New system - can't OC???

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Just built a new AM2 system and have ran it for a week to break it in.

AM2 4200+X2
Epox MF570SLI
512MB Kingston HyperX 5400 CL4 (DDR2 667)
Sapphire x1800GTO2
500W Thermaltake PSU

This is my first attempt at OCing and I think I understand the basics, but everytime I change setting in BIOS, it stops at the "health page" and starts in "safe" mode which reverts to the original CMOS settings.

Am I missing something simple - is there a setting that overrides the "Safe" mode???

I bought this MB/CPU combo because of all the positive reviews about how well the budget combo would OC - thought I could save some $$$. 😳 [/img]

Any advice??? 🙁

current settings per CPUZ:
Core Speed: 2208.5
Multiplier: x11.0
Bus Speed: 200.7
HT Link: 401.4 MHz

Stepping: 2
Revision: BH-F2

 

[angry_ducky]

A64 overclocking guide. Courtesy of Speeduk.

 

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I read the stickys and thought I understood what I was doing 😳

It doesn't seem to matter how much of a boost I try to add - going from 200 to 201 results in the same thing as 200 to 250.

I haven't messed with the memory settings so I'll see if I can wade through them (there's about 30 different things listed and I'm lost)

 

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Well, figured it out - sort of...

I was trying to set the FSB to 220 - what I didn't realize was that on the Epox bios what I was telling it to do was actually set the FSB to 420 😳 Talk about stupid!!!

Anyway, I've got it running at >2.5 😀 now at 230 - it's stable running windows and COD2 so far, but when I run Stress Prime, CPU 0 plows right thru while CPU 1 crashes after about 6 mins

I haven't changed any settings other than the FSB and I'm thinking the RAM is the downfall - I bought cheaper DDR2-667 Kingston stuff, and according to CPU Z it's trying to run at about 722.

I'm searching the web for info on RAM settings - everything I've found is based on DDR instead of DDR2. I keep seeing stuff about setting the "ratio" but don't see anything in my bios that looks like what they're talking about. :roll:

If anyone can point me in the right direction I'd appreciate it. thanks

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