Stability test?

radTube · Jul 21, 2002, 09:57 AM

I finally got my hands on a m/b that seems pretty overclockable so far (Abit kr7a-133r). Any tips on how I should check if it's stable when I crank up the fsb? Any proggie you'd recommend? And please, no several hour stress tests if possible.

And as I'm not so sure that my vid card is as stable as the rest of the system, the test should only make the system sweat and let my radeon be

.

shuki · Jul 21, 2002, 10:14 AM

oh yeah, kr7a very nice board to OC

recommend sisoft sandra 2k2 for benching. also has "burn in" that you can loop for as long as you want. Loop first 4 tests of 3dmark2k1SE for good video stability test. also "toast" test I can email ya if you want it. just burns in the cpu and is good to monitor stability and temp under load.

is your xp chip unlocked?

and remember, the first step in OCing should be to d/l, install and configure motherboard monitor 5 (MBM 5). post up some temps and volts before moving on....

radTube · Jul 21, 2002, 10:32 AM

Yeah I've already got sisoft sandra on my hd... did'nt install yet though. I think I'll just stay with the winbond hw doctor that came with the mobo for monitoring the 'volts and temps'.

Unlocking my cpu will have to wait until I have enough money to buy something in case I **** it up... and a good hsf of course. I still haven't recovered from killing my first radeon 8500

. I know I can't get the most out of the system if I won't do it but it'll just have to wait.

I'd be more than happy for the 'toast', if you'd like to mail it to yb79@hotmail.com. Thanks for the advice. But now I'm going to quit for the night... going to work in the morning (waking up early on weekends is not fun).

JavaFox · Jul 22, 2002, 06:30 AM

Nope, waking up early on weekends is not fun.

Shuki had some great advice -- if your o/c isn't stable, 3DMark will let you know QUICKLY. Alternatively, I'd run PassMark's BurnInTest (in my opinion, a more full-featured burn in tool than SANDRA), and some programs that you usually run. If you're a Return to Castle Wolfenstein player, for example, play the game for a little. If you're testing your own rig for stability, might as well test it with programs you use. ^_^

radTube · Jul 22, 2002, 09:28 AM

Yeah, playing games is good for testing overall stability... but I think I'm done overclocking for a while. I'll try again when I get the processor unlocked. Not quite yet though. I just had to reinstall windows, because my hdd couldn't cope with the relatively high fsb (165) and some windows system files got corrupted. I really hate installing all these proggies again and again...

Anyway, for the time being I'm pretty happy with my current setup. It's running smooth as silk with an fsb of 158MHz (whereas the same system with the soltek drv2 I was stoopid and poor enough to buy could only do 146 with voltages jumping all around the place). I might be able to go a bit higher if i played around a bit more with the voltages and stuff, but why bother: The rig's running fine, and it's faster than ever

Thanks for the tips guys.

shuki · Jul 22, 2002, 09:32 AM

hey a tip for the future:
get yourself a copy of a good disk image program (disk image 2k2 is what I really like!!!). Then do a clean OS intall. then put on all of your base programs but do NOT put on any games, video or audio drivers. Run windows update and get it all configured the way you like. Then run disk image 2k2 and create an image of your new setup. Then anytime in the future you want a clean OS install you got it. 10 minutes later and you're up and running! not only OS but proggys too

I say no video or audio drivers cause you may just wanna add those later and they can be a pain to uninstall (especially audio!)

Zardon · Jul 22, 2002, 11:00 AM

yes ill agree with shuki, Drive Image 2002 is great, nice support for NTFS as well.

money well spent.

sjohnson · Jul 22, 2002, 05:40 PM

memtest86 is a good burn-in program to use as well. Since it's a standalone floppy-boot program you don't risk disk corruption. Nice for those times when you can post at an FSB that doesn't run windows stably, let's you burn-in at maximum aggressive memory settings. http://www.memtest86.com/

It works well as a burn-in prog, select test all memory and all tests and it will run for a good eight hours before completion.

Jul 21, 2002, 09:57 AM	#1
radTube just keepin' it cool Join Date: May 2002 Location: Finland Posts: 228 Rep Power: 0	Stability test? I finally got my hands on a m/b that seems pretty overclockable so far (Abit kr7a-133r). Any tips on how I should check if it's stable when I crank up the fsb? Any proggie you'd recommend? And please, no several hour stress tests if possible. And as I'm not so sure that my vid card is as stable as the rest of the system, the test should only make the system sweat and let my radeon be . __________________ [color=orange] [/color]

Jul 21, 2002, 10:32 AM	Thread Starter #3
radTube just keepin' it cool Join Date: May 2002 Location: Finland Posts: 228 Rep Power: 0	Yeah I've already got sisoft sandra on my hd... did'nt install yet though. I think I'll just stay with the winbond hw doctor that came with the mobo for monitoring the 'volts and temps'. Unlocking my cpu will have to wait until I have enough money to buy something in case I **** it up... and a good hsf of course. I still haven't recovered from killing my first radeon 8500 . I know I can't get the most out of the system if I won't do it but it'll just have to wait. I'd be more than happy for the 'toast', if you'd like to mail it to yb79@hotmail.com. Thanks for the advice. But now I'm going to quit for the night... going to work in the morning (waking up early on weekends is not fun). __________________ [color=orange] [/color]

Jul 22, 2002, 09:28 AM	Thread Starter #5
radTube just keepin' it cool Join Date: May 2002 Location: Finland Posts: 228 Rep Power: 0	Yeah, playing games is good for testing overall stability... but I think I'm done overclocking for a while. I'll try again when I get the processor unlocked. Not quite yet though. I just had to reinstall windows, because my hdd couldn't cope with the relatively high fsb (165) and some windows system files got corrupted. I really hate installing all these proggies again and again... Anyway, for the time being I'm pretty happy with my current setup. It's running smooth as silk with an fsb of 158MHz (whereas the same system with the soltek drv2 I was stoopid and poor enough to buy could only do 146 with voltages jumping all around the place). I might be able to go a bit higher if i played around a bit more with the voltages and stuff, but why bother: The rig's running fine, and it's faster than ever Thanks for the tips guys. __________________ [color=orange] [/color]

Jul 21, 2002, 10:14 AM	#2
shuki DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: in the hidden place Posts: 1,975 Rep Power: 0	oh yeah, kr7a very nice board to OC recommend sisoft sandra 2k2 for benching. also has "burn in" that you can loop for as long as you want. Loop first 4 tests of 3dmark2k1SE for good video stability test. also "toast" test I can email ya if you want it. just burns in the cpu and is good to monitor stability and temp under load. is your xp chip unlocked? and remember, the first step in OCing should be to d/l, install and configure motherboard monitor 5 (MBM 5). post up some temps and volts before moving on....

Jul 22, 2002, 06:30 AM	#4
JavaFox E Pluribus Unum Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 3,203 Rep Power: 0	Nope, waking up early on weekends is not fun. Shuki had some great advice -- if your o/c isn't stable, 3DMark will let you know QUICKLY. Alternatively, I'd run PassMark's BurnInTest (in my opinion, a more full-featured burn in tool than SANDRA), and some programs that you usually run. If you're a Return to Castle Wolfenstein player, for example, play the game for a little. If you're testing your own rig for stability, might as well test it with programs you use. ^_^

Jul 22, 2002, 09:32 AM	#6
shuki DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: in the hidden place Posts: 1,975 Rep Power: 0	hey a tip for the future: get yourself a copy of a good disk image program (disk image 2k2 is what I really like!!!). Then do a clean OS intall. then put on all of your base programs but do NOT put on any games, video or audio drivers. Run windows update and get it all configured the way you like. Then run disk image 2k2 and create an image of your new setup. Then anytime in the future you want a clean OS install you got it. 10 minutes later and you're up and running! not only OS but proggys too I say no video or audio drivers cause you may just wanna add those later and they can be a pain to uninstall (especially audio!)

Jul 22, 2002, 11:00 AM	#7
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	yes ill agree with shuki, Drive Image 2002 is great, nice support for NTFS as well. money well spent.

Jul 22, 2002, 05:40 PM	#8
sjohnson DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Stewartsville, NJ U.S.A. Posts: 15 Rep Power: 0	memtest86 is a good burn-in program to use as well. Since it's a standalone floppy-boot program you don't risk disk corruption. Nice for those times when you can post at an FSB that doesn't run windows stably, let's you burn-in at maximum aggressive memory settings. http://www.memtest86.com/ It works well as a burn-in prog, select test all memory and all tests and it will run for a good eight hours before completion.