Writing this article/blog was my first time... So what happened before I have done this, I must have a topic hmmmmm.... Thats it! I will tell you the details on how I mess around with my pc on hoping to get the maximum performance from this old SLI motherboard...
This was my specs:
Processor-----Pentium Dual Core E2160
Motherboard--Gigabyte GA N650i DS4L
Memory-------2x 1Gb Team Elite DDR2 800 RAM
Hard Drive----Seagate Barracuda 160GB SATA HDD
+Western Digital 160GB SATA HDD
Video Card----Palit NVidia GeForce 8600GT 512Mb
PSU-----------A generic PSU rating at 500 Watts
The processor of my choice that fits my puny budget was the Pentium Dual Core E2160
More bang for the buck processor!
It cost around $85 at that time, and that was my 2nd Dual Core build. (I was able to build a Pentium D platform for my uncle).
The Pentium Dual Core E2000 family is available at three different stock speeds: the E2140 runs at 1.6 GHz, E2160 is the 1.8 GHz part and E2180 works at 2.0 GHz. All of them utilize a 200 MHz system clock (FSB800) and the Core 2 microarchitecture. When compared to Core 2 with its 2 MB or 4 MB L2 cache, the Pentium Dual Core comes with only 1 MB, and it also doesn't support the virtualization technology called VT.
I don't need VT anyway, I just need the basics.
Attempting to raise the clock speed was possible by tweaking the motherboard's FSB speed to 355Mhz. I was expecting a 3.2Ghz. easy overclock. It never boot, I tried increasing the core voltage from 1.3V to 1.5V, it booted but the damned thing hanged! I'm using a stock fan/heatsink, and I forgot that I'm living in a tropical climate with temps reaching about 35C to 41C ambient (I got no airconditioning sorry..). Adjustments was made by lowering the multiplier by 8x yeilding a product of 2.8Ghz. of clock speed. At last I got a stable overclock (or so I think) testing it with Prime 95 for 3 hours, resulted restarts! Checking my temps, to my surprise I got 59C-62C Northbridge chipset! Core temps recorded at 59C-63C!... Man this is bad... using a stock heatsink/fan on an overclocked p.c. with an unreliable PSU was a bad idea. But Im not giving up (yet), I installed a Zalman fan on my Northbridge Chipset, and got a minus 2 on my NB temps. Ultimately, I move my rig to an airconditioned room (Electronic Lab 3 University of San Agustin) with ambient temps of 18C-22C, and I was able to cranked up a 3.0Ghz using all the specs above.
Conclusion:
I should have an airconditioned room! hehehe, seriously, overclocking on a tropical climate needs an aftermarket heatsink/fan, and for those who had money to burn, liquid cooling is the best. For using fans only collects dust inside your system. So I decided to stay stock for a while, while saving up for those cool, expensive and nice looking heatsink/fan. And don't forget about the PSU, having a stable build requires stable voltage output that can be achieved using high quality, high output power supply.
Processor-----Pentium Dual Core E2160
Motherboard--Gigabyte GA N650i DS4L
Memory-------2x 1Gb Team Elite DDR2 800 RAM
Hard Drive----Seagate Barracuda 160GB SATA HDD
+Western Digital 160GB SATA HDD
Video Card----Palit NVidia GeForce 8600GT 512Mb
PSU-----------A generic PSU rating at 500 Watts
GA N650SLI DS4L
Inside a generic case
The processor of my choice that fits my puny budget was the Pentium Dual Core E2160
More bang for the buck processor!It cost around $85 at that time, and that was my 2nd Dual Core build. (I was able to build a Pentium D platform for my uncle).
Zalman fan for the NB
Seagate (above) Western Digital (below)
The Pentium Dual Core E2000 family is available at three different stock speeds: the E2140 runs at 1.6 GHz, E2160 is the 1.8 GHz part and E2180 works at 2.0 GHz. All of them utilize a 200 MHz system clock (FSB800) and the Core 2 microarchitecture. When compared to Core 2 with its 2 MB or 4 MB L2 cache, the Pentium Dual Core comes with only 1 MB, and it also doesn't support the virtualization technology called VT.
I don't need VT anyway, I just need the basics.
Attempting to raise the clock speed was possible by tweaking the motherboard's FSB speed to 355Mhz. I was expecting a 3.2Ghz. easy overclock. It never boot, I tried increasing the core voltage from 1.3V to 1.5V, it booted but the damned thing hanged! I'm using a stock fan/heatsink, and I forgot that I'm living in a tropical climate with temps reaching about 35C to 41C ambient (I got no airconditioning sorry..). Adjustments was made by lowering the multiplier by 8x yeilding a product of 2.8Ghz. of clock speed. At last I got a stable overclock (or so I think) testing it with Prime 95 for 3 hours, resulted restarts! Checking my temps, to my surprise I got 59C-62C Northbridge chipset! Core temps recorded at 59C-63C!... Man this is bad... using a stock heatsink/fan on an overclocked p.c. with an unreliable PSU was a bad idea. But Im not giving up (yet), I installed a Zalman fan on my Northbridge Chipset, and got a minus 2 on my NB temps. Ultimately, I move my rig to an airconditioned room (Electronic Lab 3 University of San Agustin) with ambient temps of 18C-22C, and I was able to cranked up a 3.0Ghz using all the specs above.
Conclusion:
I should have an airconditioned room! hehehe, seriously, overclocking on a tropical climate needs an aftermarket heatsink/fan, and for those who had money to burn, liquid cooling is the best. For using fans only collects dust inside your system. So I decided to stay stock for a while, while saving up for those cool, expensive and nice looking heatsink/fan. And don't forget about the PSU, having a stable build requires stable voltage output that can be achieved using high quality, high output power supply.
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3 comments:
USWAG ADECOR!
magkano masyong yung vid card? Yun kulang ng pc ko ngayon at memory. :) Mura ba diyan sa Iloilo?
punta ka http://domesticatedman.i.ph
Uswag adecor! Masyong add ka ng blogroll para isama mo ako dun! hehehe
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