pentium D 915 OC'ing help

[qazwsx]

A short while ago I tryed to overclock my pentium D just a bit (first try) and just changed the value from 200 to 201 and the whole computer refused to even POST. What when wrong though? could just a 1MHz step cause the system to be unstable? voltage is 1.2ish ram freq was 266Mhz (now 333Mhz)

[Elysium]

You might want to up the voltage to 1.33V. I have a Pentium D 805 running at 3.1 GHz from 2.66GHz stable at 1.33V.

[OcciferFriendly]

Whoa! Do NOT touch the voltage for a 1 MHz overclock. Just Don't Do It.

Voltage changes for an OC are only for folks that REALLY know what they are doing. Don't touch your voltage. You should not adjust voltage for an OC of 1 MHz.

Depending on your components, sure 1 MHz can cause that. It's rare, but it can happen.

To understand why takes some time. Your PD 915 is not the only thing being overclocked. That 1 MHz change is multiplied by your CPU's multiplier - so it ends up being higher than that for the other overclocked components. Your FSB speed is being increased as well, so that means that your RAM has to be able to handle it. If your RAM is already running at its rated speed, understand that your RAM is being pushed as well during the overclocking process.

To diagnose your problem, you'll need to find out the following:
1) Your mobo model and BIOS. Newest BIOS is not a bad idea.
2) Your cooling situation and current temps. OC = more heat. Can your cooling solution handle it?
3) Your RAM - what kind, how much do you have, what is it rated at? What is it set at now? (Bus/voltage) Are the current settings within spec?
4) Your PCI/PCI-E bus. Some boards will OC things that don't need it when you overclock and leave settings at AUTO. Are these bus speeds correctly set?

Edit: What works for another person with the same exact CPU and mobo and RAM may NOT work for you - every component OC's differently. Just because someone can get an extra gig off of their CPU on air doesn't mean you automatically will as well.

[qazwsx]

ok, i'll list those things to what they were at the time and what they are now.
Then...
1. asrock conroeXfire-eSATA2, AMI bios ver 1.4
2. Stock cooler 45*c normally, up to about 53 load (with just a 1mhz x14 step it couldnt be a heat issue right?)
3. 2x512 mb corsair XMS 667Mhz, running at stock voltage and 266Mhz,
4-4-4-12 timing
4. the PCI/PCI-E bus is set to 32 and is untied to overclocking (made sure)

Now...
1. same
2. Artic cooling frezzer pro 7, 38* normal 45*load
3. running at 333Mhz now, stock voltage, 4-5-5-15 timings
4. Same

EXTRA: I have no control over the CPU voltage and very little over the RAM and chipset, all I can do is change the RAM and chipset from normal voltage to 'High' voltage but I dont know what that is!

[gvblake22]

That is very odd that it won't even let you overclock by one single MHz FSB. Make sure all auto-overclocking features in the board's BIOS are disabled. Also turn off things like EIST, etc.

[qazwsx]

what about spread spectum? Ive heard some say I should take it off and others say it doesnt matter

[qazwsx]

Ive put the ram back to auto (266Mhz), it wasnt running with the best timings so I lowered it and it crashed. Should I set the RAM freq to as low as I can for OC'ing, ive got a free magazine guide (not great) that says 2 but ive neaver heard of it before. Im really stuck here