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Geek Culture / Overclocking a pIII?

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MicroMan
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Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Posted: 3rd Nov 2003 22:00
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Another overclocking question. I've never done that before, but I've got my old machine which isn't TOO bad, and I could probably do some useful work on it if it was a bit faster. I guess I could conceivably code on that one, and leave this machine for heavy duty stuff like rendering and modelling.

It seems a waste to just use it as a server for my home network...

Below there's some data about it in the code section.

Are there any good articles about overclocking out there? Is it even possible? I've heard that the Pentium 3 is clock-locked, but I don't know what that means. Perhaps one could tweak the bus instead?

So, anyone know any good resources to find out? Or do you know if it can be done, and how to do it?

Thanks in advance!




cheers,
Microman

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Shadow Robert
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Posted: 3rd Nov 2003 23:54
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Quote: " L1 I-Cache : 16K Byte
L1 D-Cache : 16K Byte
L1 T-Cache : ----
L1 Cache : ----
L2 Cache : 0K Byte
L2 Speed : ---- "


WTF!? 64kb Cache in total?! ... what the hell did the previous owner do to this poor defenseless CPU??
It should have a 16kb Level 1 and a 512kb Level 2


To Survive You Must Evolve... This Time Van Will Not Escape His Fate!
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MicroMan
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Posted: 4th Nov 2003 00:44
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Well, there is no previous owner. I bought from a shop in erm 97-98 I think... And of course I've not touched it, apart from putting in 128 Mb ram and a new hard disk. But that's got nothing to do with the CPU.

Besides, I don't have the foggiest about what an L# cache is anyway. So, is that bad? Is the CPU hurting?

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AlecM
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Posted: 4th Nov 2003 01:21
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Wasnt there another p3 core before coppermine? It could be one of those little guys.

[P4 2.8C @ 3.03 with an 866mhz FSB:: MSI Neo-2LS running PAT:: 1gb Mushkin PC-3500 DDR High Perf level 2@ 2,2,2 :: ATI Radeon9800ProAIW :: 120Gb SeagateBarracuda 7,200RPM SATA HD :: Antec Plus1080AMG]
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IanM
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Posted: 4th Nov 2003 01:22
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The level 2 cache is a memory area on or close to the processor that is faster than your system memory, so it gives a massive speed boost to your processor.

I was under the impression that the PIII had its L2 cache on the processor, so the fact that you are reporting none means that you either have a crap/broken processor, or the software you are using to report this information is crap/broken
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AlecM
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Posted: 4th Nov 2003 01:24
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grab CPUz and see what it says

[P4 2.8C @ 3.03 with an 866mhz FSB:: MSI Neo-2LS running PAT:: 1gb Mushkin PC-3500 DDR High Perf level 2@ 2,2,2 :: ATI Radeon9800ProAIW :: 120Gb SeagateBarracuda 7,200RPM SATA HD :: Antec Plus1080AMG]
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MicroMan
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Posted: 4th Nov 2003 02:43 Edited at: 4th Nov 2003 02:46
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Well, I don't use that machine for anything serious. It just orders webpages for me with WinProxy, basically. I hadn't noticed any speed issues.

But then again, after Raven's post, I had a look at BIOS and then ran the analysisprogram (I used WCPUID) and this is what it came up with.



Now there is a L2 cache...

But the question is still. Should I overclock this? Do I need an engineering degree to do so? Can you do it without fiddling with the motherboard?

Cheers and thanks,
MicroMan

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AlecM
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Posted: 4th Nov 2003 06:15
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Why not, you arent using it for anything. Then again its not like you can really get much out of it either.

[P4 2.8C @ 3.03 with an 866mhz FSB:: MSI Neo-2LS running PAT:: 1gb Mushkin PC-3500 DDR High Perf level 2@ 2,2,2 :: ATI Radeon9800ProAIW :: 120Gb SeagateBarracuda 7,200RPM SATA HD :: Antec Plus1080AMG]
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MicroMan
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Posted: 4th Nov 2003 08:01
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Well, it's not USELESS either, so I might have a go, if I figure out how to to it. I've put it through its paces, running Return to Castle Wolfenstein in 1280x1024 with 32 bit colour depth, trilinear shading, high definition texturing and 22khz sound. At this level it was a bit jittery, but anything below that and it was fine.

We're all so spoilt for computers. Imagine those that can live, and even thrive, on old Pentium 2's. Except I'm not spoilt of course. My main machine at work is a Mac OS X box (yuck) and this machine is quite midranged.

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Shadow Robert
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Posted: 4th Nov 2003 12:13
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ahh see thats a better cache size
if you put an ball baring fan perhaps an AthlonXP/Pentium4 fan onto your P3 you could quite happily overclock to around 600mhz, its what i did with my P2-266. Runs at 366mhz fastest for the LX board.

P2 boards were the first (intel anyways) to put onboard clocking, you'll have to find the master jumper. You'll know which one it is by the fact it has a tag on it to enable you to put it out easier.

flip its position and reboot the machine and you'll go into your bios menu. once there the first screen will have the processor speed change it and save settings... it'll tell you to flip the jumper back and everything will be good.

i'd advice against much more than 100mhz though as Pentiums become very unstable too far past thier standard clock speed.
(probably why most overclockers use Athlons)


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the_winch
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Posted: 4th Nov 2003 18:12
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I would be surprised if you got an extra 50mhz. AFAIK all pentium III chips are multiplier locked. So you have to overclock with the fsb. If you have bad 100mhz ram that won't work at a faster speed or a motherboard that only has a few widly spaced fsb settings you might not be able to increase the speed at all.

You might be lucky and have a decent motherboard that allows a lot of different fsb settings controled by the bios so you don't have to mess about with jumpers.

If it was mine I would overclock just to see how fast it would go.

There are loads of overclocking sites that tell you how to do it, just do a web search.
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MicroMan
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Posted: 7th Nov 2003 04:43
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Well, I'm one of those lucky b*stards with a good motherboard then because I can change the bus speed through BIOS, so now the machine runs at a more respectable MHz.



And what? Miss the chance of asking you guys? Wouldn't DREAM of it.

Except I had a fright there, because I upped the bus speed, and the keyboard is sensitive it seems. So instead of upping the bus speed to 112 MHz I upped it to 133 MHZ.

I couldn't even get into BIOS. Luckily, after thinking on my feet, I remember that cold processors work better than warm one, so I had that machine down in the basement in a flash, and put it in front of the freezer with the freezer door wide open. The computer itself was stuck halfway into it. After fifteen minutes it worked! I got the computer cold enough, and got into BIOS and could switch down the bus speed to the present.

Amazing how you think on your feet when you're faced with the prospect of internet abstention for a WHOLE day while you rearrange a whole network. It was a fright.

Cheers,
Microman

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Shadow Robert
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Posted: 7th Nov 2003 18:03
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winch the intel boards were the first to include the onboard speed changing

an lol MM thats the craziest thing i've ever heard. well oki not the craziest but still pretty mad
the important thing is it is now working well


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MicroMan
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Posted: 8th Nov 2003 02:32 Edited at: 8th Nov 2003 02:33
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It wasn't crazy. It would have been crazy to ditch the computer and not try to solve the problem. My solution was the easiest and most cost effective. How do you cool an overclocked CPU/Bus enough to enable it to run?

Do you buy a fan, spend half a day installing it hoping you don't break any pins. Or do you put it in the freezer? Now we know.

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Shadow Robert
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Posted: 8th Nov 2003 04:02
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actually i just open a window. i live by the sea so the breeze normally cools things down enough - or i alter the AC
either that or turn off the comp, yank out the processor and just wave it around a little.

they cool down pretty quick once you get the heatsink off, about 2mins they as good as gold again. The heatsinks take ages to cool though, best thing to do is chuck em into some cold water. Dry them off and everything is peachy again

for overclocking means, there are alot of alternatives. Better Fan&Heatsink, Aircooled, Watercooled, IceCooled ... i once saw a liquid nitrogen cooling system, costs like $8,000 but still it was capable of o/cing a 1ghz AthlonXP to almost 6.5ghz and still ran at only 90f which is awesome.


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900mhz | 256mb | FX5200Ti 52.16 | Dx9 | WXP-Pro
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