Athlon XP 2600+@ 2.29ghz - Impressions?

lokkerslokkers Reading, Berks, UK
edited November 2004 in Hardware
Hi guys/girls,
Pretty new at OC'ing. I have managed to get my Athlon XP Thoroughbred from 2.08ghz to 2.29ghz by increasing the fsb to 190(x2), dropping the multiplier to 12.0, vcore 1.725v, ddr400 ram running at 380mhz @ 2.8v. I can also get ~2.28ghz with the same voltage, and 181fsb/12.5 multiplier. Any higher on the fsb and my system BSOD's on Windows startup - running WinXP SP1. Over 13.5 on the multiplier and the system refuses to boot at all.

I have had problems with the RAM in the past - although it is 400mhz rated, my system would be very unstable - hence I have been running it at 333mhz before OC'ing became an interest. Could this be holding me back from higher speeds? The bios will boot happily at 2.4mhz/200fsb, but BSOD strikes before windows has loaded. No matter what frequency i set the RAM to, it still happens.

I am sure heat is no problem - currently running at 46-48c under load - a little high, but I havent lapped the heatsink yet (waiting for Easter hols and more time/less work).

Basically, have I reached the limit of my processor? Should I be happy with the extra 210mhz i have gotten out of it? Any advice/comments more than welcome :D

System:
Athlon XP 2600+@2.08ghz (2.29ghz OC) Thoroughbred
Abit NF7-S motherboard
512mb 400mhz cheap-and-nasty-ram (£60 from Scan 8 months ago)
128mb 9800 Radeon Pro
SoundBlaster Live! 5.1
120GB Maxtor HDD
Windows XP SP1

Comments

  • NecropolisNecropolis Hawarden, Wales Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    I have a very similar system to you. Only difference's are I have a 2500+, 512MB Twinmos Memory and an SLK-900. I am curently getting 2.4Ghz out of mine. I think your memory may be holding you back on this. I am sure one of the other guys will come along and recommend some good ram for you.
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited February 2004
    Corsair LL
    Muskin Level II
    KHX

    Buffalo also makes some cheap CH-5s that I know of. Cheap too.
  • TheBaronTheBaron Austin, TX
    edited February 2004
    how could DDR 400 be limiting him at sub 400mhz frequencies?
  • lokkerslokkers Reading, Berks, UK
    edited February 2004
    Well I'm 80% sure my ram is the problem. Its definately between that and the cpu, as the original problems i had with the DDR@400mhz seem to suggest it is the RAM, and that and the cpu are the only original things in the system, aside from the SB Live 5.1. I can encode DIVX video til the cows come home, but it locks up on 3D applications like Medal of Honor - suggests to me its RAM related, and not CPU. I could be wrong though.....
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    lokkers, I'd guess it's your RAM as well.

    One thing to keep in mind, though, is that this is the TBred XP2600+ which I haven't seen many OC numbers on, so FSB might be limited by the CPU itself too.
  • lokkerslokkers Reading, Berks, UK
    edited February 2004
    Yeah I've searched for OC numbers on the T'Bred 2600+ and I havent found many instances of it. Had I have known at the time, i'dve brought a Barton, but c'est la vie! I have had 200mhz FSB (x12=2.4ghz), and the bios accepted it, but Windows wouldnt load. But I dont expect to achieve that even with expensive RAM.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    Try running it at 8x200 and see if it BSODs - that way it will be running only 1.6GHz and if it causes errors, then you can pretty much guarantee it's not the processor.

    Another thing to try is setting it for 8x200 and then run memtest. (www.memtest86.com) If it throws errors (usually in Tests 5,6,7) then the problem is most likely RAM.
  • lokkerslokkers Reading, Berks, UK
    edited February 2004
    I have run it at 8x200, and its fine - no BSODs. I can even up it as far at 200x11.5= 2.31ghz - seems stable - divx will encode a 2.5gb file, sandra will burn-in and 3D mark2003 will run 10 times straight. Over 200fsb Windows will boot but divx will cause a BSOD - "Page_fault_in_non-paged_area". Same BSOD I saw at 200x12 and higher multipliers. I am however running the ram at 6/5 (333mhz), not the full 6/6 (400mhz).

    So second thoughts, it looks like my processor has reached its limit? Or is there a chance it is still the cheap RAM? I am aiming to get 2.4ghz, but maybe I am aiming to high :banghead:

    I will try and run the memtest at some point soon, but I have no floppy drive, so I will have to 'liberate' one from another machine :wink:

    Thanks for your help and advice, always appreciated
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    You can burn the memtest ISO to a CD. The instructions are on the same page.

    Have you tried 200fsb with loose RAM timings? Like 3-3-3-7 and keep it at 1:1 (or 3:3 or whatever) See how high you can push the multiplier then.
    You need to run some benchmarks to see if the speed is worth loosing the timings. For what you are doing the 190x12 may be best, if you can do it with tighter timings and 1:1.
    Running the memory slower than fsb usually kills you overall performance.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    lokkers wrote:
    I have run it at 8x200, and its fine - no BSODs. I can even up it as far at 200x11.5= 2.31ghz - seems stable - divx will encode a 2.5gb file, sandra will burn-in and 3D mark2003 will run 10 times straight. Over 200fsb Windows will boot but divx will cause a BSOD - "Page_fault_in_non-paged_area". Same BSOD I saw at 200x12 and higher multipliers. I am however running the ram at 6/5 (333mhz), not the full 6/6 (400mhz).

    So second thoughts, it looks like my processor has reached its limit? Or is there a chance it is still the cheap RAM? I am aiming to get 2.4ghz, but maybe I am aiming to high :banghead:

    I will try and run the memtest at some point soon, but I have no floppy drive, so I will have to 'liberate' one from another machine :wink:

    Thanks for your help and advice, always appreciated

    What VCore are you running it at to get to 200x11.5? What's your cooling? I'm thinking if the VCore is pretty high then your proc is at the limit. If your cooling is insufficient now then you might be able to get a little more out of the proc with better cooling.
  • lokkerslokkers Reading, Berks, UK
    edited February 2004
    Running it at 1.75v - temp is ~45-48c under load, never higher than 50c (obviously depending on the temp of my room). It is a little high, but I havent lapped the heatsink yet, and i'm using a cheap thermal paste. I used to use the stock heatsink and that ran at 54-57c under full load at stock speed of 2.08ghz, and was totally stable, so not sure if heat is a problem. RAM i am running at 2.7v in the bios, although the ABIT system doctor tells me it is 0.1v higher than whatever i have set in the bios, so currently at 2.7v bios/2.8v ABIT doctor.

    I am a bit worried about going too high with the voltage, as I can ill afford a replacement cpu/RAM if I cook one lol
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    1.75VCore is great for that speed. You can probably get 2.4GHz out of that chip with some decent SLK-series Thermalright cooling with at least 50CFM pumped through it. Unless you get better RAM though you're going to have to do any OC'ing over 200FSB by multi instead of further FSB increase.
  • lokkerslokkers Reading, Berks, UK
    edited February 2004
    I managed to get 2.4ghz, but it proved unstable:
    http://lokkers.dyndns.org
    The strange thing is i used the same settings as for 2.3ghz, but upped the miltipier to 12.0 x 200 rather than 11.5x200, and it worked first time. It hasnt before, so maybe a fluke. Memory is also running at 400mhz, which is a turn-up for the books. I upped the vcore to 1.8v in the bios (although showing as 1.75-6v in CPUZ and Abit Hardware Doctor). Temp is still nice at about 43c idle.

    I have gotten the following BSOD error at 12.0x200 twice:

    PAGE_FAULT_IN_NON-PAGED_AREA
    And Win2k.sys is corrupt/damaged.

    Any ideas on a solution? Will reinstalling Windows help? Or is it the fact that the cpu is at its limit? I'm now sure it is capable of 200fsb/400mhz cpu/mem, as i ran it for 5 hours last night with 3dMark2003/Battlefield 1942/Medal of Honor running with no problems, and left memtest going overnight which found no errors.
    Cheers guys/girls
  • speed_xspeed_x
    edited November 2004
    lokkers wrote:
    I managed to get 2.4ghz, but it proved unstable:
    http://lokkers.dyndns.org
    The strange thing is i used the same settings as for 2.3ghz, but upped the miltipier to 12.0 x 200 rather than 11.5x200, and it worked first time. It hasnt before, so maybe a fluke. Memory is also running at 400mhz, which is a turn-up for the books. I upped the vcore to 1.8v in the bios (although showing as 1.75-6v in CPUZ and Abit Hardware Doctor). Temp is still nice at about 43c idle.

    I have gotten the following BSOD error at 12.0x200 twice:

    PAGE_FAULT_IN_NON-PAGED_AREA
    And Win2k.sys is corrupt/damaged.

    Any ideas on a solution? Will reinstalling Windows help? Or is it the fact that the cpu is at its limit? I'm now sure it is capable of 200fsb/400mhz cpu/mem, as i ran it for 5 hours last night with 3dMark2003/Battlefield 1942/Medal of Honor running with no problems, and left memtest going overnight which found no errors.
    Cheers guys/girls

    Hi!

    Up your Vcore to 1.825 and have a go at it! Should work!
  • lokkerslokkers Reading, Berks, UK
    edited November 2004
    Blimey, that was a long time ago! Ditched the T'Bred and crappy ram a while ago.
    I'm now running an XP-M 2600 @ 250*10.5 / 1.9v (2.63ghz), Crucial Ballistix DDR4000 ram, and cpu watercooled by a Dtek WW, ehiem 1250 and a 120.2 rad, all bundled up nicely in a LianLi PC70 case :thumbsup:
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited November 2004
    Ah, we love to see progress. That's quite an advancement you've made. Congrats!

    I notice you're from Reading. I lived in Bracknell for year, 79-80. Very pleasant countryside around there. Close to London! But not too close.
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK New
    edited November 2004
    Holy Thread Reserection

    Ah, another Berkshire Boy comes to the Short-Media overclocking camp. Nice set up lokkers :thumbsup:
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited November 2004
    Aha.. another Brit added to the crew..

    < Mr Burns >Excellent< /Mr Burns >

    :cool:
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited November 2004
    Wow, 250 FSB on a socket A? I'm guessing thats on a DFI Lanparty Ultra B mainboard?
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited November 2004
    IN his first post he said he had an NF7-S. I am guessing he still has it.
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK New
    edited November 2004
    If he is getting a 250fsb on an NF7-S then thats even more impressive!
  • speed_xspeed_x
    edited November 2004
    Very!
  • lokkerslokkers Reading, Berks, UK
    edited November 2004
    haha, I'm originally from Kent though, I went to Reading Uni and i'm stuck here until my girlfriend finishes here masters :rolleyes:

    Thanks for the compliments though, ;)

    I sold the NF7-S and went down the DFI Infinity route. However, its not all roses, the board will hard lock if I give any more than 1.9v vcore :bawling:. Somedays I wish for my trusty NF7 back, with its 2.2v vcore. Almost seems a shame to be stuck at 1.9v with my good watercooling setup. Apparently the only cure for the Infinity hard lock is a major volt mod, which I'm not up to at the moment, and I probably wont get round to it before I take the leap into the realms of 64bit.
  • speed_xspeed_x
    edited November 2004
    Hi lokkers!

    Look in your private messages.

    Speed_X
  • lokkerslokkers Reading, Berks, UK
    edited November 2004
    speed_x wrote:
    Hi lokkers!

    Look in your private messages.

    Speed_X
    Way ahead of you ;)
  • speed_xspeed_x
    edited November 2004
    Thanks lokkers!

    I do appreciate it.

    BTW, got a good laugh from your reply!

    speed_x
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