GA7N400PRO2 o/c

Hi

I am looking to overclock this board and perhaps the memory. Does
anyone here know if the possible increase is worthwhile and where I
can find a guide to help me as I have no idea what to do.

Many thanks
Steve

stevej wrote:
Hi

I am looking to overclock this board and perhaps the memory. Does
anyone here know if the possible increase is worthwhile and where I
can find a guide to help me as I have no idea what to do.

Many thanks
Steve

If you've started doing your research, you'll notice it depends
on the processor you've got, as to what you can do.

http://forums.techpowerup.com/archiv...hp/t-3962.html

These are a couple links to some interesting info, depending
on what you've got as a processor to work with.

http://fab51.com/cpu/barton/athlon-e23.html

http://www.ocinside.de/go_e.html?/ht...md_pinmod.html

I've got a XP-M (mobile) and I'm able to set the multiplier
on my board. At least up to 200x12.5. I was never really
impressed with the results, so normally run it at 200x11=2200,
which is the same clock speed as a 3200+.

There is a colorful chart here, with some of the processors
listed in it. If you take the ID info off the top of the
processor, you can probably look that up on the web, to
see what you've got.

http://web.archive.org/web/200412131...QDISocketA.htm

Paul

On Sep 8, 7:54*am, Paul wrote:
stevej wrote:
Hi

I am looking to overclock this board and perhaps the memory. Does
anyone here know if the possible increase is worthwhile and where I
can find a guide to help me as I have no idea what to do.

Many thanks
Steve

If you've started doing your research, you'll notice it depends
on the processor you've got, as to what you can do.

http://forums.techpowerup.com/archiv...hp/t-3962.html

These are a couple links to some interesting info, depending
on what you've got as a processor to work with.

http://fab51.com/cpu/barton/athlon-e23.html

http://www.ocinside.de/go_e.html?/ht...md_pinmod.html

I've got a XP-M (mobile) and I'm able to set the multiplier
on my board. At least up to 200x12.5. I was never really
impressed with the results, so normally run it at 200x11=2200,
which is the same clock speed as a 3200+.

There is a colorful chart here, with some of the processors
listed in it. If you take the ID info off the top of the
processor, you can probably look that up on the web, to
see what you've got.

http://web.archive.org/web/200412131...i.nl/support/C...

* * Paul

Hi Paul

Many thanks for your post links. The CPU is a AMD Athlon XP Barton
3200+, I have already been told that it won't o/c much. What I was
hoping to do was o/c the bus speed of the motherboard and perhaps the
RAM, is this possible to do ?


Regards
Steve

stevej wrote:
On Sep 8, 7:54 am, Paul wrote:
stevej wrote:
Hi
I am looking to overclock this board and perhaps the memory. Does
anyone here know if the possible increase is worthwhile and where I
can find a guide to help me as I have no idea what to do.
Many thanks
Steve
If you've started doing your research, you'll notice it depends
on the processor you've got, as to what you can do.

http://forums.techpowerup.com/archiv...hp/t-3962.html

These are a couple links to some interesting info, depending
on what you've got as a processor to work with.

http://fab51.com/cpu/barton/athlon-e23.html

http://www.ocinside.de/go_e.html?/ht...md_pinmod.html

I've got a XP-M (mobile) and I'm able to set the multiplier
on my board. At least up to 200x12.5. I was never really
impressed with the results, so normally run it at 200x11=2200,
which is the same clock speed as a 3200+.

There is a colorful chart here, with some of the processors
listed in it. If you take the ID info off the top of the
processor, you can probably look that up on the web, to
see what you've got.

http://web.archive.org/web/200412131...i.nl/support/C...

Paul

Hi Paul

Many thanks for your post links. The CPU is a AMD Athlon XP Barton
3200+, I have already been told that it won't o/c much. What I was
hoping to do was o/c the bus speed of the motherboard and perhaps the
RAM, is this possible to do ?


Regards
Steve

From a RAM perspective, there'd be a couple tricks -

1) Drop down to one stick. Less stress on the Northbridge,
might convince it to run at a higher speed. The Nvidia Northbridge
is really at the edge of stability at DDR400, and doesn't
have any "legs".

2) I have two hacked BIOS files for my board (A7N8X-E Deluxe).
One file is "Command Rate 1T" (and the stock Asus BIOS is
also like that), and the second file is "Command Rate 2T".
The 2T is more relaxed, and trades a bandwidth reduction
(caused by cutting the data rate across the address bus
in half), with the ability to clock higher. Such a hacked
BIOS may not be available for all boards. And in any case,
as far as I'm concerned, doesn't do anything for improving
performance. It is something you'd try, to get higher clock
numbers.

The best figure I recollect off hand, was about 230MHz. Instead
of the stock 200MHz. You might have a look in the forums here,
for more accounts of how far it'll go.

http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/nvid...rce2-vf27.html

I never tried any experiments with RAM on my system, because
I had so much trouble getting dual channel stable at DDR400.
Back in those days, my RAM was 2x512MB, and dropping down to
just one stick, wouldn't have been very practical. I couldn't
game very well with only 512MB.

I just turned up the multiplier on mine, replaced my RAM
with some better stuff (CAS2), and left it at that. If the
thing had more room for overclocking, maybe I would have been
more excited about it.

Paul

On Sep 8, 9:37*am, Paul wrote:
stevej wrote:
On Sep 8, 7:54 am, Paul wrote:
stevej wrote:
Hi
I am looking to overclock this board and perhaps the memory. Does
anyone here know if the possible increase is worthwhile and where I
can find a guide to help me as I have no idea what to do.
Many thanks
Steve
If you've started doing your research, you'll notice it depends
on the processor you've got, as to what you can do.

http://forums.techpowerup.com/archiv...hp/t-3962.html

These are a couple links to some interesting info, depending
on what you've got as a processor to work with.

http://fab51.com/cpu/barton/athlon-e23.html

http://www.ocinside.de/go_e.html?/ht...md_pinmod.html

I've got a XP-M (mobile) and I'm able to set the multiplier
on my board. At least up to 200x12.5. I was never really
impressed with the results, so normally run it at 200x11=2200,
which is the same clock speed as a 3200+.

There is a colorful chart here, with some of the processors
listed in it. If you take the ID info off the top of the
processor, you can probably look that up on the web, to
see what you've got.

http://web.archive.org/web/200412131...i.nl/support/C....

* * Paul

Hi Paul

Many thanks for your post links. The CPU is a AMD Athlon XP Barton
3200+, I have already been told that it won't o/c much. What I was
hoping to do was o/c the bus speed of the motherboard and perhaps the
RAM, is this possible to do ?

Regards
Steve

*From a RAM perspective, there'd be a couple tricks -

1) Drop down to one stick. Less stress on the Northbridge,
* * might convince it to run at a higher speed. The Nvidia Northbridge
* * is really at the edge of stability at DDR400, and doesn't
* * have any "legs".

2) I have two hacked BIOS files for my board (A7N8X-E Deluxe).
* * One file is "Command Rate 1T" (and the stock Asus BIOS is
* * also like that), and the second file is "Command Rate 2T".
* * The 2T is more relaxed, and trades a bandwidth reduction
* * (caused by cutting the data rate across the address bus
* * in half), with the ability to clock higher. Such a hacked
* * BIOS may not be available for all boards. And in any case,
* * as far as I'm concerned, doesn't do anything for improving
* * performance. It is something you'd try, to get higher clock
* * numbers.

The best figure I recollect off hand, was about 230MHz. Instead
of the stock 200MHz. You might have a look in the forums here,
for more accounts of how far it'll go.

http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/nvid...rce2-vf27.html

I never tried any experiments with RAM on my system, because
I had so much trouble getting dual channel stable at DDR400.
Back in those days, my RAM was 2x512MB, and dropping down to
just one stick, wouldn't have been very practical. I couldn't
game very well with only 512MB.

I just turned up the multiplier on mine, replaced my RAM
with some better stuff (CAS2), and left it at that. If the
thing had more room for overclocking, maybe I would have been
more excited about it.

* * Paul- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hi Paul

OK, thanks I found a good link on that site. Just a queston here, it
says ( and I have seen this a few times ) start by lowering the
multiplyer; why would I do this I am trying to get more speed not
less. Unless it's to get better control of the increases perhaps ?

Cheers
Steve

stevej wrote:
On Sep 8, 9:37 am, Paul wrote:
stevej wrote:
On Sep 8, 7:54 am, Paul wrote:
stevej wrote:
Hi
I am looking to overclock this board and perhaps the memory. Does
anyone here know if the possible increase is worthwhile and where I
can find a guide to help me as I have no idea what to do.
Many thanks
Steve
If you've started doing your research, you'll notice it depends
on the processor you've got, as to what you can do.
http://forums.techpowerup.com/archiv...hp/t-3962.html
These are a couple links to some interesting info, depending
on what you've got as a processor to work with.
http://fab51.com/cpu/barton/athlon-e23.html
http://www.ocinside.de/go_e.html?/ht...md_pinmod.html
I've got a XP-M (mobile) and I'm able to set the multiplier
on my board. At least up to 200x12.5. I was never really
impressed with the results, so normally run it at 200x11=2200,
which is the same clock speed as a 3200+.
There is a colorful chart here, with some of the processors
listed in it. If you take the ID info off the top of the
processor, you can probably look that up on the web, to
see what you've got.
http://web.archive.org/web/200412131...i.nl/support/C...
Paul
Hi Paul
Many thanks for your post links. The CPU is a AMD Athlon XP Barton
3200+, I have already been told that it won't o/c much. What I was
hoping to do was o/c the bus speed of the motherboard and perhaps the
RAM, is this possible to do ?
Regards
Steve
From a RAM perspective, there'd be a couple tricks -

1) Drop down to one stick. Less stress on the Northbridge,
might convince it to run at a higher speed. The Nvidia Northbridge
is really at the edge of stability at DDR400, and doesn't
have any "legs".

2) I have two hacked BIOS files for my board (A7N8X-E Deluxe).
One file is "Command Rate 1T" (and the stock Asus BIOS is
also like that), and the second file is "Command Rate 2T".
The 2T is more relaxed, and trades a bandwidth reduction
(caused by cutting the data rate across the address bus
in half), with the ability to clock higher. Such a hacked
BIOS may not be available for all boards. And in any case,
as far as I'm concerned, doesn't do anything for improving
performance. It is something you'd try, to get higher clock
numbers.

The best figure I recollect off hand, was about 230MHz. Instead
of the stock 200MHz. You might have a look in the forums here,
for more accounts of how far it'll go.

http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/nvid...rce2-vf27.html

I never tried any experiments with RAM on my system, because
I had so much trouble getting dual channel stable at DDR400.
Back in those days, my RAM was 2x512MB, and dropping down to
just one stick, wouldn't have been very practical. I couldn't
game very well with only 512MB.

I just turned up the multiplier on mine, replaced my RAM
with some better stuff (CAS2), and left it at that. If the
thing had more room for overclocking, maybe I would have been
more excited about it.

Paul- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hi Paul

OK, thanks I found a good link on that site. Just a queston here, it
says ( and I have seen this a few times ) start by lowering the
multiplyer; why would I do this I am trying to get more speed not
less. Unless it's to get better control of the increases perhaps ?

Cheers
Steve

Generally, people start by optimizing subsystems separately, to see
what their limits are. That might be a reason for reducing the multiplier
for the first tests. To get a feeling for how high the memory will
go. If the processor was at 230x6 and you weren't passing Prime95,
you'd conclude that the processor was not at fault, because it is
well below the stock 2200 MHz figure. So then the 230MHz would be
a RAM limitation, and DDR460 is your peak on RAM.

The Nforce2 supports a decoupled memory clock. For example, my manual
shows : By SPD, 50%, 60%, 66%, 75%, 80%, 83%, Sync, 120%, 125%, 133%, 150%,
166%, 200% . If you had a 200MHz input clock, multiplier fixed at 11,
and wanted to play with RAM, you could select 120%, which would take
the RAM from DDR400 to DDR480. You could also include changing the
CPU input clock, as part of the experiment (like if you wanted less
than a 20% increase in RAM clock). So if the CPU input clock was
set to 180MHz, and the RAM to 120%, you'd get 216MHz for memory
and DDR432 speed.

The only thing to watch with that particular setting, is the extremes.
There is a problem with one of 50% or 200%. I seem to remember
someone ruined a board that way, but I don't recollect the
details of what happened. Whether something was pushed so hard it
overheated or what, I don't know. But even if you avoid the 50%
and 200% settings, there is still plenty of room to play.

Paul