I still need help...EP-8HMMI-A

[basketcase]

Anyone here have experience overclocking with an EPOX EP-8HMMI-A? I have paired it with an Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 754. I am having a hard time finding info on this board. Stock, it runs a multiplier of 11 and cpu is at 200. From what I have read about this cpu, it should easily get another 300-400 mhz, if not more. When I tried to up the cpu to 230 (2530 mhz) it boots to windows fine and the cpu stays around 30 degrees (Celcius) but locks up when I try to run a Doom 3 benchmark.

Here's the catch, I am using pc266 ram. In the bios I can set the ram multipier to 100 mhz, so with the cpu at 230, that put the ram at 115 mhz (or ddr230). That should be ok, as it is underclocking the ram. So, I am wondering where the problem is. One thing I am wondering is if the pci and agp buses are locked on this board. I can't seem to find anything in the bios to tell me. That may be the cause of the crashes. But, I find it hard to believe that with all the other settings on the board that you couldn't lock those.

Any other thoughts on what may be happening?

 

[AdamBomb42]

I agree about that it could be the pci/agp bus. Are you running the current bios? I also would not expect too much from this board. It's a VIA which is not know for it overclocking and it's a microATX which doesn't get much overclocking attention by mobo makers. Also, what pci cards do you have in it?

 

[basketcase]

I only have 1 pci card in and that is my Netgear Wireless card. And you are right, about how much oc'ing I can do. But, it has so many options for oc'ing, mem timings, cpu speed, multipliers, voltage, etc... I would just assume that the agp/pci is locked or able to be locked. Maybe I am just not seeing it, or understanding what everything is called.

I am running the stock bios, so maybe I need to update that.

It's just wierd, I can find hardly anything on this board. When I google it, most of the sites are in other languages.

Thanks.

 

[basketcase]

Ok... this shows how much of a noob I am at oc'ing...
I think I figured out why I may have been having lockups. I am at work right now, so I can't test it out till later, but I think I forgot to change my HTT multiplier from 4x to 3x. That would have made my HTT bus 920 mhz, and it should be 800 mhz. I guess I will need to bump it down to 3x and that will put it at 690 mhz at this speed.

I wonder what will give me better performance.

Stock speed (220x11) 2200 mhz, ram at 133 mhz and HTT at 800 mhz. Or

OC'd at 230x11 for 2530 mhz, ram at 115 mhz and HTT at 690 mhz.

Which is better?

Then, if that was the problem, I wonder how high I will get the cpu core to. My board will allow up to 250 mhz, which would put me at 2750 mhz, ram 125 mhz and HTT at 750. Cross your fingers...

 

[AdamBomb42]

Great to see you figured it out. The HTT should not be a bottleneck, so I would say go for the higher CPU clock speed.

 

[basketcase]

Great to see you figured it out. The HTT should not be a bottleneck, so I would say go for the higher CPU clock speed.

Well, I am just theorizing while I am sitting at work. But, I know I did not set the HTT down to 3x, so I am sure that is the problem. I will try it tonight and let you know. But, good to know that I am probably better off with the higher clock speed vs the higher hTT speed. (HTT is the right terminology, right?).

But, I still am curious whether or not the agp/pci is locked/lockable on this board.

Also, does anyone know what the setting called "Spectrum Spread" is in the bios? It is in the same menu as the cpu clock and multiplier. The settings in it look like voltage increases, +.20, +.25, +.30... etc, all the way to +.55.

 

[basketcase]

OK, I didn't originally have the HTT set to 3x, so that may have been a problem. But, I tried setting that down to 3x, so that my HTT was at about 690 (cpu-z verified) and it still locks up. I am pretty sure that it is the agp/pci clock is not locked. Does anyone know if I can lock it on this board? I have looked through the bios setting, but I am not seeing an obvious setting for this. But, maybe it has an odd name... What is that setting usually called?

Can anyone help?

Thanks!