Is it true that the Celeron can be overclocked from 300 to 450?? I am
seriously considering upgrading. The question is: is it worth it to
overclock it for racing sims?
BOY is it worth it! I have had it for 5 moths now.
Asus P2B MB
Celeron 300A o/c to 450 at 100mhz
64mb PC100 Ram
Had to bump up the voltage on the Celeron from 2.0 to 2.2 for windows to
load, added a 3" fan to blow cool air in, and away I went. Abit board is
great because you can set the bus speed in the bios but Asus was one little
jumper setting that didn't hurt.
Make sure you buy the 300A w/ 128k cache.
>Is it true that the Celeron can be overclocked from 300 to 450?? I am
>seriously considering upgrading. The question is: is it worth it to
>overclock it for racing sims?
Man, did YOU open a torrent! I have m300A overclocked to 450 and it
runs great. I'd recommend looking at www.tomshardware.com for more
definitive info. There's also an ENTIRE newsgroup related to overclocking -
search for it with your newsreader.
To sum it up: it's the best $300 I ever spent (M/B, CPU, RAM).
"Gunner"
>Is it true that the Celeron can be overclocked from 300 to 450?? I am
>seriously considering upgrading. The question is: is it worth it to
>overclock it for racing sims?
I just upgraded, installed it yesterday, putting it through its paces as I
write. So, I'll get back to you on this.
For now, it's running at 83, but hung at 100 with a scary registry error.
I've also had it hang once at 83. Sometimes it might take a while for the
chip to "set". And I might have to play with the core voltage. So time will
tell.
Anyway, it comes down to a large number of people having success taking the
Celeron 300a (make sure it's the "a" as it has the 128 kB L2 cache) to 450.
But it isn't guaranteed. You'll want the ABit BH6 MB since it has bios soft
settings to allow you to change clock and core voltage (2.0 is norm, sometimes
2.1 or 2.2 are req'd for stable oc'ing). Heat is an issue. So, take your
chances.
What have I seen so far? Well, at the regular 300 (66 MHz bus) setting, it is
only about 20% faster than my p200MMX oc'd to 250 (83 MHz bus). Not
apples/oranges (BTW, I prefer the former for solid, the latter for juice).
But my p200 was rock-solid at 250, and I hope my Celeron is the same at 450.
If it isn't, I upgraded for little reason.
Basically, I see about that level of difference in most any game app. I've
benchmarked it in GP2, ICR2, GPL, F15, F4.
ABSOLUTELY!
I upgraded to an Overclaocked Celeron 300A about 2 months ago, and have
had no real problems. I did have to add a few fans in my case though, to
keep the temps down.
I now run GPL with full graphics and a full field of cars, and get 36
Frames per second solid, after the start of the race. (Voodoo2)
David's response to your post is dead-on. I used the Abit BH6 MB and the
overclocking really went smooth.
For more info, check out:
alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit
alt.comp.hardware.overclocking, and
www.tomshardware.com
There's LOTS of good info on the net about overclocking the Celeron. Best
upgrade I ever made!
Good Luck!
Bert
> Is it true that the Celeron can be overclocked from 300 to 450?? I am
> seriously considering upgrading. The question is: is it worth it to
> overclock it for racing sims?
I went from a P233 to c300a oc' to 450 a few weeks ago.GPL was the main
reason,and I must say it was most definitely worth it!Words cannot describe the
feeling of racing a full field of cars with all graphics and high FPS.
Dave
Seattle,WA.
Quoted text (7 lines)
>I just upgraded, installed it yesterday, putting it through its paces as I >write. So, I'll get back to you on this. >For now, it's running at 83, but hung at 100 with a scary registry error. >I've also had it hang once at 83. Sometimes it might take a while for the >chip to "set". And I might have to play with the core voltage. So time will >tell.>>For now, it's running at 83, but hung at 100 with a scary registry error.
>>I've also had it hang once at 83. Sometimes it might take a while for the
>>chip to "set". And I might have to play with the core voltage. So time will
>>tell.
>Did you buy a retail boxed Celeron or the OEM version?
It's the boxed one, from NECX. Malaysia, same SL32A as yours.
I hate you :-)
Any special other settings?
I'm still having problems. Now running at 75 MHz. 83 still gives
occasional glitches at 2.0 or 2.1. Case cover is off, system typically runs
at 32C.
Is there a way to read the CPU T outside of the BIOS, ie in Windows?
Yes, all PC100 ram. Most of this system (the second RAM chip is new) was
running fine in my old HOT-569 p200MMX at 83 MHz. Time will tell.
Oh, to the original poster: Note that the popular oc'ing MB's are all ATX
format. So you'll need an ATX case, about $60 on up.
when i had problems running my 300a at 374, i posted to
alt.overclockers (or something) - and they pointed out that at 374 the
PCI bus has to run at an unusually high speed, and often this causes
problems with hard drives, cdroms, memory (sometimes) and so on.
The consensus of the replies was "forget about 374, try 450". Coz at
450 the PCI bus is back to normal speed.
So I did, and have run at 450 for three months now with no problems
whatsoever, even though i have no extra cooling!
I'd concentrate on getting 450 up and running if I were you.
Quoted text (12 lines)
>when i had problems running my 300a at 374, i posted to >alt.overclockers (or something) - and they pointed out that at 374 the >PCI bus has to run at an unusually high speed, and often this causes >problems with hard drives, cdroms, memory (sometimes) and so on. >The consensus of the replies was "forget about 374, try 450". Coz at >450 the PCI bus is back to normal speed. >So I did, and have run at 450 for three months now with no problems >whatsoever, even though i have no extra cooling! >I'd concentrate on getting 450 up and running if I were you.>It's the boxed one, from NECX. Malaysia, same SL32A as yours.
Damn, rules out one factor then :(
Not really. I have an additional 3" fan in the front of my case
sucking cold air in, other than that, nope.
Im using Motherboard Monitor at the moment. It's sitting on 32C
according to the motherboard temp sensor (which is quite near the
CPU). Ambient today is approx 25-26C.
it's a shame you didnt buy the CPU from a local guy or a guy you know,
coz my guy told me to bring it back if it didnt overclock and he would
swap it for a different one (but the same SL code).
--
Nathan Wong http://www.nectar.com.au/~alfacors
- Super Touring - Alfa Romeo -
- V8Supercars - CART -
Quoted text (30 lines)
>>>For now, it's running at 83, but hung at 100 with a scary registry error. >>>I've also had it hang once at 83. Sometimes it might take a while for the >>>chip to "set". And I might have to play with the core voltage. So time will >>>tell. >>Did you buy a retail boxed Celeron or the OEM version? >It's the boxed one, from NECX. Malaysia, same SL32A as yours. >>>2.1 or 2.2 are req'd for stable oc'ing). Heat is an issue. So, take your >>>chances. >>Mine is runnig stable at 450 on 1.90V. It also helps with less heat >>being dissipated. >I hate you :-) >Any special other settings? >I'm still having problems. Now running at 75 MHz. 83 still gives >occasional glitches at 2.0 or 2.1. Case cover is off, system typically runs >at 32C. >Is there a way to read the CPU T outside of the BIOS, ie in Windows? >Yes, all PC100 ram. Most of this system (the second RAM chip is new) was >running fine in my old HOT-569 p200MMX at 83 MHz. Time will tell. >Oh, to the original poster: Note that the popular oc'ing MB's are all ATX >format. So you'll need an ATX case, about $60 on up.>If that was to me...
>I'm running at 374 (83 MHz) right now. You have the choice of dropping the
>AGP (and I think it controls PCI too) to a 2:3 divider (so it would run at 55
>MHz instead of 66) or 1:1 (where it would be, as you said, overspeed at 83). I
>think I'm at 83 right now, and my old P200/250 ran at 83 all the time.
The PCI is actually running at 1/2 the bus speed when you're at 83. So
basically, your PCI devices are now running at 41.5
from what I have read, the better quality vidcards etc will happily
run above 33MHz, lets say 37.5 when you run 75MHz bus. But over 40MHz
is pushing things a bit.
PCI automatically halves the bus speed in every increment until you
get to 100Mhz when it divides by 3 (to get the optimal 33MHz).
Have you tried changing your memory? It could be that your memory is
to blame. After all, not all PC100 are created equal. It could even be
that you're not running PC100 memory (re-badged 66?)?
Mine runs fine up to 112MHz, but it wouldnt post at 124Mhz using my
old 266 Celeron when I tried for 496 :-)
--
Nathan Wong http://www.nectar.com.au/~alfacors
- Super Touring - Alfa Romeo -
- V8Supercars - CART -
If it is stable at 374 but not 450 you should try to increase you core
voltage in small increments, but, only with proper cooling.
Craig
Quoted text (24 lines)
>>when i had problems running my 300a at 374, i posted to >>alt.overclockers (or something) - and they pointed out that at 374 the >>PCI bus has to run at an unusually high speed, and often this causes >>problems with hard drives, cdroms, memory (sometimes) and so on. >>The consensus of the replies was "forget about 374, try 450". Coz at >>450 the PCI bus is back to normal speed. >>So I did, and have run at 450 for three months now with no problems >>whatsoever, even though i have no extra cooling! >>I'd concentrate on getting 450 up and running if I were you. >If that was to me... >I'm running at 374 (83 MHz) right now. You have the choice of dropping the >AGP (and I think it controls PCI too) to a 2:3 divider (so it would run at 55 >MHz instead of 66) or 1:1 (where it would be, as you said, overspeed at 83). I >think I'm at 83 right now, and my old P200/250 ran at 83 all the time. >I just tried 450 again and it again failed to load Win95 :( >It did at least work fine in DOS7 for over an hour. And 83 is a lot more >stable. So there is hope yet as the system settles in. >Thanks for the tips.Which motherboard are you using? On my Abit BH6, it's over between
the PCI/ISA slots (ie: about as far from the CPU as you can get). :(
OTOH, I've got an OEM Costa Rican C300A with an AAVID OEM fan that
runs nicely at 450MHz and the temp doesn't go over 32C (in fact, it
usually doesn't raise more than a degreeC going from 300 to 450 MHz).
Also, for folks looking to buy an overclockable Celeron, some
retailers are now guaranteeing that they'll run at 100MHz FSB (for a
few dollars more, of course :).
"But in a way, fear is a big part of racing, because if there was
nothing to be frightened of, and no limit, any fool could get into
a motor car and racing would not exist as a sport." -- Jim Clark
