Upgrading to AthlonXP, My pc is too slow! Options

[Morgoth]

14 month later update!!
My aim is to overclock and benchmark them like old times, beat all my old records and try to beat out the old #1 spots!
vmod tricks and watercooling to come!

Always check the latest pages of the thread for updates!

Latest update:
Benchmarked new Radeon 9800 XXL proving to be a menace!

After getting my hands on an XP-M, I got serious about breaking the atomic AthlonXP 3DMark01se record!

And as of today, 25/5/2012, complete!

#1 21286 Morgoth - XP-M 2400+@2640MHz, 9800XXL@500/420



Here's list of parts,

Look through the thread to find updates, screenshots and other pictures of the progress

At a glance I think it's 4x Barton unlocked 2500+, 1x Barton 2700+ Locked, 1x 1800+ Palomino or Tbred or something :/
2x Abit NF7-s2 mobos
1x Epox 8ARDA+ NF2 mobo
2x256Mb Corsair XMS PC3000 C2 BH5
2x512Mb OCZ EL Platinum PC3200 BH5
2x512Mb OCZ EL Gold GX PC3500 BH5
Some shitty Legend RAM ^^
Radeon 9800XT 256Mb 128bit - craptastic one, seems rooted, performs about as good as a 9200se
Radeon X1950Pro 512Mb 256bit
Superflower 500W PSU

Swiffy MCP655 Pump
Swiffy Storm G4 CPU block
Swiffy MCW80 GPU block
Bunch of other random blocks that include NB block and something that might also fit the GPU
3x120mm rad
Pick of a bunch of good fans

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll update all progress and pictures here as I go

First and foremost, we have life!

Using a Barton CPU, NF7S 2 mobo, 2x256MB Corsair BH5, the Radeon 9800XT 128 bit =[



Aliali donated a Radeon X1950Pro to the cause, but powering it on in the spare motherboard produced artifacts :/

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y214/atom...h2/dd5fcece.jpg

[b]Stock benchmarks are unfortunately held back by the 128bit GPU, and the fact this system is 8 years old haha :D

3Dmark01se scoring ~10,000
3dmark03+Aquamark below

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y214/atom...h2/f9868059.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y214/atom...h2/efa80c9d.jpg

Okay, I was playing around with my Corsair 2x256Mb PC3000 2-2-2-5 BH5 sticks, stock mobo only hits 2.9 Vdimm, so all BH5 is limited to around 200-225Mhz at the most, until I do the 3.3v line mod to the Dimm slots =]

I wasn't getting anywhere with this RAM, so I swapped the mobo BIOS to the MantaRays D26 XT 1T.
I also just went straight for my "special"Ram
2x512Mb OCZ EL Gold Edition GX PC3500 Cas2-2-2-5 BH5
Now I was in Business!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y214/atom...h2/888b0994.jpg

My Super pi result for the night, mind you air cooling and Vdimm voltage is my limit here.
I'll work on getting it 3d stable later on, I could do Pi up to 220FSB 1:1 with a lower multi.[/img]

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y214/atom...h2/b26e0b46.jpg

[b]My aim is to beat my old Athlon XP-M 2500+ SPI record, challenging on a desktop chip that I'm using, renound for being worse clockers than the Mobile chips
I knew I'd need some extra cooling and juice to beat my old time of 38.891 seconds for 1m. Hitting 50C for a 1m run, I knew my CPU was crying

OLD RECORD PICTURE ~2004
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y214/atom...th2/pi1m38s.jpg

Process has started to pull down the mobo to watercool, the Northbridge cooler was well crusted and has the cooling capacity of a stern stare from a cat.
I got together 3 blocks
Swiftech Storm G4 for the CPU, Jet Impingement blocks are perfect for naked CPUs such as these without IHS
Swiftech MCW30 on the Northbridge
Swiftech MCW60 on the GPU

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y214/atom...h2/b2dbc794.jpg

OH HERRO
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y214/atom...h2/10d6f8d7.jpg

Okay, I have cleaned up the storm block, it's super important to clean them regularly because of the jet impingement design, the jets are easily blocked,
I pulled it apart, washed it and wiped it down, stuck a wire through the jets to make sure they weren't blocked, and used a compressor to make sure.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y214/atom...h2/736f85cd.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y214/atom...h2/5010c557.jpg

I did a Vdimm 3.3V rail mod to really get some results out of the RAM



I got together my spare Watercooling bits for the frankenstein loop, including a Radiiical 120.3 radiator, swiftech MCP655 pump, micro res
I just quickly hand measured the tubing and hacked it with a knife, dipped the ends of the 7/16" tubing in boiling water then force them on the barbs quickly, no hose clamps needed =]



http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y214/atom...h2/4c57cb83.jpg

Time to get some fans happening, breaking out the super scare 220CFM NIDEC BETAV 3.3AMP to sit over the RAM - BH5 gets HOT!



Oh look, the Vdimm voltage mod has worked, wew

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y214/atom.../Untitled-1.jpg

Once underwater, the FSB can really climb, NB likes cold hitting 240FSB, before it barely did 200 on the stock cooler!, RAM likes voltage, 3.7V would be ideal, but 3.3V should see us up to 240FSB@2-2-2-5 timings
CPU loading at about 30C, pulled an extra ~15MHz out of the GPU on water, but I feel this neutered card is lower VID than standard 9800XT



Finally! I beat my old 1M SPI time with less RAM speed and less CPU speed!
Running 11x240=2640MHz 2.025V, RAM 1:1 2-2-2-5 3.3V



I got keen and setup outside on a freezingly nice not-very-warm ambient Tasmanian night, the BIOS photo should show you what I mean





After spending a good hour or so in the Man Cave
I found that running 5-9C didn't help at all.
I tried my other two chips and they were worse than this one.

The limit is 2640MHz on superpi 1m @240FSB
No voltage nor multi combos could get a successful pass at 2.7
Note: This is a desktop 2500+ 1.65v stock vcore, the early ones were unlocked, my Athlon I had all those years ago was an XP-M @1.45v stock vcore, they clock better on lower volts, so I have done well to beat my XP-M score using a desktop...

I'm in need of a new XP-M Barton, does anyone here have one stashed in a cupboard? I'd be happy to buy it



This post has been edited by Morgoth: May 25 2012, 11:22 PM

[AMD AKIMBO]

i got one of my old rigs back recently and tried to o/c the snot out of it.
soltek board, xp 3200, 2x 512 sticks of mushkin ddr400 2,2,2,2.5.
so i set it up on bench and for shits and giggles maxed the vcore 2.3 and upped the fsb to 240 she went pop.
rip old girl.
hope u have better luck just remember old caps go pop easier.

[evilengineer]

Capacitors can be easily replaced (unless they are smd), everything else around then is a different story.

[A Hitman]

If you were in NZ I would give you my vapochill case.
24/7 Sub zero overclocks!

[twitchymocha]

I gotta admit, I read the thread title and was a little concerned...

[robzy]

It's a Barton 2500+, right?


(Unlocked = Barton, right?)

Rob.

[Morgoth]

It's a Barton 2500+, right?


(Unlocked = Barton, right?)

Rob.

I'm not entirely sure, but I never knew a 2500+ that was locked

[nobodyishere]

It's a Barton 2500+, right?


(Unlocked = Barton, right?)

Rob.

I'm not entirely sure, but I never knew a 2500+ that was locked

I had a 2600+ barton, was locked, but clocked really well, wasnt the 2600+ the sweetspot for performance/value?

[Morgoth]

yes it was, with the 11.5 multiplier.

[sora3]

I think I had a rare unlocked Barton 2600+. That was fucking epic, tis a shame that I only found out when I sold the chip. Add to that the old Abit NFS board, it fucking flew.

[Morgoth]

Aye I had my mobile on an NF7-s, so great!

The epox 8rda+ is Nforce2 northbridge too =D

I'm picking up a Radeon 9800XT this week =D

[aliali]

Aye I had my mobile on an NF7-s, so great!

The epox 8rda+ is Nforce2 northbridge too =D

I'm picking up a Radeon 9800XT this week =D

Dude should have rung me I have a 256mb 9800XT and a 512Mb X1950 pro sitting here, both AGP. HSFs are a bit dust clogged and may have noisy fans but they should work.

[Morgoth]

Aye I had my mobile on an NF7-s, so great!

The epox 8rda+ is Nforce2 northbridge too =D

I'm picking up a Radeon 9800XT this week =D

Dude should have rung me I have a 256mb 9800XT and a 512Mb X1950 pro sitting here, both AGP. HSFs are a bit dust clogged and may have noisy fans but they should work.

=O

Well I haven't paid for it yet, I can offer the winning bid to the next guy!

EDIT: it has to be 9800XT, not 9600 which I remember you having, unless you collected a pile of AGP cards which it looks like haha

This post has been edited by morgoth: Mar 1 2011, 09:36 AM

[drjam]

why not just get a new Phenom dude? they are pretty damn wicked stock...and its new!
i used to OC and now i CBF as there isnt enough time to do everything (family, work, life etc)

best of luck tho aye.... OC'ing is kinda fun :P

[Morgoth]

why not just get a new Phenom dude? they are pretty damn wicked stock...and its new!
i used to OC and now i CBF as there isnt enough time to do everything (family, work, life etc)

best of luck tho aye.... OC'ing is kinda fun :P

/palmface.

I already have an i7 rig, I just want to do some retro overclocking, phenom isn't old enough

[aliali]

EDIT: it has to be 9800XT, not 9600 which I remember you having, unless you collected a pile of AGP cards which it looks like haha

Gat dropped some old stuff on me before he went to QLD.
ATI 9800XT/256MB DDT TV-Out DVI 128bit make unknown (probably
Powercolor X1950 Pro ICQ 3 Turbo 512Mb Gddr3 256 bit.

Why the 9800XT specifically?

[Morgoth]

9800XT was the top card at that time pretty much, X1900's were more athlon64 time

[nobodyishere]

9800XT was the top card at that time pretty much, X1900's were more athlon64 time

haha indeed they where.

I had a msi 9800XT, with my 2600+ barton, 768mb ddr 333mhz ram, had a board with a via chipset for about 3months, then it died, and i replaced it
with a board based on the nforce 2 ultra if i remeber correctly, mate still has it to this day, refuses to upgrade till it dies....

[nobody813]

Powercolor X1950 Pro ICQ 3 Turbo 512Mb Gddr3 256 bit.

???

I think that should be HIS if it is IceQ

Though, PowerColor did make a pretty nice X1950 Pro AGP card a while back...

[aliali]

Powercolor X1950 Pro ICQ 3 Turbo 512Mb Gddr3 256 bit.

???

I think that should be HIS if it is IceQ

Though, PowerColor did make a pretty nice X1950 Pro AGP card a while back...

Yep you're right it is a HIS card but has the Arctic Cooler fitted from a Powercolor card.
From memory the ICQ cooler ran a fan bearing and I had the Powercolor cooler sitting here as that was removed to fit an aftermarket Zalman cooler to another X1950 pro.
This one