2500+ with twinx512 3200c2

[quark]

I bought all this hardware to upgrade an older rig:
Asus A7n8x deluxe 2.0, bios 1007
AMD 2500+ (Barton)
Corsair twinX512-3200c2
Radeon 9500 Pro 128
Maxtor 60 G, IDE 133
Win XP pro & Win ME (dual boot)
Everything is installed and working. I was getting "system failed memory test" messages during post, but after I upgraded from 1005 to 1007 bios the problem's gone. Once in a while when I boot up into windows xp, the computer becomes really slow when it's loading the start-up programs, and I have to reboot again to go back to normal. I could start looking into the programs during start up and try to fix them or live with this problem; unfortunately I need this computer to be reliable and I think I am going to reinstall the os from scratch assuming I had some corrupt data during install. My main question is and it has always been: "Hardware Compatibility". I know there is a lot of enthusiasts out there running systems similar to mine. The a7n8x deluxe + Barton 2500 seems to be a very popular combo. However, I am not sure if the memory I have is a good choice. Before I upgraded to bios 1007 I started to play with the memory timings trying to solve the original problem mentioned above. I ended up with the following settings:
CPU Freq: 166MHz
Memory Freq: 100%
Resulting Frequency: 166MHz
SDRAM CAS Latency: 2T
SDRAM RAS to CAS Delay (tRCD): 3T
SDRAM Row Precharge (tRP): 2T
SDRAM Active to Precharge Delay (tRAS): 5T
Dim Voltage: 2.7 Volts
I ran memtest 86 and prime 95 tests for aprox 1 hour each and no problems. CPU temperature goes from 42 to 47 degrees with original fan, and just to give you an idea of the 3d performance I scored 3649 in 3d mark 03.
Does this sound good? I'm running at only 166 MHz to match the CPU FSB. Will it be safe to bump it up to 200 with this memory? Does anyone know good timings to run this Corsair memory at 200? Any inputs greatly appreciated
quark

 

[scottchen]

Hi there, here's some tips for overclocking an AthlonXP system:

1.Download programs, MBM5, Prime95, Sisoft Sandra, and 3dmark01.
2.If you're willing to spend some cash buy a SLK800U with 80mm Smart Case Fan 2.
3.Increase Vcore to 1.775 Asus would automatically overvoltage it to 1.8, Then increase Vdimm to 2.8, lock AGP frequency at 66mhz.
4.Keep Dram frequency syncronized with the FSB, turn memory timings to 2.5-3-3-10 then increase FSB to 210. If computer boots then keep going up by 2FSB, until computer stopped booting. Then decrease FSB by 5, and go into windows, and run Prime95 Torture test for 24 hours.
5.If computer's still doing torture test after 24 hours then it means your computer's stable, if it crashes lower FSB by another 5. 1 other thing monitor the temperature carefully using MBM5 try to stay under 60C.
6.Reminder do NOT change the multiplier settings.

-Intel PIV 2.6C @ 3.575G -Asus P4P800 -OCZ Copper 2x256 4000EL memory @ 275mhz 3-4-4-8 -Sapphire 9800np @ 432/760 -SB audigy -120G Maxtor Diamond Plus9 S-ATA150 hdd -450 Enermax PSU

 

[pIII_Man]

do you really think it is a good idea to overclock an already unstable system?


If it isn't a P6 then it isn't a procesor
110% BX fanboy

 

[scottchen]

Since he updated bios, passed memtest86, and reinstalled OS, so yeah I think OC a little wouldn't do any harm.

-Intel PIV 2.6C @ 3.575G -Asus P4P800 -OCZ Copper 2x256 4000EL memory @ 275mhz 3-4-4-8 -Sapphire 9800np @ 432/760 -SB audigy -120G Maxtor Diamond Plus9 S-ATA150 hdd -450 Enermax PSU

 

[quark]

Hey Guys, when the system boots up correctly it works just fine, like I said I 've been even able to run prime95 today (only for a couple of hours though) or 3Dmark 03 without any errors. So, I guess it is more or less stable. I am going to do a fresh install just to make sure these random "slow boots" are software related. I am looking into that thermaltake fan, scottchen, thanks for your guide but like pIII Man said I want to be sure that the system is 100% stable (hardware) before trying to overclock it. Also, I downloaded Sandra 2004, but I don't know which test should I run, or how to interpret results.
quark

 

[scottchen]

2004's out oh i didn't know that, ok i'll download that first then i'll tell you what to do.

-Intel PIV 2.6C @ 3.575G -Asus P4P800 -OCZ Copper 2x256 4000EL memory @ 275mhz 3-4-4-8 -Sapphire 9800np @ 432/760 -SB audigy -120G Maxtor Diamond Plus9 S-ATA150 hdd -450 Enermax PSU

 

[scottchen]

In sisoft sandra just go in the Burn In Wizard then simply follow the instructions, you could do all the tests if you want to. Make run priority high, and i think 50 times is good enough.

-Intel PIV 2.6C @ 3.575G -Asus P4P800 -OCZ Copper 2x256 4000EL memory @ 275mhz 3-4-4-8 -Sapphire 9800np @ 432/760 -SB audigy -120G Maxtor Diamond Plus9 S-ATA150 hdd -450 Enermax PSU