overclocking fsb

[Bin_Lagered]

My System

Athlon 2500+
Soltek SL-75FRN2-L
512MB DDR400 single chip elixir
Volcano 9+ cooler
Powercolor 9600pro bravo
WD 80GB
BTC CDRW/DVD ROM

i have been trying to overclock this system for a while now and i cant get the fsb to overclock at all without instabilities, im pretty sure that the ram has a lot to do with it as its a ****ty brand. kindof wish i got 2x256 of decent ddr333 now.

i have played around with the memory timings cause i was told that crap ram needs looser timings, it helped a bit but still isnt 100% stable.

i can get the cpu to like 2280 but the fsb wont move, is it just the ram or could it be something else?

also, if the ram is the problem would getting another 512 and running it in 333 dual channel be better or getting a new set of decent ddr400?

any help is appeciated.

[Solid Snake]

Overclocking FSB may be very trouble some. It could be your CPU even not liking it. Trying reading the overclocking FAQ here. A whole set of problems could present themselves...

[dumass]

What kind of XP2500 do you have?

I have the EXACT same problem with my 2500 (AQEZA).

My system was running with a xp1700@220FSB, but put the xp2500 in and the FSB wouldnt move, cpu overclocks to ~2250mhz no worries though.

Its just bad luck I guess :(

[Bin_Lagered]

how do you tell what kind it is ??
i didnt know there was different types.

[Valium]

when you take the heat sink off your cpu it will have a whole lot of text written on it. part of this is the stepping that dumass was referring too.

its the part in the black box

[dumass]

Heres mine:

[Bin_Lagered]

ok, will check the type when i get home 2nite. Does it make a big difference ??

so if my cpu is the problem and wont overclock. what is the best way to get more performance, should i get some more ram and run fsb at 333mhz dual channel ?

[Secern]

Maybe heat would be a factor, If I was you guys I would lossen up the ram timings (what is the exact type ram?) then get rid of those evil V9's or put a stronger fan on the HS.
Then slowly up the fsb.

If this all doesnt work, do this. (worked for me)
Play around with what slot you put your ram in, my FRN2 was a lil biatch when i had 256mb giel and it would only work properly in the middle slot :confused:, but then it oc'd like a mofo :).

Also I seem to think that with the cheap generic ram its all about luck, luck of the draw. I've being lucky with my 1gb a-data 400's :D

[skeko]

Thats odd, i have a Sotek 75MRN-L (much the same) and athlon 2500xp, and I can clock the FSB, multiplier up as much as I want.

[skeko]

I think i know what your problem is..... Next to where the CPU Is located there is a jumper pin. You can set it to allow FSB up to 133 MHZ, or u can lower the jumper on to the pins 2-3 and you can allow the FSB up to 166 MHZ and higher,

133MHZ FSB
[-]
[-]
[]

166MHZ FSB & Higher
[]
[-]
[-]

Try getting the latest bios as well, it allows more changes to be made.

[Bin_Lagered]

Originally posted by Secern
Maybe heat would be a factor
- dont think so case temps dont get higher than 35 cpu stays under 45 atm. got a fair bit of cooling going on.

Originally posted by Secern
If I was you guys I would lossen up the ram timings
- tried running with slowest timings possible and still get crashes.

Originally posted by Secern
Play around with what slot you put your ram in, my FRN2 was a lil biatch when i had 256mb giel and it would only work properly in the middle slot :confused:, but then it oc'd like a mofo :).
- this sound like a good idea, ill try it later 2nite.

edit: is there any preference for which slot you should use with a single stick ??

[Bin_Lagered]

Originally posted by skeko
I think i know what your problem is..... Next to where the CPU Is located there is a jumper pin. You can set it to allow FSB up to 133 MHZ, or u can lower the jumper on to the pins 2-3 and you can allow the FSB up to 166 MHZ and higher,

133MHZ FSB
[-]
[-]
[]

166MHZ FSB & Higher
[]
[-]
[-]

Try getting the latest bios as well, it allows more changes to be made.

umm, im running at 166 mhz now so . . . it must be in the right place :)

- but ill check it anyway

[Bin_Lagered]

btw its a AQXEA 03225 2500+

[Bin_Lagered]

ok i tried swapping the ram to all the dimms and still no luck. im pretty sure it must be the cpu thats limiting the oc.

im thinking of getting more ram soon ao i can run dual channel ddr333, will this give me much of a performance increase with the cpu fsb only at 166mhz or is all the extra bandwidth just wasted ????

[Secern]

in theroy the ddr333 will fully used to its potential, but in another theroy I have it will limit your OCing, But yea youd still get High OC's but not the same as having some nice DDR400. :D

[Bin_Lagered]

been testing for a while now and seems the fsb isnt going to move in the current setup, for whatever reason.

thats cool though. been cranking the muiltiplier up, got it to run stable at 2339 :D

- gets a tad hot though, might have to go get some more fans
;)

seems like a decent overclock for my first go.

[swiftynz]

Sounds like yours is pretty similar to mine:

http://swifty.orcon.net.nz/files/Barton.jpg

Mine does a bit over 2300mhz on default vcore (w/c) and i've had the fsb to 225. It wasn't very stable, but that could be due to my crap PQI DDR400 ram. :(

Try enabling spred spectrum in bios, it fixed one persons problems with high fsb on a oops nevermind it was a 7VAXP.

Also try disabling any "enhance PCI performance" functions.

It's not really worth spending extra $$ to get dual channel on an nforce 2 board - the performance gain is very small. I'd just consider it a free little performance boost if you happen to have two sticks of ram. :)

[Bin_Lagered]

i dont believe it.

i think i may have finally figured it out.:mad:

just booted system at default cpu mult/voltage/fsb
all except ram

set ram to detect by SPD
which is 200

system booted, crashed while loading sandra
.
system booted, crashed while running sandra
.
system booted, crashed while on net.

gonna check looser timings, but if i cant get the ram to run at 200 its going back

:eek:

[Bin_Lagered]

still not stable at 15-7-7-3 / 2.8V @200:(

guess ill take it back, still under warranty

[Valium]

run memtest aswell, just to give you the piece of mind knowing its definatly the ram thats at fault.

get it here (http://www.memtest86.com/)

[Bin_Lagered]

ran memtest at 200mhz and it failed miserably.
maybe they stuck the wrong label on it ddr400 instead
of ddr333 or something.:p

i hope ill get a refund or some new ram that will run better