I think i found the top..

[WesM63]

I'am always up for an adventure. For some reason my comp don't like high FSB. Changed multiplier to 10x and FSB to 110. I enconterd some instalbily evey time, finally i reached 1.85V the max of my mobo, loaded into windows and bam blue screen of death. So i dropped it down to 109FSB and tryed the V process again. Finaly getting it stable at 1.85V. :D Yes! Temps are lil high 40C idle and 44C Load, but then again it was prob 70F in my room!

[dicki]

ahh i see you've made it over the gig with that duron :) excellent! temps look good to me too

[mdzcpa]

That's not a bad overclock there at all WesM63:) And, like dicki said, nice to that that Duron over a gig.

It is possible that it's just your memory does not like the higher FSB speeds. I assume you are running the memory asynchronously at 133mhz? If so at 110mhz FSB the memory bus is at 146mhz (FSB + PCI = 110 + 110/3 = 110 + 36).

[WesM63]

mdzcpa,
Not at home right now so can't tell yah what memory speed is at. If i'am thinkin right its only at 118. I know i have the pci clock at pci x3. And memory latency time at 3-2-2. Any help would be gratfully apreciated!

[mdzcpa]

Check what speed the memory speed is running with (use Sandra), and report back. We'll take it from there:)

[WesM63]

Well i was wrong it's at 109hmm, cas 2-2-2 pci x3?
Heres a screen shot.

[mdzcpa]

Hmmm. Either Sandra is wrong, or it looks like your only running your memory synchronously with the FSB (which runs stock at 100mhz for the Duron). If you have PC 133 memory, you should be running your memory at 133mhz on that mobo. I thought the ak73 1394 Pro A has a KT133A chipset which would allow for that.

I would lower your FSB to 100mhz and look in the BIOS to enable the asynchronous memory option to run at FSB +PCI (or 133mhz). Test it that way first. This would give you a huge boost in perofrmance. Then start moving up your overclock slowly.

[WesM63]

Well i did some experiments. It seems it runs synchronously with the FSB only when i have memory settings at 2-2-2 pci x3, it won't boot at 2-2-2 pci x4. So i changed it back to 3-3-3 pci x4. Now the ram is running at 145Mhz with 1.33multiplier. If i changed it to 2-3-3 or 3-2-2 do u think that it will make much of a diffrence? Heres a new screen shot.

[mdzcpa]

WesM63,

Well, it appears that your memory is of two different brands, and probably isn't on the high side of the quality scale. This is where your trouble is. It is not uncommon that mixing brands, and lower quality one at that, can hinder stability and overclocking.

I would not suggest, however, that you spend any more $$ on new/better PC133 memory. The technology is too old now. Instead, knowing the limitations, let's work worth what you have.

The only way to tell what settings are best is to just try them. Use the Sandra memory bench to first determine if running the memory at 2-2-2 100mhz is provides more or less bandwidth than running 3-3-3 at 133mhz. I would beleive that running 3-3-3 at 133mhz would give you best performance...but we need to be sure.

Once that is determined, you can try changing the settings one at a time. The most important setting is the CAS setting. Going from 3 to 2 really picks up performance. But I also wouldn't be surprised to find that it is the setting that pushes you to instability with that memory you are using.

Optimally, the best setting is to able to run at 2-2-2 at 133mhz or higher. So if you can find some higher quality matching memory modules for cheap, that would be best (ignoring the point about sinking any more moeny into PC133 technology).

[WesM63]

I kinda figured that mixing them was a problem but oh well...once again this is where the little devil on my shoulder is like buy that ddr board hehe. Well i'll run the benches later tonight and see what i come up with...as for right now i have to get to work..

[WesM63]

Well it turns out that 2-3-3 pci x4 has the most bandwith and is still at 145Mhz. So thats where it's staying. I'am thinking about picking up another stick( the same as one of the ones i have). But that damn devil is telling me to get this nice GA-7DX board on ebay. Well have to wait and see.

Thanks for the help mdzcpa!

[mdzcpa]

Any time my friend:)

And btw, that GA-7DX is truly a nice, stable, inexpensive DDR mobo. It is a little short on the overclocking features, but it runs like a champ for me. I have never, ever, not once, had a BSOD or freeze on that machine. Simply rock solid.

[WesM63]

Yah i don't want to spend to much on that board when i can spend the extra and get a kt333 board. I'am tryin to sell a Scsi hard drive i've had laying around. If i can get that sold a new board and memory will be on it's way:D