Speed / Voltage

[spdsk8r]

I have a C466 running at 525Mhz / 1.75V (stable) - Will I notice a speed increase at higher voltages? or doesn't it matter?

[Virus]

High voltages does not increase speed. It will increase stability though. With a higher stability you can increase speed. So I would try 2.3v@583 then lower your voltage until you find the median.

[spdsk8r]

I can't figure it out... I can run it at 525 / 1.75V, but I can't get 583 stable at any voltage!

I can run it for days at 583 / 1.9V with just the d.net client running, so if I'm going to be gone for a few days I'll set it at that, but as soon as I start using apps like netscape or winamp... it freezes!?!?

Maybe I just need better cooling - I'm using the standard heatsink and fan that came with it (retail) so I'll try adding a peltier and see if it helps. The fan that came with it doesn't move to much air so I'll see how some better cooling helps.

[Virus]

Ahh. I got that same problem with 2.2v@550. But the cause of my problem is the ram.

The d.net client uses the cpu and very little ram. Just enough not to bring it to it's knees. When you run a large app. It will access the ram a lot. Then you get the freeze.

So if d.net isn't crashing it, then the cpu isn't the problem.

I'm getting myself some PC133+ stuff soon.

[spdsk8r]

Actually it was... I just added two fans instead of the cheap low output fan that came with it and it works perfect now at 2.1V

That's weird though, because d.net uses 100% of the CPU's power, why would netscape or winamp make it freeze? I don't have that problem anymore with any programs since I added the fans.

[Virus]

Winamp uses a lot of cpu too. But Netscape isn't that bad unless there is java on the default page.

Well temp isn't my problem. With that 5" 116CFM fan 2" from my cpu.

[This message has been edited by Virus (edited 06-22-99).]

[Joel Kleppinger]

I think it may have something to do with the fact that rc5 is set to the lowest priority. I've had CPUs run for years (well, not quite ) overclocked at a specific voltage while running rc5. Within minutes of starting winamp, it crashes.

I believe this is because Windows now has to do more overhead to give a high-priority app (Winamp) all the CPU cycles it needs while figuring out what CPU cycles the lesser priority app (rc5) can have. It may also do to the fact that disk/sound card activity trips an interrupt, and the combination of everything uses more CPU time.

For instance, did you know one of the best ways to heat up a CPU is to go to Start->Shutdown and leave it there? From what I gather, an interrupt is tripped every 1/2 sec or so with normal activity attempted to continue while the dialog box is up. I don't totally like that theory, but it's pretty close I think.

When overclocking, my stability test is rc5 and an hour of winamp. If a system is stable through that, then any crashes aren't overclocking related. Still, if there's a flaky overclock, the system usually crashes within 15 min of both programs being started.

Some things to consider.....

Joel

[Virus]

Cool. I'm going to try that. Shutdown menu here I come!