Overclocking disappointment!!!

triatium

Distinguished
Feb 5, 2007
61
0
18,630
Hey there all

Long time no check

Anyways, finally got some balls and overclocked my rig, currently running a Sapphire Pure element mobo, 1gb ddr2 800mhz ram, 6600gt pci-ex gpu, athlon 64 3200 am2 chip, but, from the stock speed of 2ghz, i got it to a stable - wait for it - 2.2ghz. even 1mhz increase over that locks up the system, doesnt even run a post. tried various combos of my ram and chipset voltages (got good cooling i reckon- idle temp on cpu is +/- 23 degrees max ive seen), but still, even though the potential DEC number to enter ranges from 200mhz (stock) to 280 max, even with max juice, cant get it above 2.2!!! very frustrating!!!

ive grabbed cpu-z, cpu burnin, and some other apps, going to give them a whirl tonight! just wanted to know if theres anything else that i can do using my standard bios setup? the multipler seems to have a max of 10x, and ram voltage runs from 1.8v - 2.10v; chipset 1.20v - 1.35v max. my mobo is an entry level piece, so i think that the limitation is on the board itself. any ideas how i can ramp up that frequency?

also, after clearing my cmos, the auto ram detection registers my one stick (only running one stick) as a stock 400mhz, when its a 800mhz module. i have to then manually set it to "maxmemclk" every time. any reason why this happens?

anyways, leaving my gpu alone for now, trying to up my cpu! still running a stock cooler, but it appears temp currently isnt an issue, even with voltages ramped up to max. have booted successfully with all combos at the 2.2ghz mark, even with max voltages.

regards
triatium
 

triatium

Distinguished
Feb 5, 2007
61
0
18,630
Howdy

Gave my pc a twirl, with some of those apps, and the results i got are as follows:

firstly, cpu-z rocks for info given, but didnt help me for what i wanted - it cant monitor temperatures etc;

secondly, a64 tweaker is the most confusing program ive ever seen, with no help or readme's, so that is left well alone - piece of junk;

thirdly, cpu burnin looks good, but it didnt make any difference for what i had in mind, but useful for stress testing and checking the cpu;

fourth, motherboard monitor doesnt support my make of board, and i dont have a net connection at home! wah!;

after still failing, what i did was i saved, then flashed, the bios using a provided board app and loaded the latest bios i found for my particular board - after letting the pc restart, it didnt even get to post! i literally crapped myself, cos I have heard that if you stuff the bios up (flashing etc), then your mobo becomes a glorified drinks coaster! but, after letting it try boot itself, with no success (wasnt even accessing the hdd), i then cleared the cmos, and voila! it worked! bios revision took (ok, bios looks a bit different, and havent got some of the nice things, specifically cpu shutdown temperature setting, but now i can overclock my chip beyond 2.2ghz! yay!

i have managed to get it up to 2.5 (from a stock of 2ghz) thus far, but it refused to boot even at 2.55, but retrying this evening. however, with the bios update, i see that the voltage ranges havent changed at all, and the max juice i can crank into my chipset is still 1.35v max. is there any way past the voltage limitation, as i reckon the reason why it may lock up is that there simply isnt enough juice to fuel the higher attempted overclock frequency?

also, my ram issue now sees it as 800mhz on the auto setting, which rocks, as now i dont have to manually set it!

the amd k8 cool n quiet system - how exactly does that work? see its added that function within my voltage and dram control sub menu in the bios. will that offer cpu max temp shutdown values, or what?

when the system boots up, (running win xp), i count how many passes it makes before loading up; initially, before overclocking, it made about 6-7 passes; upping the cpu frequency has actually resulted in that phase taking slightly longer, more about 7 - 9 passes now. is that normal? i havent altered my gpu or ram clocks or timings etc. what could be a potential sticking point here?