still deciding on the fans and HS I want. Too many reviews to read, too little time. I plan to put a new HS on the NB and move the exsisting one to the SB as I have heard some people suggest. I felt the NB earlier and it was getting pretty hot to the touch after the burn in stress test.

BTW, thanks guys for the encouragement, I need it lol

( sorry for spelling errors, I havnt installed word yet )

[PonzSpyder]

Ok, today it was much cooler in the house with the AC going

I tested it out little by little and right now I am running...

191 FSB x 11 = 2.101 Ghz

If I try anything much over 2.1Ghz I cant boot into windows. So, I guess I found where my limit is for now. Or at least until I get the nerve to pump up voltages...

EDIT: hmm, got punted out of 3Dmark03 about half way through, gonna have to do more testing...

[Bruneau]

What are your cpu temps running at Ponz? I'm sure that you are fine to go for more. These puppies can take 90C. Not that I suggest running them that hot.

[PonzSpyder]

CPU temps havnt gone over 50 ever yet... Well, actually I think I saw it flicker to 51 once but then it went right back to 50.

Right now it seems to run the most stable at around 2Ghz, which is fine by me for now

[Omardeth]

good job man . u are ahead of the game stable is the key . sure it might do more with some tweaking but if you happy it is alll good .