Five-Capacitor E5200 OC Trial

[Sabotaged_Enigma]

Preface​

Recently looking through posts in all forums, this "five-capacitor" Pentium E5200 drew my attention. As the review covered, this "special version" E5200 was downgraded from upper class Pentium models, such as E8200, for they have both the same capacitor layout at the bottom and the same default voltage. And this kind of five-capacitor E5200s with stepping M0 were overclocked to 4 GHz and even higher (from stock 2.5 GHz), and also voltage wasn't increased much. At the same time, voltage, heat and power consumption was very nice.

So when I got home, I immediately checked out my collection of CPU, and fortunately I didn't sell my E5200 back then, because it is exactly a five-capacitor version.

My task is simple, to overclock it to 4 GHz and call it a day, and we're going to test it with CPU-Z, AIDA64 and Cinebench.
This article was written in April this year.

Setup​

MB: Gigabyte GA-P31-ES3G (rev. 1.1), BIOS: F6 [3-phase power, rubbish]
RAM: Kingston DDR2 2G 667M ×2 [rubbish]
Radiator: AMD stock cooler [rubbish, not locked, just put on by gravity]
Power Supply: EVGA 650 GD [the only thing that can't be rubbish]
GPU: Sapphire HD 4850 512M GDDR4 [classic model, nice]
Software: CPU-Z 1.95.0 x64, AIDA64 6.30.5500, Cinebench R20.060, Windows 10 Pro 1909

OC Process​

1. All default: 200 MHz × 12.5 = 2.5 GHz

I forgot to get a screenshot of AIDA64 cache and GPGPU test, but I recorded the results. CPU-Z scores 217/434. As you can see, default voltage of 1.25 V results in relatively high temperature, but it is this beginning that makes the OC process and OC results incredible.

2. 240 MHz × 12.5 = 3 GHz [OC +20%]
Voltage is automatically given at 1.35 V. CPU-Z scores 262.9/526.1. The stress is low here, so I didn't run Cinebench and stress test.

3. 256 MHz × 12.5 = 3.2 GHz [OC +28%]
Still auto 1.35 V. CPU-Z scores 279.1/560.6 and Cinebench scores 346.

4. 288 MHz × 12.5 = 3.6 GHz [OC +44%]
Voltage is manually set to 1.3 V. CPU-Z scores 315.8/633.7. After 5 minutes of CPU stress, temperature stays steadily at 59 ℃.

5. 304 MHz × 12.5 = 3.8 GHz [OC +52%]
From here the stress is starting to build up, so every test is going to be done.
Still manual 1.3 V. CPU-Z scores 333.9/668.7. After 20 minutes of CPU stress, temperature remains stable at round 60 ℃, which is really nice.

6. 320 MHz × 12.5 = 4 GHz [OC +60%]
Last step. Voltage needs to be increased to 1.3375 V to complete all the tests. Maybe it's a little more than it actually needs, but we don't have to blame it considering what the rubbish mainboard is capable of.
CPU-Z scores 350/704. It's a pity that I am only one position away from the top of the list of 2-thread CPU-Z score ranking. Validation: http://valid.x86.fr/qdf9qz
And with CPU stress on, it comes at 65 ℃.

P.S. I managed to overclock it to 4.05 GHz 1.35 V afterwards. Check it out on http://valid.x86.fr/6y77l9

Results​

There are too many stats in AIDA64, but I can tell you that GPGPU performance grows linearly as frequency grows.

Problems​

1. L2 cache doesn't perform stably, as some of you have discovered. I don't know what causes that problem;
2. The mainboard is too rubbish. There is some voltage drop during heavy load. And there isn't so many values to twick in the BIOS, restricting DRAM frequency adjusting and restricting CPU overclocking as well.

I hope you guys enjoy this article!

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

I think you will be happier with an Asus P45 chipset motherboard. Maybe there's still the others with good OC'ing P45 motherboards.
The P5Q-E or higher-class, should do, preferably the Maximus II Gene. (ROG and MATX) The Maximus II Gene, was one of the last DDR2 motherboards, if not the last!

 

[Sabotaged_Enigma]

I think you will be happier with an Asus P45 chipset motherboard. Maybe there's still the others with good OC'ing P45 motherboards.
The P5Q-E or higher-class, should do, preferably the Maximus II Gene. (ROG and MATX) The Maximus II Gene, was one of the last DDR2 motherboards, if not the last!

Actually my MB was collected from my friend's house. He didn't need it anymore so I took it. It's been becoming more and more difficult to find an old MB of good value... If only I got one of these earlier...

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

Darn! The motherboards I mentioned, have a slew of options. They likely will go over your head at first.

I got my Maximus II Gene used back in 2013, when I couldn't afford a new build with DDR3! I still have it, just wasn't powered up, likely since sometime in 2018, LOL. Now, I need to dust it off, if I want it to work.
I still have multiple Core 2 CPUs.

 

[Sabotaged_Enigma]

Darn! The motherboards I mentioned, have a slew of options. They likely will go over your head at first.

I got my Maximus II Gene used back in 2013, when I couldn't afford a new build with DDR3! I still have it, just wasn't powered up, likely since sometime in 2018, LOL. Now, I need to dust it off, if I want it to work.
I still have multiple Core 2 CPUs.

Yeah, just like every time a new generation of devices come into the market, they always start as rich guys play toys. I've got plenty of old devices, too, such as Tulatin Celeron (pity it is not Pentium), Barton 2500+, and some other classic as well as iconic models. It's great honour to keep some pieces of the cleverest thing that human have created.

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

March 25, 2016, when I had all my old goodies! You will see the Maximus II Gene in action, operating as a Halo CE dedicated server! The server output is on a CRT!

The white case, has the FX 8350 system, with an Asus Sabertooth 990FX R 2.0, also a GeForce GTX 660 Ti, which was the one that TPU saved the bacon of! (had wrong VBIOS before this video)
The isopropyl alcohol, was for cleaning the PC parts like usual, no coronavirus to worry about:

 

[Sabotaged_Enigma]

March 25, 2016, when I had all my old goodies! You will see the Maximus II Gene in action, operating as a Halo CE dedicated server! The server output is on a CRT!

The white case, has the FX 8350 system, with an Asus Sabertooth 990FX R 2.0, also a GeForce GTX 660 Ti, which was the one that TPU saved the bacon of! (had wrong VBIOS before this video)

Wow, I'm truly amazed!

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

Wow, I'm truly amazed!

That bleep at the tail end, wasn't any of my PCs, LOL. That was through Skype, from my buddy's end. That was before we went to Discord. Before the "exodus of Skype"!

The FX system, has Windows 8.1 in the video, IIRC. The Core 2 system with the Halo CE server, has Windows 7. That CRT was like brand spankin' new, wouldn't be surprised if it still worked very good, if I took it with me. I actually think it's more likely to stop working or working correctly when letting it sit for years! Because of the caps needing to be reformed!

Now, I chose functionality over aesthetics with the FX setup there! I have cool air going over the CPU heatsink.

On the FX build, I used the FSP 500W PSU from 2008, originally for my first Core 2 system, when it was an Asus P5QL Pro (P43) with a Pentium E2180. (Was changed to a Core 2 Duo E4500 in late-August, 2009)

I finally completed the stuff of the build before this video, with 16 GB of DDR3 as well. Back then, the GTX 660 Ti, was sort of like a 1080Ti of back then! The GT 640 was moved to the Asus Maximus II Gene as seen in the video. (both eVGA)

The next video was from September 7, 2015, when things were good, other than seeing what looked like a mouse (the other kind, ruh roh!) hours ago roaming around, saw what looked like mouse poo, but everything is looking good. No mouse spotted, but was wondering. The indoor garden was doing good. I still had a single 4 GB DDR3 stick for the FX, LOL!

There's the other CRT, a Trinitron, which likely had a cap that needed to be replaced, it has green stuff on startup.

 

[Caring1]

What do you mean "5 capacity" ?

 

[Sabotaged_Enigma]

That bleep at the tail end, wasn't any of my PCs, LOL. That was through Skype, from my buddy's end. That was before we went to Discord. Before the "exodus of Skype"!

The FX system, has Windows 8.1 in the video, IIRC. The Core 2 system with the Halo CE server, has Windows 7. That CRT was like brand spankin' new, wouldn't be surprised if it still worked very good, if I took it with me. I actually think it's more likely to stop working or working correctly when letting it sit for years! Because of the caps needing to be reformed!

Now, I chose functionality over aesthetics with the FX setup there! I have cool air going over the CPU heatsink.

On the FX build, I used the FSP 500W PSU from 2008, originally for my first Core 2 system, when it was an Asus P5QL Pro (P43) with a Pentium E2180. (Was changed to a Core 2 Duo E4500 in late-August, 2009)

I finally completed the stuff of the build before this video, with 16 GB of DDR3 as well. Back then, the GTX 660 Ti, was sort of like a 1080Ti of back then! The GT 640 was moved to the Asus Maximus II Gene as seen in the video. (both eVGA)

The next video was from September 7, 2015, when things were good, other than seeing what looked like a mouse (the other kind, ruh roh!) hours ago roaming around, saw what looked like mouse poo, but everything is looking good. No mouse spotted, but was wondering. The indoor garden was doing good. I still had a single 4 GB DDR3 stick for the FX, LOL!

There's the other CRT, a Trinitron, which likely had a cap that needed to be replaced, it has green stuff on startup.

Nice, bro! And that Trinitron, great tech of that time.

What do you mean "5 capacity" ?

Look at the back of the Intel CPU. Just like the picture below. The normal E5200 is on the left, and five-capacity E5200 is on the right.

 

[Mussels]

"5 capacitor" is what you're trying to say

and i think they're resistors, not capacitors

 

[Sabotaged_Enigma]

"5 capacitor" is what you're trying to say

and i think they're resistors, not capacitors

Oops, is that resistors? I don't really know that lol... Please bear with me if I got anything wrong here...

 

[Dinnercore]

"5 capacitor" is what you're trying to say

and i think they're resistors, not capacitors

They do look a lot like MLCs tho. I would say they are capacitors. You can see a resistor on the top left, the small black one, I think. Hard to tell.

 

[Solaris17]

They are capacitors

 

[FreedomEclipse]

I think I watched a techyescity video where the guy basically had a cheap board like yours with no heatsinks on the vrms, smeared some MX-4 on the vrms then pressed some memory chiplet heatsinks into place over it. I can't remember if it affected his overclocking but his vrms were definitely cooler.

 

[Sabotaged_Enigma]

I think I watched a techyescity video where the guy basically had a cheap board like yours with no heatsinks on the vrms, smeared some MX-4 on the vrms then pressed some memory chiplet heatsinks into place over it. I can't remember if it affected his overclocking but his vrms were definitely cooler.

Yeah, surely cooling assistance makes a difference. But I think my MB is simply not well-made and twicked nicely, so VRMs may be cool enough, but they are still too weak.

They do look a lot like MLCs tho. I would say they are capacitors. You can see a resistor on the top left, the small black one, I think. Hard to tell.

They are capacitors

Thanks for joining the topic.

 

[OneMoar]

five capacitor

 

[Sabotaged_Enigma]

"5 capacitor" is what you're trying to say

and i think they're resistors, not capacitors

five capacitor

Thanks for pointing out. I've corrected my typo. Thx again!

 

[delshay]

@OP

There is a way to add more capacitors to a CPU, you just have to be smart how to increase the amount of capacitors. I don't have your CPU, but I can already see a way how to increase the amount of capacitors.

Here I'm on a different platform, but AFAIK I'm the first to increase the amount of capacitors locally on the CPU but it does not stop here. I also want to be the first for my platform to bring capacitors closer to the core. At some point I will also have ESL capacitors installed too.

I can show what I have done here but it''s the wrong thread for this, so I will not spoil your thread with a different CPU.

Your have to be highly skilled with a soldering iron in-order to carry out the custom mod.

 

[Sabotaged_Enigma]

@OP

There is a way to add more capacitors to a CPU, you just have to be smart how to increase the amount of capacitors. I don't have your CPU, but I can already see a way how to increase the amount of capacitors.

Here I'm on a different platform, but AFAIK I'm the first to increase the amount of capacitors locally on the CPU but it does not stop here. I also want to be the first for my platform to bring capacitors closer to the core. At some point I will also have ESL capacitors installed too.

I can show what I have done here but it''s the wrong thread for this, so I will not spoil your thread with a different CPU.

Your have to be highly skilled with a soldering iron in-order to carry out the custom mod.

Exactly. Exploring new ways of PC hardware is just amazing. I don't mind your posting you masterpiece here. I'm happy and willing to see fantastic ideas.

 

[delshay]

Exactly. Exploring new ways of PC hardware is just amazing. I don't mind your posting you masterpiece here. I'm happy and willing to see fantastic ideas.

I have to take the CPU out because i'm posting with it. I have a number of modifications held back from TPU posting, but because you have asked to see the modification I will take it out today for all users to see.
Be prepared for 0402 ceramic capacitors added to existing ceramic array. ...Trust me it's a pain to soldered them in, but it's going to get worse, as I have plans to solder in well over 100 smaller capacitors bringing the capacitors much closer to the core.

 

[Sabotaged_Enigma]

I have to take the CPU out because i'm posting with it. I have a number of modifications held back from TPU posting, but because you have asked to see the modification I will take it out today for all users to see.
Be prepared for 0402 ceramic capacitors added to existing ceramic array. ...Trust me it's a pain to soldered them in, but it's going to get worse, as I have plans to solder in well over 100 smaller capacitors bringing the capacitors much closer to the core.

lol, but I think hardly anyone will come to see this thread. I suggest you posted your own new thread to share with us, and I'll be waiting. Amazing technique, amazing stuff. Great work is worth the pain for sure.

 

[Grog6]

Remember the inductance, too.
The chips at the top are low inductance 0305x7r caps, and the big ones look like 0805's. That color is usually x7r dielectric
The two blue things are resistors. the black one too; If you look close they usually have a value written on them. caps never do.

 

[Sabotaged_Enigma]

Remember the inductance, too.
The chips at the top are low inductance 0305x7r caps, and the big ones look like 0805's. That color is usually x7r dielectric
The two blue things are resistors. the black one too; If you look close they usually have a value written on them. caps never do.

Thanks. That's really professional explanation.

 

[delshay]

Remember the inductance, too.
The chips at the top are low inductance 0305x7r caps, and the big ones look like 0805's. That color is usually x7r dielectric
The two blue things are resistors. the black one too; If you look close they usually have a value written on them. caps never do.

Glad your here because it was you who said "get closer to the CPU pin". I'v done this on the motherboard but with a strange odd type of capacitors sitting behind the CPU on the motherboard.

But wait, the modification I have done is to please you by getting closer to the core by bypassing the CPU pins/socket on the motherboard..

I think the capacitors are 0603, 0805 will be too big, but I could be wrong.