Hi all,

I posted sometime ago that I was having problems getting my XP2500+ to overclock to XP3200+. I thought I had a solution (raising VCORE), but that didn't work.

I have a locked XP2500+, so I overclock by raising the FSB. At 190 MHz, the system is very stable.Prime95 runs for hours without errors. At any higher frequency, Prime95 gives errors, sometimes after hours, sometimes after minutes. When I get errors, I adjust the VCORE. However, no adjustment seem to make the system stable.

Another curious observation is that on boot up Windows (ME) behave differently for a stable vs a potentially unstable system. At 166 MHz and at 190 MHz, when Windows is booting, the splashscreen is up for a minute or so until the booting is complete, but at higer frequencies, the splashscreen flashes for a couple of seconds and for the remainder of the boot time the screen is blank.

I have run memtest86 (at 200 MHz FSB) for over 8 hours without any errors. The maximum temperature I have observed was about 63C under Prime95 at 200MHz FSB.

System:
XP2500+
512 MB PC3200 RAM
Shuttle AN35N mainboard
GeForce4 MX440 8x AGP

Thanks for all suggestions and help.

You've reached your CPU's limit by the sounds of it.
You must off got a dud XP 2500+. It's the luck of the draw these days.
Is it a XP 2500+ barton you've got.

Athlon XP 2000+ 1674mhz
DDRSDRAM: 256mb 133mhz, 512mb 200mhz
Shuttle:MK32n junk mobo
160GB WD
40GB seagate
LG DVD-RW
RICOH CD-RW 32x10x40
blue led case fan
blue led bullets

Yes, it is a Barton.

I was hoping 190 MHz FSB was not my limit.

how is it a dud just because it wont work faster than the manufacturer says it will?

Yea, it's definitely not a dud & who's to say it's not a glitch in the board that's preventing him from pushing the FSB higher? Maybe the RAM? Possibly the PSU?

userpub,

How high did you go with the vcore? What's the wattage of your PSU & how many amps are on the +12v rail?

400W Allied, 2 fans, 18A on +12V rail.

I increased VCORE to 1.85V and stopped because temp was getting higher than 65C.

If the RAM tested over 8 hours at 200 MHz FSB without error with Memtest86, should it still be suspect.

PSU seems adequate...you may wanna have a look at this though:

http://www.firingsquad.com/guides/power_supply/default.asp

I wouldn't go higher than 1.85v on the vcore either. I was just throwing the RAM in there as another possiblity. Have you tried increasing the RAM voltage? It's probably not necessary, but it's worth a shot...try 2.6 or 2.7v, if you haven't already done so.

changing RAM voltage to 2.7V or changing RAM timings did not make any difference.

I bought CPU, memory and mainboard at the same time (a couple of weeks ago); all are new. Maybe not all XP2500+ can be stably overclocked to XP3200+. 190 MHz FSB is good and very stable, but since so many people have posted here and in other forums that they have achieved 200 MHz FSB without any real effort, I thought I could get there too.

Thanks, all.

Yeah, all over the net its documented that although like 95% of 2500's will o/c to a 3200, there is still that 5% that wont. I think you have just been unfortunate, you could always RMA is and say one of the pins was bent when you recieved it and hope they send you a better one back *Evil Laugh* Mwa ha ha ha!

AMD Athlon 2500 @ 3200+
Abit NF7-S v2.0
512MB (2x256) matched pair Corsair XMS PC3200 DDR400 in dual channel
Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800 pro 128MB
Maxtor Diamondmax 80Gig HD ATA133

It could be the board or the RAM, but eitherway it ran stable @ 2500+ clock speed so technically AMD has fulfilled their side of the bargain.

What brand are those chips?

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