System Freezing occasionally after overclock

Egan

Egan

Egan

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Joined
11 Aug 2007
Posts
16
Lets start with the specs:
Gigabyte GA-K8NSC-939 MOBO
Athlon 3700+ 64bit Single Core
BFG NVidea Geforce 5500 FX
1GB RAM single channel (Really cheap and nasty stuff but can't afford much more)
Zalman super flower heat sink , was great until the latest overclock and now it's useless (idle:45, load...as high as 60!)

basically...I've had my system overclocked a while now...been running at 2.7GHz quite smoothly for about a year...but I saw that the current CPU-Z record for the San Diego core 3700+ was over 3.7GHz...so naturally I wanted more out of my system...

I'm currently running at 2847.1MHz and is as fast as I can stabily go..I figured this was quite good initially but as I say some people are getting more than 3.7 from theirs...I know the RAM is cheap and nasty but will it affect the system 'that' badly...It's the only variable I can think of which should limit me!

My issues when I try to go higher are that my system gets stuck on the POST screen whilst looking for devices...

However, I do occasionally (usually when using the stress programs) find my system locks up completely...the screen freezes , could this be
a) too much load temperature? (as it doesn't do it as often at night when things are cooler)
b) too optimistic on the FSB?
c) crappy RAM coming back to haunt me?
d) because I've also overclocked my GFX card and it's causing issues with the faster main CPU?

I get no errors with the stress programs other than that and they can run for hours most of the time...but as I say, there is the occasional freeze

I don't get any blue screens of death since I knocked the RAM divider down to 2:1.5 and the RAM is running at a rather slow 203.4MHz (I see a lot of people successfully run it at nearly 300...is that the quality or specs of the RAM?)

I'm on 1.475VCore with 258.8x11MHz and HT Multiplier is x3...I've tried literally every combination and have looked up countless guides etc (I'm not a noob at this but wouldn't at all call myself an expert..but I do understand how the devices and electronic theory works, I just lack finances and experience with actually applying said knowledge) but can't get more than 2.85GHz stable...I'm getting a fair amount of lag with some games (even at low graphics settings) I know my GFX card is a bit outdated and is where most the problem lies, but other aspects of my system are slow too...so I'm trying to boost main performance before replacing the GFX card...

I haven't altered the RAM timings much because that seems like too many variables to just try trial and error with and can't find much online about them...is there any way one can calculate what they should be tuned to? Or am I missing something really obvious in my search

I'm aiming to break 3GHz, not wanting to get any records here...just to get it running sweetly past 3.

Obviously I'll have to get the cooling sorted before I go much higher, but the question is...which will benefit me more? Some fancy RAM or a new GFX card (i.e. will going over 3GHz really make as much difference as staying at 2.85 but with a better GPU)...not sure whether I can afford either but I might be tempted to splash out if it means I can break 3GHz

Sorry if it's been really unclear and overcomplicated, I think that's half my problem ... lol

Looking forward to hearing your suggestions based on all your invaluable experience
 
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i'd knock it back down to 2.7 the little extra you're getting wont make enough difference to worry about.

graphics card could be improved, ocuk x1950pro would be the best bet if the mobo can take pci-e cards.

what games are you running, as 2gb of memory may well be a good bet.

out of the 2 tho i'd update the graphics card before the memory.

with the 3700 processor you'll be lucky to get 3ghz, specially on air.

ram timings are usually on a label if the sticks have heat spreaders on if not d/l cpu-z 1.40 and go into the memory tab it will advise of the settings to use.
 
Egan said:
However, I do occasionally (usually when using the stress programs) find my system locks up completely...the screen freezes , could this be
a) too much load temperature? (as it doesn't do it as often at night when things are cooler)
b) too optimistic on the FSB?
c) crappy RAM coming back to haunt me?
d) because I've also overclocked my GFX card and it's causing issues with the faster main CPU?
Click to expand...
Hi Egan,

The last time I experienced the dreaded 'freeze' was while I was overclocking a Venice 3800+ from its stock speed of 2400MHz up to 2700MHz. This was fixed by upping the vCore!

Also I'm not sure your Zalman super flower heat sink is doing a great job, those temps are quite high for a mono-core!

As is always the case when u are trying to work out what the heck is going on then it may be worth backing down the overclock to see if the freezing stops, if it does then you can be pretty sure its the overclock or temps that are the issue.

I see you dont have a wodge of cash to burn on upgrades but a Radeon X1950 Pro would be a great card, I would also suggest 2GB of Ram and a new cooler but thats all extra cash?

I suppose the cheapest thing to do would be get the X1950Pro
 
I figured it would be the temps as it's practically burning up...

I'm not sure if it's the sink or the case fans which are the problem...I have 3 small fans (inc PSU) expelling hot air out the back and one in the side blowing cool outside air directly into the sink...if i run it without the side on the case (i.e. without the intake fan) it runs about 10 degrees lower...but I can't think of a way to cool the inside of the case any more as there are no more fan spaces and all my fans I bought specifically because of their high air flow...stuck a thermometer in the case today to get a reliable reading of the ambient temp in the case and it's 28 degrees...only 3 degrees higher than room temp...which is weird (i.e. how does it run 10C lower without the side on when all it's doing surely is lowering the case temp by 3C...unless the Zalman relies purely on a huge supply of air which it just isnt getting with the sides on...hmmm)

Thanks for all the advice...I think a GFX card is the way to go then...my problem is, I'm getting lag on games which just shouldnt lag...things like Stronghold 2, Rome Total War, Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 (all with relatively low Graphics settings)...I'm also running SWAT 4 and Battlefield 2142 on pretty much minimum graphics just to get smoothness...is this normal for 1GB DDR400 with that processor running at 2.8GHz with that Graphics card or is there something else fundamentally wrong...as the GFX card shouldn't be struggling with things like Stronghold or RCT3 etc etc...

Ran the Benchmark test on Prime95 and the numbers coming out look alright, I figure it appears to have good raw performance, but I can't put my finger on what's missing specifically.

Thanks again for the help, I think I'll stick with 2.8GHz with a new CPU cooler and New GFX card if I can spare the cash!

Edit: Here are the Prime95 results as I may have misinterpreted:
Prime95 32-bit version 25.2, RdtscTiming=1
Best time for 768K FFT length: 28.305 ms.
Best time for 896K FFT length: 33.392 ms.
Best time for 1024K FFT length: 37.704 ms.
Best time for 1280K FFT length: 46.962 ms.
Best time for 1536K FFT length: 57.234 ms.
Best time for 1792K FFT length: 68.415 ms.
Best time for 2048K FFT length: 76.254 ms.
Best time for 2560K FFT length: 100.893 ms.
Best time for 3072K FFT length: 122.839 ms.
Best time for 3584K FFT length: 146.968 ms.
Best time for 4096K FFT length: 163.846 ms.
Best time for 5120K FFT length: 214.219 ms.
Best time for 6144K FFT length: 264.826 ms.
Best time for 7168K FFT length: 328.377 ms.
Best time for 8192K FFT length: 398.823 ms.
Best time for 58 bit trial factors: 4.113 ms.
Best time for 59 bit trial factors: 4.116 ms.
Best time for 60 bit trial factors: 4.109 ms.
Best time for 61 bit trial factors: 4.117 ms.
Best time for 62 bit trial factors: 7.440 ms.
Best time for 63 bit trial factors: 7.481 ms.
Best time for 64 bit trial factors: 9.744 ms.
Best time for 65 bit trial factors: 9.727 ms.
Best time for 66 bit trial factors: 9.688 ms.
Best time for 67 bit trial factors: 9.701 ms.

Are these good for this processor ?

Also...where are the memory timing suggestions on CPU-Z..I've used it a while now but I figured the memory tab was a readings page and not a suggestions page?! :confused:
 
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would say the settings are right for bf2142, with the 5500 and 1gb.

for the memory on cpu-z check the spd tab.

gaming wise try running 3dmark2003 see what numbers that puts out, there is also a 2005 version which may be worth a look as well, wouldnt bother with 2006 for the moment.
 
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Hmm...I'm confused then as Battlefield 2142 only runs vaguely smoothly when I set everything! to minimum...its a 256MB 5500 too, not the standard 128, and the benchmark tests various programs supply show that the RAM and CPU are working nicely now...so I really can't think what the problem is, only thing which I can possibly think is I still have IDE hard disks rather than SATA (even tho the board can take SATA) but you would assume all the runtime data needed would be held in the RAM and loaded prior to connection to the game map...so that shouldn't be a problem either...my PC is now outperforming my friend's who runs the same game on max settings beautifully...so the only thing I can think of is that the GFX card is faulty and has been for 2 years!

Can't get 3dmark as I'm temporarily on dial up for a couple of months so it would take forever...are there any other smaller programs which can test benchmarks and the likes?

Thanks for all the advice again!
 
not aware of any small graphics testers tbh.

have you got display properties set to High performance ?, in game do you have dynamic shadows/lighting switched off ?
 
Literally, (almost) everything is on its minimum setting and toggle options are off, the ones with higher settings aren't dynamic things, like textures etc shadows are minimum and reflections and lighting etc...same with RCT3 and various other games
 
Egan said:
Literally, (almost) everything is on its minimum setting and toggle options are off, the ones with higher settings aren't dynamic things, like textures etc shadows are minimum and reflections and lighting etc...same with RCT3 and various other games
Click to expand...

sry the main one i meant, u need to go into display properties, think its the advanced settings u're see a tab for u're graphics card theres a setting that can be high quality/quality/performance/high performance etc u need it set to high performance.
 
All I can find under those menus are profiles for different applications, nothing to specifically choose high or low performance, nearly everything is set to "application-controlled" as well

Tried turning down the hardware acceleration, to possibly take advantage of my faster CPU power and unload some of the stress from the GPU but it was having none of it, so that's back up to full..

Thats one more thing...the recommended settings for Stronghold 2 are:
OS: Win98SE/ME/200/XP
CPU: 2.0 Ghz (Running 2.85GHz)
RAM: 512 MB (Running 1024MB)
Graphics: 64 MB Geforce 2 (or equiv) or higher (An overclocked 256MB BFG 5500 FX)

According to those recommended settings I should be easily capable of running maximum settings with no issues, instead I have to have all dynamic options (like water effects and shadows...leaving the resulting images pretty horrid) switched off or lowered to minimum...also, if I leave task manager on in the background, when I quit the application, the CPU has been running at 100% since starting the game...how can this be? As even my hardware when not overclocked outperforms the recommended (not just minimum) settings :?

Do we think my GFX card is pants and loading everything onto the CPU as it can't take it? I doubt there will be any driver issues as this computer has never had a different graphics card on it...very confusing

Anyway, on a lighter note, I'm now running a stable 2.85GHz without the freezes anymore and so the original issue is solved..I keep getting blue screens when I take it further so obv that's a low quality memory issue other than anything else.
 
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