Overclocking Problems with NF7-M & 1800+

[kaillum]

ok guys.. i'm calling for your guru help on this one...

got a new box up and running the other day.. everything working ok.. apart from no ability to overclock...

raising the FSB 1 notch causes the system to hang and bios... alter the multi and the same thing.. now I thought these new nForce2 motherboards were the dogs danglies!! on me old via board I could throw the multi's and fsb about like anything and 9/10 it would boot!

so... first things first... can someone point me to an ideal bios setup for the below system...

Abit NF7-M (using onboard sound & GFX)
CPUID

512Mb Elixir PC3200

thanks for any help guys

[Agent]

Isnt that a 1.5v chip ? - its being undervolted a bit. Might want up the v.core

You got the latest BIOS on ?, good PSU ?

[kaillum]

thanks Agent... will try upping the v.core...

not looked at the BIOS revision yet..

and unfortunately no.. not a good PSU.. a generic 300w one that came with the case.. just blew me wad on getting the bits and didnt have enough spare for a PSU... the first thing on the upgrade list!!

[kaillum]

okays...

just tried increasing the v.core voltage... now up to 1.520 in CPUID and it still wont take any change in either the FSB or multi's..

i'm on the BIOS 24.7.03 which is the one before the current one... the only thing listed as fixed with the current BIOS is

Add Duron FSB266 1400MHz/1600MHz/1800MHz CPU support. This BIOS does not support old Duron 1.2G and 1.3G. Users using these two CPU, please do not upgrade to this version.
Fixed when using NF7-M, the BIOS will have checksum error at certain circumstances.
Improve NF7-M DRAM compatibility when using on-board VGA function.
Remove "An Energy Star Ally" string at boot up.
BIOS compile date: 10/13/2003.

is it worth changing?

thanks again for any help

[Zak33]

still the volts are too low really. Big heatsink ? Little heatsink?

The PSU is likely to hold you back in stability terms but it SHOULD boot OK unless it really is pants.....

SIMPLE IDEA.....did ya fit theheatsink properly? Thermal paste nice and even and thin etc?

IS THE HEATSINK FAN SPINNING

It should go higher than that but that voltage is very low.

PLUS....BIOS voltage is often different to the one showing IN WINDOWS...

[Agent]

Id look at upgrading the PSU ASAP. But the fact that overclocking by 1mhz can cause instability is VERY VERY RARE. Such an issue would mean its allready on the edge. Can you run memtest / prime and make sure its 100% stable at defaults ?

[Zak33]

JUMPER SETTINGS?

do you need to reset them to be allowed to overclock?

IS the CMOS set to "reset" by default.....

JUMPER SETTINGS...check them...

[Agent]

Nf7 Range are jumpless, bar the one to reset the BIOS :s

Certainly worth a shot though !

[kaillum]

thanks for your idea's guys...

to answer some of the questions...

i'm using a Retail chip with the retail hsf.. dont think that overheating is the problem as it dosnt even boot! and yep.. the hsf is installed correctly, little smidgin of AS3 and all properly seated and clipped...

yep.. the hsf is spinning first thing i check when booting...

ran Memtest & Prime for the past 24 hours.. and no errors in either...

and the clear CMOS jumper is set in the right position...

other than that i'm at a complete loss!!

any more idea's? before I give up on the overclocking lark again!!!

[SilentDeath]

try lowering the multiplyer to 10 and then you should be able to get the fsb up a bit, make sure cpu ratio is 6:6
if that doesnt help raise cpu voltage to 1.55 or 1.575
if that doesnt help chipset voltge up one
if that doesnt help ram voltage up one

[preecey]

Got an NF-7 here. One thing to check is the cpu interface option in the soft menu options in the bios (it's just below the multiplers and fsb). I found if this is enabled you can't overclock, not even by 1MHz, so just check it's disabled.

Hope this helps.

[Apex]

whats that option for anyway ?

[preecey]

In the Manual it says

When disabled the system uses the mopst stable CPU/FSB parameters. When enabled it will use overclocked CPU/FSB paramaters

All i find it does is make a nice siren noise on the next boot up

[Apex]

i'll remember to turn it off on the new build i got

[Kezzer]

I've had experience with overclocking the NF7-M since i used to own one. Basically it supports an FSB of 333MHz and since it has onboard graphics it has problems when it is overclocked. I gave up with it and bought a NF7-S instead

[kaillum]

And the Homer Award for the biggest DOH!!! of the day goes to me!!!!

Preecey you are a STAR!!!!

Thanks m8e... thats the problem... had it set to enabled... changed it and it now boots at different multi's and fsb's!!!

thanks to all.. problem is now solved!!!

now lets see how high it'll go!!!