Mobile Atholon overclock issues

[JurasicJet]

Hello:

I decided to take the plunge and try my hand at overclocking.
Had a Athlon XP 1800+ originally with 512mb of ram soooo here's what I have now....

From Newegg...
Amd Athlon Mobile xp2600+
1gb (2x512) of Corsair VS DDR333
Thermaltake Silent boost copper fan.
Silver heatsink compound.

Existing sturff that stayed are..
SB Audigy and XFX 660GT video.
Mobo = Soyo KT400 Dragon Ultra.
300 watt ps.
I flashed the BIOS yesterday to the latest BIOS on Soyo's website. Drivers for video card are current.

Heres the issue, and trust me, I have taken very detailed notes along the way.

I cannot get the processor to go above 2125mhz at all. Settings are
CPU= 170 mhz (340fsb?)
ratio=12.5
Dram =166 (333)
Vcore=1.70

I hear about guys getting 2400mhz and even more out of this processor. At stock it should be running at 2000mhz.

Here's what troubles me..... i can not get the multiplyer above 12.5. It simply will not post. I have even dropped the fsb to 133 with a multi of 15 (that is the stock setting for this chip supposedly) and it still wouldnt post. I have tried increasing the vcore to max for my board (1.875) ..nothing.

Did I get a locked Barton core chip even though I ordered a Mobile or is my Mobo the limiting issue here.

[widget2003]

mobo looks like a good one and do you have sisoftsandra or something that should give you details about your CPU but it could very well be just the CPU that is the problem like faulty, unlikely but a possibility

[fishybawb]

Most people tend to go for higher FSB (with PC3200 or above RAM) and lower multiplier. I can't say I've tried above a multiplier of 12 on my Mobile 2500+ - at an FSB of 200MHz+ you don't need the higher ones.

[JurasicJet]

Fishybawb....
I have the fsb set at 170 (340(170x2)). The mobo is supposed to support a 400fsb but if i set the fsb to 400 (200x2) the dang thing wont even boot, although I have not tried it with a multi below 11. I guess I should give that a try. If it does boot at 200 and 11 then i'm about where I am at now. 170x12.5=2125 vs. 200x11=220mhz.

How many vcore volts are you running to get your settings. My board only goes to 1.875. I hate to run it that hard because then the temp starts to climb pretty high (i have 43c right now).

Grrr.

[fishybawb]

It probably won't boot because you're running the memory in sync with the FSB, and that PC2700 can't handle the higher speeds. I haven't got any experience overclocking KT400 based systems, so I can't comment on how good they are... Is there a PCI/AGP lock on there?

I've got my nForce2 based rig running a Barton 2500+ @ 12x200 - 1.8v. 43C is nothing, don't worry about temps like that

[JurasicJet]

I am running the DRAM at 166 (x2=333) which is the max for that ram. Not sure if upping the votage would help that issue. Currently running at 2.5 on the ram.

Not sure about the the pci/agp lock. Don't know what that is....

More research to do!

Ill check back a little later.

Thanks for your help

[JurasicJet]

Ok, one more question....

Is there a code or serial number on the chip itself to tell me that I for sure have an unlocked Mobile Athlon vs a regular Barton core desktop?

[BlackTruckRyder]

It could be your psu . 300w seems a little weak to me.

[The Lodge]

Originally posted by JurasicJet
Ok, one more question....

Is there a code or serial number on the chip itself to tell me that I for sure have an unlocked Mobile Athlon vs a regular Barton core desktop?

Yes. The numbers\letters on the little black stip on the cpu.

I had that same mobo. The KT400 chipset doesn’t have any pci\agp locks, just dividers. 184 is about the tops for the fsb. Anything over that and the pci\agp becomes to far out of whack. If you want to get the most out of your chip you need to get an nforce based motherboard and some pc3200 minimum.

[Someone Stupid]

Even if it is unlocked, your board doesn't support higher muiltiples without playing with the chip. Only certain nforce 2 boards can utilize an unlocked chip completely. Abit, Albatron, DFI, Soltek, and Shuttle.

A recent posting I was involved in about nforce2's and multipliers. They don't list the exact boards (well the Albatron and Shuttle can be found in the thread, just the rest will require you to ask a question or two. They are friendly there, so you should get a response. Just post it in the AMD section.

The thread itself: http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=366503

[JurasicJet]

Thanks very much guys. I really appreciate the info. I was wondering about that particular mobo.

Thanks Lodge and Someone Stupid. The links look very useful.

I have also contacted AMD tech support to see if my chip for sure is a mobile Athlon. I believe it is from the chip OPN (ordering part number).

Maybe a new mobo is in order. My wife just asked about that. "how much is that gonna cost!?)

It's just like my boat, just keeping pumping money into it.

[Someone Stupid]

Research the board though, as not all nforce 2 chipsets will unlock multipliers higher than 12.5 - most don't.