OC tips for old P4 3.2ghz??

[JBravo]

Hi

I've got and old PC, but I trying to get the best out of it by OC'ing it ( OC'ing is addictive!! )

I'n running the following :

CPU : Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz ( 200 x 16 )
Mobo : Gigabyte GA-8S661FXMP-RZ
RAM : Transcend TS64MLD64V4F DDR400 @ 200 MHz 2.5-3-3-8 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)

My question is; my SDRAM:FSB ratio is 1:1
Seeing as my cpu is already sitting at 200mhz standard, my ram speed is at its maximum standard setting. So each time I increase my fsb, the ram goes up aswell. I've been able to boot at up to 3.7ghz and the ram @ 464mhz. But its only stable under light loads.

I've attached a everest memory benchmark to verify this.

Now, if I want to try and get it stable at this speed...what can I possibly do?
I can't adjust voltages on my mobo so i thought of maybe relaxing my memory timings??

My temperatures sit at about 41C on idle ( this is a bit high for my liking aswell ) and goes up to 52C under load.

Any ideas will be very welcome

thanks in advance

[Morgoth]

increas voltage of cpu. nb.ram. sheck ram timings,
lower ram from 1:1 to 5:6

[mullered07]

your ram also running in single channel, make sure the sticks are in the correct slots

[JBravo]

thanks for the tips


I'll try the ratio change. But I can't adjust voltages on my mobo. Also, do you think my ram timings are good? or should I change them?

[JrRacinFan]

You could touch your ram ratio but I doubt it will help any. Keep it at 1:1. Bring your ram timings up to 3-3-3-8 and see where your at and if it helps you push further.

[Mussels]

just to say it...

protip: buy a new rig :P

use memtest to test the ram and OCCT or orthos to test the CPU, if its not stable in them the OC isnt worth it - who cares how much faster it is if it crashes halfway through what you're doing,

[JBravo]

Originally Posted by Mussels

just to say it...

protip: buy a new rig :P

use memtest to test the ram and OCCT or orthos to test the CPU, if its not stable in them the OC isnt worth it - who cares how much faster it is if it crashes halfway through what you're doing,

How long should it be stable to be acceptable? 2 hrs? or more?

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by JBravo

How long should it be stable to be acceptable? 2 hrs? or more?

if you did 2 hours of OCCT and 2 hours of memtest and it was clear then yeah, i'd say its fine. its not like you'll be trusting the rig to do anything really intensive.

[JBravo]

Thanks for the tip.

Yeah I can't really do any gaming on it...but I do run COD4 on it, which is probably the most intensive it will get.

[Morgoth]

run 3dmark 06

[JBravo]

I changed my cpu speed to 3.58 GHz but I had to drop my SDRAM to 375mhz.
I ran orthos stable for 1 hr 30mins. I'll try to run 3d mark 06 but it taxes my pc hectically. I'm not expecting much tho...

any other ideas are welcome

[Mussels]

well i'd say keep raising the FSB to get higher than 3.58. your ram is at 375, so you have some more room there.

[JBravo]

yeah i'll keep on raising and testing on orthos. But my chip is starting to run a bit hot, so that is holding me back. I think it goes up to 52C under load...

The thing is also, i'm having trouble seeing my cpu temps in windows, coz realtemp and coretemp does not support P4 chips...only core 2 and quad. If anyone knows of an older version that will work, please let me know where I can get it.

I've tried speedfan, but it gives erratic readings...don't know why tho, coz my bios temp is stable

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by JBravo

yeah i'll keep on raising and testing on orthos. But my chip is starting to run a bit hot, so that is holding me back. I think it goes up to 52C under load...

The thing is also, i'm having trouble seeing my cpu temps in windows, coz realtemp and coretemp does not support P4 chips...only core 2 and quad. If anyone knows of an older version that will work, please let me know where I can get it.

I've tried speedfan, but it gives erratic readings...don't know why tho, coz my bios temp is stable

see what OCCT and everest say.

50C load aint hot at all, if its idle thats another story.

P4's tended to run very hot, so i'd say as long as its under 60C load its fine. (some flavours ran stable at 75C)

[JBravo]

thanks I'll try OCCT. Everest also jumps about alot.

[JBravo]

I've tried to raise my fsb to 230x16 = 3680 and ram at 390mhz. But its still not stable, and I don't think its temps that is the problem. My mobo changes the voltages to the components automatically. I can see it change in CPU-z. it goes from 1.242 to 1.343 or so.

Seeing as I can't adjust voltages on my mobo, do you think that might be the problem?

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by JBravo

I've tried to raise my fsb to 230x16 = 3680 and ram at 390mhz. But its still not stable, and I don't think its temps that is the problem. My mobo changes the voltages to the components automatically. I can see it change in CPU-z. it goes from 1.242 to 1.343 or so.

Seeing as I can't adjust voltages on my mobo, do you think that might be the problem?

well its possible thats vdroop and its lowering under load. you cant really fix that without either rasing the voltages in the bios, or doing a pencil or hard mod to the mobo.

[intel igent]

can clockgen or similar work on that board to enable more OC option's?

[JBravo]

I've been wondering, if I relax my memory timings from 2.5-3-3-8, could I possibly have it stable at higher speeds? DDR400 standard. I'm looking to get it stable at 450-460... If successfullt POSTed up to 470mhz. But it fails the Orthos test in 3 mins !!! lol

could anyone recomend any safe timings for these speeds?

[JBravo]

also, my memory timings in my bios is set to 2.5-3-3-8. But everset shows it as 2.5-3-3-7. Which one would be more reliable? i'm asuming the bios?

[Mussels]

the higher the numbers, the looser they are and the higher they will OC. no one can say how far you will get, so just try it and test with memtest as you go.

[intel igent]

i would set them 1:1 and use 3/4/4/8 and see how far she will go

[JBravo]

thanks i'll try that. My everest keeps on showing 2.5-4-4-7 after i've set it to 2.5-4-4-9 ! which one would be more accurate?

Also, how might hyper threading influence my oc? i've enabled it now and it seem to work just fine.