Overclocking help for NF-7S R2? Best modded BIOS?

[MaZa]

Im going to overclock my old computer. Internals:


ABIT NF7-S rev.2

Athlon XP 2600+ Barton (with Arctic Cooling Copper Silent 3 cooler and Zalman superthermalgrease in between)

2x512Mb Kingston 333MHz RAM (just ordered couple of cheap PQI 400MHZ 512Mb CL2.5 for this project for testing purposes, should arrive soon)

2xSamsung 160GT HD

Club 3D 6800GT AGP (with Arctic Cooling Silencer rev.2 cooler)

Some cheapo case with silent 2x80mm fans, one sucking air infront and one blowing out on the back, and GPU cooler and PSU with big fan also blowing air out. Everything is quite cool and temps barely even rise with some basic overclocking.



Im aiming to overclock the bejeezus out this. First, what is the best modded bios for optimal gaming perfomance?

Currently I can only turn CPU FSB up around 183Mhz before computer gets very unstable. Near 190MHz my computer wont even start, and I have to force-shutdown and wait a minute before I can turn it on (with CPU unworkable error stuff) and reset it to working levels.
Im 99% sure my old 333Mhz ram is dropped behind, which is soon fixed. Gets BADLY async'ed with CPU and crashes, no? We'll see how it goes. Any tips? Any estimations how high I can overclock with this system?

[MaZa]

Hmmm... Instead of PQI were out so I got Corsairs now. Anyway, I still cant get beyond 184MHz FSB (cpu temperature around 50C at load) without instability. Near 190MHz and computer wont start.

Is this really the max standard 2600+ Barton can do? I remember reading that it can do a lot better. Anyone?

[skinnie]

If that is a locked barton 193mhz should be some good mhz no?have you tried to lower the multi and upping the fsb?if you are lucky you could get your hands on a unlocked barton..I had a 2600+ that was unlocked..and it was not a mobile..

[uddarts]

i have a stock xp2600 and it does 11.5x200 quite easily. you don't say whether you have increased the vcore. it will take 1.7-1.75v. have you tried booting with the fsb set to 200:200?

have you tried playing with clockgen? it could give you an idea on what the cpu can do and then we can work out the bugs.

http://www.cpuid.com/clockgen.php


ud

[MaZa]

Yup, stock 2600+, locked one unfortunately.


Originally I did try increase vcore, but was hestitant to raise it above 1.7V, it feels bit nerving to play around operating voltages. But now, im running 1.75V and FSB 189MHZ. I'll see how stable it is and raise it slowly. So far looking good. Thanks!

[MaZa]

Damn, it failed orthos. Crashed. Well, atleast it started with higher FSB. Lowering it to find stable results.


*edit*
186FSB is highest stable FSB I can get with 1.75V in vcore. Computer starts with higher ones, but crashes very fast. Temperatures arent still too high, so its something else that crashes the CPU. I guess my 2600+ is from the "melon" end of the production line. It handles its own clocks, but gets unstable fast when overclocking? Damn...

[uddarts]

what temps are you getting under load?

with a little work and creativity, you could probably get this to attach to the cooler. maybe using the frame for the fan, etc.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835999111

ud

[MaZa]

Using 186FSB and 1.75vcore, I letted Ntune stability test to run bit longer than normal and dedicated it to CPU. Max load temp for CPU was 64 celsius. Higher than I looked with quick tests, but not alerting for XP, IIRC? In games it isnt that high though. Though I guess rising the FSB would bring it over borderline. Perhaps I should get Zalman cooler instead.

That case fan would kill the very best part of AC coppersilent cooler, almost complete silence, i guess atleast. That bringed me an idea though, perhaps I should try to drill some holes to side panel of my case, where CPU cooler resides? So it would suck cooler air in from outside instead of using already warm air that is inside the case?