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Coriolis3
Premium Member
join:2001-03-09
Fredericton, NB

Coriolis3

Premium Member

CpuFsb software -- your opinions please

I have an Intel mobo on one of my machines and have been told it can't really be tweaked, except with software.

I was directed to a software app called CpuFsb (also see a related thread here: »CpuFSB ).

Anyone have experience with this puppy? Is it superior or inferior to SoftFSB?

Machine specs:
PIII 500 MHz
Intel SE440BX-3, 100 MHz FSB ==> would like to see 133 MHz
Coriolis3

Coriolis3

Premium Member

No comments, or opinions? Has anyone ever used this program? What about SoftFSB?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Octavean
MVM
join:2001-03-31
New York, NY

Octavean to Coriolis3

MVM

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Although I have never tried either program I intend to soon. I have ordered a mobo that supports FSB adjustments up to 166MHz (333DDR) in BIOS and I have read that it can be pushed to 200MHz through such software related means. (I would be lucky if it is stable at or near 166 though)

I also have an Intel SE440BX-2 board, which is similar to the SE440BX-3 version. My board will likely be unable to reach a FSB speed above 100MHz and although I am not sure I would say that the same is likely true of yours. OCing on an Intel or Dell board is usually difficult if not impossible but I don’t want to discourage you because just like in the Matrix you may be the ONE.

The way I see it is: if it were that easy everyone and his (or her) mother would be doing it but I don’t think that any harm can come from trying.

Good luck.

Coriolis3
Premium Member
join:2001-03-09
Fredericton, NB

Coriolis3

Premium Member

Thanks for the reply! I'll give it a try eventually -- might wait a bit to see if there any other replies, and in the meantime I'm looking into a better cooling system (currently stock). If it doesn't work I'll look into getting a better mobo that can be tweaked.

crane
Premium Member
join:2000-12-31
Sebastian, FL

crane to Coriolis3

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Try this CpuCool program out.... I played around with it on a an old Intel Orlando board and it did change the FSB.

heres the link »www.podien.onlinehome.de ··· COOL.HTM

fusion101
Liberate My Madness
Premium Member
join:2000-11-13
Ashland City, TN

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I have used this type of program with success. The first thing you need to is open your PC and look for a little chip. It should be very close CPU socket. I use to have the same MOBO, the first 2 characters will begin with WL--- . This chip is what controls the clock freq of your PC which is called the RTC. You also need to {check} that your RTC write protected. You not should be trusting of the new FSB speed at first. Wait a few seconds before you start trying to use many programs. First go into My Computer and see if it the PC crashes. If that does'nt crash you should be OK. If does crash you need more cooling. Another sign you may have the FSB to high, is you may SMELL a weird oder coming from the PC. If the PC crashes soon as you change the FSB unplug the PC from the main power source.

boogietillyapuke
B.O.H.I.C.A.
Premium Member
join:2000-09-14
On Da' Edge

boogietillyapuke to Coriolis3

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Yeah, it worked for deiselcat on the AMD....I also tried to work one of those same software tweeks with LuckyBob on pretty much the same Intel setup as you have...I can't remember if he ever got it cranked or not...he did end up with a new 1.4 bird though.:)

Qmanman9
join:2000-08-17
/home

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SoftFSB, CPUFSB, and CPUCool all are good programs in their own right. I myself would lean toward CPUCool since it combines the functions of CPUFSB and temp monitoring in one simple program. As mentioned above, you are not going to get very far unless you know the model number of you clock gen. chip. If I remember right one or two of the programs above let you choose your chip by motherboard make and model while the other you need to know the model number of your chip. don't guess if your not sure. Again, my vote is for CPUCool.
Bandai$
Premium Member
join:2001-05-11
Earth

Bandai$

Premium Member

Sometimes you can getaway without knowing the clock gen chip if it is a well known board like asus p2b. CPUFSB is on par with softFSB in terms of stability. But it also offer a better range of motherboard support in my opinion. Worth a try.

Coriolis3
Premium Member
join:2001-03-09
Fredericton, NB

Coriolis3

Premium Member

When I bought the machine over two years ago I wasn't particularly concerned with the components (just wanted a desktop computer). But since then, I've become more serious about my hardware... once I started DC'ing

According to SiSoft Sandra the Mobo is the Intel SE440BX-3... but I can't find any product info on it (like, does it support FSB of 133 MHz). I can only find info on the SE440BX-2... I find that odd.

fusion101
Liberate My Madness
Premium Member
join:2000-11-13
Ashland City, TN

fusion101

Premium Member

Crack your open PC; and look for the RTC chip it will have the key piece of information to get you overclocking. Can anyone tell me if what the clock Multiplier is on PIII 500MHz? A 133MHz FSB could be to much to high for a 500MHz CPU. To find what chip speed will get: (Clock Multiplier x FSB)... I am sure that has to close to 800 or 900MHz.

Coriolis3
Premium Member
join:2001-03-09
Fredericton, NB

Coriolis3

Premium Member

Well, I have two "OC projects" on the go now. One with the 500 MHz and another with a 450 MHz. Both are Dell Dimension XPS T-series (both use the SE440BX-3 mobo -- and I did manage to find the info on this board: »Intel SE440BX-3... Does it really exist? ). The 500 MHz is my primary work machine and the 450 MHz is my playing machine, so I'm going to experiment with the T450 first.

Last night I did some prelim work on my PIII 450Mhz -- I haven't made any changes yet, but did find the clock gen chip and got the PLL info, and verified that the FSB range does indeed go to 133.3 MHz. The multiplier is 4.5 (the FSB is 100MHz), hence the stock 450 MHz CPU speed. The max speed I'll be able to get is 4.5*133.3 = 600 MHz.

I'm assuming for now the T500 has the same PLL, and should have a multiplier of 5 (since it also has a FSB of 100 MHz). So I should be able to clock it to 666 MHz if I can get the FSB to 133.3 MHz. But I'll worry about this when I test out the T450.

There's one major drawback to the SE440BX-x mobo -- no CPU temp sensor!! There is a case temp sensor, but I haven't quite figured out how to access it yet. I have MBM5 running on the T450 and it's reading a temp of 41 deg on the "other" sensor that was available, but I don't know for sure it's the case sensor.

Anyway, I ordered an Alpha 1HO-P3 Fan with the Alpha 3125 HS -- so I won't be making any changes until I get it installed!

Also will upgrade both machine to PC133 SDRAM -- which should be sitting on my doorstep in a FedEx package right now.

One question for those familar with CPUFSB -- what the heck are the "Tray Frequencies" for?!?!? I don't quite understand their function, so I'd certainly it if someone could explain.

crane
Premium Member
join:2000-12-31
Sebastian, FL

crane

Premium Member

Cpucool uses tray frequencys.... these are tested,preset frequencys you configure that reside in your programs tray icon. You click on your preset of 133 mhz...BOOM its 133 mhz (thats where the tested by you part comes in) click back on 100 mhz ,you're at 100.
Thats how it works with CPUCool anyway.

Bahamut X
Premium Member
join:2000-12-09
Fort Worth, TX

Bahamut X

Premium Member

Quick question... where do I find the PLL information??

Listening here, downloaded CPU Cool, and need that info!

Coriolis3
Premium Member
join:2001-03-09
Fredericton, NB

Coriolis3

Premium Member

On your mobo, probably near the CPU, you should see a thin metallic chip about 1cm long with rounded sides. It will have the number 14.3xxx Mhz beside it. Near that chip, you'll see a small IC -- get a flashlight (and magnifying glass if you have one on hand) and look at it very closely. It should have a manufacturer tag or imprint and a series of numbers or alphanumeric codes.

Tell me exactly what you see on the chip.

crane
Premium Member
join:2000-12-31
Sebastian, FL

crane to Bahamut X

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If you have SiSoft Sandra...look under mainboard info. Also,CPUCool will ask you to enter your mainboard info (manufacturer&model#) when you run the program the first time.More than likely ,it will pick the right pll if you supply the right info.
As a last resort, or a first resort.......open the case and look for a small oblong shaped thing with the numbers 14.3 stamped into it(crystal oscillator or some thing) right around there is your PLL chip . It is usually about 1/2 inch rectangle with soldered connections on all 4 sides. Look for the letters, IMI,capital"w" for winbond,cypress uses a tree icon. you get the idea. each manufacturer is different. I beleive its the first set of numbers on the chip.
crane

crane

Premium Member

Sorry Coriolis, I shoulda updated my browser before I posted I guess. You had it handled.

Bahamut X
Premium Member
join:2000-12-09
Fort Worth, TX

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Alright.. think I found the chip...

It has on it, as it is on the chip:

14.318M
E 69XUA

that is it...

around this ship are...

I see an Intel chip, the only one with 4 soldered sides...
has a box around it and an arrow saying PCI_CLK_FWH
It is the only visible chip with soldering on all 4 sides. If you need more on the chip I will tell ya, if you think that is what it is...

Coriolis3
Premium Member
join:2001-03-09
Fredericton, NB

Coriolis3

Premium Member

Ok, you found the crystal (the silver oblong thingy). But I don't think the chip you found is your PLL -- perhaps your chipset?

The PLL is right beside the silver oblong chip. It's very small, probably rectanglular --7mm/1.5mm. I don't think Intel manufacture PLLs. There are about six or seven manufacturers of these things: Cypress, Windbond, PLL, IMI, ICS, CMedia and Pericom. RealTek also perhaps... and there's IC Works, but they were bought by Cypress.

Your PLL should identify one of these manufacturers, but perhaps only by their symbol. Let me see if I can get a screen shot of these...
Coriolis3

Coriolis3 to Bahamut X

Premium Member

to Bahamut X
I took this from the CPUFSB manual. You should be able to see the symbol for the manufacturer. Also on the chip will be a set of numbers. Some start with letters W, Y, CY, and often end in letters A, B, H, etc. Have another look to see if you see one of the manufactures above.

Bahamut X
Premium Member
join:2000-12-09
Fort Worth, TX

Bahamut X

Premium Member

Well I believe then that it is ICS, but with a bit more updated logo...

I see ICS in a box and the following out to the side of it:

9250BF-16
0014
CA020032

could this be it?

Coriolis3
Premium Member
join:2001-03-09
Fredericton, NB

Coriolis3

Premium Member

That sounds like it! According to CPUFSB, ICS has a series of PLLs 9250-16A through D. It's very possible the data base I was consulting was not up to date, as I didn't see a 9250BF-16 -- but looks like you're ok with the info you have. Hope this helps.

Bahamut X
Premium Member
join:2000-12-09
Fort Worth, TX

Bahamut X

Premium Member

Alrighty... hope I can climb my clock speed up just a bit

Post back in a sec. with prelim. results

Last note.. using the entry with the 133 FSB speeds... That is what I have a PIII 600 EB (133 bus:) )
Bahamut X

Bahamut X to Coriolis3

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All I can say is ohh well... We tried...

Every time I change the FSB, I have to reboot my computer.. Hard Lock Up, USB dies... totally unresponsive system...

We tried?

Thanks for all your help, too bad it was for naught

Coriolis3
Premium Member
join:2001-03-09
Fredericton, NB

Coriolis3

Premium Member

Hmmm... you couldn't get it above 133? Or it locked up when you set it to your stock settings? If the latter, it might be the PLL... I remember reading that if you select the wrong PLL you won't be able to set the FSB to any frequency. It could be your PLL is not supported yet by CPUCool.

I'm just getting ready to try the first setting (FSB 100 MHz) for my T450. I don't have my new HSF yet, so I probably won't take it past 103 or maybe 112 MHz... but I'll post back in while with those results.

Bahamut X
Premium Member
join:2000-12-09
Fort Worth, TX

Bahamut X

Premium Member

Hopefully soon they will support it.... I wanna ramp mine up a bit

Good luck on popping yours up Corolis!:)

Coriolis3
Premium Member
join:2001-03-09
Fredericton, NB

Coriolis3

Premium Member

Well, so far so good. Here's what I got without any additional cooling -- just the stock fan and heat sink.

Note, I didn't do any extensive testing, but did run the SETI CLI client as "torture" software, since it's the most CPU intensive program I'm running.

The data below show the FSB and PCI frequencies set, the resulting CPU speed (multiplier 4.5), and success for setting the frequency (Set), and success running the CLI.

FSB PCI CPU Set CLI
------------------------------------------
100 MHz 33.3 MHz 450 MHz OK OK
103 MHz 34.3 MHz 464 MHz OK OK
124 MHz 41.3 MHz 558 MHz OK OK
133 MHz 44.4 MHz 600 MHz OK Fail

So, I was able to set the FSB to 124 MHz, giving CPU speed of 558 MHz, and run SETI without any problems. Although I could set the FSB to 133 MHz, giving 600 MHz CPU speed, my puter crashed as soon as I launched the CLI client.

My stupid Mobo has no CPU temp sensor :(, so I'm not sure what temperature effects there were -- but I didn't leave it there long enough to really test it out. I can monitor the case temp, and it didn't change -- not sure whether I believe that or not... but I'll wait till I get my Alpha HSF to do more extensive testing. Also need to figure out how I'm going to monitor CPU temperature.

Oh, for the SETI crowd, I did check my instantaneous processing speed and efficiency with SETISpy at the different settings, and was pleasantly surprised by the improvements at each setting. Although I didn't have it running long enough to "really" test it out, my processing time at 558/124 MHz dropped almost two hours on the WU I was crunching at the time!! Wu Hoo! Probably won't be quite that good, but any improvement is way cool!

Anyway, enough for tonight! :)

crane
Premium Member
join:2000-12-31
Sebastian, FL

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said by Bahamut X:

Every time I change the FSB, I have to reboot my computer.. Hard Lock Up, USB dies... totally unresponsive system...

Just because you have failure with one PLL doesn't mean it won't work....try the next model # PLL on your list of options. It won't hurt anything to try.

Coriolis3
Premium Member
join:2001-03-09
Fredericton, NB

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said by crane:
Cpucool uses tray frequencys.... these are tested,preset frequencys you configure that reside in your programs tray icon. You click on your preset of 133 mhz...BOOM its 133 mhz (thats where the tested by you part comes in) click back on 100 mhz ,you're at 100.
Thats how it works with CPUCool anyway.
Heh, this is what I thought they were for -- at least the instructions more or less gave this impression -- but for some reason my version doesn't seem to be able to use them. Meaning that, nothing happens when I click on them. Oh well, guess it's not that critical.

tswb13
join:2001-03-16
Salem, OR

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im just reading along and have to say this is the best site ever! you guy rock in the help dept!