Overclocking a 2.6ghz Northwood w/ Asus P4C800 Deluxe --HELP

[ashrym]

I know Asus are supposedly poor overclockers. Though, with a Tuniq Tower or Scythe Ninja with a nice 120mm fan (Silverstone fm121), how much of an OC do you think I could get out of my 2.6 Northwood? I'm just trying to potentiate my aging AGP platform. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[1Tanker]

Don't listen to those who say ASUS are poor overclocking boards. If you

want extreme results out of them, then you need to do the vdroop mod.

If you have a decent chip, you should get at least 250FSB out of it for

3250MHz. You may possibly get 260 FSB out of it for 3380, but i wouldn't

expect to get 3.5 or 3.6. Some Northwoods get that, but they are few and

far between...usually 30 cap MO stepping. Just give it a go, you could just

have a jewel of a chip there, and get some nice power going on. Just

remember 1.70v or less.

 

[ashrym]

Thanks alot, man. I still don't know exactly what I need to OC, as I just haven't really read up on it yet. I do know how the timings, memory speed, and FSB tie in, though. A little bit atleast. I'm going to start reading into it a bit more. If anyone else has more comments, feel free .

 

[Crashman]

You'll need around 1.675v, plus or minus .025v, to get your best overclock to heat ratio. Most 2.6C cores use an inferior core revision whereas they can't overclock as well as the 2.4C or 2.8C, but 3.26GHz at 250 bus should be just about reachable.

But then again, not on your board. Overclock and within weeks if not days the 1.675v will droop to 1.60v and pop back to 1.75v When it droops, the system will hang. When it pops back, the system will reset.

That's why everyone who actually likes your board talks about the droop mod. Meanwhile, you could have had an Abit IS7 for around half the price and no need for the mod.

The droop mod isn't easy, but what is easy to say is that your board SUX FOR OVERCLOCKING.

 

[1Tanker]

The droop mod isn't easy, but what is easy to say is that your board SUX FOR OVERCLOCKING.

LMAO....and its probably the most popular i875 board for overclocking.

:roll:

 

[Crashman]

Yes, but popularity doesn't make it right.

Look, there are lots of boards out there, and lot of mods. The ONE thing that sets the P4C series apart from similar boards from MSI, Epox, Abit, etc, is that it has the droop problem under relatively low load.

We're talking about ordinary overclocking, ie, bus speeds up to and including 250MHz. Any board designed for overclocking should support it. But the P4C series has trouble maintaining the constant voltage needed to get most Northwood cores that high.

You hear things about modding VDIMM and so forth on other boards, which are refering to extreme overclocks. That the P4C series requires extreme mods for ordinary overclocks is its downfall.

So how did the board get to be so popular? It got promoted by major sites. Asus likely sent the major sites "ringers", boards that were pre-tested to find which had the lowest occurance of voltage problems. Worse, many of the retail boards didn't show the problem until a few days to several weeks after the board was set up. It's a progressive problem, and reviews don't catch most of those.

Asus is a popular brand. The board performed well. A few could overclock great, especially for the few days a review site would use them. Some people bought the boards out of ignorance, others bought the board because it worked good at stock speed, both putting Asus's name as the major factor in their purchasing decision.

 

[1Tanker]

Yes, but popularity doesn't make it right.

Look, there are lots of boards out there, and lot of mods. The ONE thing that sets the P4C series apart from similar boards from MSI, Epox, Abit, etc, is that it has the droop problem under relatively low load.

We're talking about ordinary overclocking, ie, bus speeds up to and including 250MHz. Any board designed for overclocking should support it. But the P4C series has trouble maintaining the constant voltage needed to get most Northwood cores that high.

You hear things about modding VDIMM and so forth on other boards, which are refering to extreme overclocks. That the P4C series requires extreme mods for ordinary overclocks is its downfall.

So how did the board get to be so popular? It got promoted by major sites. Asus likely sent the major sites "ringers", boards that were pre-tested to find which had the lowest occurance of voltage problems. Worse, many of the retail boards didn't show the problem until a few days to several weeks after the board was set up. It's a progressive problem, and reviews don't catch most of those.

Asus is a popular brand. The board performed well. A few could overclock great, especially for the few days a review site would use them. Some people bought the boards out of ignorance, others bought the board because it worked good at stock speed, both putting Asus's name as the major factor in their purchasing decision.

Duly noted

 

[Crashman]

Oh, BTW, there's a reason why THG now puts so much focus into endurance tests. This is probably a contributing factor. They needed to modify their own P4C800-E Deluxe before they could get good overclocks from it.

A contributing factor to sites missing the issue was that some used unlocked processors, to test high bus speeds at stock voltage. 15x200 and 10x300 both get you 3.0GHz.

The P4C800-E Deluxe won some awards that way, by being stable at higher bus speeds...ignoring the low VRM load required to get them using such processors.

So if an IS7 can overclock your 2.8C to 3.5GHz unmodified, but the P4C800-E Deluxe can get it to 3.7GHz...but requires a VRM mod to get it over 3.2GHz, who wins? According to standard benchmarking practice, the P4C wins. But going by what the average (non-extreme) overclocker does, the IS7 would be far superior in this scenario.

 

[FatFunkey]

uh what u mean 2.6 HT (800FSB) Northwood sucks at O/C

i can stock Voltage OC It to 3.0ghz easy, hell i can do it on stock cooling but it over heats after 3hrs of DOD:S

i have an Abit AI7 Mobo also.... IM gonna get a Zalman CNPS9500 and see how much i can push it without increasing my Voltage...cuz i dont wanna get SNDS T_T

( i have it at 2.8ghz now on stock Intel cooler 39C-40C Idle um 55ish Load gg Thermaltake Xsaser III Super Tower )

 

[Crashman]

Yes, overclocking from 2.6 to 3.0GHz is nothing, that's why the 2.6C sux. You're talking to an owner who researched his own overclocking problems.