MSI NF2-More Overclock?

[apad]

I've had my FSB up at about 220mhz or a while and decided I would try for a bit more. I don't have real high end ram and this whole system was bought for sub $600.This is kind of my interim computer until the issues with the new dual core chipsets are pretty well ironed out.

 

After trial and error, here is what i end up with(my first time overclocking so bear with me):

 

232mhz fsb:

 

cpu(9x) 2.09ghz (1.47-1.49v depends on which sensor is reading it)

 

RAM(Ht 4x) 928mhz? (2.75v)

 

Temps:

 

cpu - idle:33c, load:50c

 

core - idle:36c, load:58c

 

At these settings i can run prime95 torture test for 1hr 20m. I can boot up in windows fine at 235 mhz but prime95 gives an error almost immediately. The one time i tested this though, I put the nforce volatge at 1.55v. I never got a stable prime95 at that voltage but i only tested it for 234 and 235mhz. For the 232mhz, I dropped it back down to 1.5v(stock).

 

Is over an hour on prime95 acceptable for daily use? I dont' do any encoding and dont play demanding games on this computer.

Can i expect to get any more out of this system? All the cooling is stock except for the cpu heatsink. The core temps are definitely getting up there. The good news though is that I only need this system to last me until the summer. By that time I hope all of the 2 core issues have been worked out(and hopefully prices drop because of quad cores).

 

Apad

[EllisD]

Well, i have had prime fail at 10+ hrs so i would say that typically, 1+ hr isnt enough to test full stability. I would shoot for over 8 hours on an overclocked rig, and over 24 hrs for a stock rig to deem it stable.

[apad]

well it fails after 1hr 2m is what i should have said. I get this message:

"FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.5, expected less than 0.4

Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file."

All my apps run fine at this setting though. How important is it to be able to deem a system completely stable given how im using it? Would increasing the cpu voltage help or decrease the stability?

[kitfit1]

well it fails after 1hr 2m is what i should have said. I get this message:

"FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.5, expected less than 0.4

Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file."

All my apps run fine at this setting though. How important is it to be able to deem a system completely stable given how im using it? Would increasing the cpu voltage help or decrease the stability?

 

 

Failing that early in a Prime run, you can pretty much say the likely culprit is ram timings. Uping vcore will not help and in fact could make matters worse. Post up a copy of the OCDB template for NF2's with all the sections filled in. I notice that you are running PC3200 ram at 232fsb. With known good clocking ram 232fsb might be possible, but value ram is unlikely to run that high hence your problems.

[apad]

ok i attached two of the cpu-z shots, hope that they show up. just in case though here are the images:

 

 

 

I also figured out that my board is nforce4 not nforce2.

 

Im not sure how to get a screen shot of my bios. I read the rules on OCDB but didn't get how to do that. Also didn't run sp2004 cause i couldn't get winrar to unzip the file. I looked at all the OCDB templates but there wasn't one for my board(do I make one then?). So im stuck as to how to show my bios settings without just typing them here. Sorry just not quite sure what to do.

 

thanks, apad

[kitfit1]

Your Cpuz shots don't show up in Firefox and IE7 just shows 2 red X's. Going by your last post it seems to me like the best thing you should do is look here and have a good thorough read. Once you have a better understanding of what does what and why, you may find the answer a lot faster.

[apad]

ok i attached the two files again sorry about that. ok and i read over that guide. Really the best one I've read so far. I just skimmed through the other sections but the RAM section is very very helpful.

 

So i saw the setting for ram frequency in the bios and tried lowering(didn't know it was the divider setting but though it would affect the frequency of the ram). I couldn't get the system to post when i changed the divider to 166mhz. It also looks like i should play around with the timings to see if i can get a better overlclock that way.

[kitfit1]

Really the best one I've read so far. I just skimmed through the other sections but the RAM section is very very helpful.

 

That's why i said "a thorough read", skimming through it will not get you to where you want to be. Have you run the rig at stock setings stable with 8hrs of Prime "Blend" test yet?

[apad]

ok so im working on finding the max FSB values for my cpu and ram now. I can tell already that my cpu will be able to run at an fsb far greater than my ram, so I think i'll probably end up doing a divider. Well overclocking has turned out to be more of a process and less of an art than I originally thought. i guess ill keep you posted on how things turn out. thanks for your help kitfit1 and ellisd.

[apad]

alright well im in the overclocking stage currently at 270mhz fsb. I have the RAM running at 225mhz with the divider and set to loose timings. Just finished prime95 8 hour test on these settings: 0 errors 0 warnings. Max cpu temp was 50c and max core was 58c. Sounds pretty good.

 

maybe tonight ill try for 290mhz. I guess if i have any problems I'll post it.

[apad]

alright well i got as close to my ram's max as possible using a divider. 290mhz didn't work with my current divider. So my fsb is at 273 now at its passed two 8hr prime95 tests. So that's 2.46ghz for the cpu and the ram is running at about 223.4mhz according to cpu-z but should be running at around 227mhz(w/ 5/6 divider at 273mhz FSB). 227mhz was the max stable frequency for my ram so I was hoping it would get up there but i guess its not that big a difference. Im pretty happy with these settings so I'll be content until i get my socket LGA775 or AM2 processor(or maybe even wait for the 45nm chips to come out).

So having found a stable(i hope) setting is it a good idea to do the extra tests to make an entry in the OCDB. Or is the OCDB only for more spectacular overclocks?

So anyway thanks for the help.