Tweaking system

K!LL!@N

Ok, i just finished building my new rig a few weeks back, worked first time and everything!

System spec:

XP2500+ ( barton )
Asus A7N8X deluxe
1Gb PC3200 RAM
Radeon 9800PRO
2 x WD 80Gb special editions
XP PRO
Antec Sonata case ( only one case fan at present )

System is currently running as follows:

CPU: 166fsb x 11
RAM: 166Mhz to sync with the cpu.
idle cpu temp: normally 29/30C
load cpu temp: highest i've seen would be about 35C.

I'm using a coolermaster heatsink/fan rated to 3200+, nothing too flash i'm afraid.
There was a mix up with komplett, which we won't go into.

My main query at the moment is this, if i run the system with 200fsb x 9, with ram at 200Mhz. Will that run faster than the current setup even though they'd both be running at 1.8Ghz?

Also open to suggestions for overclocking.
Nothing too drastic at first.

Cheers,

Killian

Col_Loki

To take advantage of the fact that you have Pc3200 Ram and that your motherboard supports 400mhz FSB that would be a place to start.

Depending on the chip you should be able to get around Xp3200+ (200x11) at a tollerable voltage and with ok temps. Most newer 2500's will clock to 2.2ghz although voltage required (Vcore) varies from 1.6v - 1.95v and depends on cooling.

I would say 200x10 should be pretty stable on stock, try a few different settings different speeds and voltages (Keep Vcore under 1.8v generally unless you have good cooling). Generally all you have to do if theres a problem is pull out the power cord for a min or 2 and reboot (or use the CMOS jumper) ..... and she's back to normal. Personally thats what i did before i had any clue what the overclocking guides were on about.

Keep an eye on temps, keep em under 50 and you should be fine.....

PS ALWAYS run prime95 for a few hours to make sure your system is stable ....... otherwise you can get random reboots etc. Prime95 will stress your system and you will find out if the overclock needs more Vcore or looser timings....

K!LL!@N

Well i went ahead and overclocked.
Upped the FSB to 200 tried the multiplier at 9.5, and set the ram to 200Mhz.
That was perfectly stable.
So i upped it some more to FSB 200 x 10.
I then proceeded to play Max Payne 2 for a few hours and monitored the temps.
Didn't go above 33c and it only went to 33c for a couple minutes average was 32c during game play.

Even if the temps are out by 10c as some people say they can be, it's still pretty decent.

I might try and push it a bit more in a week or two, i'll let it settle in at the new settings.

I can also throw in an extra fan on the front of the case.

Killian

OfflerCrocGod

Those temps are very low......what are you using to measure the temp?. It may be that what is being returned is not the actual CPU Diode temp but the CPU temp which can be as much as 10C lower, also your MB may be returning false figures.....certain MB have been know to be off from real temps by as much as 10C. You may want to get the latest BIOS (if you haven't already) and get more temp monitor programs, see what they say.

K!LL!@N

Temp reported from BIOS seem to be about the same as those coming from Asus Probe, which is what i've been measuring the temps with.
What else would you recommend i measure the temps with?
One thing to bear in mind as well, where the computer is it's quite cold so ambient temp is quite low.
Even if temps are out by 10c it's still well below 50c.
Also a friend of mine with a fairly similar setup has similar temps.

With regard to BIOS, i don't really want to mess about with it.
The system is running perfectly, i don't really think there's any need to upgrade the bios.

Killian

OfflerCrocGod

Originally posted by K!LL!@N
Temp reported from BIOS seem to be about the same as those coming from Asus Probe, which is what i've been measuring the temps with.

No surprise the s/w talks to the BIOS so the results should be the same for both.

What else would you recommend i measure the temps with?
One thing to bear in mind as well, where the computer is it's quite cold so ambient temp is quite low.

Well that could explain it I could easily lose 5C by opening the window in my room on a stuffy, hot day:D. Get Motherboard Monitor from here.

With regard to BIOS, i don't really want to mess about with it.
The system is running perfectly, i don't really think there's any need to upgrade the bios.

Killian

Upgrading the BIOS is a very easy thing to do with the newest ASUS MB, you can do it from windows, you may be pleasantly surprised if you upgrade your BIOS, extra features and all.....

K!LL!@N

Yeah i've got that utility for upgrading the bios from windows.
I'll check out what version i have when i get home.
Then i'll see what the latest version is.
Might try and upgrade then.

Cheers,

Killian

OfflerCrocGod

Dont immediately upgrade to the latest you may afto upgrade to an intermidiate higher BIOS before you upgrade to the highest. Just read the docu first it should mention which one to go for.

MoSeS_.

I have a 2400+ XP with a watercooling system and it idles at about 38 degrees, although having said that I am going for quiet with the system so I use low RPM fans.

At the moment I have it running at 185 X 12.5 or approx 2.3GHz
Never goes over 45 degrees and with the Radeon 9800 Pro it kicks ass in games.
Roll on HL2 and Doom III

Ryaner

BIG BIG warning for you. I had one of those Mobo and was getting really low temps. I contacted the tech support was told there is a prob with some of the earlier bios giving a much lower temp than actually there. Do update the bios before doing anymore oc. The board is very good at keeping the temp low. I now have a gigabit and my temps were 15C higher than the one in the Asus (after the bios fix) but I'm begining to think my asus board is having some problems because it idles at near 60C but max at 64C with a spike to 70C for first few seconds (QFan stuff I'm told causes that)
In regards oc, you seem to be able change the multiper so I'd suggest 166*13 to start with. My barton is running with that and the temp only went u 2C at the start but has now returned to normal. Soon as I get a new heatsink (currently zalmon flower cooler) I'll be pushing it further tho.

OfflerCrocGod

Originally posted by Ryaner
(QFan stuff I'm told causes that)

Go into BIOS and turn that rubbish OFF it just pushes temps up and achives nothing!!!!.

Originally posted by Ryaner
In regards oc, you seem to be able change the multiper so I'd suggest 166*13 to start with.

No it's better to push the FSB as high as it can go then just pushing the multiplier up( 200*11 is better ).

Ryaner

Originally posted by OfflerCrocGod
No it's better to push the FSB as high as it can go then just pushing the multiplier up( 200*11 is better ).

If you can get the fsb up yes it does give better performance one ram goes with but the multiper will give lower temps and thus lower sound from the fans which is why I've left QFan on.

Col_Loki

Since he has PC3200 Ram , a motherboard that will do 200mhz FSB (400mhz) then there is absolutly no point in having the FSB any lower unless it causes instability.

I have the A7N8X on my second pc and there is about 10degrees in the readings between the Abit NF7-S & it. The A7N8X being the lower reader. Ive had very low temps from a barton Xp2500+ @ 1.875v @ 2250mhz (old hot type core Aquca) with only a Volcano 7 as cooling. Temps were around 45-50 under load. (volcano was a screamer all the same).


Id be trying for 11x200mhz (xp3200+) mabye with a slight voltage increase if needed...... always use Prime95 to see if your stable or not........you might think you are until your comp suddenly reboots in the middle of a dvd ripping session or something!!

Ryaner

Originally posted by COL_LOKI
barton Xp2500+ @ 1.875v @ 2250mhz

Is that not pushing the voltage a bit much? Mine is current running at 1.75v

OfflerCrocGod

Seriously QFan is NO good at keeping down the volume you would get better results by getting a nice Rheobus and attaching all your fans onto it and taking care of them yourself.

Ryaner

QFan did do the job for me before I started with OCin the system. The cpu fan is the loudest and it has a zalman speed control on the line with it so that kept that under control but QFan did keep it lower witout load.
I've just looked thru my bios neway and realise my voltages are all auto controlled atm. I'm thinkin once I get my new cpu cooler I gotta raise them all. I've just notice my cpu is only at 1.710v which is low I've just been told too

MoSeS_.

Yes the bios reading is fecked up, I'm using Motherboard Monitor and it reports about 10 degrees hotter than the bios.
I've maximised the memory speed to improve overall system performance.
2.3 is about as far as I've gotten it to go stable in any configuration so by doing so with higher memory speeds means better performance.

The system is running pretty close to silent at the moment so I'm happy with it, I don't feel compelled to do any more tinkering with it, I can sleep with it on in the room.

(The shock absorbers for the pump made a big difference)

I tried upping the voltage but found it didn't really make much difference so it's back down to 1.675 again.

Ryaner

Originally posted by MoSeS_.
(The shock absorbers for the pump made a big difference)

Em what???

K!LL!@N

Thought this thread had died.
Anyway, thanks for the replies.

In the end I upped the fsb to 200 and the multiplier is at 10.
I have the ram running at 200 so it's in sync with the cpu.

Can anyone give me a link to a better cpu/motherboard temp. reader?

Killian

MoSeS_.

They prevent the vibrations from the pump making noise in your case.

Vibration Absorbers

Ryaner

Thanks for that link, I never even knew silent water cooling existed. All the ones I've seen were loud. Very loud. Which kit do you use btw? And do you use only cpu cooling or is it on on everything?

MoSeS_.

It's an expensive business, silencing your PC, so I did it over time.

Step 1 was a couple of years ago I got an innovatek watercooling kit from some crowd in Germany equivelant to this , only it cost me a lot more .
The pump connects to the mains though so I have to remember to unplug it when I switch it off. I've wired it to the same plug as the CPU powersupply though so I cannot forget to plug it in when I turn on the PC, which would be terminal.
The PC is now on 24/7 so it's not much of an issue.
I changed the wiring on the fans on the radiator so they were running of 7V instead of 12V to slow them down and thus quieten them down.

I had a Seagate Barracuda
I then bought a I Western Digital which, relative to the barracuda, had an irritating whine, I had to get rid of it. I then bought another barracuda and I'll be sticking with them. As near silent in idle as you'll find.

When I upgraded my system about 6 months ago the watercooling kit migrated without a hitch. The motherboard I got had Q fan, so I hooked the fans on the radiator to that instead.

I had also gotten a 9800 PRO and the fan on it was starting to get on my tits so I had a look for a graphics card waterblock so while I was at it I got two and stuck one on the North-Bridge aswell.

I had the radiator and the pump kind of hanging off the back of the case, but it's a big case so I figured I could re-arrange things and get them inside it.
Which is when the vibrating pump issue started.
I also got a couple of papst fans to replace the ones on the radiator, which were getting noisey.

Finally, I was reviewing the power requirements of my PC and I had a look at the PSU, it was only 300W! It had been pretty quiet but now was the loudest component in the system. So I needed more juice, quietly, which is when I saw this boy. That's pretty much where I am today.
The case, watercooling equipment and power supply should do me for a few generations so I look at it as a long-term investment.

Ryaner

Thanks for the info. Those fans run at 12Db which is amazin. The sharkon ones I've got ar at 18-20 out of the cases and are silent except for one which seems to cause wind currents or something with the grill. Everything else has been zalmon passive cooling but it doesnt keep the temps down enough espec on the 9800 pro. It kicks out on full res in Call of duty. I'd OC'd the card a bit before I got the zalmon cooling for it.
What case to you actually have? I've a fairly big window on the side of mine so I'm thinking it's prob gonna cause problems with the installing?

BadCharlie

Nice Post MoSeS

OfflerCrocGod

MoSeS I have one of those papst fans and I dont think that they are very quiet, they are quiet, but not 12Db quiet. At that rating you should not be able to hear them yet I can hear mine, it's nearly as noisy as my 20Db 92mm CPU fan:dunno:; maybe I was expecting to much?.

Col_Loki

Nice post there MoSeS , seem to be going down the same road myself..... Have the innovatek water cooling (love it) , only one 120mm sonata fan running @ 5-6v (on rad with other one switched off) , Have a Zalman Passive heatsink for GFX card (which im upgrading now), 380w Single fan antec TP PSU (very quiet), and a really really annoying WD 120gb Hard Disk........its just gotta go

Im thinkin about the Samsung SpinPoint, or Seagate ....... every one seems to love the Samsung and i think ill prob give it a go too.

How do you find the Be-Quiet PSU's?? Great reviews from what ive read....... would love to know how close to silent they are and what speed the Fans run at mabye (think i read 1200rpm - toms hardware) ......

If you want a silent system you really should start from the time of building other wise you will waste alot of money, once you silence one thing, other things get to you and your tollerance levels drop a big ammount!!

Ryaner

I started from the start to silence my machine. I got it very quiet but over time it has appeared to get louded. Guessing my ears have just gotten better after the 550watt psu I had at one point. The thing could be heard outside it was the bad.
Maxtor hd's are nearly as silent as the seagate one but out perform them by miles. Well the Sata ones anyway.
Has anyone tried the sound padding that Hitide have?

MoSeS_.

Ryaner, a link for the case is included in the post, as it is for every item discussed.

Ryaner

Yeah just noticed the links now on all the different parts. My bad

Forme

Any body can give me links on software i can download to try and tweek my PC i got a Gygabite Mobo not to new the bios dont recognize that my CPU is a 2 GHZ and it just showes as 1.540 GHZ and the mobo website is no use... but when i run Belarc it showes thats a 2 GHZ. and what software should i use to tweek the CPU and GF card?

Thanks

OfflerCrocGod

You would need to go into the BIOS and tweak the CPU in there - start off with increasing the FSB speed. Your Gfx card needs specific hacks/drivers for it to OC so you need to tell us whether its an ATI or Nvidia.