I finally overclocked...

[HonestJhon]

Well, i finally got bored yesterday, and overclocked my little athlon...
i downloaded the overclockers bios for the ecs k7s5a from <A HREF="http://www.ocworkbench.com" target="_new">http://www.ocworkbench.com</A>, which BTW is crazy...wouldnt mind NOT having the BIOS screen thing, or at least an option to ESC out of it so i can see the RAM check, and the MHZ rating. BUT OH WELL...i guess that is what i get for using a modded bios...
but anyways...
It is an ATHLON 900 (B). (with the 200mhz fsb!)
well, it is usually reported at 895 mhz in WCPUID, and other programs...which i found out is because ECS was conservative with their timings, and default underclock everything. but this bios corrects that, even if you run at stock speeds.
the new bios (i dont know about previous, never tried them...this one is NEW) allows for setting up to 200/200...but i HIGHLY doubt that anything will hit that on this board without serious work...seeing as how this is not exactly an overclockers board.
i pushed my athlon from the settings i had (100/133) to 124/124. i know i dropped my rams fsb, BUT, i got higher scores in sandra, and games seem a bit smoother...but i still have yet to check my fps in Q3. and would anyone be able to tell me how to check my FPS in MOHAA? i just bought it, loved the demo, and saw it on sale at frys .
i tried setting it to 133/133, but NO boot...i think it would need more voltage to boot that high...
with my cpu at 124/124, and a locked multiplier of 9, that gives me 1,116MHZ, or 1.1GHZ. i am quite happy with it...
would be nice to push it to 133/133, but i would have to do the voltage settings with the L11 bridges, and that would require cutting a bridge or two to put it to the next voltage setting...and i dont really want to take the heatsink off, cut the bridge, pencil in the new voltage, and then put it all back together again...kinda lazy right now. maybe i will get bored again...and go for it.
but anyways...everything seems to be running fine. temp is only up by like 2°C...and this is with the TT VOLCANO 6CU. although i fell in love with the swiftech MCX-462 when i was at frys....(too bad they only sell it with the fan, because that fan is LOUD :frown: )...OH WELL...
maybe i will buy the heatsink with the fan, and just get another fan. or do the 7v trick or something...lol....because that heatsink is crazy.
but anyways...thought i would let everyone know about my measley overclock... ...and if anyone has any suggestions about how i can increase the voltage, or anything, feel free to post!

oh, and i dont want to start any fights, and i know that this is inconclusive data, but in sandra, when i benchmark my cpu, it beats a P4 1.2ghz when i run the cpu arithmatic. and in the multimedia, it beats it too...but i cant remember if it was a substantial difference. will check again when i get home from class.
too bad that there is no way to change the multiplier in the OC bios. does anyone know why that is so? is the board physically incapable of changing the multiplier? i know that the leadtek board you can (i think i know it can).


-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[chuck232]

Don't know mcuh about overclocking so I won't mess around on that topic, but congrats. Just one thing though:

when i benchmark my cpu, it beats a P4 1.2ghz when i run the cpu arithmatic.

I didn't know there were such things as 1.2GHz P4s. I thought the lowest one was 1.3GHz?

 

[HonestJhon]

i dont know...you could be right...BUT...in the dropdown menu after the benchmark is complete, there is a P4 1.2 GHZ. maybe they messed up or something...
but that is one of the options.
i can email you the screen shot of it...
it is really quite interesting.
email me if you want to see the screen shot.

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[HonestJhon]

oh, and thanks for the congrats....

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[GearJammer2513]

My congrats also! Always nice to hear that someone else got a successful overclock.

As far as the P4 1.2 thing, most likely a typo. The P4 part that is. It was probably a 1.2GHz chip that they used for the comparison. Don't worry about it.

Again, Congrats and happy overclocking!

GearJammer

Believe only half of what you read and none of what you hear! Unless it's in THGC forum.

 

[Unolocogringo]

BE CAREFUL, all that free speed can be addictive. Next thing you know you will be trying for a little more, and a little more ,and a little more, and a little more,and just a little bit more.

Next thing you know you HAVE to have something NEW so you can try to overclock it a little bit more and a little more ,and a little more................................

Congratulatios on your first overclock. May it not be your last. Have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I aint signing nothing!!!

 

[The_MaguS]

My celeron 900 I oc'd to 133 = 1200 mhz.

Beats a P4 1.4 in multimedia/arithmatic!

Loses to a 1.3 Athlon though. nya!

<font color=blue> There's no such thing as hell, but you can make it if you try.</font color=blue>

 

[CMRvet]

but i would have to do the voltage settings with the L11 bridges, and that would require cutting a bridge or two to put it to the next voltage setting...and i dont really want to take the heatsink off, cut the bridge, pencil in the new voltage, and then put it all back together again...kinda lazy right now. maybe i will get bored again...and go for it

Other way…..

Would be nice to lower the multiplier to 8.5 in order to get 1130 MHz at 133/133.

 

[HonestJhon]

very true....very true.
oh, and this isnt my FIRST overclock...just the first overclock of THIS chip...lol...
i didnt think it would do much, and i didnt think it would get much due to it being on a ECS k7s5a...but i did get more than i thought i would.
and if i lowered the multi, and upped the FSB, that would be a better performing machine...
really too bad there are no multiplier options in the OC bios...because if there was, then i would be able to just unlock the cpu, and go from there...
would be QUITE nice....but oh well.


-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[HonestJhon]

ok, now i am trying to get some more out of this thing.
trying to make it work at 133/133 in the bios.
but get this.
when i try that, it wont boot...at all.
i upped the voltage by using the bridges, and went as high as 1.85v!!!
it wont boot at 133/133, and i have to clear the bios. this is kinda a pain.
anyone know why this would be happening? shouldnt it be able to hit 133? if not, then maybe i will try leaving it at 124/124, and upping the multiplier by the bridges...
if anyone knows or has any ideas, let me know...would be greatly appreciated.
athlon 900(100fsb) pc2100 ddr, ECS k7s5a with the latest OC bios.
thanks in advance...

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[HonestJhon]

OH, and i cant get it to change the MULTI to 10x. i cant tell if i am cutting the bridges.
is there a way to tell?
visually?
there is no more gold, but the only thing i am able to change is the vcore.
i am using the guide <A HREF="http://www.ocinside.de/html/workshop/socketa/socketa_resistors.html" target="_new">here</A> to do this, and i am using an X-ACTO knife. none of the bridges are crossed, and as far as i can tell, there is no gold on the contacts that i needed cut. i dont get it!

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[HonestJhon]

ok, i was told that using an old at powersupply, i would be able to use 5v to burn the bridges away. i did that, and i dont think i had cut them, cause there was what they described would happen, a small spark, and then you would see that the bridge was gone.
well, i penciled in the bridge settings, and tried it out. still at 9x in the bios, but now the thing wont boot into windows.
if i throw MY processor in, it works fine. (i am trying all this stuff out on my friends old 900, which is the same thing as mine...just not being used because he has an AXP1600+)...
i am going to double check and make sure i am penciling it in right, and make sure that no bridges are crossed, but i dont think any are...
it would be great if someone would post here, and give me some ideas.

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[HonestJhon]

alright..i got it to work...at 10x. i just had stuff penciled in weird...but it is working now.
cant get it to go at 124/124.
have it at 107/107 right now...kinda lame...but i wish it would boot up at 124/124...i dont know what is holding it back!?!
anyone know what might cause it?

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[HonestJhon]

ok....i dropped the multiplier to 8x...and put it at 133/133...works like a charm!
currrently at 1064mhz, windows reporting at 1.07GHZ.
here is what CPUID says:
[ WCPUID Version 3.0f (c) 1996-2002 By H.Oda! ]

Processor #1 : AMD Athlon (Model 4) / 715C3FF7
Platform : Socket A (Socket 462)
Vendor String : AuthenticAMD
CPU Type : Original OEM Processor (0)
Family : 6 (7)
Model : 4 (4)
Stepping ID : 2 (2)
Brand : ----
APIC : ----
Name String : AMD Athlon(tm) Processor

Internal Clock : 1071.21 MHz
System Bus : 267.80 MHz DDR
System Clock : 133.90 MHz
Multiplier : 8.0

L1 I-Cache : 64K Byte
L1 D-Cache : 64K Byte
L1 T-Cache : ----
L1 Cache : ----
L2 Cache : 256K Byte
L2 Speed : 1071.21 MHz (Full)

MMX Unit : Supported
SSE Unit : Not Supported
SSE2 Unit : Not Supported
MMX2 Unit : Supported
3DNow! Unit : Supported
3DNow!+ Unit : Supported

Host Bridge : 1039:0735.01 [SiS 735]
South Bridge : 1039:0008.00 [SiS 5595]
VGA Device : 10DE:0150.A4 [NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS/Pro]
Memory Size : 256M Byte
Memory Clock : ----

OS Version : Windows XP Version 5.01.2600
-------------- : -----------------------------------
StdFunc 0 : 00000001 68747541 444D4163 69746E65
StdFunc 1 : 00000642 00000000 00000000 0183F9FF
ExtFunc 0 : 80000006 68747541 444D4163 69746E65
ExtFunc 1 : 00000742 00000000 00000000 C1C7F9FF
ExtFunc 2 : 20444D41 6C687441 74286E6F 5020296D
ExtFunc 3 : 65636F72 726F7373 00000000 00000000
ExtFunc 4 : 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
ExtFunc 5 : 0408FF08 FF18FF10 40020140 40020140
ExtFunc 6 : 00000000 41004100 01008140 00000000
C0010010h : 00000000 00160604 00000000 81464F28
C0010011h : 00000000 08126320 00000000 81464F28
C0010012h : 00000000 00000000 00000000 81464F28
C0010013h : 00000000 00032147 00000000 81464F28
C0010014h : 00000000 0003104F 00000000 81464F28
C0010015h : 00000000 0A001008 00000000 81464F28
C0010016h : 00000000 00000000 00000000 81464F28
C0010017h : 00000000 00000000 00000000 81464F28
C0010018h : 00000000 D0000018 00000000 81464F28
C0010019h : 0000000F F8000800 00000000 81464F28
C001001Ah : 00000000 10000000 00000000 81464F28
C001001Bh : 00000000 FFF0D22F 00000000 81464F28
C0010111h : 00000000 000B0000 00000000 81464F28
C0010112h : 00000000 00000000 00000000 81464F28
C0010113h : 00000000 00000001 00000000 81464F28

##--- Date 05/05/2002, Time 04:17:30


i like the performance boost, and SANDRA is getting MUCH higher RAM bandwidth scores, and higher CPU multi and arithmatic scores.
right now, i have the voltage at 1.8, sandra is reporting it at 1.81. i am tired right now, but i am going to turn my computer off for now, and tomorrow, i am going to take the voltage down a notch...see if it is stable there.

i tried booting at 8x138/138, but it was a no go. too bad.
i am going to try and get some better CHIP cooling for the "chipset"(cant really call it a set, cause there is only one chip). i have a heatsink that was on my friends pentium233...
it is a BEC6X86B1, has this pink pad on the bottom...(which looks like it didnt even get hot enough to melt...assuming it is a wax thermal pad) it is a pretty crazy heatsink, because it has these holes surrounding the pink pad, that go through to the place where the fins are. i hope that it will work on the SIS735...just to give it a rest from the heat. i also have a spare GOLDEN ORB sitting on my desk, which i am thinking about, but i am pretty sure it is too big...too bad...because i think that it would cool that chip PRETTY GOOD.
but right now, i am VERY tired...and am going to go to sleep.
i hope that some people post some ideas in here...and comments....


-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[Unolocogringo]

Sounds like you are getting some good results there. Now it is just a process of trying lower multiplyers and higher fsb settings to get the best performance.
Now for memory try to keep the cas latency as low as possible. 2/2/2 will give you the best performance. Unless you have soso ram that will not run at cas2 but will run at cas3 while the processor is at least 250-300 mhz faster.

Now it is down to tweeking and testing different setting to see what will give the best overall performance. Not just the highest processor overclock. If memory speed stays the same (133mhz) a 933 processor with cas2 memory will outperform a 1gig processor with cas3 memory timings. So it is not always the faster cpu speed that wins, but a combination of memory/cpu timings.

I aint signing nothing!!!

 

[CMRvet]

ok....i dropped the multiplier to 8x...and put it at 133/133...works like a charm!

How nice is an stable OC….

Finally, how did you manage to cut the bridges? and what temps are you getting at 1064 MHz?

 

[HonestJhon]

alright...to cut the bridges, i rigged up this nifty thing i have dubbed "the bridge cutter". i took two new xacto blades...and put them on this little 5V wire lead that came out of a molex connector on this old 250w psu i have. then i touched one blade to one dot, and the other blade to another, and POP, tiny spark, and no more bridge.
of course, you do this when the cpu is out of the mobo, and on an anti static surface.
right now, i have it at 8x134 (reported by everything, but in the bios it displays 133...eh...i will trust cpuid... ). temps are a tad higher, but i AM running higher voltage.
last night i was playing MOHAA, and it crashed right when i got into the bunker on the OMAHA beach part...you know, where you climb the ladders to clear the thing out...
well, that was with just the case side off.
when i rebooted, the temp was 51...and went back down to 46. (celcius).
i have my ram at the most aggressive timings i can set it at. and am performing QUITE well.
i havent tried it yet, but i was going to try setting the multi at 7.5 or 4even go more conservative, and set it to 7, and then up the fsb to like 142. something like that.
only thing is i cant do a cold boot...i have to reboot it to get it to get past posting.
oh, and i wish this OC bios didnt have this big logo! then i would be able to see right away the speed of my CPU, without having to go into the bios, and checking to see if my changes worked.
but yeah, the 5V bridge cutter thing works like a charm, and now when i want to change it, i just erase, and redraw it.
pretty cool.
if anyone has any ideas, lemme know.
thanks everyone!
too bad i dont have watercooling, or a swiftech MCX-462...hehe...wouldnt have to worry about temps..
but i think that isnt too bad for a volcano6cu! hehe.

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[HonestJhon]

oh, and it hasnt crashed in MOHAA since this morning....dont know why.


-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[HonestJhon]

ok, small update.

running at 133/133 8x multiplier, 1.825 volts. idle 43°C with fans turned all on and all the way up.
but air coming out of exhaust is cool now, so i dont think it needs to be like this all the time...but will test that later.
here is CPUID data:

[ WCPUID Version 3.0f (c) 1996-2002 By H.Oda! ]

Processor #1 : AMD Athlon (Model 4) / 715C3FF7
Platform : Socket A (Socket 462)
Vendor String : AuthenticAMD
CPU Type : Original OEM Processor (0)
Family : 6 (7)
Model : 4 (4)
Stepping ID : 2 (2)
Brand : ----
APIC : ----
Name String : AMD Athlon(tm) Processor

Internal Clock : 1071.21 MHz
System Bus : 267.80 MHz DDR
System Clock : 133.90 MHz
Multiplier : 8.0

L1 I-Cache : 64K Byte
L1 D-Cache : 64K Byte
L1 T-Cache : ----
L1 Cache : ----
L2 Cache : 256K Byte
L2 Speed : 1071.21 MHz (Full)

MMX Unit : Supported
SSE Unit : Not Supported
SSE2 Unit : Not Supported
MMX2 Unit : Supported
3DNow! Unit : Supported
3DNow!+ Unit : Supported

Host Bridge : 1039:0735.01 [SiS 735]
South Bridge : 1039:0008.00 [SiS 5595]
VGA Device : 10DE:0150.A4 [NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS/Pro]
Memory Size : 256M Byte
Memory Clock : ----

OS Version : Windows XP Version 5.01.2600
-------------- : -----------------------------------
StdFunc 0 : 00000001 68747541 444D4163 69746E65
StdFunc 1 : 00000642 00000000 00000000 0183F9FF
ExtFunc 0 : 80000006 68747541 444D4163 69746E65
ExtFunc 1 : 00000742 00000000 00000000 C1C7F9FF
ExtFunc 2 : 20444D41 6C687441 74286E6F 5020296D
ExtFunc 3 : 65636F72 726F7373 00000000 00000000
ExtFunc 4 : 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
ExtFunc 5 : 0408FF08 FF18FF10 40020140 40020140
ExtFunc 6 : 00000000 41004100 01008140 00000000
C0010010h : 00000000 00160604 00000000 8146C380
C0010011h : 00000000 08126320 00000000 8146C380
C0010012h : 00000000 00000000 00000000 8146C380
C0010013h : 00000000 00032147 00000000 8146C380
C0010014h : 00000000 0003104F 00000000 8146C380
C0010015h : 00000000 0A001008 00000000 8146C380
C0010016h : 00000000 00000000 00000000 8146C380
C0010017h : 00000000 00000000 00000000 8146C380
C0010018h : 00000000 D0000018 00000000 8146C380
C0010019h : 0000000F FC000800 00000000 8146C380
C001001Ah : 00000000 10000000 00000000 8146C380
C001001Bh : 00000000 FFF0D22F 00000000 8146C380
C0010111h : 00000000 000B0000 00000000 8146C380
C0010112h : 00000000 00000000 00000000 8146C380
C0010113h : 00000000 00000001 00000000 8146C380

##--- Date 05/05/2002, Time 22:35:07

runs pretty good, and have ran 3dmark2001 and pcmark2002 several times, played MOHAA and Q3a for a bit.
seems fine so far.
even went on to overclock my video card a bit. but that is a different story.

still havent put my memory timings to what they were before...will test after that.
but with it running like it is right now, i am looking at ~3700 3dmarks. cant find my pw for MADONION, but when i get it, i will post the results up.
i hope that the memory timings work..because when i was running default speed, my aggressive memory timings added some points in SANDRA.
will post back with details when i get them!

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[HonestJhon]

ok, put all the timings to MAX...ULTRA 2 7 4 in the OC bios.
ONE thing tho, that i couldnt figure out.
what the hell is DRAM DRIVER SLEW RATING?????????????
it has two options....fast, and normal.
what does it do, and should i enable it?
oh yeah...vid card clocked to 220/450 right now...dont know temps of that, but no artifacts, and runs 3dmark2001 fine.
cold boots fine, hot boots fine, and BIOS reports it at 1100mhz...
but you have seen what CPUid reports..i think the bios just rounds it to closest? or up?
but i am quite happy with the performance increase.
tempted to do the same thing to my athlon900, and then button the whole thing up and leave it be!
oh yeah, idle, it is 45°C with my exhaust fans off, and my 120mm intake turned all the way down.
still thinking about chipset cooling, but i need to get some arctic silver thermal adhesive, or jbweld, and figure which heatsink i am going to use...
the GORB, or the little pentium.
still have to check if the GORB is going to fit...hehe.
but it would be much better than a BLORB, and quieter! hehe.
i think i am going to leave the computer running all night, see if it makes it.
hehe
too bad there is nothing really good on tv, or i would sit here for a while running tests....BUT, it is late, and i am tired...so off to bed it is.
be back tomorrow with more info and so on...

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-