Question on optimizing A7N8X DLX system

[Jim Caldwell]

I just upgraded it from a XP2200 to Barton 2600 with a Vocano 9 heatsink and
fan. It has 1 gig (2 sticks) of PC2700 DDR RAM. Video is an ATI Radeon
9600 Pro (256). Of course, on first power-up, it had a speed error and
defaulted to optimal in the Bios settings. I tried External CPU clock of
200, it would not boot up. I then tried 166, and it does boot up. How do I
determine what the fastest speed is? I don't know what to set the
multiplier to. Setting CPU ext. feq to 166 doesn't seem to have sped up
FLight Sim 9 much if any at all. Performance is still down to 2 or 3 FPM at
detailed scenery like KDFW. I think this system should be overclockable
somewhat with my existing heatsinks/fans.
Any advice appreciated.

 

[KCB]

I just upgraded it from a XP2200 to Barton 2600 with a Vocano 9 heatsink and
fan. It has 1 gig (2 sticks) of PC2700 DDR RAM. Video is an ATI Radeon
9600 Pro (256). Of course, on first power-up, it had a speed error and
defaulted to optimal in the Bios settings. I tried External CPU clock of
200, it would not boot up. I then tried 166, and it does boot up. How do I
determine what the fastest speed is? I don't know what to set the
multiplier to.

The correct settings are 166 FSB x 11.5 Multiplier. See here:
http://139.95.253.214/SRVS/CGI-BIN/...00000000151236702,K=864,Sxi=19,Case=obj(1224)

or this shorter link:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?E34025AF7

Setting CPU ext. feq to 166 doesn't seem to have sped up
FLight Sim 9 much if any at all. Performance is still down to 2 or 3 FPM at
detailed scenery like KDFW.

Perhaps your video card is the bottle neck instead of your processor? To be
honest, going from a XP 2200+ (Thoroughbred or Thorton) to a Barton 2600+
doesn't seem like a very big leap. You may notice some programs seem a
little peppier, and you might gain a few frames per second, but don't expect
any Earth-shattering differences in your normal computing day. You went
from a 1800MHz product to a 1917MHz product.

Granted, the Barton is a more efficient design, and does have twice the
cache, but a lot of programs really don't benefit from more cache as much as
they might from more raw horsepower (read higher MHz). That all being said:
in addition to asking questions in this group, you may want to look for help
on overclocking your rig at alt.comp.hardware.overclocking.amd and check out
the forums at:
http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/
Good Luck.