OC a P4 2.8GHz Northwood Socket 478 on GA-8IPE-1000-L?

[ChrisLee]

How can I OC P4 2.8GHz Northwood Socket 478 on a GA-8IPE-1000-L motherboard? How far can I do it? I'm quite new to overclocking.
What would be the safe limits?

Thanks in advance.

 

[apache_lives]

Should overclock to around 3.5ghz (if its a C class - is it?), dont push the vcore over 1.7v (try for 1.6v max), and most gigabyte boards have a so called "secret" menu- gotta press ctrl+F1 to get the advanced options out such as timings, vcore and fsb settings.

High Vcore (and the heat with it) kills hardware, most overclocking otherwise wont damage anything.

As for temps - my 2.6c maxed out has seen high 60's on hot summer days here in Australia and it didnt bother it.

BTW if you dont know what C class is, check if windows detects your cpu as 2, or wether the FSB is 200mhz or 800mhz, where as all others will not show up as 2 and will have a fsb of 533.

 

[ChrisLee]

I guess I have a C class, with 2 processors showing up and a FSB of 200MHz.

I'd love to overclock, but is there a safe way to do it?

I know that the heat will kill it, so what type of fan should I have to invest in to keep it safe (Any brands)?

Plus, how high is recommended if I stay with stock cooler? (Out of curiousity)

 

[apache_lives]

Most of the P4c's overclock fine on stock cooling, push the fsb up a few mhz at a time and run some sort of app that pushes the cpu to max (eg Prime95).

Zalman makes good hsf's for cpus - quiet and efficent, but see how far you can push the cpu on stock first.

Should reach 3.5ghz pretty easily, if you have generic ram, set the ram ratio/speed down one to 1.6x/'333' so it doesnt limit you and then push the fsb up bit by bit, also remember to lock the pci bus and when you max out up the vcore a bit but dont go over 1.65v if posible.

I almost forgot - try to keep it under 65c even that temp wouldnt bother it, vcore kills cpus not the heat, heat and lack of vcore will cause your system to reset or kick you out of apps more.

 

[ChrisLee]

Okay. I've done what you've told me to. Below are my specs now with overclocking.

CPU Host Frequency (MHz) : 246

If I was to go one higher, the XP bootup screen would be faint and stuck, no movements. Frozen.
(Having then to reset and then change CPU Host Frequency down to 246)
Is XP boot up screen symptom of overclocking too high?

AGP/PCI/SRC Fixed Frequency : 66/33/100

Memory Frequency : Auto
Memory Frequency (MHz) : 408
(The memory frequency seems to be directly related to when CPU Host Frequency is changed, is that right? I can't set this by its own value)

CPU Voltage : 1.6000V
Original/Stable CPU Voltage : 1.525V

The CPU Voltage is upon your instructions not to raise more than 1.6V.

Normal temperature : 40-45c
Overclocked temperature : 50-55c

Does this overclock look alright? I couldn't find the "special" control part with CTRL + F1. (During BIOS check, right?)

The P4 is 2.8GHz -> 3.44GHz.

Is the above all right? Any comments?

 

[apache_lives]

~3.4ghz sounds bout right for 1.6v stock cooling and yeah when you get boot issues your near the wall at that vcore (or ram and other things depending on setup), and as for 'cpu host frequency' thats the fsb (front side bus) and to get speeds its FSB x Multiplier (14x for yours) to get clock speed, and ram speed is also directly fsb related in ratio (cant remember em, some bios's list em as ratio like 1:1 and others like '200' or 2x)

Before you think its stable cause it boots it might not be under heavy/long use (instabilities ranging from apps crashing to system resets) - download Prime95 (free) and tell it to do a torchure test and let it go for a couple of hours (it will stop if your system is unstable, if it doesnt then your system is pretty solid).

1.6v is not that much of an increase for P4 northwood cpu's but since you have stock cooling it would prolly overheat if went to 1.7v, if you have the option, use 1.65.

I couldn't find the "special" control part with CTRL + F1. (During BIOS check, right?)

- try it in the bios (after entering the bios), but if you got those settings then your boards bios mightnt have those settings hidden from you in the first place.

Also, download MBM (motherboard monitor) to check your temps in windows and during prime95.

Iv had some bad experiences leaving bios settings to 'auto' - i prefer knowing whats set.

See how prime95 goes.

 

[ChrisLee]

I believe the voltage after 1.6000 is 1.6800v.

I get problems when I run Prime95 for a minute. (Hardware failure)
How do I fix this problem?

I set my FSB down to 240 Now Primer runs test 1, and test 2 and continuing on, it freezes my PC.
But the CPU temperature is at 65c.
And then I set the FSB to 239, now testing.

 

[apache_lives]

I believe the voltage after 1.6000 is 1.6800v.

I get problems when I run Prime95 for a minute. (Hardware failure)
How do I fix this problem?

I set my FSB down to 240 Now Primer runs test 1, and test 2 and continuing on, it freezes my PC.
But the CPU temperature is at 65c.
And then I set the FSB to 239, now testing.

Prime95 absolutly hammers the cpu, chipset and ram to the max with its testing and if it finds errors (or locks up) then you have instability issues, for you its most likly your over the max for that cpu (or atleast with stock cooling).

If you havnt already done so, lower the ram ratio manually (all bios's list diffrent ones that mean the same) to '166' (or 333) so you know its not going to cause you issues with stability.

1.68v will probably do more bad then good - temps are already high enough.

 

[ChrisLee]

Currently, my memory is set to the following, I don't know what you mean by 166 or 333. The memory frequency seems to be directly related to when CPU Host Frequency is changed, I can't set this to what I want.

AGP/PCI/SRC Fixed Frequency : 66/33/100

Memory Frequency : Auto
Memory Frequency (MHz) : 408

I tried 237, I know for sure I can stay at that, how long should I keep the Primer app on to make sure it's very stable? I ran it for a night on blend test and it got a fatal error at test four of 28k strength.

By the way Apache_lives, I just want to say thank you for so much help.

 

[ChrisLee]

There's a screenshot of the error.

I have Kingston 512mb DD ram.

 

[apache_lives]

your pretty close to stability - drop the speeds back a little and it should be solid.

What settings do you get in the bios for memory?

 

[ChrisLee]

Currently, my memory is set to the following, I don't know what you mean by 166 or 333. The memory frequency seems to be directly related to when CPU Host Frequency is changed, I can't set this to what I want.

AGP/PCI/SRC Fixed Frequency : 66/33/100

Memory Frequency : Auto
Memory Frequency (MHz) : 408

I'll try turning the FSB down a bit.

 

[apache_lives]

opps sorry ill explain that a little better - what options do you get to select in the bios like what can you actually change? theres usually a frequency/ratio and timings - list what you have available.

 

[ChrisLee]

The below settings are found in BIO's "Advanced Chipset Features"
I hope they're what you're asking for. I don't know where else it may be.

Config to DRAM timing [SPD or Manual] -> SPD
CAS latency time -> 2.5
Active to Precharge Delay -> 8
DRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay -> 4
DRAM RAS# to CAS# Precharge -> 4
Refresh mode select -> 7.8US
Delayed Transaction -> Enabled
AGP Aperture Size (MB) -> 128
PSB Parking -> Disabled
Command per Clock [Auto or enabled or disabled]
Current CPC -> X
Fast Chip select -> [Auto or enabled or disabled]
Current FCS -> X
Dynamic Paging Mode [Auto or Disabled] -> Auto
M.I.B (Memory Intelligent booster) [Auto or enabled] -> Auto