Am I asking this wrong??

[ezeenomad]

Am I asking a stupid question here? I did figure out that my motherboard comes with a software util for tweaking. But what is that adjusting? Is it a more granular setting in the BIOS? Here is my original question:


Overclocking on the GA-7VRX

Got an unlocked XP1800 on a Gigabyte GA-7VRXP (yeah baby!)
I only have experience overclocking with bus speed and mutliplier, no other settings (Voltage, etc)

The factory 1800 should run at 1533, which it does no problem(set to "auto", or 11.5/133). However, on this board, I only have two combinations of dipswitch settings that are higher than 1533 (12@133<1596>, and 12.5@133<1662>)
Are those my only two options for overclocking?? Or is this the part where I learn about messing with voltages?

Thanks

 

[Scotty35]

<font color=red>*WARNING* Overclocking increases the risk of damaging your system and hardware. Do so at your own risk!</font color=red>

Now with the disclaimer is out of the way I can get on with it.

Voltages should be increased only in the event of system instability, overclocking usually requires increases in voltages which in turn increases the heat!
I usually do not increase the voltages of anything unless its necessary and then its in tiny steps.

The utility prolly only adjusts FSB.

I have a xp2100+ that is reported by the bios as unlocked but i cannot get the multiplier past 12.5/13X in jumper free mode so my other options are to manually configure the jumpers onboard for the muliplier and then increase the FSB.

Another setting to look at is the memory timings in Bios, I have mine set to 2,2,2,5 AFAIK. You may have an option of optimised or by SPD but stability depends on the quality and speed of the ram.
I think it is better to have fast memory timings first then increase the FSB until unstable by small increases then backing off until it is stable again.
Then I look at increasing the multiplier, the other way which is safer for system hardware in some respects is to do the multiplier first and leave the FSB alone, this limits the overclocking to the CPU only.



<A HREF="http://www.commonwealthgames.com" target="_new"> Its all Gold for Australia</A>. Manchester games.

 

[ezeenomad]

So I guess I have two questions now, thanks for your reply. The utility is the Gigabyte EasyTune III, and it is adjusting the system bus for sure. My question is, where is that being adjusted if I wasn't in the GUI program? My mobo (GA-7VRXP) has a dipswitch for choosing between 100 and 133 system bus. However, the util will allow me to go HIGHER than 133. I have quickly looked through the BIOS to find the setting that the EasyTune is changing, but I failed to find it. Surely the setting is not entirely dependant on that cheesy peice of software??

And my second question still remains: am I only limited to the two remaining multiplier settings (12.0 and >=12.5) and after that only have the system bus to work with?

One more question about voltage settings. Am I to assume that I should mess with voltages after only after reaching a point where my "clean" overclocking (clock x multiplier only) has started to produce instability. Is this kind of like the last little tweak to get the last few MhZ squeezed out?

Thanks, all!

 

[Scotty35]

Don't know exactly how the program does it, I don't know your Bios as It would be different to mine so you will have to find it yourself sorry. That cheesy bit of software as you put it may just be it for FSB!

Well yes, the multiplier and the FSB are the two main Mhz makers, memory timings are a slightly different thing but still is an overclock.

Go as high as you dare with the mult' and fsb or vice-versa until unstable, then increase the cpu Vcore up one increment and test it by running a burn in program like SiSoft Sandra's burn in wizard or some cpu intensive program/s. Same with the FSB just increase it a small bit at a time, with this you may need to increase the memory voltage up a bit i.e. from 2.5v to 2.6v which is usually onboard jumpers.
The main thing to watch is the CPU core and system temperatures and to give you an idea a cpu temp of 50C or below is good when at 100% cpu usuage and a board temp of 30C is good but lower is always better. 65C is way too high for a cpu and is prolly the danger point of burning out.
Once all proves to be ok you can try going a little bit further repeating the above, but remember a little at a time is the way to go and watch those temps.

Every system is different and you have to find the "sweet" spot even if this means backing of from a known higher stable setting.

I overclocked a system for a while some time ago and besides the challenge and killing some hardware I can't see any great advantage of doing so mainly because I have no need for that much processing power. But anyway good luck.

<A HREF="http://www.commonwealthgames.com" target="_new"> Its all Gold for Australia</A>. Manchester games.

 

[Liquid3D]

I also have the GA-7VRX, and I've come to understand that certain mobo's will only allow certain multiplier adjustments, and it's more likely that you are limited in this case to 13.0. Also some mobo's don't always read those adjustments correctly, and end up misconfiguring or misreading the multiplier setting(I have to find the article I read) Leave the dipswitch at 133, and I would recommend utilizing a better overclocking utility than Easytune III, they have Easytune IV at the Gigabyte's website, however; I've heard overclockers say that these utilities are not relaible (not exactly in those terms) I have used and use Easytune III from time to time, and although it will overclock the FSB, have you noticed the DRAM and PCI clock indicators never change? Well in Easytune IV that utility not only allows tweaking of those buses, it allows voltage modifications. But as was suggested, voltages should only be adjusted in the smallest increments. What type of HSF are you using, and are you using CPUcool, or MBM 5, to monitor your temperatures. This is crucial! You must monitor those temps! Also the quality and speed of your RAM are essential when overclocking, your not going to get anywhere without having at least DDR333. Unless you simply want to OC your CPU via (no pun intended) the multiplier. What is best is actually lowering the Multiplier, and raising the FSB, in this way you can find the "sweet spot" mentioned, and not crash your system by overtaxing the PCI/AGP/DDRAM buses. Feel free to contact me to discuss further, I'm interested in your results, and your experiences with Easytune III. I'm in the process of finding the article I read which talks about motherboards limits on Multiplier adjustments, and behaviors associated with those adjustments.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Liquid3D on 07/31/02 03:14 PM.</EM></FONT></P>