Athlon XP 3200+: is 2.21ghz the fastest?

[cutter]

Here's what I'm working with:
a7n8xe-Deluxe mobo
AMD Athlon XP 3200+
Radeon X1600 pro 512mb

I am trying to get the most out of my system for gaming but it seems like many games that I should be able to max out the video settings for I can't (for instance, Empire at War....i know, not a great game but still).

So in my bios setup I'm a little confused at what some of the settings should be.
My multiplier should be set to 11.0 or higher? (its at 11.0... it says i can go as high as 12.5) Should I be able to go faster than 2.21 ghz this way?
Is 200mhz the best I can set at? If I set it manually I can go higher but i think it makes the system unstable.......

Also, is there a program I can run that will test my system overall or at least different ones to test my video card and processor separately?

Thanks in advance.....really need the help.

 

[TechnologyCoordinator]

Time out for twix:

SOCKET A WARNING

The Athlon XP 3200+ is the last of the Socket A processors. As such, it's overclockability isn't the greatest. It's basically the furthest they could take those procs. There's a little bit of head room, but not much.

w00t Barton core!


PS - WRONG FORUM. Should go in

Overclocking -> CPUs -> AMD

http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewforum&f=52&sid=8a6a59435f22df1b4483238526dd8191&fex=AMD

 

[sirrobin4ever]

TC is right, this is the wrong forum. Regardless, I will attempt to answer your questions.

First, about the multiplier. There is a very good chance that your multiplier is LOCKED. This means that no matter what you change the multiplier to in your bios, the processor will still run at 11. You can change the multiplier setting to 11.5 and see what happens, but there is a very good chance that nothing will happen.

You may be able to change the FSB to higher than 200, but a voltage increase will probably be warranted. The stock voltage for an AthlonXP is 1.65 volts. I would suggest a maximum of about 1.80 volts, although you can go higher....
Ensure adequate cooling when overclocking!!! The stock cooler may not be enough!!!

FYI- 2.4 ghz is about as high as you can go with Athlon XP's.


As for a program, I would use either pcmark05 or Sandra
Sandra is particularly useful for seeing the results of overclocking.

Best of Luck

 

[cutter]

Thank you so much for the info. Definitely helped and I'll check out Sandra.

 

[TechnologyCoordinator]

I hit a brick wall pretty much at 2.3ghz with the 2600+ 266mhz t-bred i used to run so yea, it is doubtful you will get much higher with that chip than it already is. Oh and my cpu was unlocked even.

I think the only flavor the 3200+ came in was the barton core at a higher FSB.

Only a few of the early Barton's were unlocked. There's a THG video somewhere that shows how to unlock them!

 

[bkiserx7]

you would need one of the barton xp-m's like the 2500 i got in my mom's comp. will easily do 2.4 on air and when it was mine ran 2.7+ on water and abit nf7-s v2. def need those unlocked multi's

 

[audiovoodoo]

Very much true of my experience with a 2500XP on an NF2 board. I run at 2.16. The 2500 was 333 and the 3200 400. I run in the mid 390's and this allows me to tighten the timings on my value ram to give me better throughput than I get at DDR400 with the timings the ram demands.

I idle around the 40 mark and peak in the high 50's with a Akasa Carnival cooler all at stock voltage.

@cutter

Try lowering your FSB multiplier and running the ram slower. I find the ram becomes unstable before my processor. It might allow you to push a little further. If you find a stable speed try tightening the timings to get the ram performance back. The CPU is almost certainly multiplier locked. Only the early chips allow you to use this.

 

[gOJDO]

There are two variants of XP 3200+(Barton):
1) 200MHz DDR FSB, 2200MHz, x11 multiplier
2) 166MHz DDR FSB, 2333MHz, x14 multiplier

You have variant 1), so it sux for OC-ing because the FSB/PCI/AGP speed limits.
I had 2 Bartons, 2500+(1833MHz) and 2800+(2083MHz) at FSB333. Both were able to OC at FSB 400 or 2200MHz and 2500MHz respectively, but using a good cooling and with minor voltage increase.
I was OC-ing on MSI K7N Delta-ILSR and Soltek 75FRN2-RL, both with nForce2 Ultra-400, chipsets.

So, because you have the 400MHz variant, the only way to OC-it enough is to unlock the multiplier. That is some hardware work, which works for sure:
a) http://www.ocinside.de/go_e.html?http://www.ocinside.de/html/workshop/pinmod/amd_pinmod.html
b) http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/news6420.html


good luck

 

[Fursecul]

I have a Barton 2600+ on a NF2 mb
OC it to 2250 with pinmod with 1,9vcore and it shows up as a 3200+ in CPU-Z
11,5x196=2250 stable with 768MB RAM PC3200.
I want to get SFB 200 but it keeps freezing up.

 

[TechnologyCoordinator]

There are two variants of XP 3200+(Barton):
1) 200MHz DDR FSB, 2200MHz, x11 multiplier
2) 166MHz DDR FSB, 2333MHz, x14 multiplier

Wasn't variant 2 only for HP computers?

 

[gOJDO]

I don't know. Actually through my hands have passed a lot of Bartons, but never XP 3200+ 2.33GHz.

 

[cutter]

So should I just lower the FSB multiplier to nothing? I have a feeling thats the way to go.

Thanks to all, I am taking each recommendation one at a time.

 

[gOJDO]

The freqfency of your is equal to the FSB freqfency multiplier by the CPU multiplier. Because your system is FSB limited, in order to increase the CPU freqfency you'll have to increase the CPU multplier. Check out the links in my previous posts to see how.

 

[Fursecul]

Barton have theyr multipliers locked so you can't modify it the only way to oc is FSB,increase the FSB and vcore until you find a good combination,that's the only way you could go or you could connect the bridges and decrease the multipliers and increase the FSB.

 

[TechnologyCoordinator]

Look what I found!

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20031205075553.html

It is in regards to the elusive 2.33 ghz Barton Core Socket A Athlon XP 3200+ with lower FSB!

 

[gOJDO]

Barton have theyr multipliers locked so you can't modify it the only way to oc is FSB,increase the FSB and vcore until you find a good combination,that's the only way you could go or you could connect the bridges and decrease the multipliers and increase the FSB.

Why should he decrease the multipliers?
His CPU is FSB bound, so he can't increase the FSB at all. It is because the PCI and AGP freqfency are clocked linear with the FSB, by uising a divider. For example, if the FSB is 400MHz, the AGP 66MHz, the FSB:AGP divider is 5, but if the FSB is 333MHz, the FSB:AGP divider is 4. The problem is that for higher FSB than 400, there is no greater AGP/PCI divider that will keep their freqfency stock.
OC-ing a 333MHz Barton is easy by setting the FSB to 400MHz as defualt by using a jumper. That way you'll have the AGP/PCI clock at right freqfency(66MHz/33MHz respectively).

To OC it, he has to increase the multiplier(by connecting bridges) to a higher value than the stock, but keeping the FSB at 400MHz.

 

[bkiserx7]

very flaky written article

 

[reconviperone1]

Why not get a athlon 64 3200 ( 55 dollars) and a socket 939 mobo (about 70 dollars) and use your memory and other components to kinda build a new system, that is kinda long in the tooth if your a seriuos gamer.

 

[bkiserx7]

sometimes hard to break away from the classics. id still be using my nf7-s v2 if lightning would not struck near the house and surged through my damn surge protector!