Got my computer upgrade in!

N

Nite_Hawk

Veteran
Hi Guys!

I finished deciding what I wanted to get, and bought all the parts I needed to upgrade my computer. Total cost came out to about $400 before shipping. This is what I got:

Chenbro Gamaing Bomb Case
Coolmax 500W power supply
Abit AN7 Motherboard
Mobile Athlon XP 2500+ (45w)
Thermalright ALX-800 heatsink
Geil PC3200 Value ram (blue stuff)
Various fans

Well, I currently have the vcore at 1.7v, and am priming away at 2.4GHz currently. Temperature under load is hovering around 47-48 celsius.

If 2.4 is stable I will have hit my target speed for this cpu. :) Assuming this goes well though, I might try pushing for 2.5GHz, or maybe upping the fsb to 210 or 220. Given that I'm already around low end Athlon64 performance levels, I'm pretty happy. :)

Nite_Hawk
 
Congrats on the new system. :D

To go from 2.4 to 2.5 ghz, I'd work my way there bit by bit using fsb increases. At these clockrates, the jump from simply increasing the multiplier is too steep for safety imo.

btw, some miscellaneous questions: are your voltages stable? What kind of fan do you have on the heatsink? How many and what type of case fans are you using? What system specs were you using before this?
 
ZoinKs! said:
Congrats on the new system. :D

To go from 2.4 to 2.5 ghz, I'd work my way there bit by bit using fsb increases. At these clockrates, the jump from simply increasing the multiplier is too steep for safety imo.

btw, some miscellaneous questions: are your voltages stable? What kind of fan do you have on the heatsink? How many and what type of case fans are you using? What system specs were you using before this?
Click to expand...

Hey, a fellow Minnesotan. :) Voltages on the 3.3V line are fluxuating between 3.38 and 3.4, between 5.10 and 5.12 on the 5V line, and between 11.92 and 11.98 on the 12v line.

Right now I have 2 92mm fans (one front one back) unfortunately I was rather stupid and cut the band around my new 120mm fan thinking it was packaging when in reality it was the lead for the fan LEDs. I'm hoping to either fix it (kinda scary) or just pick up another one. My powersupply also has a 120mm fan in it. The temps that I'm getting right now are with the side off, so I'm expecting temps to rise a couple of degrees with the case on. (but maybe not too bad when I get the 120mm in there). I just have a 80mm antec fan on the heatsink right now. I'm guessing it's just a generic 32cfm 80mm one.

Before the upgrade I was using a 1700+ oced slightly to 1.6GHz on a K7S5A mobo with generic 2100+ ram. So far at 2.4GHz the system seems a lot more snappy. The 512KB of cache probably is helping somewhat.

Nite_Hawk
 
Congrats Nite_Hawk, sweet looking rig. I'm still debating on if I should pick up a mobile 2X00+ or not, lemme know how ya like it please!
 
The heatpipe towers for 120mm fans from Thermaltake seem like they are monster coolers, very nice performance from what I can see. If I was to build an A64 system today, I'd definitely get one of those.

All-copper version of course. :D
 
Guden Oden said:
The heatpipe towers for 120mm fans from Thermaltake seem like they are monster coolers, very nice performance from what I can see. If I was to build an A64 system today, I'd definitely get one of those.

All-copper version of course. :D
Click to expand...

I actually looked at that one, but they are expensive and I don't think they have an xp version yet. For $18 shipped the alx-800 was hard to beat even though there are better coolers out there (for like $40-50).

Well, so far it appears that 12x200 with 1.725v is about the sweet spot on this cpu for keeping prime95 stable. I had it booting fine at 12.5x200, but I couldn't get prime95 to run for more than a minute or two at up to 1.8v, so I decided I might as well stop there. The system seemed to run fine with a 210mhz fsb though, so I'm somewhat tempted to try 11.5x210 = 2420 with maybe 1.75v and see how things look. For now, 12x200 was my target speed, and I got it, so I'm pretty happy with it at that. If I had better air cooling or water cooling I imagine this chip could hit 2.5GHz and probably 2.6GHz fine with more voltage.

One thing I have noticed that I'm wondering about a bit is that while running prime95 and monitoring with MBM, my DDR VVT voltage seems to drop a bit. At idle it's around 1.33V, and after running prime95 for a while it hovers closer to 1.2V. I'm not totally sure what this means though, as DDR voltage stays pretty constant.

Nite_Hawk
 
the thermalright (or is it take) xp 101 is sweet. 120mm fan version of the sp 94 . Its huge. Might work well
 
Nite_Hawk said:
Well, so far it appears that 12x200 with 1.725v is about the sweet spot on this cpu for keeping prime95 stable. I had it booting fine at 12.5x200, but I couldn't get prime95 to run for more than a minute or two at up to 1.8v, so I decided I might as well stop there.
Click to expand...
Try loosening memory timings. My system was failing Prime95 in less then a minute even with over voltage. I changed cas latency from 2-3-3-11 to 2.5-3-3-11 and that fixed the problem, even with voltage dropped back to 1.625. It still failed after ~90 minutes of the heavy duty test, but that's more then stable enough for a gaming machine.
 
ZoinKs! said:
Nite_Hawk said:
Well, so far it appears that 12x200 with 1.725v is about the sweet spot on this cpu for keeping prime95 stable. I had it booting fine at 12.5x200, but I couldn't get prime95 to run for more than a minute or two at up to 1.8v, so I decided I might as well stop there.
Click to expand...
Try loosening memory timings. My system was failing Prime95 in less then a minute even with over voltage. I changed cas latency from 2-3-3-11 to 2.5-3-3-11 and that fixed the problem, even with voltage dropped back to 1.625. It still failed after ~90 minutes of the heavy duty test, but that's more then stable enough for a gaming machine.
Click to expand...

I've noticed that a lot of people change the tRAS up to 11. Any particular reason for this? From what I understand, it is supposed to be the sum of the CAS, and tRCD + 2. So in your case:

2.5 + 3 + 2 = 8. Does pushing it up to 11 help that much? What does it do to performance?

Nite_Hawk
 
There was a rash of articles a while back showing how a larger tRAS timing could actually improve performance slightly, or at least it showed that it didn't hurt performance but greatly helped stability.

I don't remember where, sorry.
 
It's due to the way the memory controllers' internal buffering works, so that tRAS of 11 is a performance win, rather than the usually correct optimum setting of CL + tRCD + 2 clocks.

The nForce2 case doesn't usually apply elsewhere.

Rys
 
Rys said:
It's due to the way the memory controllers' internal buffering works, so that tRAS of 11 is a performance win, rather than the usually correct optimum setting of CL + tRCD + 2 clocks.

The nForce2 case doesn't usually apply elsewhere.

Rys
Click to expand...
Thanks Rys! :)
 
ZoinKs! said:
Yeah, it's an nForce 2 thing.
And it's always fun to turn it up to 11. :p
Click to expand...
smokey.gif


An nForce2/SpinalTap connection, I LOVE IT!!! :LOL:
 
LOL okay this is funny: ;)

I've waited awhile to get the most bang for my buck. Too long awhile really. I have spent over 4 weeks now researching exactly everything I wanted. Thats not counting the past 2+ years of dreaming. And just got my NEW system up and running. Just recieved from Newegg:

AMD Mobile Athlon XP 2600+
Abit NF7-S V2
Geil PC3200 Value Golden Dragon 512MB
OCZ Gladiator3 HSF
2x80gb WD IDE HD's (sata raid too $$$ so no raid)
PowMax Demon 580watt PSU

All this got thrown into my older style fugly beige Evercase with the quicklock drivebays, graphics provided by ATI, a 9800Pro w/128MB. I also have some colored fans, its like a disco party inside my case. Anyways, I'm blown totally away by this setup, it's awesome.
It's clocked to 2.3GHz using 11.5 x 200FSB on 1.55v core. Temps vary from 38c dead idle to 48c under full load. I'm itching to push it more. From what I've seen of this batch some people seem to have had luck pushing 2.6Ghz.

I have spent all day between Farcry and Doom3 enjoying the smoothness of this system. At 1024x768 in both games the frames are like butter. I only get those pauses in Doom3 when loading new textures. I'm gonna have try to crank it up to 2.5 tomorrow.

I'm also intently fascinated by the Ram i chose, quite different. I don't quite understand the exact manufacturing of it but it works well. I stepped up all the timings on it and no hitches yet. Also is there any bios update for this board to recognize the Mobile chips ? Was weird to me to go into bios first time with no reference for the stock speed or settings on this chip.
 
Chris_T said:
LOL okay this is funny: ;)

I've waited awhile to get the most bang for my buck. Too long awhile really. I have spent over 4 weeks now researching exactly everything I wanted. Thats not counting the past 2+ years of dreaming. And just got my NEW system up and running. Just recieved from Newegg:

AMD Mobile Athlon XP 2600+
Abit NF7-S V2
Geil PC3200 Value Golden Dragon 512MB
OCZ Gladiator3 HSF
2x80gb WD IDE HD's (sata raid too $$$ so no raid)
PowMax Demon 580watt PSU

All this got thrown into my older style fugly beige Evercase with the quicklock drivebays, graphics provided by ATI, a 9800Pro w/128MB. I also have some colored fans, its like a disco party inside my case. Anyways, I'm blown totally away by this setup, it's awesome.
It's clocked to 2.3GHz using 11.5 x 200FSB on 1.55v core. Temps vary from 38c dead idle to 48c under full load. I'm itching to push it more. From what I've seen of this batch some people seem to have had luck pushing 2.6Ghz.

I have spent all day between Farcry and Doom3 enjoying the smoothness of this system. At 1024x768 in both games the frames are like butter. I only get those pauses in Doom3 when loading new textures. I'm gonna have try to crank it up to 2.5 tomorrow.

I'm also intently fascinated by the Ram i chose, quite different. I don't quite understand the exact manufacturing of it but it works well. I stepped up all the timings on it and no hitches yet. Also is there any bios update for this board to recognize the Mobile chips ? Was weird to me to go into bios first time with no reference for the stock speed or settings on this chip.
Click to expand...

Hi Chris,

I think some of the overclocker bioses might recognize the mobile chips, but I'm not sure. It's not really a big deal though, because you'll never be running at stock anyway. :)

I'd suggest running prime95 to check stability. It's possible you might have a totally playable gaming system that fails prime95, but it's a good idea if you really want to make sure your system is running rock solid. Right now I'm running my chip at 2310MHz with a 210MHz fsb, and running prime95 at about 45 degree celsius. I might try going back to 2.4GHz now that I got my new panaflo 48cfm fan in. I wouldn't plan on getting to 2.6GHz unless you stick a tornado or delta in with one of the better heatsinks out there.

Nite_Hawk
 
What core voltage are you running to boost yours over 2.3Ghz ?
What temps were you getting above 2.3Ghz ?

I'm hesitant to jack mine up over v1.7 at the moment. And haven't got above 2.3Ghz below that voltage. I've even tried loosening the RAM timings but no dice. Well.. I have booted into 2.4Ghz with 200x12 but it was unstable with v1.6x.
208x11.5 was also unstable throughout the v1.6 range. Why am i such a wuss re: vcore? ;)

I've also noticed that within the past few days that my idle temps have slowly risen and now sit @ about 46c, load pushes it up to 52-54c. That is now the main factor for my hesitance to go above 1.7vcore. May try re-silvering and re-seating my HSF this weekend to see if a change occurs and wait another week for stabilization of temps. IF that fails, off to a machine shop i know for a true lap on the sink. IF that fails, get a bigger fan i guess. I just researched the heck out of HSF units and came up with the one i have now, but it may just not be good enough.. :(
Also am using ASII, and that could also be a concern... Heard some comments on AS not having the best shelf life and mine IS kinda old but didn't see any seperation.

To show how goofy i was, on first boot i jacked the Multiplyer up to 15x133 to install the OS. Jeez what a maroon ? :)
 
Chris_T said:
What core voltage are you running to boost yours over 2.3Ghz ?
What temps were you getting above 2.3Ghz ?

I'm hesitant to jack mine up over v1.7 at the moment. And haven't got above 2.3Ghz below that voltage. I've even tried loosening the RAM timings but no dice. Well.. I have booted into 2.4Ghz with 200x12 but it was unstable with v1.6x.
208x11.5 was also unstable throughout the v1.6 range. Why am i such a wuss re: vcore? ;)

I've also noticed that within the past few days that my idle temps have slowly risen and now sit @ about 46c, load pushes it up to 52-54c. That is now the main factor for my hesitance to go above 1.7vcore. May try re-silvering and re-seating my HSF this weekend to see if a change occurs and wait another week for stabilization of temps. IF that fails, off to a machine shop i know for a true lap on the sink. IF that fails, get a bigger fan i guess. I just researched the heck out of HSF units and came up with the one i have now, but it may just not be good enough.. :(
Also am using ASII, and that could also be a concern... Heard some comments on AS not having the best shelf life and mine IS kinda old but didn't see any seperation.

To show how goofy i was, on first boot i jacked the Multiplyer up to 15x133 to install the OS. Jeez what a maroon ? :)
Click to expand...

Hi Chris,

Well, I just recently changed my fan, and haven't had a chance to really test the new one at higher clockspeeds. I'm using a thermalright ALX-800 with a panaflo 48cfm fan. Before I was using the same heatsink with a generic antec case fan, probably something like 32cfm.

Right now I'm running 210x11 for 2310MHz at 1.65v, though my motherboard is overvolting to about 1.67v. With my old fan I idled at about 44C and load was 51C. Now idle is about 40C and load is about 45-46C. My case temperature is about a constant 26-27C. When I was running 12x200, my system was stable for most things, but prime95 would error and quit after several hours. This was at 1.75v. With my old fan cpu temps were about 46C idle and around 55-56C under load. I haven't tried it yet with my new one.

From what I've heard, 1.8v is really the maximum you want to push for air cooling. Despite that, 52-54C is getting pretty hot. It will probably run fine with those temps, but I really don't like them going much beyond 50C myself. I'd not raise your voltage any more if you are getting those temps already.

I looked up the gladiator 3 and noticed that it uses a 60x60mm fan. That is going to limit how much cooling potential the HSF has as much less air will be pushed over the heatsink. What I would try doing is first reverse the direction of the fan. You may have better luck. (there are pros and cons to both configurations). See if you get any lower temperatures. You could also raise the fan off the heatsink by using the case from another 60mm fan as a spacer, and that way more air is sucked away from the center of the heatsink which is the hotest part. It also lets the fan be farther away from the heatsink, which means it sucks in less hot air that was just expelled. This is the configuration I'm using right now, and it lowered both my cpu temp and my case temp over either a normal sucking or blowing configuration.

Finally, you might want to get a fan adapter to go from 60mm to 80 or even 92mm. With an adapter, blowing probably won't help your temps much as most fans don't perform well with high back pressure. Pulling away air from the heatsink seems to work better with adapters. You could also try one of the venting kits to exhaust air directly out of the case. These supposedly work rather well. Depending on your price range, there are other heatsinks out there that should perform better (look at the copper thermalright ones). There is also water cooling. :)

Nite_Hawk
 
All,

Great info guys. I am getting the itch to upgrade myself. I was real interested in the Athlon 2400+ M but I might have convinced myself to spend the extra $100 and get an Athlon 64. I am coming from an Athlon 2100+, so I would love to see any before and after benchmarks Night.

Dr. Ffreeze
 
Okay i fixed my "rising" temps. :devilish: :devilish: :devilish:

I did something idiotic when i was first putting together the computer to cause this. At first i had thrown the system together on a mobo tray and played my first day, got my temps and such. Later when i installed everything in my case i couldn't lock the HSF on the mobo cause the PowerSupply was in my damn way on the lock side.

Without thinking i flipped the clip around inside the HSF unit. The clip has that offcenter bend on it and was putting pressure between the CPU and the socket where it sits above the cpu. Jesus, i know better than that.
Or at least i should. I took my PS out today and was playing with trying to resilver to lower the temps when i noticed that all the AS was being pushed to the bottom of the cpu after i would remove it. By the 3rd time reseating it and hitting 50c temps. I totally realized what i did.

As a testament to these damn XP Mobiles, they are one hell of a chip to be able to work after being abused in this manner. Idleing again at 38 as I type this.

Ran Prime95, Toast Cpu Burn In, and Winamp all at once and couldn't get it to budge above 49c. :devilish:
 
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