The Official OC (OverClocking) Thread!

That's some great info askyew
@ BurlIves, lemme just point out that 200FSB is top of the line for AMD (and Intel) right now, so you cannot just switch up to the next 'factory' OC level, complete with proper dividers, like I and others have done.
You are doin' it the traditional way, uncharted territory etc.
Therefore, 20% is huge - that's not just 40MHz more FSB, it's also AGP @ 80MHz instead of 66, and PCI @ 40MHz, y'know? You will be lucky to make that run.
Also, memory timings by SPD and CPU:Memory ratio are two different things.
Once you hit 200FSB your ratio will be locked at 1:1 (or 6:6, same thing) identical to CPU.
However, you can still tinker with internal memory timings, which are more like wait states.
Big $$ memory has less wait states, and will offer it proudly, right up front in the SPD that describes the memory's capability.
I still say relax, your system is sweet
10% is heavy duty OC, very manly PC.
You (and I) need Athlon64 on Socket939, or what?
L8R

 

I'm new to overclocking and wanted to get a AMD XP Mobile 2500+ or a 2600+ before they get replaced with Semprons or get a AMD XP Barton 3000+ 333 mhz and needed help deciding from people who have some experience with this...

Currently, I have a Soyo KT400 but if needed I will spend an extra $40-50 on a NForce 2 or something of that sort.

Question # 1

Using a Soyo KT400 Ultra (Not Platinum) and Cooling: 5 case fans (1x120 mm and 4x90mm), CoolerMaster Aero 7 Lite (CP5-8J71F), how much can I overclock the Mobile 2500+?

Question # 2

I am looking for stability, so does it make sense to buy a AMD XP Barton 3000+ 333 mhz instead of overclocking? and if i overclock this processor how far will it go using 5 case fans (1x120 mm and 4x90mm), CoolerMaster Aero 7 Lite (CP5-8J71F)?

Question # 3

Since the 2500+ runs at 266 mhz stock, is it possible to get it to run at 400 mhz since my memory is 512 MB DDR PC3200 400 mhz?

Question # 4

If if get a NForce 2 board, and then overclock using these processors, how will it compare to the kt400?

Please let me know!
Thanks...

 

The Semprons are surprisingly good. I've fitted a few Sempron 2400's and they are very fast for a Duron replacement. And they overclock to a sempron 2800 with nothing but an FSB increase.
The XP2500 runs at 333Mhz stock.
And they are difficult to get now as well.

 

SmatherI am sure that agent-k will be helpful in recommending a good overclocking amd solution. As far as the Intel goes I love my Abit IC7-G with the 2.8c intel together about $315usd. I have had the board and processor@275mhz fsb at stock vcore voltage on the 2.8 for a speed of 3.85ghz and a bus speed of 1100mhz. The ram I have is kingston valuram PC3200 ddr which specs at 3-3-3-8@400mhz/2.6v. I does 2.5-3-3-8@400mhz/2.6v,3-3-3-8@460mhz(230fsb)/2.6v,3-4-4-8@500mhz(250fsb)/2.7v for $100usd I got 512mb(2x256) and it is running dual channel. There is much better ram out there but you better get ready to pay for it. I wish that I would have bought the ati 9600xt video card cause mine has no cooling solution and it makes overclocking scary. I also had to download a soft mod to be able to overclock my card. They can be had for about $170usd and it is a much higher performance card than the plain 9600, plus the xt monitors the core temps and comes with overclocking software. I bought an antec sonata case, it is quite but I had to mod it to get more fans in it for air flow. I bought it from the antec site without a power supply for about $80usd. I bought the true power 430 from newegg about $60. Newegg sells the sonata with the 380 true power for about $100+15(ship) but I spent 25 to get the bigger power supply. Speaking of which, This is very important, do not get a cheap power supply. It is one of the most important things in your system. It can be the cause of random reboots and other quirks so dont skimp on it. It can even be the cause of destroyed components. Here is the next thing that I intend to buy for my system it offers excellent cooling without tornado like noise and its weight falls within the intel specs. The added bonus is that I don't have to remove anything and use screws. It mounts in the intel hs/fan bracket with no modification:
http://www.quietpcusa.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&DID=8&Product_ID=55&CATID=3
There is also an all copper one but it weighs much more. There are also alot of fan cooled heatpipe heatsinks out there. I believe that thermalright may be the best solution right now with the sp-94 and the xp-120. Beware they are big and heavy check to make sure they are compatable with the mother board you are buying. Take a look here:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...=62&manufactory=1444&DEPA=0&sortby=14&order=1
_X_X_X_X_X_[small]P4 2.8c @ 3.2
Abit IC7-G
2x80 gb seagates barracudas
ATI AIW 9600 soft mod by w1zzard
2 x 256 pc 3200 Kingston valueram(hynix chips)[/small]

 

@amdxpm
Apparently the mobile 2500+ has multipliers unlocked.
This is useful because, normally 166FSB would be serious OC for this CPU, however 200FSB could be achieved by actually reducing the multiplier.
All things being equal, xMHz on 200FSB will outperform xMHz on 166FSB, y'know?
XP3000+ Bartons are not to be expected to run 200FSB
(that is why the 2500+ Barton is such a treasure - it has the minimum multiplier of the 166FSB Barton range

 

Exactly the-OGS, the Athalon64's are supposed to allow you to reduce the multiplier allowing for more fsb headroom. They seem to be an excellent choice but they have left the amd trend of being the "more bang for your buck" because of signifigant price increases. That is why I am so impressed by the mobile xp it offers more overclockability while still being an affordable solution.

 

can anyone tell me if the pentium 4 prescott core is good for overclocking? cos ive heard different things form different people, i even heard that it goes up to 60oc under load..

 

The 6ghz barrier was broken with a prescott 775 socket. So yes they are pretty good overclockers, but it was done using liquid nitrogen cooling. The prescott does run a little hot but I am seeing less complaints with the new sockets. Most of the socket 478 boards weren't built for the prescott's power hungry core(bios updates made them compatible). The new lga775 boards are designed for the prescott so probably are a better solution. Plus the asus boards have unlocked the pressy cores 3.2 and above on both sockets with their new premium boards and bios's. They will allow you to lower the multiplier to as low as 14x and give a better fsb overclock for that high speed ram. The 60c is probably a number that the prescott is comfortable with the question is are you?

 

Well I won't be getting liquid nitrogen cooling or watercooling. So what kind of mhz increase can I realistically expect to get using good air cooling? (ps this is the socket 775 ed. And I may well get a vapochill case in the future when socket 775 become cheap and available second hand.)
_X_X_X_X_X_[small]CPU: AMD athlon 2800+ XP
Motherboard: Quasar(MSI) MS-6786
RAM: 768mb 2700 DDR
GFX: 128mb Geforce FX5900XT (overclocked)
HDD: Seagate 120GB, 7200rpm[/small]

 

I would guesss that if you get a decent mobo and an aftermarket cooler, at least 500mhz is realistic but your results may vary. I can get 420mhz 24/7 with the northwood core and stock intel heatsink/fan.

 

Wooo! Got new setup, here goes:

Pentium 4 3.2ghz (prescott core) W. HT
Abit AA8 Third Eye Board W. Intel 925X Express Chipset
512MB 533mhz DDR2 KINGMAX RAM
PCI-E Radeon x800XT
120GB Seagate U-ATA 7200RPM HDD.

Obviously a great deal of difference to my old setup below:

CPU: AMD athlon 2800+ XP
Motherboard: Quasar(MSI) MS-6786
RAM: 768mb 2700 DDR
GFX: 128mb Geforce FX5900XT (overclocked)
HDD: Seagate 120GB, 7200rpm
_X_X_X_X_X_[small]CPU: AMD athlon 2800+ XP
Motherboard: Quasar(MSI) MS-6786
RAM: 768mb 2700 DDR
GFX: 128mb Geforce FX5900XT (overclocked)
HDD: Seagate 120GB, 7200rpm[/small]

 

That is a pretty impressive set up. Now you should probably shop for a good aftermarket cooler and make sure your case has plenty of ventilation. You might want to look at your current power suppy as well. If you are going to overclock, dont get cheap on the power supply. Here is a great place to get all the info about your board from the people that own one:
http://forum.abit-usa.com/index.php?s=
Good luck and let me know if you sign up on the abit forum so I can keep an eye out for you.

Speaking of aftermarket coolers, I am now the proud owner of a zalman cu7000b heatsink/fan combo. Should be here Friday or Monday. Can hardly wait to see if I can run my 2.8 @ 3.4 24/7 with the new cooler. I know the cpu and ram can do it, cooling was the issue that I was having.
_X_X_X_X_X_[small]P4 2.8c @ 3.2
Abit IC7-G
2x80 gb seagates barracudas
ATI AIW 9600 soft mod by w1zzard
2 x 256 pc 3200 Kingston valueram(hynix chips)[/small]

 

Well, i was wondering if any of you people saw the greatest over clocking project ever? Some guys overclocked a P4 to over 5GHz. Well, all of you are smart enought o know that any normal cooling system is won't be able to cool it enough but maybe liquid nitrogen?

Here is the article
http://www20.tomshardware.com/cpu/20031230/

and here are the video's that go with it
server 1 - http://www12.tomshardware.com/images/thg_video_11_5ghz.zip
Server 2 - http://www.de.tomshardware.com/images/thg_video_11_5ghz.zip

these files also use DivX

Jay

 

I wouldn't call that the greatest just yet:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=44785
and
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=42655&page=1&pp=25
check out those fsb speeds and the bus speeds. The first one was done on a triple phase change cooler. Unbelievable and getting higher all the time. The latest P4 stepping in the prescott is turning out to be some excellent chips.

 

Now thoes numbers are extreamly impressive, i do enjoy the video though

 

www.dfi.com .....p4 OC to 6.3Ghz World record

 

The first link is to Fugger's overclock, that would be the same overclocker on the DFI site. The socket T DFI board with the canterwood chipset is an excellent overclocker. That overclock is being done with no mods to the board!! I still can't believe that Abit did not to build a socket T with a canterwood, they used the springdale instead.

 

theoretically you could overclock to over 9ghz... sounds stupid doesnt it... but all you would need is:

700w power supply
2x 3.6ghz intel xeon processors
good dual porcess motherboard
a converted vapochill ( modded with two cpu kits) to accomadate the big mobo...
and loads of fans,

then overclock each processor to 4.5ghz and there you go...

but the only downside...

would cost upwards of £2210 / $4,099.66


Anyways here to dreaming..

 

I am not sure if there is a dual processor board bios that has that kind of overclocking features or if you can find a clock generator that is compatible with it. If there is, the sky is the limit, but I have to wonder about the power regulation on the board and whether it could supply an overclock like that. The dual processor boards are not aimed at the enthusiast side of the market.

 

yeah theyres a mobo for just over £400/$743.92 that supports dual processors (overclockable) and even more suprisingly dual graphics card as well, I was reading about it in this months custom Pc mag... about the dual graphics cards, in the system they tested they had two nvidia 6800 Ultras and when they played doom 3 (on max settings) they only got an extra 6fps, doesnt really seem worth getting two graphics cards then!