Hi I just got a Pentium 4 1.6 and a Gigabyte 845g motherboard. I have a Volcano 7+ for cooling and some Mushkin DDR. This is my first time working with a P4. I tried increasing the clock multiplier but that didnt work. Did Intel lock their CPUs? I've read about people OCing their 1.6a to 2.6 ghz. Did they change their clock multiplier or is it just an FSB overclock? I increased my FSB to give my cpu some more speed and decreased the memory and agp/pci bus ratio so I wont stress those components, is there anything else I need to adjust so I won't stress any other components? How much of an overclock can I expect from my 1.6? Also how can I physically tell the difference betweeen the 1.6 and 1.6a? I would appreciate any answers that I can get. Thanks.

You have chosen some pretty good hardware for overclocking. I'm getting the same HSF (hard as hell to obtain, as they're now discontinued by Thermaltake, and I could only find one store that had one left...and the one that's replacing it, the Volcano 9, isn't as good, and looks like sh*t with its peach-colored fan).

The P4s are multiplier-locked, though you will be able to overclock it plenty by upping the FSB. The 1.6 Northie (same as what I've got) runs at 100 by default. It should run well above 133 even with stock cooling. You can even try 166. But here's what I've been reading: often, the overclocked FSB system won't run at "typical" FSB speeds, such as 133 or 166; but it may run fine at, say, 132, 134, 165 or 167. Keep that in mind.

Wait, I just read that you are asking what's the diff between a 1.6 and 1.6a. I'm assuming you don't have the 'a', which are the Northwood cores. I think the normal 1.6 uses the Willamette core, which isn't very good at overclocking. Different core entirely; the W is socket 423, while the Northie is socket 478 (lots more pins).

Hmm, upon further research, I have no idea what motherboard you have. By "845g motherboard", I guess you're simply referring to the Intel chipset that has onboard graphics (which sucks crap, dunno why anyone would actually use it, as it uses your physical RAM as video RAM).

However, the 845G chipset supports Socket 478, which is the Northwood core. What is your mobo's actual model number?

here

all will be revealed (id, cooling, oc, expected results)

if your mobo is socket 478 (and you got the right proc to go with the board) you are in good shape. If it is socket 423 you will be less successful.

I did not see any socket 423 i845G boards on Gigabyte's webpage so you should be ok

make sure either way that you read the above article. good info!

Sorry for being unclear. The motherboard model is the Gigabyte GA-8IGX. I think it does have integrated graphics but it does have an AGP slot which I currently have my Gainward Ti 4200 in. The motherboard is definitely a socket 478. The original reason I built this system was because my neighbor and good friend gave me his old 1.5 socket 478 and then my roomate traded his 1.6 with me. Now I don't know if its a 1.6a or not. Do they make normal socket 478 1.6's? If its a normal 1.6 how much of an overclock can I expect? Thanks for all the replies you have already given me guys. By the way I got my Volcano 7+ off ebay. I think there's still a lot left.

if it fits in the socket 478 mobo then (as far as I know) it is a northy (1.6a). The willamettes (1.6) were not made in a 478 pin configuration.

read the link I posted above.....please. it will answer many of your questions.

Edit: I stand corrected. I have found socket 478 willamettes. back to square one!

Are there any markings on the proc? (if it says 1.6a-that would be a good sign ) If the stamp says 512 cache on it then it is a 1.6a, if the cache is 256 then you have a willamette.

if there are no markings on the chip. you will need to fire it up! the northie should autodetect a core voltage of 1.5v. The willamette at 1.75v. Again the L2 cache will be 512 kb for a northy and 256 kb for a willy.

Hope this helps!

Quote: Originally posted by Coelacanth ...the normal 1.6 uses the Willamette core, which isn't very good at overclocking. Different core entirely; the W is socket 423, while the Northie is socket 478 (lots more pins).

There was your answer. If it's socket 478, it must be a 1.6a Northwood core. Lucky you!

Quote: Originally posted by DaManBlack By the way I got my Volcano 7+ off ebay. I think there's still a lot left.

I had a look on ebay myself for a Volcano 7+, but I found the prices far too expensive. I mean, they were selling for minimum $25 to $35 U.S.! When you include shipping and THEN Canadian exchange, that's close to $60 or more!

I found one at a local store here in Montreal for $45 Canadian, after taxes it'll be just under $50. That's about $30 U.S. or less, all said and done.

To anyone else looking for a Thermaltake Volcano 7+ on ebay: make sure you get one at a good price. I wouldn't pay more than $25 U.S. for one on ebay, cuz shipping will invariably add $10 or so to the amount.

Coel - I think we may have been wrong!

See my edit above...I found a couple references to socket 478 willamettes..

Hmm, that's possible...but I found another source that confirms that all Willamettes, from 1.3 GHz to 1.8 GHz, are all socket 423 (actually derived from the old socket 370, which I wasn't aware of until now). You're definitely correct about the 'only 256K cache' thing. I also found references to Socket 478 Willamettes, also using 1.75V. They may have been available from 1.5 to 2.0 GHz.

It would also seem that Willamettes work on 850 chipsets, meaning only RDRAM could be used. My guess is that the Northwoods will work with either RDRAM or DDR.

Clear as mud, eh?

Yes, I think I just confirmed that by researching Intel's site. The 850 chipset (of course) only uses RDRAM, although it supports Socket 423 and 478.

Anything made by Intel using the 845 series chipset would almost certainly be a Northwood. I would hope. LOL

Well I've been busy tweaking today and I've come to some conclusions. My 1.6 Pentium 4 is a socket 478 running on the 845 chipset. It is a Willamette as it has a voltage of 1.75 and has a 256kb L2 cache. I tried running my FSB at 113 but my comp locked up during 3dMark. The heatsink still felt cool though. What do you guys think I can push my cpu to? I've reached 1.8 so far. Do I need to increase the voltage to my cpu, ddr or agp to get more stability?

Sorry to hear that brother! The Willamette will definately not oc anywhere near the potential of the Northwood.

What you ask us to do is very difficult! Prediction of overclocks always involves a great deal of guesswork.

The ultimate oc depends on a lot of things, the most important being the quality/type of hardware, the cooling system, and the way you hold your tonque on POST.

I cannot even guess what the oc on a Willamette would be as they are not commonly used to oc (which shoud tell you something).

There was someone around here that had one ( Cyphre, Monkey? ) and ended up switching out for a Northwood.

Now you can look at this in two ways: half empty, or half full.

Half empty - You have a proc that likely won't oc too well (but still worth a try).

Half full - you have a fully functional Pentium 4 system running at (at least) 1600 MHz. This will game etc just fine.

If you were hoping to be a serious overclocker you may need to swap out some hardware!

You can check out places like Overclockers.Com and research their CPU Data Base .

I checked and only saw 5 entries for your CPU ranging from 1.7 to 2.2. All were using pretty normal cooling, no water or peltiers. One even had your Mobo I think. Their are other similar websites too.

You might find enlightenment there

lcpiper- good link. but the variables are still huge.

Take for example my proc - the T-bird 1.2.

Based on the info there you could safely say that with a "n" of 865. I should be able to attain speeds somewhere between:

1200 - 2005 MHz with a mean oc of 1418 MHz

That is an 800 MHz spread that is accounted for by countless variables!

I know you know this lc.... I am just pointing out for the noobage!