Hi there. Well, I could not resist the temptation anymore. My new 900 T-bird was just screaming to be overclocked. So I did. I'm currently at 1GHz, but I think it will do more. I achieved this without having to increase the voltage, so there should be some headroom.

So I bumped the voltage up to 1.80 and tried it at 1050. In WinMe, I tried to run 3D Mark 2000, but it crashed on the 2nd run of the helicopter game (mediaum detail). That is, the benchmark just quit. The computer was still running OK and everything...just the program quit.

So now I'm curious...what exactly are the symptoms of needing a bigger power supply? I've currently got a 250W, but between the T-bird and the GF2 GTS, I'd bet it needs it. But as far as the overclocking, I'll bet I can get to at least 1100. Does that glich sound like power shortage? Help please!

Thanx,
Jazzman

Asus A7V (Bios 1005a)
T-bird 900 @ 1000 w/ chrome orb
256MB Crucial PC133 CL3
Asus V-7700 Deluxe
SB Live! X-Gamer 5.1
IBM 75GXP and WD Caviar
Linksys 10/100
Dual boot WinMe/Win2k

PS: What is too hot for T-birds? Mines running mid 50s now...

That burning rubber smell means that it's working.

If you are running a motherboard with advanced monitoring features, like the Asus A7V or the Abit KT7, you can use a motherboard monitoring program (Asus comes with some probe software you can use) like MBM (I think 5.0 is the latest version) to measure the various voltage outputs (-5, -12, 5, 12, 3.3, etc) to see if they are within certain tolerances. If NOT, then odds are, your power supply isn't up to par. In terms of temperature, AMD says that the processor will run up to 95C (not that I _would_, but you can do it). I'd say however that a good goal is under 50C. One quirky thing about the A7V is that it tends to read a little too high on temperatures for some reason, so 55C on the A7V might read 45C or so on a KT7. I personally prefer the A7V board though, as it benchmarks a little faster, and is a tiny beat cheaper, even though its overclocking features aren't quite as nice as the KT7's. Let me know if there's anything else, K?


3C2X1.<b><u> The </u></b>job of genius.

What exactly are the specs and tolerances in which the mobo voltages should be at? Here are the readings I was getting from the PCProbe on my A7V:

Set at: Vcore = 1.775/1.80
1GHz

Power readings:
+12V - 12.22
+5V - 5.026
+3.3V - 3.536
Vcore - 1.872V
-5V - -5.056V
-12V - -11.888V

Set at: Vcore = 1.725/1.75
1GHz

Power readings:
+12V - 12.22
+5V - 5.026
+3.3V - 3.536
Vcore - 1.824V
-5V - -5.052V
-12V - -11.888V

They all look right (the +3.3 is actually set to 3.56V by default on the board), except the Vcore is way up there. I've got the jumpers set now back down to what the manual says is 1.725/1.75 depending on CPU (the 900 should be a 1.75V default anyways, right?) But it's reading pretty high. Would this be the indication of the power supply?

Also, you say that if an A7V reads the temp as 55C, the KT7 may read 45C. So which one is more accurate? Currently at 1GHz and 1.75V (supposedly), I get mid-50s. But at 900 and the same voltage, I would get about 50. And ideas on where I stand?

THanx tons,
Jazzman

That burning rubber smell means that it's working.

My Duron based system did the same thing during the 3D Mark 2000 benchmark. That was when I was overclocking to 1000 Mhz. I resolved the problem buy raising the core voltage from 1.80 to 1.85, the max. It worked but peak temperature went up to 55 degrees, up from 50. System instability seemed to creep back in when the temperature remained that high for prolonged periods. I dropped back to 900 Mhz, 1.775 V (and added a second case fan), and temperatures dropped to 43 degrees average and 47 peak. My system has been stable for a couple days. Since It was also stable at 1000 Mhz when I had the case open. Temperature was definitely an an issue.

I talked to vendor who sold me the overclocked Duron, a KT7 motherboard, and cooler. He told me that the temperatures I was getting (55 degrees) is NOT good. I also learned that I should not have used the thermal tape that was attached to the heatsink and that I should replace it with silicon based thermal paste. The vendor said that once this is done I should have no more problems and be able to reach the guaranteed 1000 Mhz.

Your running an 1Ghz Athlon <b>and</b> a Geforce2 on a 250 Watt PS! Your just asking for trouble. Those two alone consume somewhere around 120 Watts. Leaving 130 Watts for <i>everything</i> else. Even though it works for now, you should really look into a 300+ Watt PS just to be on the safe side. I don't think that there is a single PS under 300 Watts on AMD's list for 1Ghz+ CPU's.

As many other people suggested, a larger power supply will help, but that has nothing to do with 3D Mark2000 failing, and Windows still running fine. And I quote:

"An issue has been identified that could result in the corruption of video data shared between AGP graphics adapters and AMD Athlon™ or AMD Duron™ processors when running Microsoft Windows®2000"

There is a registry file here:

http://www.amd.com/products/cpg/at [...] patch.html

that will fix it. If you notice your system does not startup on a cold boot. But you take some cards out, or unplug USB devices and it finally boots. Then you need a bigger power supply, because the one you have can't supply the power to start all those devices at once.

Duron 650@840 (112*7.5)
256mb Crucial PC133 CAS2 @149mhz CAS2
Abit KT7-RAID mobo