What to O/C in my NF7-S setup?

JLamyJLamy UK
edited July 2004 in Hardware
Hi people.
Just finished building new system.

Specs:
AMD Athlon XP2800+ CPU
Abit NF7-S v2.0 motherboard
1GB XMS3200C2PT TwinX (2x512MB) CAS2 memory
Hightech All-In-Wonder ATI Radeon 9800 PRO graphics card
2 x Maxtor Diamond Max 9 160GB SATA hard disk
LG 16x DVD-ROM drive
LG 16x 10 40x CD-RW drive

Everything in BIOS is at factory 'Optimised' defaults with exception of memory which I put on Turbo setting. I have read that by changing the CPUFSB ration from Auto to 5/6 I can get my memory to work at 400MHz. Running at 333MHz at present. I tried doing this but everytime it saves and reboots I get BIOS checksum error, and asks for floppy with Award flash exe on it. I turn off at mains for 5mins then turn on, thisn time I get BIOS back but with "CPU has been changed" message. I go back into BIOS and change ration back to auto. All other settings have been retained though. Why is this?

What other things can I push to get that extra speed?

Thanks in advance.

Comments

  • septimusseptimus Toronto, Canada
    edited March 2004
    The NF7 is a great motherboard for overclocking. What you need to do is leave the CPU:FSB ratio to AUTO and enable CPU Interface. Your memory settings should be set to SPD or AUTO where possible as the memory you are using applies very tight timings by default (no O/C necessary :D).

    In the SoftMenu, change your CPU multiplier to 10 and set your FSB to 200 and see if it boots up correctly and the machine is stable in windows. Test your machine for stability with a program called Prime95 which is available readily with a quick search on google.

    If your machine is stable at this point, go back into your BIOS setup and put the FSB up in 1MHz increments until you hit a stability wall, where windows will not boot up for prime95 cannot proceed without failing... once you find that wall post back here :D
  • Nive11enNive11en Europe
    edited March 2004
    You can pretty much OC everything.
    Your video card with Powerstrip You can try.
    I can't believe you have 1GB 2CAS ram - I'll jump out the window, im using 2.5 noname ram EEK :eek:
    Also if you begin to like OC'ing you can get watercooling and overclock your computer like theres no tomorrow. (right now I ordered all my watercooling parts, waiting for them, cant wait)
  • adhamadham Ft Bragg, NC
    edited March 2004
    JLamy, depending on the stepping of your 2800+, it could be a locked chip that even an NF7-S can't change the multipliers on. Since it is a new system that is probably the case here. Also, Nforce 2 boards perform much faster when the cpu fsb and memory speed are run synchroniously; i.e. 1/1 ratio. You should still be able to get a pretty good overclock by just adjusting the fsb, the NF7-S is a nice overclocker. You'll have to gradually adjust your cpu voltage to keep your system stable as you overclock....baby steps. I usually try to make a pretty big first step to see if I get lucky, I've never burned anything up, the worst that will happen is you won't get the post screen. Definitely leave your memory and cpu at the same bus speed, your memory can handle whatever your processors bus speed is, and they'll perform much better.
  • JLamyJLamy UK
    edited June 2004
    Hey guys sorry for late reply, been busy! Anyway:
    Thanks for all the suggestions.

    Septimus:
    I have put my FSB to 200 and yes it works great now. DDR400 mode active! Was a memory timing that stopped the system from doing 200MHz FSB. Have put my memory on 'expert' setting so have using 8-3-3-cas2 i think. Have left everything else as speed is enough so far, and not wanna push too far.

    All
    I dont think my CPU is locked thankfully as when I have set 10.5x200 in BIOS, reboot, screen displays AMD Athlon XP 2100MHz. Windows System Properties and DirectX Diag shows I have 2.1GHz system.
  • phlipphlip hell
    edited July 2004
    Try bumping the bus up to 220 i was able to get to get some cheap memory (pc3200) up to 225 stable and 220 stable with good timings
  • phlipphlip hell
    edited July 2004
    with the same mobo u have i might add
  • JLamyJLamy UK
    edited July 2004
    phlip
    Cool! Altho I am apprehensive about pushing my FSB that fast as I have read that chances of data corruption on my hard disks will occur, right? What memory timings u guys have?
  • MackanzMackanz
    edited July 2004
    Jlamy, 200fsb isn't overclocking, remember that. At least not board or memory. That cpu defaults to 166fsb right? You can easily set the memory ration to 6:6 (works better than 1:1 or 2:2 for some reason), and the memory timings to 11,3,2 cas 2. Those memorys should be Winbond CH5 me thinks, unless it's the new Samsung based memory. Set the cpu voltage to 1.85, memory voltage to max what the board allows you to, cpu interface enabled, chipset voltage to 1.8 and multi to 9 (for starters, we'll higher it later, multi 10 and high fsb CAN be a bitch on that board) and finally the fsb to 220. Should be rock stable.
  • JLamyJLamy UK
    edited July 2004
    Mackanz
    I thought it would be as default FSB on XP 2800+ is 166MHz. How do i know what memory ratio is, I think its set on Auto, or is that AGP ratio? Is turning up the voltages so high OK for life span of board? I dont want it frying on me.

    And 11-3-2-2? U sure?
  • MackanzMackanz
    edited July 2004
    I'm 100% positive JLamy. You can use all the voltage the board have for 24/7 load. The lifespan won't be shorter. The AGP should be set at 66, nothing else as it runs on a 66hz bus. 12.5 is the default multi on that cpu, so lower it to 9, or even 8 for starters. Then raise the fsb until it's not stable (raise by 2 fsb at a time, test by running memtest for 15-20 minutes). When you find the limit, back down on the fsb by 5 and you can always try cas 2.5 as it won't make that big of difference over 220 fsb as it does under 200 fsb. Then you know thew fsb limit, it's time to test the cpu's limit. Do the opposite, raise the multi to 12.5 and set the fsb to 166 which is default. Then raise the fsb by 5 at a time and test with prime95 for an hour. (an hour isn't enough to see if it's stable, but good as an initial feedback). When you find the limit, for example, 12.5*190 which is 2375, rip out the calculator. You know your fsb limit is for example 225, then find a multi which is as close to the top 2375 mhz. 2375/225 is 10.55555556 :) If it's close to unstable, just back down the fsb by a few. It takes time to find the sweetspot (takes me approx. a month in 24/7 usage to find it, but it's worth it). Use auto or default on the agp voltage. Good luck :)
    As a little reference about if your are unsure if things go tits up with more voltage: I use over 3.3 volt on the memory and 248 fsb 24/7 without a single casefan even. I'm not even slightly worried. The day the memory busts because of high voltage, DDR will be obsolete anyway.
  • JLamyJLamy UK
    edited July 2004
    Mackanz
    I have maxed out all voltages apart from AGP and the CPU cos my CPU will get too hot. I have used Memtest-86 v3.1, and have found that my FSB limit is 212MHz, which is nowhere near as good as your 220! Cant do 213MHz for some reason evn if I select 213 - system runs at 212 or 214 only - BIOS bug? From 214 and over I get errors in Test #5 always. This is both with CAS2 and 2.5.

    I have ran Prime95 and using the "blend" test I am now back to 200FSB cos anything over will cause computational error in calculations! Waste of some time hoping I can run reliably at over 200FSb, oh well.
  • MackanzMackanz
    edited July 2004
    Do you have the specs of those memorys? There should me a mentioning about which timings they are specified for at 200 fsb.
  • JLamyJLamy UK
    edited July 2004
    I have no idea what timings should be, but I think the default tmings are listed on the corsair website. Also Prime95 can run for over 1 hour now and still not crashed after I have changed the CPU/FSB interface to disabled, so it may be this thats causing all the errors in calculation, u think?

    **update**
    My prime95 'in-place large FFT's' test ended with BIOS settings of 200FSB, cpu/FSB interface disabled, mem timings set at SPD. Looks like I cant run reliably with a 'conservative' overclock???

    my error message:
    FATAL ERROR: Final result was C042F374, expected: D8245D49.
    Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file.
    Torture test ran 2 hours, 33 minutes - 1 errors, 0 warnings.
    Execution halted.

    I guess I should keep lowering my FSB till I can pass Prime95 for at least 24hours? Any advice guys?
  • MackanzMackanz
    edited July 2004
    Well, CPU interface disabled helps a lot on dual 512 ram. However, it kills the bandwidth as well. 220 fsb cpu interface diaabled is the same as 200 enabled. Try to use enabled as long as you can, but find the default timings as you might be using tighter than they are specced for. Worth a shot at least.
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