AthlonXP 2600+ Overclocking

[sheenster38]

So, I posted here a couple weeks ago about my underclocking problem. Turns out that I didn't have enough thermal compound on my cpu, so now I'm running at stock speed again. Now, I just want to overclock my cpu, preferrably to 2.3Ghz (11.5x200). When I set the FSB at 200, it boots, but flashes a blue screen during the windows boot and restarts. I tried to increase the voltage, but seeing as how my BIOS only allows you to increase via percentages of 6, 12, and 18, I'm not sure what to do. Here are my specs:

Abit NF7-S2G
(BIOS rev. 15)
AthlonXP 2600+ 1.95GHz
(locked multiplier x11.5)
Thermalright SLK-900A
512MB DDR400 RAM
(2x Buffalo 256MB, CL2.5, NonECC, Unbuffered, Dual Channel)
ATI Radeon X700 Pro
350W Antec PSU

 

[Frozen_Fallout]

What temp are you running at now and are you overclocking the ram at all or messing with anything else? What kinda cooling are you having for you case?

 

[sheenster38]

I'm running at around 43C without any load right now. The ram is not overclocked... should be running at 166mhz (1:1 with the FSB). As for cooling, I have a thermalright slk-900a hs and a 90mm fan, 120mm fan in the back, 60mm fan on the side and the front.

 

[Frozen_Fallout]

Have you tried stepping it up one point at a time to see if it can be oced at all and to see where the braking point is?

 

[Frozen_Fallout]

if you have DDR400 shouldn't you be running at 200mhz for the ram?

 

[sheenster38]

I was just about to do that and I set the ram to run at a 1:1 ratio with the FSB because many people have told me that the comp runs most stable there. So, if I set the fsb to 200, then the ram will run at 200.

 

[Frozen_Fallout]

yeah I would run the fsb 1:1 and right now just push it up one at a time to see if it can handle it also try to run the fsb at 200 and the ram at 166 to see if the ram is the problem. Also resetting your semos (don't know if Im spelling that right) might help to clear up anything you might have messed with and then start the overcock again. Also try dropping your multi and see what happens (if you can I have a 2400+ and I could drop the multi but I could increase it I don't know if this will work for you though) you might be pushing it to far with the boost but it should hold fine.

 

[sheenster38]

There doesn't seem to be an option anywhere or any switches on the mobo that allows me to lower my multiplier to 11, but my cpu is definitely overclockable seeing as how I'm running it at 175x11.5 stably with a +6% to the vcore. Someone on another forum suggested I loosen my ram timings to 3-3-3-8 whereas my old timings were 2.5-3-3-7. I'll see how that works out.

Edit: So I just tried someone from another forum's suggestion (200x11.5, 3-3-3-8 timings, +6% vcore) and the computer seemed to boot bios and windows fine and froze when windows began loading the startup processes. I bumped the vcore to +12% and it turned off before finishing booting windows, so it seems that +12% vcore is too much? Correct me if I'm wrong. Not sure what I can do about stopping the comp from freezing when it hits windows with the above settings.

 

[Anoobis]

Unfortunately, you simply do not have a good board for overclocking the Athlon XP. Close, but no cigar as the NF7-2 V2.0 (NOT NF7-S2/G) was the king. You do have one of the best heatsinks ever made for the XP though. If those 6, 12 & 18 percentages are all thats given when you set the "Power Supply Controller" from "System Default" to "User Define" then you're more or less screwed.

All is not completely lost as it sounds like you haven't adjusted your memory's voltage yet either. What are you're options for that? Kicking the voltage up may give you enough stability for a stable Windows load and I would begin testing for stability there. I would highly recommend testing your ram with memtest86 first.

 

[sheenster38]

Yeah, a year or so ago, my old nf7-s2 fried itself for no apparent reason and I was in desperate need in getting a new one, so I opted for the s2g. Bad choice on my part, I suppose.

As for the Power Supply Controller, yeah that's all the options I get, 6, 8, and 12.

I'm hesitant to mess with the memory voltages without some sound advice first considering I'm not familiar with it. The increments, however, are in... 0.05V increments, and not the percentages. I've run memtest at stock ram speed perfectly fine overnight for at least 12 hours without getting any errors, which is what led me to believe that my previous cpu problems were unrelated to ram.

Thanks for the info btw.

 

[Anoobis]

I was wondering why you had such a good heatsink paired with such a crapy (no offense) motherboard.

At least you have a bit better control over your RAM voltage than some lame percentage. Bump your voltage up to 2.8 if you can go that high and see if it helps. If you cannot go that high, then go as high as you possibly can. If your at 2.8 (doubt it), then go to 2.9. Keep the timings relaxed, in fact you may want to loosen them further than 3-3-3-8. Once you're able to get back into Windows and have gotten it stable you can start tweaking things for more performance.

You can still get the EpoX EP-8RDA3+ PRO which is an excellent motherboard for overclocking the Athlon XP, but I have a very hard time recommending people spend money on a Socket A board these days. However, that being said, this guy seems adamant about keeping the two together, but then again nobody's buying. You might be able to work something out and get this guys NF7-S V2.0 without the chip, on the cheap.

 

[sheenster38]

Hmm, what do you suggest I loosen my ram settings to? As I mentioned before, I'm not very familiar with all the RAM tweaking.

As for buying a new mobo, I'm relatively hesitant to spend more money on an old machine. If I'm going to spend money, I'd much rather just spend it on a better machine. And that guy doesn't seem to want to split up the mobo and cpu.

 

[mad_fitzy]

I have the same 2600+ running at 2.3ghz. I have my voltage at 1.9. But don't try just booting at 200fsb. Try increasing your voltageto 12% and then increase your fsb incrementally until it doesnt boot and then back it off a few notches till it boots then do a stability test which I use Prime95 for. Check your temps while you are running the program. If they are ok up your voltage again and increase some more and repeat the stress testing. If it fails the stress testing reduce the fsb until you are stable.

 

[coffee_fan]

Well, I have an NF7-S2G, it is running @ 2303Mhz FSB 400.6 voltage 1.7 (BIOS default). RAM is PC2700 @ 200Mhz using 8-4-4-2. CPU temp @ 43C.

So, I guess it all depends on some luck -- because really I have not done much to this guy, except use it for a long time W/O overclocking the RAM (was @166). So, maybe a long break-in time helps.

 

[Anoobis]

Which processor are you using and I think you mean 2-4-4-8 on your RAM timings.

 

[wingless]

I've had an overclocked Athlon 2100+ that I ran at 2400mhz for 4 years. It was extremely stable and ran very cool.

YOUR PROBLEM IS SIMPLY VOLTAGE. That blue screen when windows boots just means the CPU is starved for voltage.

Increase the voltage by 0.25v increments until it boots stable and can run games for hours without locks or reboots. Also make sure you have decent air cooling. AthlonXP's arent hard to overclock at all and dont be afraid to bump the voltage. AthlonXP's have some good silicon and can handle what you throw at it and if you overvolt it will let you know before damage occurs (and its hard to overvolt those monsters..)

Its been a few months since Ive run that setup because I upgraded to an Athlon X2 4200+ that I have overclocked. Its upper range is limited by this motherboard that wont go past 1.4v....anyways back to the Athlon XP, I forget the stable voltage I had it set to. I believe it was between 1.75 and 1.825 volts.

 

[Anoobis]

Please re-read sheenster38's post and replies. We already knew what the problem was. He cannot adjust the voltage properly with his current board.

 

[coffee_fan]

The processor I am running is an Athlon XP 2600+ CPU-Z reports it as "Barton", and yep, I may have switched the timings as I do not know the writing convention, I simply listed what was on the BIOS top to bottom.