OVERCLOCKING!!!!

[Smokey J]

I pulled my XP 2400+ and installed the XP-M 2800+ after clearing the bios and it was recognized on the POST screen as "650Mhz Mobile Athlon Processor" which didn't bother me at the time cuz I figured I could change the multiplier and life would be good.

I puchased the chip from austexsales on ebay. He has over 2300 positive feedback rating so I think he is reputable

I tried the little trick of setting the multiplier then pulling the XP and installing the XP-M....no POST. AARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGG

The messed up thing is that my XP 2400+ has an adjustable multiplier up to 17x and right now I currently have it currently running at 2.3Ghz with the multiplier @ 15x and the FSB cranked up to 153Mhz.

I think I'm gonna buy a new (or new to me) MB. Any suggestions? I plan to keep the socket A platform, and yes I know its now outdated but I like it. My almost two year old HP laptop has a AMD Turion 64bit and my now six year old desktop runs circles around it at less then half the cost new! After looking at some rather outdated reviews I was thinking about either a Gigabyte or a Abit and switching to PC2700. Whataya think?

[Cobracon]

There are still brand new Socket A motherboards available. Find one that will support DDR 400 (PC 3200) or DDR 500 (PC 4000) RAM and quit screwing around with this slow-a**ed stuff (like PC 2700, etc.), IF you're really serious about overclocking.

Having said that, I'll say this. Even though you've acknowledged the antique nature of a Socket A form factor system, you are pi**ing up a rope by buying NEW old tech hardware. If you shop smart (which will require spending time, "..........going through pages and pages of useless crap..........."), nothing worthwhile is easy or will just fall into your lap. Prices have fallen so much in the last 6 months, you can buy a decent Socket 775 motherboard, DDR2 800 (PC 6400) RAM, and a Dual Core Intel CPU for the about the same price as you can buy a Fred Flintstone vintage Socket A computer. The speed difference is incredible, and with the right board, overclocking potential is phenominal.

BTW, IMO eBay is the LAST place to buy any computer parts unless they fall into the collector category or you live 1000's of miles from civilization.

[Wizzard1]

Ebay isnt that bad... When you arent bidding against anyone

[Cobracon]

Hey W1,

I'd have responded quicker, but I've been putting my computers back to gether. When I upgrade my #1, the parts go through a 'trickle down' effect and it takes a day or so to get them all buttoned up.

Yup, in all fairness you're kinda' sorta' right about eBay. I've bought several RF amplifiers (tube type), SWR/RF/Field Strength meters, power supplies, and microphones off eBay. I only got flat out RIPPED OFF twice, and it was by people with 95+ Seller Ratings. I had a BLOG at the time, and blasted their names, addresses, phone numbers, etc., all over the Internet since they refused to work out a solution.

[Cobracon]

Try this as a guideline for Overclocking, SJ. The same basics apply for single, dual, and quad core CPUs.

http://forums.vr-zone.com/showthread.php?t=159210

[Wizzard1]

I have only had 1 extremely poor Ebay experience, and 1 bad one turned OK.

I was purchasing a new HP Jornada 820, a PDA that looks like a laptop, and runs Windows CE (embedded). The customer had specified that the "HDD" had been removed. I verified with him, asking if the "Data ROM under the keyboard was present". A quick response was yes, and I made the purchase. On arrival, it was missing. I worked out a solution with him, he refunded 75% of the purchase price+shipping (I had considerably overpaid for shipment) and we were to both leave eachother neutrals. I left him a neutral, citing his misinformation but that we worked out an agreement. He then left me a NEG calling me a scammer!!!

The other one, I purchase a phone battery, in NEW UNUSED condition. Arrived used, clearly. Filed SNAD and Paypal claims, got my money back. Kept the battery, no contact from seller at all during entire process!

[Cobracon]

My bad experiences were over 2 years ago. Neither eBay or PayPal were any help AT ALL. In one case the best they could offer was for me to return a microphone (at MY cost) to a woman who had lied about the item's condition/functionality, used the picture of a different mic (in perfect condition) as a selling point, and then DENIED the scam.

The plan was, after I returned the microphone in PERFECT working order, my money would be refunded MINUS shipping both ways. Since the mic was not working when I received it, I couldn't very well return it to her in working order. On top of that, I had no reason to believe she would refund my money, and she would end up with a broken mic and I'd have nothing but an empty wallet and a funny look on my face. I boiled that thing for HOURS since I had to eat it!!

She left me all kind of negative feedback to boot. You may not have picked up on it by reading my posts, but according to her I'm a stalker, a father raper, and not a very nice person. Basically a real danger to small animals and children.

Hahahaha............... we even got into a pi**ing contest via email.

Anyway, so much for that *&^%$#@!. Lesson learned..............

[Smokey J]

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!!!

Thanks to this site http://fab51.com/cpu/barton/athlon-e23.html I was able to perform the necessary CPU "modifications" to unlock the 13x and higher multipliers all the way up to 24x!!!! At this point I am running my XP-M at 2455Mhz with a 17x multiplier and 144Mhz FSB.

From here on out I believe my ram is my bottle neck as I can't really break into the 2500+Mhz area without suffering severe instability issues. Oh, by the way, crash your puter about a dozen and a half times while trying to find out where the top of your processing speed is and you tend to corrupt windows slightly (was trying different multiplier and RAM specs!) I now have to re-register windows and who knows what else I erased (in a related note did you know if you bug microsoft enough to get a new registration code, say after the fifth time they unlock your copy of windows and you can register it on as many puters as you want!) Oh well, I think I'm gonna make a dedicated harddrive for running windows and prime 95 just so when I crash it I don’t have to worry about data wipe!

I actually started this post about 5 days ago so after I fragged my HD I went shopping then got side tracked. Anyways, I’m waiting on my new 250GB to get here so I can just reformat everything and recover my lost data off the old HD. I’m happier then a puppy with two peckers!!!

And yes, I too have had my problems with ebay but now I look for that PayPal buyer protection icon on the auction or I won’t bid! I got screwed out of $225 after I bought a lot of four cell phones off a guy and he never sent them. I filed a complaint with PayPal and they sent me what money they could get out of his account…$175 (out of $400 that I sent him) and its still an “open account issue.” That was almost three years ago. I know I’ll never see the money but I believe what comes around goes around. Hopefully by now he ended up stranded in the middle of nowhere and got gang raped by a bunch of…well I don’t think I need to say anymore about that.

[Cobracon]

Glad to hear you got your CPU O/C'd like you want. Like you said, get some faster RAM (you may have to underclock it a bit if you get really crazy with your speed) and you should be set.

For what it's worth, I've read many times that increasing your AMD's clock speed to the point that your "HT Link" speed is over 1000 is useless (unless your CPU was designed to run faster than that), and doesn't increase your processing speed. "They" say it's nothing more than a bragging point, but I DO NOT know if this is true.

Good Luck................

[Smokey J]

Ummm, what is "HT Link?" This is not something I have in my BIOS.

[Qwerty]

[Cobracon]

Well good, one less thing you have to consider, SJ.

I just assumed (obviously incorrectly) that since I had an old AMD Duron CPU/motherboard and still have an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Socket 754 CPU/motherboard that reported an 'HT Link' speed in CrystalCPUID's benchmarking utility, all AMD CPUs of the modern era used this type architecture. I stand corrected.

I feel pretty good though............. I made it through the 1st 5 1/2 months of the year without being wrong!! LOL

[Cobracon]

SJ, I received an email from AMD a little while ago. According to the manufacturer an Athlon XP-M 2800+ is made with 2 different sockets. So, your XP-M could either use FSB (like Intel) or HT. Here is a copy of the email with my email address obscured:

----- Original Message -----
From: tech.support@AMD.COM
To: xxxxxxx@BELLSOUTH.NET
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2008 9:39 PM
Subject: Re: "CPU-Support"


Dear Customer,

Thank you for contacting AMD Customer Care.

Generally, most of the Athlon XP-M processors uses FSB. As for Athlon XP-M 2800+, there is 2 different socket types. There is a socket 754 model which is using the 1600 (800MHz) hypertransport link. To determine which you have, you can use CPU-Z to find out or if you have the physical unit, the OPN starts with "AHN".

Regards,
AMD Customer Care

I feel better now. I wasn't all wrong, I was half RIGHT!!


Now Then..........................The KEEEEEEEED strikes AGAIN!!

[Smokey J]

Well thank you very much for the info direct from AMD. It is quite cool that you did some digging to come up with that little tidbit and I appreaciate your time in doing so also.

I do know that my processor is a socket A/462 and that the beginning prefix of my OPN is AXMJ so it would appear that my CPU uses FSB.

I did order (hold your frustration ) a BFN gig of crucial PC2700 that should arrive this week or next! It is the fastest ram my MB supports and from what I have read on here and elsewhere they have some of the best ram for overclocking. Once I recieve my new HD, along with the rest of the stuff I ordered, hopefully I will have a very stable platform to test the limits of my processor.

Once I grasp how to properly OC with the better equipment I will now have, maybe it will be time to step up to a new system and allow my current desktop to step into the #2 slot. We will see just how satisfied i will be.

For the sake of other newbee's I will keep tagging on this post as I upgrade and make progress in my OC journey. Thanks to all who have got me this far, you know who you are! Your input has been indispensable!

[Cobracon]

Good work............ If Crucial says '2700' is the fastest RAM your board will support, then so be it. I have used their RAM "configurator" many times, but always buy Corsair or OCZ RAM.

I was surprised at how quickly AMD replied to my question. Many manufacturers seem to think customers don't matter. I mean, once they have your money, to hell with you.

Good luck with your new parts and your foray into 'Free Speed'.