Overclock brick wall with 2.4c?

R

rtierney

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 28, 2004
Messages
323
Ever since I bought it a year ago, my 2.4c has been running at 3.0GHz (250MHz FSB) rock solid. I could game for hours and the temperature would never go above 130F (with copper/aluminum HS and air cooling). Nothing could phase it.

However, even if I up'd the FSB by 1 MHz (to 251), I wouldn't even POST. All I would get is the single long beep telling me it couldn't boot.

How is it possible that I'm rock solid at 250MHz FSB but I can't even boot at 251? Is there just a huge brick wall with some CPUs? I'm at a loss as to what could be causing the problem. Is there something I'm missing?

I've got my CPU:RAM ratio set to 5:4 and I've got quality Corsair XMS memory, so I've sort of ruled that out as potentially being a problem. I've fixed my AGP and PCI slots to 66 and 33MHz respectively. Other than that, I'm sort of out of ideas as to what could be causing this brick wall. I know I can get more juice out of my 2.4C if I'm running both cool and stable at 3.0.

Anyone have any ideas?
 
Voltage? Motherboard? Stepping? 12-cap or 30? :p

If you answer these questions, I'm sure a lot more people could help you out.
 
My bad, I knew I forgot something.

Here's a link to the cpuid screenshot that includes all of that information.

CPU id

As for motherboard, I'm using an Abit IC7.
 
rtierney said:
My bad, I knew I forgot something.

Here's a link to the cpuid screenshot that includes all of that information.

CPU id

As for motherboard, I'm using an Abit IC7.
Click to expand...
Is that a 30-capper? or 12? I think D1 steppings are 12, or some of them anyway. You might of struck bad luck, some chips just don't OC as high. Do you have any friends with 2.4c's? Or any intel chips you can try to take over 250fsb?
 
What do you mean by cap?
I've never heard that term before. (forgive my ignorance)
 
rtierney said:
What do you mean by cap?
I've never heard that term before. (forgive my ignorance)
Click to expand...
It's cool, I'm pretty new to the OC world too. Take a look at the bottom of your CPU. If it's full of caps, it's a 30-capper. Otherwise, there should be some solder pads that are missing caps, then it's a 12-capper.

12 cappers are known for a lower OC.
 
(possibly stupid) question... have you tried upping the vcore? or the mem voltage? or relaxing memory timings?

any of those could let you get higher. is it prime stable at 250fsb? if it is then you are probably at the limit of your chip if you have also tried bumping the voltage, otherwise you may be pushing it just a little too far for your current voltage setting.

try upping the voltage (i'd stay under 1.7 on air, but other than that just raise it until you can get higher)
 
I'll up the vcore and memory voltage and see if it gets me anywhere new.
Thanks.

edit - To clarify, I've tried upping the vcore a little bit (from 1.520 to 1.550), but i wasn't sure how high I could go without risking frying it. I'll be a bit more aggressive with the voltage and hopefully I get somewhere.
 
just keep it under 1.7 to be safe, anything more than that needs water/vapor cooling. Remember that P4s will thermal throttle down if they are too hot, so you don't have to worry about baking your chip. I'd say for moderate overclocking keep it in the 1.6 to 1.625 range.
 
rogue_jedi said:
(possibly stupid) question... have you tried upping the vcore? or the mem voltage? or relaxing memory timings?

any of those could let you get higher. is it prime stable at 250fsb? if it is then you are probably at the limit of your chip if you have also tried bumping the voltage, otherwise you may be pushing it just a little too far for your current voltage setting.

try upping the voltage (i'd stay under 1.7 on air, but other than that just raise it until you can get higher)
Click to expand...
your telling him to up the voltage when hes already at 130 on his current solution :eek:
 
130 is bad....but it wont fry it.... i think he means 130 F.....if its 130 C hes in some SERIOUS trouble....
 
I do mean Fahrenheit. I've never seen my chip go above 130 F, and the only time it'll go anywhere near the upper 120's is when the temperature in the room raises higher than normal. Typically, the temperature stays between 110-120, even when under load.
 
abit ic7's read temps 8-12C higher than actual...

so 130F = 54.4C = ~44C

with a copper cooler that temp of 44C seems about right. i have an ic7-g and when i first got it, i could not get my cpu stable over 2.8ish, as soon as i updated this bios i was able to overclock to 3.3 then later 3.4.
 
i had a 2.4 that did 3.0 (250fsb) on stock voltage, sold it. had to up the voltage above 1.525v in order to go higher. seems like you've hit your max w/ stock voltage. add more vcore to get it up higher, you'll probably go 3.3 max with 1.65v like mine.
 
yourdeardaniel said:
i had a 2.4 that did 3.0 (250fsb) on stock voltage, sold it. had to up the voltage above 1.525v in order to go higher. seems like you've hit your max w/ stock voltage. add more vcore to get it up higher, you'll probably go 3.3 max with 1.65v like mine.
Click to expand...

I up'd the voltage to 1.65v and still couldn't even POST at 251MHz FSB. 250MHz seems to be sort of unstable at default voltage. It wouldn't last but a few minutes in Prime95. I'm stable at 245MHz FSB now. Kind of disappointed I can't go higher.
Could it possibly be a power problem? I've only got a 350W PS.
 
rtierney said:
...Could it possibly be a power problem? I've only got a 350W PS.
Click to expand...

is that a brand name 350W or a generic, cause i was able to goto 3.3 on a antec SL350 350W, but when i upgraded to a true480 i can get 3.4.
 
It's generic.

I'm going to buy a new case with a 480w PS soon (maybe today)
Think I'll have better success once I have that?
 
rtierney said:
It's generic.

I'm going to buy a new case with a 480w PS soon (maybe today)
Think I'll have better success once I have that?
Click to expand...

download and run prime95 at your most stable setting then get a utility to monitor your voltages. or open your case and post the ratings of that powersupply.
 
What voltages will I be seeing if it's power that is causing the problem?
I let Prime95 run a few hours last night without a problem (although its not the speed that I really want), but didn't monitor any voltages. Just temperatures.
 
don't use a software usility to monitor the voltages. to put it kindly, they suck. get a multimeter from radioshack or the like. use that on a molex to check the voltages.

if that's another generic PSU (the 480W one) you'd be better off getting a 350W 'real' PSU like an antec/enermax/fortron.
 
Actually, I went ahead and changed my mind.
I bought an Antec True 430W PS and an Enermax case while I was at it. Cost quite a bit, but hopefully they turn out to be worth it.

Am I correct to assume that a quality PS like that will be able to handle an OC'd 2.4c, OC'd 6800 GT, harddrive, three fans, and dvd rw with plenty of power to spare?

I am hoping my lack of OCing ability with my 2.4c was due to a crappy generic 350W PS.
Once I get my 6800 GT in the mail I'll definitely want to OC it too, so a power supply upgrade was definitely in order.
 
rtierney said:
...I am hoping my lack of OCing ability with my 2.4c was due to a crappy generic 350W PS...
Click to expand...

dont put all your hopes on a new power supply unlocking alot of headroom for overclocking. some peoples 2.4c's havent been able to break 3.0, its a luck of the draw when it comes to overclocking. imo all that cpu info that people use to predict good overclockers is all false, even some m0 2.4c's have not been able to break 3.0. i think the only way of getting a garanteed overclock is buying it off someone who tested it out. and then even with that, its not garanteed to overclock to that speed on your specific setup. the guy who had my cpu before me verified it to run 100% stable, (48hours prime95 stable) at 3.48, yet i cant break 3.42 with much better cooling than he had.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top