What'd I just do to my computer?

Factual Questions
1

Ok. I was testing various multi and fsb combinations on my new nf7-s 2.0, 1700+ system.

I was running at 225x9.5 (2137) at 1.825v but was getting prime95 errors. According to winbond hardware doctor, my board undervolts by about .03-.04 volts, so I figured it was safe to bump the voltage up to 1.9.

Well, the system posts, and then starts to load the OS selection menu - and then there was a blue screen for about a quarter second. I couldn’t read it.

All my lights (MB lights, cdrom, power, HD drive) stayed on and the fans kept running. I gave it a few seconds and then hit the power off button. After a few seconds, something clicked over and my fans started running at minimum RPM or something. Then I smelled something burning. (yikes)

So I try to turn it off with the power button, doesn’t work. I yanked the power cord off the back. System shuts down. I give a minute or two, and look to see if I can see any physical damage on anything. Looks fine. I figure I might as well see if it posts. So I plug it back in, hit the power button - and bingo, it posts.

I, of course, yank the voltage back down to where it was and put it back to it’s previous good settings (225x9). Well, everything seems to be working fine, except that prime95 doesn’t survive for a minute with the settings where it was previously solid.

I reduced the system to 200x10 to give it some breathing room, and prime95 is running totally stable.

Did I partially fry my CPU, or something? Is that even possible? Should I yank the sink off and look for physical damage? Is there any harm to running my system right now?

2

My best guess is that you may have weakened some component (it’s hard to say which one, of course) with heat damage. Your system may be less stable than it was previously, but it should be fine if you leave it running at the 200x10 setting. I’d keep running Prime95 (I assume it’s some sort of benchmark or diagnostic program - I’m not familiar with it) once a week or so and make sure things don’t become more unstable over time. Checking for physical damage might not be a bad idea, either.

Keep in mind that when I say this is my “best guess,” I mean it - I’m just making an educated guess based on what you’ve written. So please don’t sue me if your system bursts into flames, OK? :smiley:

3

I should probably also add that this is exactly why I never mess around with overclocking. IMHO it’s just not worth sacrificing system stability for a performance boost of a few percent. If I really want a faster system I’ll shell out the extra bucks for components rated for that speed. In almost all cases the performance boost isn’t even visible to human eyes. And really, what’s the big deal about going from 200 to 210 frames per second in a game, or 5 minutes vs. 4.9 running some Photoshop filter or something?

4

SenorBeef: It’s quite possible that the CPU was damaged in a fashion that would allow it to run at a lower speed, but not at a previously successfull speed. Its also possible that the smell you detected came from the motherboard or power supply. It’s very important when overclocking, especially when raising the voltage significantly, that you pay attention to the CPU temperatures. The CPU should stay under 60C at all times, preferably under 50.

pestie: When done carefully, the risk from overclocking is generally low, for a possibly large performance gain. Going from the a $70 1700+ processor to the equivalent of a $300 3000+ processor does provide significant performance gains, especially in anything CPU dependent. In your example, shaving two minutes off some random 5-minute Photoshop filter.

5

I presume “1700+” refers to an Athlon 1700XP, but I am not familar with “nf7-s 2.0.” Anyway, it seems to be rather implausible to overclock from 1700XP to 3000XP. If you are talking about the older 1.7GHz, possibly.

6

Urban Ranger: That’s the Abit NF7-S v2.0 motherboard, based on the nVidia nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset. And average overclock on a new stepping Athlon XP 1700+ is around 2300-2400Mhz using high-end aircooling (lucky, lucky people get up to 2600Mhz). Even at 2.1Ghz, you’ll achieve a PR rating of around 2900+ by taking advantage of high FSB speeds. It is theoretically possible to achieve a PR rating of 3400+ on an XP 1700+ DLT3C JIUHB, using high end air cooling and a high FSB, making this one of the first CPUs in a long time to allow the possibility of a 100% overclock.

7

Yes, it’s not just a few percentage points. My system default is 133x11 1.47 ghz, and I’m taking it to like 225x9.5 2.13 ghz (or higher when my thermal grease sets in some). It’s a HUGE increase in performance.

Btw, if anyone is interested, it’s a 1700 DLT3C JIHUB 0310:WPMW chip with a silvery core that has hints of purple. It should go higher than it has for me, but I still have some time to work with it.

In fact, I’m hopeful, because my system idle temp last night was 52-54c, and now it seems to be 46c. Maybe the thermal grease set in a bit.

Oh, also, prime95 is a prime number calculating program. It has a torture test mode that maxes out your CPU to it’s fullest potential as far as load/usage. If something can survive prime95 with no errors, then it can survive just about anything. So it makes a good test to see if your system is stable at any given speed.

Since my system is working fine, all the voltages are as they were, and the cpu is generating no errors, I’m going to assume that no permanent damage was done. I’m loathe to check the cpu physically, because I’d have to yank the board out of the case and that’s a very irritating process on this case.

8

SenorBeef: I should clarify, the Abit NF7-S hardware monitoring has a bug where CPU Vcore voltage is underreported. You can usually safely assume that CPU Vcore is at about what you set it to, unless your PSU is being stressed. You might check your +5V and +12V voltages to be sure they aren’t overloaded.

Might I ask what cooling you’re using? I was planning on buying one of those CPUs, and was really hoping to get a lot more out of it than 2.1Ghz.

9

Thermalright AX-7 with a thermaltake smartfan 2 (generally running at max for stability testing).

You probably will get more than 2.1… people are on average. I think I went too far too fast and tried to stress it way too hard in the first 24 hours. I gave it a 10 or 12 hour rest today, and my temps are down by 5-6c. I think the thermal paste settled in a bit. I haven’t tried to OC it yet, but I’d imagine I can go higher now.