Intel Celeron Overlocking

[Pompeii]

Hello all! I just want to get the opinion of the highly educated members of this board on a few matters.

Before I start the explanation, here are the system specs:

Intel Celeron 2.6ghz Northwood Core
Asus P4S800D-X Motherboard
1gb(2x512mb) Corsair Value Select Ram(not sure of timings, most likely high)
Leadtek 7600GT AGP
Generic 550watt power supply(real output is only ~400watts)

My brother is attempting to run Battlefield 2142 at playable settings with this aging budget system(built 3-4 years ago, video card is new). When he first installed the game, it was unplayable even at the lowest settings.

Knowing that lower resolutions put more load on the cpu rather than the gpu, I actually increased the settings - and for the most part, it worked. The game has not taken any additional performance hit by increasing the settings, which leads me to believe that it is being cpu bound, since the 2.6ghz celeron is slow by today's standards, to say the least.

I understand that overclocking a cpu is rarely used as a means of making a game playable, but I can't think of another option. It is not a driver or other problem, I already looked into that. I also know that Northwoods are relatively good overclockers, and am hoping I can reach 3ghz(with stock heatsink and vcore, if possible).

My brother cannot put any more money into his computer right now, so getting a newer processor, which is hard to do anyway since it is socket 478, is not an option. My opinion is that for 2142 to be playable, I am going to need to overclock his cpu. I would just like to make sure that my opinion is correct. Please post any suggestions you may have.

Thank you.

 

[miahallen]

Yes, I think you're on the right track. If you've increase resolution and your framerates are stable. You are being limited by something other than the GPU....most likely the CPU. Install Fraps for verifiable results, bump the CPU up a modest 10% and compare results. If you se a 5-10% increase, then you know you're on the right track!

 

[1Tanker]

Hello all! I just want to get the opinion of the highly educated members of this board on a few matters.

Before I start the explanation, here are the system specs:

Intel Celeron 2.6ghz Northwood Core
Asus P4S800D-X Motherboard
1gb(2x512mb) Corsair Value Select Ram(not sure of timings, most likely high)
Leadtek 7600GT AGP
Generic 550watt power supply(real output is only ~400watts)

My brother is attempting to run Battlefield 2142 at playable settings with this aging budget system(built 3-4 years ago, video card is new). When he first installed the game, it was unplayable even at the lowest settings.

Knowing that lower resolutions put more load on the cpu rather than the gpu, I actually increased the settings - and for the most part, it worked. The game has not taken any additional performance hit by increasing the settings, which leads me to believe that it is being cpu bound, since the 2.6ghz celeron is slow by today's standards, to say the least.

I understand that overclocking a cpu is rarely used as a means of making a game playable, but I can't think of another option. It is not a driver or other problem, I already looked into that. I also know that Northwoods are relatively good overclockers, and am hoping I can reach 3ghz(with stock heatsink and vcore, if possible).

My brother cannot put any more money into his computer right now, so getting a newer processor, which is hard to do anyway since it is socket 478, is not an option. My opinion is that for 2142 to be playable, I am going to need to overclock his cpu. I would just like to make sure that my opinion is correct. Please post any suggestions you may have.

Thank you.

Well, i guess it's worth a try, but don't expect much in a noticeable way, from overclocking the CPU. The 128k L2 cache really kills Northwood Celerons....along with the slow 400FSB(unfortunately,they especially suck at gaming). ~3GHz is generally the limit for N/Wood Celerons, but you might hit it. I'm not sure(i have a feeling...no) if that mobo has lockable PCI/AGP buses, which will really limit the overclock. So, in order to hit ~3GHz...you're looking at 115/116FSB...which is as far as i'd push it with unlocked buses. You can also try overclocking the graphics card as well, and between overclocking both the CPU/GPU....it may make things a little less choppy. GL

 

[jt001]

He's right, unfortunately the Northwood celerons do suck for gaming, but you should be able to get 3ghz...I have a 2.7 Northwood @3.3 so it is possible

 

[Pompeii]

Well, it is good to know that my opinion matches the general consensus, that is always a good thing.

I am going to try to reach 3ghz with it later tonight, running fraps before and after to compare the results, though how the game actually plays will be the determining factor.

Thanks for your help, I'll post the results later.

 

[Pompeii]

Well, I said I would fill you in on my progress. I have been progressively overclocking the cpu, first from 2.6ghz to 2.8ghz, then from 2.8ghz to 2.9ghz. I finally ended up with a cpu speed of 3ghz. Cpu temperature is currently 46C idle and about 55C load. Not too bad.

I started with a memory divider of 400mhz until I went above 2.8ghz. I then used a memory divider of 333mhz. The ram is currently running at 397mhz.

While fraps reported only a 10fps increase between 2.6 and 3.0, it actually made the game playable. I have yet to run a prime95 test, it seems to be stable for now, and I am too lazy to run it. I'll take care of that tomorrow.

Thank you for your help.

 

[miahallen]

While fraps reported only a 10fps increase between 2.6 and 3.0, it actually made the game playable. I have yet to run a prime95 test, it seems to be stable for now, and I am too lazy to run it. I'll take care of that tomorrow.

Thank you for your help.

I hope you mean only 10fps increase in the maximum catagory??? If you recieved an average of 10fps increase...THAT'S INCREDIBLE!!! Of corse you never stated you previous fps, you said it was unplayable, to me that means 30fps average or less...if you went to 40fps average, that's a 33% increase. BUT YOU ONLY OC'd about 14% SWEET! Keep up the good work.

I figured you were bottlenecked by your system, but not to that extent 8O

 

[Pompeii]

When I said it was unplayable, it was actually running at less than 15fps. It is now running at about 25fps, which is "playable". Granted, I don't have to live with it since it isn't my computer, so I'm not complaining.

However, here is the catch. The game is running smooth for single player now, but as soon as I enter a multiplayer match, all that network traffic must kill it, because it becomes unplayable again. It is annoying to be so close to playing it, then having it snatched away.

I have already overclocked it by 400mhz, and do not feel safe enough to push it farther - stability is paramount with my brother's system.

Essentially, I found out that the cpu was indeed the major bottleneck of his system. Overclocking still didn't cut it in the end though, so we'll have to wait a few months for a system upgrade.

 

[miahallen]

Wow, that a 66% increase in framerate from a 14% boost in clock speed. That's almost unbelievable 8O

 

[Pompeii]

Well, I am happy that you are looking at this optimistically, but when you consider that 66% increase is from an original fps of <15, it still doesn't look good. Maybe I am being too pessimistic - but either way, the game is still unplayable, and that was what I was trying to fix.

To be honest, I am more impressed with the overclockability(is that a word?) of his Celeron than the gain in fps.

If you have any other thoughts that might make this game work, please mention them.

 

[miahallen]

yes, "overclockability" is the word....and if I was you, I would keep pushing it. Your temps are still quite good. I would push it up about 10MHz FSB at a time, and test with Prime95 for 30min monitoring your temps (add a little Vcore if neccessary). If Prime95 errors, or you exeed 65C on your chip, you'll know where a conservative limit is. Back off 10% from there for extra stability. Then run Prime95 + rthdribl for 24hrs to ensure the whole rig is completely stable. Who knows maybe it'll his 3.2GHz or higher?

 

[1Tanker]

yes, "overclockability" is the word....and if I was you, I would keep pushing it. Your temps are still quite good. I would push it up about 10MHz FSB at a time, and test with Prime95 for 30min monitoring your temps (add a little Vcore if neccessary). If Prime95 errors, or you exeed 65C on your chip, you'll know where a conservative limit is. Back off 10% from there for extra stability. Then run Prime95 + rthdribl for 24hrs to ensure the whole rig is completely stable. Who knows maybe it'll his 3.2GHz or higher?

Not with a multiplier of 26. 8O LOL...maybe push up the FSB 2-3MHz at a time. I doubt he'll get a stable 3.2...I think he'll be lucky to get a stable 3.1.