oc1700 performance and oc ram question

[The549]

Hey all...I have two questions. First, I'm planning on spending about $150 on a new gpu in a few months (this is my budget), but do you think that with a 1700+ clocked at 1.61ghz (shows as a 2000+, but w/ lower clock speed, not 1.61vs1.67) will run games ok with something like a Radeon 9700? Or will they be cpu limited (HL2, Doom3, Halo). I have a good hd, the famous k7s5a mobo, but slow memory....which leads me to my next question...
Memory.... I have my cpu overclocked from 1.467 to 1.61 @ 146fsb. But when I try 150fsb, windows doesn't load up all the way, freezes at the login screen. I know that the cpu isn't too hot, but I'm thinking it's the ram, since it's only ddr266. Is that right? Would getting faster ram allow me to oc more? And my pc froze (at lower than stck speeds) when I clocked ram and cpu differently, so i can't just clock the mem slower.
Ok last question....I am finally starting to enjoy windows now as it is blazing fast -my other computer is an iBook and a 400celeron emachines, but is the small speed increase i notice (mainly in startup) the result of more the memory speed increase rather than cpu? Or is it both or just cpu?

Thanks all,
-Peter

 

[The549]

Oh btw here are my system specs

1024X768 max res (this should help eh?)
120gig 7200/8mb hd
2X256 DDR RAM oc to 147mhz
AMD 1700 oc to 2000 (1.61ghz)
I have my sights set on radeon 9700, 5900xt, or 9800pro, whatever i can get for $150 in a few months. Right now it's voodoo3 baby.

 

[BRiT]

Try out MemTest86 [ http://memtest86.com/ ] to see if your memory is up to snuff at that speed. Chances are, you'll need to adjust timings in BIOS to get it stable. Run all tests and keep it running for an extended period of time (4 hours). If there are any errors, then you have your memory clocked too high for the settings you're running.

As for video cards, your best bet is a Radeon 9700/9800 Pro card. The 5900XT is a mid-end card and thus performs lower than the 9700-non pro. Your best bet at the $150 range is to see what newegg has available, either as brand new, or refurbished units. They have new 9800Pros for $212. In the refurb section, the 9800-nonpros usually go for around $160.

You will be CPU limited in Doom3/HL2 as current high-end rigs (3.4Ghz/3400+) are currently CPU limited even with high-end 9800XTs/5950's. You will be able to crank up the AA/AF and other eye-candy without noticing much of an impact on performance.

But either ATI card will give you a very noticable and significant boost in gaming performance. I think you'll be very impressed and floored by the performance increase, even with your mid-end CPU and slow memory.

In time, you may want to think about replacing the memory with 2 512M PC3200+ CAS sticks. I've noticed a good jump in performance when upgrading from 512M to 1G when gaming.

To give you an idea, I run an AMD XP-2500+ at 2.4Ghz raw speed [12 * 200Mhz FSB] with 2*512M Corsair PC3500 CAS2 on an ATI 9800Pro. I run nearly all my games with 6xAA and 8xAF enabled, the lowest res I run is 1184x768 and thats in UT2004, I'd prob run 1280x1024 in UT2003. In older games based on Q3 engine, I'm usually running 1280x1024 or 1600x1200 with all the eye-candy enabled. The games run very smooth for me. Before when I had an ATI 9700 Pro I would run same settings but at 1024x768 for UT2003 (wasn't quite smooth enough on higher res) and still run 1280x1024 or 1600x1200 in older games.

 

[The549]

Well actually I was counting and hoping that the current cards will go down in price in a month or whenever the new generation of cards come out, maybe I could get a 9800pro for $150-170? It's already down to $207
But I still want to figure out wheter or not getting faster ram will let me oc to 150fsb.

 

[BRiT]

To find your limiting factor when overclocking, start off with a low multiplier, such as 8, then see how high the front-side-bus will go. As I said earlier, using MEMTEST86 will let you know if it's your memory/timings.

 

[The549]

I searched, but I'm pretty positive that the mobo has a locked multiplier, only able to overclock the fsb.
Brit have you run halo on your setup?

 

[hey69]

that's the highest you will get with your cpu, i had the same 1700 once, wouldnt overclock higher then 146 FSB. (chances are that you won't have a later model 1700+ procesor cause they will overclock higher.

best GPU for your system would be a radeon 9600pro/xt or a FX5700 card . they sell them for about 140-180 euro over here..

i have a 1900xp with a radeon 9600 XT and it is very fast. i can play all latest games @ high resolution and all effects enabled

putting a very high end grafixcard would be overkill for your system anyway

 

[hey69]

deleted , double post by mistake

 

[The549]

What about the fact that it did start up almost all the way, except froze on the login screen?
And how can I tell what revision of the amd i have?
thx

 

[BRiT]

I found an invaluable source of reference for your motherboard. It would seem you have to do your own solder-based mods to the board to gain full multiplier control. Anyways, have a look here as it should provide invaluable info in your quest for better performance: http://www.ocworkbench.com/2002/ecs/k7s5aguide/

I haven't had time to play around with Halo too much...

 

[The549]

Wow thanks man. Loks like I'll have to do some cpu scratching...hmmm (/me wondering if this is a good idea for a noob oc'er).
thx

 

[{Sniping}Waste]

try here.
http://www.ocinside.de/index_e.html
click on workshop on the far left and click on interactive pin mod guild.
I need to know the steping on that 1700+. If its a TbredA then you have hit you limit. If its a TbredB then you can hit 2.0gig and up. My TbredB 1800+ is at 2.3 gig now at 46C load at 1.65v from 1.5V.

 

[The549]

Sisoft Sandra says I have an xp Palomino.

 

[{Sniping}Waste]

Sisoft Sandra says I have an xp Palomino.

Sorry but thats not going to overclocking much. Your going to be luck to get over 1.8 gig at 1.78V. The Palomino is on .18 micron and will run hot. The newer Tbreds are on .13 micron and the A versen will hit around 1.9gig and the newer B versen will hit 2.1gig and up.

 

[The549]

but what would be the problem of running it at a fsb of 150? Just heat? Cuz then I'm thinking the prob is ram.

 

[{Sniping}Waste]

What speed is you ram (pc133/pc2100/pc2700/pc3200) and what brand are the chips?

The mobo chipset sould be the problem that its was only a 266 FSB. You could replace the heat sink on the sis 735 with one with a fan and replace the tape used on the heatsink with silver epoxy. The sis735 starts to overheat over 266 FSB with the cheep heatsink and thermal tape used.

 

[The549]

Yeah I'll do that mod w/ the chipset, and my ram is indeed pc2100, which is why i figured that could be a problem. The last time i booted up at 150 fsb, it ran fine until it randomly blue screend for half a sec then rebooted.

 

[{Sniping}Waste]

For more info, go to www.amdmb.com fourms in the ECS thread.

 

[martrox]

Do yourself a favor.... ditch the ECS MB IF you want to o/c. With nForce 2 MBs availible for $60.00 or less, it's crazy to use anything else. Try the Shuttle AN35N-Ultra $66.00 at Newegg, does everything you could ask (have 4, running 2 with 1700+'s at 200X10.5 - 2100!), doesn't have the problem with corrupting the BIOS - an nForce 2 thing ! I just picked up a referb , came complete in the box, looked brand new! for $38.00 w/ shipping!

 

[{Sniping}Waste]

Martox, he has a Palomino core 1700+ so overclocking is not good to start with.
And by the way is 2.1gig all you can get out of that Nforce2 mobo?
My ECS L7S7A2 SIS 746 non FX is at 2.350 gig now stable in all test on air cooling at 1.65V. The CPU is a TbredB 1800+.