OC'ing a P4 630

main barrier is the vcore i think (i have the same processor) but i'm hoping to get better cooling to up that. a better PSU could help due to a cleaner signal?, anyway, wait till someone else confirms this (i'm still a n00b)

(i get to 3.4 before BSOD's happen once in a while)

are those idle temperatures? what are your load temps and idle temps? i don't think we'll be able to overclock much more then what we both have on stock voltages...

Ara

most people always look at the vcore and the power, but they never look at the real overclock stop.... memory....
tell me.. what latency is your memory cause maybe that´s whats stopping you from going higher, btw 3.6ghz is posible with the normal vcore and cas 2.5 memory,,,, just modify the memory timing to the spd so it adjusts to the overclock :wink:

ok.... to Ara:

idle temp sits around 29-30C... little bit warmer depending on the ambient air temp.

to axscpu:

at stock freq.... my ram timings are 2.5-3-3-8

i think your temps are great, (i get about 50 idle...) so i think it would be relatively safe for you to bump up the voltages (very little), as far as i can tell, that is the barrier. i think you can bump up your voltage until you succeed (making sure your temps are ok in the bios at least...), your ram timings might also be holding you back, try loosening them before you take up the voltage. more then that, i don't think i can help...

Ara

OK, in a nutshell without getting into all the particulars, the 630 with the "right" cooling and a little extra Vcore will do 4.5Ghz. Yes, the mobo is a big factor as well as the RAM. As you've probably noticed, my sig shows my 630 @ 4.2Ghz. Thats with a 1.41 (setting in BIOS) Vcore and water cooling. It's also Prime95/Super PI concurrent stable.

My idle temps with an ambient temp of 20c is 28c and @ 100% load it only reaches 42-43c. I could go higher with this CPU but my RAM is only DDR2 533 and already @ 560. My FSB is 280 and If your going to keep a 1:1 ratio between FSB DR (which I recommend for stability) your going to need some really good DDR RAM. PC4000 will get you to 250FSB if your BIOS will let you raise your Vcore above 1.4 but you need even higher performance DDR to achieve 4Ghz and beyond= big $$ for DDR which will not be forward compatible for high performance applications where DDR2 should be used.

Last but not least is your choice of cooling and I seriously recommend a nice H2O solution as all the people I've turned on to it have never had any regrets or accidents if done properly. The performance achieved is astounding and once I replace my RAM with DDR2 667 or 800, 4.5Ghz or better will be within my grasp. Eventually i will upgrade to a PD 930 and look to achieve similar results w/ dual core. If H2O is out of the question, buy the very best Air cooled solution you can find. It will be worth it.

The performance you will gain @ 4Ghz and beyond is incredible and I honestly would put my rig up against ANY single core CPU H2o cooled rig once I've hit 4.5Ghz or beyond. I highly recommend you OC to the max as you WILL NOT be disappointed with the performance increase. Good luck!

unfortunately h2o cooling is out of reach for now, but i've been turned off of it because of the possibility of things like leaks and such. I've also done some experimenting since I made this thread.... and discovered that my ram is the limiting factor here. I have in the BIOS the option to fix the ram frequency or set it to Auto. On a fixed 400mhz feequency, and OC'ing to 3.6 my system BSOD's because it set the ram freq to 400mhz effective clock and OC's from there. on auto, it defaults to 266mhz effective clock, in which case i can then run at 3.6 stable. i set it back to 400mhz effective on the ram and 3.4.... the lower ram clock was rather.... restrictive

Since your RAM is the bottleneck, I recommend DDR600/PC4800 RAM.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1682...
It's not overly expensive @ $75 for 512Mb. It will allow you to OC while keeping your FSB DR @ 1:1.

Invest in a quality HSF to keep the 630 cool and your on your way. Check this article which is rather dated now but gives you a very good idea how well the 630 will perform on air. You'll never see my temps though and cooler is better. H2O horror stories are usually due to pilot error rather than equipment failure but it's your rig and your call.
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=439

unfortunately funds are somewhat limited right now, and i'm trying to save for a conroe chip when they come out (preferably the E6600), a supporting board using either the 975X chipset (if in fact other board manufacturers make a new board revisions to support conroe) or an NF4 SLI based LGA775 board (depending on if i really want SLI capabilities or not... i'm still deciding. Plus 2gb of ddr2-800. Spending another $140, plus shipping (which is going to really blow, plus i have no use for the 1gb of ddr400 i have in my rig right now) it's not really worth the time and money for me at this point.

Thx to all for the replys and suggestions though.

I understand your plight. I'm sure Conroe won't disappoint. Eventually, I'll make the upgrade to Conroe if AMD's latest and greatest at the time is not it's superior.