Simple Barton 2500+ OC Question

[Torin]

I have 1GB pc3200 kingston hyperX ram (2x 512), GA-7VT600 1394 mobo (gigabyte kt600 400fsb)... and I was wondering, as far as OCing is concerned, whether or not I would be able to "properly" OC a barton 2500+.

My concerns lie in that while my mobo does has a voltage modifier for the CPU, as well as a frequency settings, there is no "frequency multiplier" that I see posted about from the ASUS boards. I hear about this particular multiplier in all the threads concerning OCing the 2500+ barton chip, but before purchasing it over say a 3000 barton, I wanted to confirm that I would actually be able to push it up into the 400mhz FSB range.

Anyone have any confirmations that this is possible on these gigabyte boards, specifically the kt600 boards?

 

[Torin]

Im unsure of tomshardware posting restrictions concerning links, so Im going to add this just in case you need to acquaint yourself with the BIOS of this board.

www.overclockers.co.nz/ocnz/review.php?id=03boardkt600000gigabytekt6013940305

 

[pIII_Man]

that setup should run 200mhz fsb just fine on decent cooling (as in low end aftermarket cooler) and a little voltage boost. Although there are no guarantees the barton 2500 is normally able to hit 200mhz fsb relitivly easily.


If it isn't a P6 then it isn't a procesor
110% BX fanboy

 

[Codinerx]

The only problem with the kt600 is that when you oc the fsb, the pci and agp are also raised. At 400fsb, you'll be running the pci at around 40mhz, which is way too high. Really no way to get around that though.. maybe you'll get lucky and everything will run stably even when out of spec.. good luck to you!

 

[pIII_Man]

WTF


the KT600 has the proper pci and agp dividers to run 400mhz fsb at stock agp and pci speeds. The chipset was MENT to run 400mhz (200mhz sdr) FSB.

BTW that means 66.66mhz Agp and 33.33 mhz pci.


If it isn't a P6 then it isn't a procesor
110% BX fanboy

 

[Codinerx]

I am aware of that.. it will NOT run within specifications if you overclock a 2500+ to 400mhz fsb. It will only divide the pci/agp if a true 400fsb processor is installed. Unless he actually has the options to change the dividers in the bios manually, which mine did not- I purchased the epox 8kra2+ kt600, overclocked to 400mhz with my 2500+, and watched the pci/agp overclock as well. The lack of pci/agp locks is really a shame, as the kt600 is a great chipset in my opinion besides that fact.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by codinerx on 11/22/03 01:48 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Bahumut]

It is not the chipset.
Apparently there are some issues with the Gigabyte GA-7VT600 and the Epox 8kra2+ kt600.
Both seem to only use a 1/5 divider, but the chipset is made so that you can use a 1/6 divider.

It works just fine on an Asus A7V600.
BTW, it'll only let you run the 1/6 divder if you have an XP2500+ with an AQXEA or an AQZEA stepping as they are built with the exact same core as the XP3200+.
That could be the problem right there.

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[Codinerx]

I really thought it was a limitation of the chipset- I know that a default 400fsb cpu runs fine, but from what I've read and from my experience, if you overclock a default 333mhz cpu it throws everything out of whack. I thought that was the case with all kt600 boards.. at least thats what most reviewers have concluded.

 

[Bahumut]

I know, that's where I read about the gigabyte board, but none of the reviewers tell you which stepping code they used.

That's my only explaination.

53 69 67 6E 61 74 75 72 65 20 69 6E 20 48 65 78 21

 

[pIII_Man]

Sorry bout that...i didnt realise that you didnt have options in the bios...

If your board has jumpers to detect 100/133/166/200 mhz fsb select the 200mhz fsb option that should force the right dividers to be used, if you don't have the BSEL jumpers on board then i am sure there are some socket mods you could do (extreme) to get the mobo to detect the cpu as a 200mhz fsb unit.


If it isn't a P6 then it isn't a procesor
110% BX fanboy

 

[Torin]

Well, my next question then is... how do you tell what stepping the processor has? BIOS?

Also, how exactly does the lack of AGP/PCI lock affect your components? And how far can AGP/PCI be increased before components start to not function properly?

Can my ati 9700 pro run at a higher AGP frequency? If so, will it require any aftermarket cooling (zalman, arctic-cooling) in order to keep up? Also, will I need to raise the AGP and PCI voltage when I raise the FSB up to 400 to allow components enough juice to run at those higher frequencies?

As far as the multipliers go, the board has a jumper to set it. The FSB is set with a dipswitch on the board.

 

[pIII_Man]

use the 200mhz dipswitch setting and your agp/pci bus speeds will be within spec...

But if you must know your 9700 is going to severly limit your agp/pci bus overclocking. I own a 9500, which uses the same gpu as the 9700, mine could only take 72mhz (ya that's it, my previous gpu ran 100mhz agp bus!). Increasing the agp voltage had no effect on the bus overclocking in my situation, but in theory it should so it is worth a try. No amount of cooling will get the chip to run at higher agp buses because it is not a heat problem, it is just the fact the the gpu cannot physically transfer data at such high frequencies without having packet losses (just like a 56k modem can't transfer 84k/s).


If it isn't a P6 then it isn't a procesor
110% BX fanboy