P4 2.0A Ultra 6457 Overclocking

[Colin]

I have been reading about overclocking the P4 2.0A cpu, but on the 654 mobo i cant seem to do it, the CPU ratio selection is locked, according to PCgamer they can clock a P4 2.0A to 2.5Ghz and it still remains stable, any idea of the correct bios setting to overclock my P4?

Tried Bios 1.7 and had same probs as alot of you memory bandwith dropped, so went back to 1.5 and everything is OK.

Another thing while i'm here, My graphics card is a AGP Matrox G400 max 32mb, it is 4 x agp but is showing up in sandra and msi info utility as a 2 x agp, is there a setting i should change? i have the latest agp drivers, and the video card drivers plus i have updated the bios in the video card to the latest?

Best regards Colin

 

[Wanderer]

You overclock a P4 by raising the FSB (Front Side Bus). When you raise it I suggest doing it in small steps (or jump right to 133) to check that the computer is stable. Please note that changing the FSB also changes the AGP, PCI and memory speeds unless you jump to the 133 figure I mentioned (the manual should explain that part). To get a stable system you may have to increase the Vcore too.

And for the Matrox, try their "Matrox Technical Support Tweak Utility" at http://www.matrox.com/mga/support/drivers/files/ftp_util2.cfm

Good luck!

 

[Bela]

Originally posted by Colin
I have been reading about overclocking the P4 2.0A cpu, but on the 654 mobo i cant seem to do it, the CPU ratio selection is locked, according to PCgamer they can clock a P4 2.0A to 2.5Ghz and it still remains stable, any idea of the correct bios setting to overclock my P4?

Tried Bios 1.7 and had same probs as alot of you memory bandwith dropped, so went back to 1.5 and everything is OK.

Another thing while i'm here, My graphics card is a AGP Matrox G400 max 32mb, it is 4 x agp but is showing up in sandra and msi info utility as a 2 x agp, is there a setting i should change? i have the latest agp drivers, and the video card drivers plus i have updated the bios in the video card to the latest?

Best regards Colin

increase FSB & add some exxtra cpu vcore..
some m/b : max 1,6 v...
use 133 mhz... Fsb when system is stable...

 

[Colin]

Tried 133mhz fsb and diffrent Vcore, it becomes unstable, even at 120Mhz or 110Mhz i am getting a lot of progams locking up.

At 100Mhz it gives me a FSB of 100Mhz x 4 = 400Mhz, multiplyer 20x, DRAM Frequency 333Mhz, all works well.

I have noticed when changing the FSB speed it also alters the DRAM Frequency, and as i am using 512MB of PC2700 @333Mhz i need the DRAM Frequency @333Mhz other wise my mem bandwith drops, and when altering the FSB speed it also alters the DRAM Frequency. X(
I thought this overclocking was gonna be easy.

As far as my AGP problem i have tried the Matrox utilitys but still only get 2x AGP. maybe its the matrox card at fault and not the mobo? i think i might buy a new Geforce 4 Ti.

Best regards Colin

 

[Wanderer]

If you want your system to be within specification your only option is to set the FSB to 133MHz, otherwise you drift away from the spec. (The CPURAM Clock Ratio setting is for dividing the FSB to the right level for the rest of the system.)

Not all P4 overclock well. The 1.6GHz are generally easy, and the result (for overclocking) gets worse the faster the processor is from start.

About the G400: have you tried the Matrox or Matroxusers forums?
http://forum.matrox.com/cgi-bin/mgaforum/Ultimate.cgi
http://forums.matroxusers.com/

 

[Colin]

No way will it let me use 133Mhz FSB everytime i try 133 the bios gives me a warning FSB/SDRAM frequency missmatch and then it defaults the FSB back to 100Mhz.

I have tried diffrent clock ratio's with it too, still the same warning.

I have been lead to believe that the correct system settings for a P4 2.0A cpu with DDR333Mhz mem would be as follows.

FSB 100Mhz
DRAM Frequency 333Mhz
Multiplyer 20x

which gives me 20 x 100Mhz =2000Mhz
and a FSB of 400Mhz

Sandra 2002 pro says my sytem is running at 2000Mhz with a FSB of 400Mhz, and the memory bandwidth as gone sky high since i put bios 1.5 back in.

Is this not correct?

Best regards Colin

P.S yes i have tried the matrox forum, no solutions there.

 

[Wanderer]

I don't know what I should tell you about the frequency mismatch other than that it sucks. Happens to me sometimes when I do a cold boot (which isn't often as I run it 24/7).

The values you mention are what is the standard settings for your machine, without overclocking. If that is what mean by "correct" then they are correct.

If you still are trying to overclock I'm running out of ideas. Maybe try setting the FSB to 133, and the Vcore to a higher setting (change both at the same time). Also set all other settings to the most conservative ones you can find. If it works, tune one part at a time to see if it works (for example the "Timing Setting Mode" in "Advanced Chipset Features").

Sorry to hear you didn't get AGP 4x. From what I've read on the MURC the difference wouldn't be noticeable though. If you are planning to buy a GF4 I think they will drop in price in a few weeks time when the next-gen ATI GPU is launched - but don't kill me if I'm wrong :] ).

 

[Colin]

Thanxs alot for all your help wanderer, maybe its the 2.0a Ghz cpu that dont like being over clocked.

i notice you have a 1.6 Ghz @ 2.2 Ghz and bois ver 1.6, maybe i should try it with bios 1.6.

I think you are right about the Gforce 4 coming down in price, i am going for the GAINWARD GEFORCE4 POWERPACK! ULTRA/650 XP GOLDEN SAMPLE 128MB, but they are all sold out at the moment, but for a Ti G4 at £200 i'm not surprised.

anyway thanx again for all your help.

Best regards Colin Harban

Ultra 645 (MS-6547) bios 1.5
P4 2.0a Ghz
PC2700 DDR@333Mhz 2 x 256MB (CL = 2)
Matrox G400 ( I will be swapping this old card soon)
2 x IBM Deskstar GXP HD
Audigy Platinum sound card
3Com NIC

 

[Busta]

I don't think you'll be able to reach the amazing increase in speeds due to overclocking that the 1.6a or 1.8a experience.

I think it has to do with the fact that the higher your CPU speed is, the less room you will have to overclock.

I'm using a 2.0a and a 645 Ultra also, and i've reached stability at 2.4 ghz with a 120 mhz FSB. I forget my CPURAM ratio, but it's with a corsair XMS 3200 stick that sets my DDR @ 400 mhz (the motherboard reads it as a 333mhz stick since the 3200 is basically a premium 2700 stick).

 

[haldo]

Originally posted by Colin
Tried Bios 1.7 and had same probs as alot of you memory bandwith dropped, so went back to 1.5 and everything is OK.

In the old forum somebody (i dont remember his name) released patched BIOS 1.7 for 6547. It works fine, the memory bandwitch is OK (around 2000 by me). I will send it to you if you want, just email me to heelp@pobox.sk.

Sorry for my english