overclocking gigabyte ga-7vrxp

[flooky]

hey all, have not really done much overclocking as i was always happy with
my system but now after hanging around these forums i feel i want to get more into overclocking.

can sum1 tell me how i can go about doin this on a
xp2000 and ga-7vrxp from gigabyte?

i want to improve but not stress it to much as i am waitin to built another system later on in the year!

i understand abit about fsb and that but can you explain what should i be lookin at.

some expert idvice will be great. thanks in advance.

oh, i also have 3 fans and ruff temp seems to be about 58 pro - 36 case temp. should it be that high?

flooky.

[mike_w]

If the temperatures for the CPU are 58C, then that's just about as high as I would try to have it - I try to keep temperatures below 60C. Is that at idle, or under stress? SInce its relatively high already, I wouldn't recommend overclocking.

What heatsink and fan do you have on there?

[Flakvin]

That CPU temperature does seem a bit high, and as it is that high with no overclocking, I wouldnt recommend overclocking the CPU until you have your CPU temps down to around 40c or below.

You may need to reapply thermal compound to the CPU heatsink, that may help bring temps down a bit.

[flooky]

i have 2 coolermaster fans at the back on the case blowing air out and 1 at front blowing cold air on the 2 hds.

cpu fan is a standard 1 from amd that was boxed.

oh and thats with no overclocking and at idle.
if i run pifast the temp goes upto 65 degrees!
cheers, flooky.

[Flakvin]

Do you know what type of core your CPU has? As it's an XP2000, it will either have a 'Palomino' or 'Thoroughbred' (or maybe even 'Thorton') core.

You can find out what core you have by using CPU-z ( http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php )... download this utility, and when you run it, it should tell you what core you have. (It's tell you next to 'Code Name')

I have a GA-7VRXP, and they are not very good at overclocking. With 7VRXP's it's kind of 'hit or miss' as to the type of overclocking you will get out of it... some people can get upto 166MHz on the Front Side Bus, but other's can barely get over 145MHz.
If you know what version your motherboard is, that'll help determine what kind of overclock you might get. rev1.0's, may not overclock that well, and rev2.0 & rev3.0's may overclock a little better.

[Clingy]

I have 7vrxp (v2.0) and xp2000 T'bred. Had real problems early on trying to clock this so left it at stock. Someone said it could be to do with the ISDN PCI card I had at the time. Thats gone now that I have ADSL so I might have another go. 58C is seriously wrong m8. I was running about 46C and then changed heatsink/cooler to a Coolermaster Aero 7+ and now getting less than 30C at idle. I'd look into reseating your cooler first using good thermal paste. I have no exhaust fans other than psu but a 120mm side fan ramming air (and dust) onto the cooler.

[flooky]

well i have the rev2 version and a palomino chip.
i have managed to run 144mhz fsb with out having any problems but the tmp
reaching 65c. at this point i switched back to default.

well even if i do ovaclock my system it seems to hot so i'll
add some new therm paste any larger cpu fan.

thanks all for help!

flooky.

[mike_w]

Err, if you have a Palomino chip then that's generally a bad thing. If I remember correctly, these generate more heat than other variants, and can't really overclock too well.

[Flakvin]

Err, if you have a Palomino chip then that's generally a bad thing. If I remember correctly, these generate more heat than other variants, and can't really overclock too well.

Exactly, Palomino's are rubbish for overclocking. I have one and I can get it to 146MHz FSB, and anything after that is just way too unstable and way too hot.

[flooky]

ok then guys.
i do want a 64bit but will wait till prices come down abit first..

what is the biggest cpu i can run with this board. i have only seen it mentioned for 2000+ - is this the limit or can i go higher with a new chip (not palomino!)

[mike_w]

Well, on the Gigabyte website (http://tw.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Products_GA-7VRXP%20(Rev%202.0).htm) it says it takes 133FSB CPUs, whereas the more recent Bartons are 166 and 200FSB. It also means that overclocking to a decent speed would be quite hard if it can't go higher than 133 or 166 (I assume it can go to 166 since it can take PC2700 RAM, but can't take PC3200 so can't go to 200FSB).

So, the highest you would get is a Thoroughbred (I think).

Edit: Aha, here we go: http://tw.giga-byte.com/Motherboard/...AQ/FAQ_367.htm

[Flakvin]

The highest AthlonXP CPU the 7VRXP can take, is an XP2600 (266MHz FSB). BUT, that CPU is VERY rare. So the next highest (and available) would be an XP2400 (266MHz FSB).. these of course have the Thoroughbred core (or sometimes Thorton core for XP2400).

If you put an AthlonXP with a 333MHz FSB (or higher) in the 7VRXP, it will be pot luck as to whether it'll work at the FSB speed it requires. If I were you I would go for the XP2400.. you can usually get a reasonable overclock with them, BUT the motherboard will be the limiting factor there... it just isnt very good with overclocking.