[crunch]

OK, this MSI is all set, just ran pcpitstop with the 1.7GHz CPU and see the default settings underclock it pretty bad. Cause in the BIOS the max FSB is 112. This board was made back when processors common FSB was 100 so 112 was a good overclock in its day. This one does not allow you to change the multiplier, which is auto detected so upping the bus is all its got. At 112 the PCI is 37. This one is older than yours so may not work as well as yours. This is the pitstop results before Flashing the BIOS to upgrade.


BIOS Award Software International, Inc. 6.00 PG 10/03/2002
System Board Seanix MS-6340(VT8363) N/A
ProcessorDescription Your Results
Brand/Model AMD Athlon XP
Nominal Clock Speed 1232 MHz
Measured Clock Speed 1232 MHz
External Clock Speed 112 MHz
CPU Load 0%
Speed Rating 3634 (No similar CPU/MHz)

Notice the date of the BIOS version 6.0, there is a new one that came out in 2005 version 6.13 for 2.6 CPUs and XP 64 plus other fixes. This board is a MS-6340 rev 5.0 yours is MS-6577 rev ?.? Let me know what you got and the BIOS brand and number you see immediately after turning on.

Edited by crunch, 21 October 2006 - 08:22 PM.

[Advertisements]

Well, I went ahead and did it, flashed and got the 2.6GHz to boot, but can still guide you. This is for those watching as well. I will place my comment after the pcpitstop results that I'm going to post now, so they will be close to previous post for comparisions, above is before and below is after, without CPUCOOL yet.This is to show you about MSI, OK!



Type Desktop
Serial Number N/A
BIOS Award Software International, Inc. 6.30 PG 11/02/2005
System Board Seanix MS-6340(VT8363) N/A
ProcessorDescription Your Results
Brand/Model AMD Athlon XP 2600+
Nominal Clock Speed 2133 MHz
Measured Clock Speed 2133 MHz
External Clock Speed 133 MHz
CPU Load 0%
Speed Rating 6288 (104% of 654 similar)
Memory ConfigurationDescription Results
RAM installed 1024 MB
Windows RAM 1016 MB
Total RAM slots 2
Available RAM slots 0
Max RAM module size 256 MB
Memory Type 512+512;DIMM,Unknown,;T16
Speed Rating 5309 MB/s (101% of 654 similar)


my screen at boot now shows BIOS version 6.3 instead of 6.0 though called 6.13 on msi. I was now able to clock up to 133 and drop PCI back to very stable 33. So this board is not a good overclocker for a large CPU but with CPUs from its era it can haul [bleep] now. ie a Duron 1.8 could easily get clocked past 2.016GHz thats at the mild 112 FSB. You can be harder on a duron so 117 with a good cooler would be 2.106GHz. With the BIOS flash I was able to lower PCI alot. And it would not even boot with the 2.6 athlon prior to flashing, with black monitor I thought the CPU was dead at first. I still can't change the multiplier just FSB. The 2.6GHz multiplier is auto detected at 16 and on the 1.7 it was 11! SO!!! We went from 1.232GHz to 2.133GHz, nearly doubled the pitstop CPU speed rating to 6288mb per second before was 3634. This increased overall score alot. Anyway this OLDer than yours board and AMD CPU don't clock by the multiplier. After flashing most newer boards there will be many FSB options above factory specs for the CPU.

You have a great 478 CPU, love that cache size, OC around 100 degrees. With ALOT OF HIGH SPEED FSB AVAILIBLE!!! This IS ABOUT YOUR CPU below. SWEET !!!
SEE THIS:
Intel P4 CPU's that end with the letter 'A' are designed to run at 400-MHz system bus. CPU's that end with the letter 'B' are designed to run at 533-MHz. And newer CPU's that end with the letter 'C' run at 800-MHz system bus.
The Northwood's smaller transistors are able to switch faster and generate less heat than previous, hotter-running P4s. This allows the Northwood P4 to reach higher clock-rates than its larger, Williamette-based P4 cousin. Note Chris' comments from his Northwood review at GamePC:

Northwood runs extremely cool, considering its massive clock speeds. With the retail Pentium 4 cooler, at a default clock speed of 2000 MHz, the Northwood maxed out a temperature of 89.5°F. In comparison, our Willamette P4 ran well over 100°F.
Northwood P4s overclock well, especially with their lower (1.5v default) voltage. Lower voltage means reduced power consumption and less heat generated, which translates into improved stability

Preliminary reviews indicate that a 2.0GHz Northwood P4 has a good chance of reaching (being overclocked to) 2.5GHz, which corresponds to an increase of 25% over the default clockrate. The 1.6GHz denomination is virtually assured to reach 2.1GHz.

In terms of overclockability, this makes the Northwood P4 (especially the 1.6A) another Celeron 300a. The C300a was a legendary Intel CPU of yore, known for its ease of stable overclocking, rendering $500 performance for ~$125. People are already referring to the 1.6A (~$138) at the new Dancing Queen, cuz it does the dance (overclocks) so reliably to speeds averaging 2.3GHz.

DON"T THIS MAKE YOUR DAY..... You got a cool runner, keep core voltage at 1.5, get up to 25% increase, I told you celerons kick butt,and you got the new version of one. I stay under 120 degrees, you should have no problem at that!!!
Just got to get it found and keep PCI under 37. need to here from you if you want more help or incouragement, also still reviewing software clocking.

[crunch]

Well, I went ahead and did it, flashed and got the 2.6GHz to boot, but can still guide you. This is for those watching as well. I will place my comment after the pcpitstop results that I'm going to post now, so they will be close to previous post for comparisions, above is before and below is after, without CPUCOOL yet.This is to show you about MSI, OK!



Type Desktop
Serial Number N/A
BIOS Award Software International, Inc. 6.30 PG 11/02/2005
System Board Seanix MS-6340(VT8363) N/A
ProcessorDescription Your Results
Brand/Model AMD Athlon XP 2600+
Nominal Clock Speed 2133 MHz
Measured Clock Speed 2133 MHz
External Clock Speed 133 MHz
CPU Load 0%
Speed Rating 6288 (104% of 654 similar)
Memory ConfigurationDescription Results
RAM installed 1024 MB
Windows RAM 1016 MB
Total RAM slots 2
Available RAM slots 0
Max RAM module size 256 MB
Memory Type 512+512;DIMM,Unknown,;T16
Speed Rating 5309 MB/s (101% of 654 similar)


my screen at boot now shows BIOS version 6.3 instead of 6.0 though called 6.13 on msi. I was now able to clock up to 133 and drop PCI back to very stable 33. So this board is not a good overclocker for a large CPU but with CPUs from its era it can haul [bleep] now. ie a Duron 1.8 could easily get clocked past 2.016GHz thats at the mild 112 FSB. You can be harder on a duron so 117 with a good cooler would be 2.106GHz. With the BIOS flash I was able to lower PCI alot. And it would not even boot with the 2.6 athlon prior to flashing, with black monitor I thought the CPU was dead at first. I still can't change the multiplier just FSB. The 2.6GHz multiplier is auto detected at 16 and on the 1.7 it was 11! SO!!! We went from 1.232GHz to 2.133GHz, nearly doubled the pitstop CPU speed rating to 6288mb per second before was 3634. This increased overall score alot. Anyway this OLDer than yours board and AMD CPU don't clock by the multiplier. After flashing most newer boards there will be many FSB options above factory specs for the CPU.

You have a great 478 CPU, love that cache size, OC around 100 degrees. With ALOT OF HIGH SPEED FSB AVAILIBLE!!! This IS ABOUT YOUR CPU below. SWEET !!!
SEE THIS:
Intel P4 CPU's that end with the letter 'A' are designed to run at 400-MHz system bus. CPU's that end with the letter 'B' are designed to run at 533-MHz. And newer CPU's that end with the letter 'C' run at 800-MHz system bus.
The Northwood's smaller transistors are able to switch faster and generate less heat than previous, hotter-running P4s. This allows the Northwood P4 to reach higher clock-rates than its larger, Williamette-based P4 cousin. Note Chris' comments from his Northwood review at GamePC:

Northwood runs extremely cool, considering its massive clock speeds. With the retail Pentium 4 cooler, at a default clock speed of 2000 MHz, the Northwood maxed out a temperature of 89.5°F. In comparison, our Willamette P4 ran well over 100°F.
Northwood P4s overclock well, especially with their lower (1.5v default) voltage. Lower voltage means reduced power consumption and less heat generated, which translates into improved stability

Preliminary reviews indicate that a 2.0GHz Northwood P4 has a good chance of reaching (being overclocked to) 2.5GHz, which corresponds to an increase of 25% over the default clockrate. The 1.6GHz denomination is virtually assured to reach 2.1GHz.

In terms of overclockability, this makes the Northwood P4 (especially the 1.6A) another Celeron 300a. The C300a was a legendary Intel CPU of yore, known for its ease of stable overclocking, rendering $500 performance for ~$125. People are already referring to the 1.6A (~$138) at the new Dancing Queen, cuz it does the dance (overclocks) so reliably to speeds averaging 2.3GHz.

DON"T THIS MAKE YOUR DAY..... You got a cool runner, keep core voltage at 1.5, get up to 25% increase, I told you celerons kick butt,and you got the new version of one. I stay under 120 degrees, you should have no problem at that!!!
Just got to get it found and keep PCI under 37. need to here from you if you want more help or incouragement, also still reviewing software clocking.

[crunch]

OK, now have finished testing the CPUcooler software. IT"s very important to identify your IC chips to prevent damage!!! Results showed higher clocking along with drastic increases to PCI speed. Could only use 4 steps up, and that was a PCI of 37.5 next step up was PCI of 40 and instant crash!!!! BLACK SCREEN!!! but PC still on! Had to pull cord and run recovery. An AMD 2600+ will run over 2.6GHz but not on this OLD Microstar board. ASUS has no problem overclocking it. Will check Manual about unlocking your FSB/multiplier. Here is best results after using CPUcooler.


System Board Seanix MS-6340(VT8363) N/A
ProcessorDescription Your Results
Brand/Model AMD Athlon XP 2600+
Nominal Clock Speed 2133 MHz
Measured Clock Speed 2300 MHz
External Clock Speed 133 MHz
CPU Load 0%
Speed Rating 6861 (No similar CPU/MHz)
Memory ConfigurationDescription Results
RAM installed 1024 MB
Windows RAM 1016 MB
Total RAM slots 2
Available RAM slots 0
Max RAM module size 256 MB
Memory Type 512+512;DIMM,Unknown,;T16
Speed Rating 5781 MB/s (No similar CPU/MHz)
PC PitstopSpeed rating is measured in megabytes per second


It definantly added 200MHz to the CPU and got highest score at this maximum tweak level. BUT CPU Felt much hotter and reboot to BIOS showed increase from 94 degrees at sustained 2.133 to 122 degrees in 30 minutes of running at that speed of just over 2.300, This was wide open laying on the bench with three fans blowing on it. The CPUCOOLER monitor was way off on temperature showing only 80 degrees. Due to the 37.5 PCI and heat I would back off two steps if it's in a case and normal operating time lengths..temps were too high on RAM also running PC133 got increased to 145 BUS. THIS EFFECT ON RAM AND PCI COULD NOT BE RECOMMENDED BY ME!!!

[-OCM770-]

WQait a second please, i am not really understanding all this, I am running a Pentium 4 so why did you mention AMD on post#16? and my BIOS is a 6.00 version, i think phoenix or AWARD, i'll check it and post back.


-OCM770-

[crunch]

Yup! you have alot better processor. I was just trying to get on the same page as you with a MSI motherboard and 2.6 processor. To search for BIOS flash and hope for similar chip sets and BIOS brand. ie your clocking IC chip is probably a cypress. To see how software effects them. Would be pointless to walk through with different brand mobos that definantly have different BIOS. But it appears we may have vey like BIOS. As I originally mentioned an AMD is a tough one to OC unlike the Intel Pentium, Celeron type. BUT, it did refresh me on browsing through microstar and their flashing, I did it the old way with a boot image on a floppy. I'm going to take a random guess at your MS-6577 rev number to see what's available for newer flashes and get a manual for unlocking FSB and multiplier. Since we both had 6.0 BIOS which is an original, there should be an update for fixes and upgrades to your board.

[crunch]

i believe this is your board.

Motherboard specifications table
Part/Feature Specification/Support
Motherboard Description Motherboard manufacturer's name: MS-6577 v3.1
Pavilion/Compaq name: Neon

System BIOS supplier Phoenix
Form factor µatx 9.6 inches x 9.1 inches
Processor brand Pentium4
Processor socket type 478
Processor family Intel Celeron, Pentium 4 HT processor
Processor front side bus frequency 400/533 MHz
Maximum approved processor 2.80 GHz Celeron processor, 3.06 GHz Pentium 4-HT
Chipset name Intel i845
Chipset "North Bridge" Intel i845GE
Chipset "South Bridge" Intel ICH4
Memory type DDR
Memory speed PC 2700
Memory sockets 2 DDR-DIMM
Maximum Memory 1.0 GB
Graphics Intel Extreme Graphics with Direct AGP
Graphics configuration Down
Onboard graphics memory Up to 64 MB adjustable in BIOS
Graphics connector (AGP) YES
TV-Out device YES
Audio Integrated AC97 Audio
Audio Jacks ( Legend below ) M, LI, LO, Headphone connector
Ethernet 10/100 LAN supplier RealTek RTL8101L
Ethernet configuration integrated, Down
IE 1394 Front/Back Options 1F + 1B
IDE UDMA modes 2 x UDMA 100/66/33
Expansion slots (AGP/PCI/Exten) One AGP, three PCI
USB ports 2F + 4B
Serial, parallel, floppy, PS2 keyboard and mouse 1S,1P,1F,PS2 K+M
Available manufacturing options ( Legend below ) G,L,E,6


see photo attached, let me know.

[crunch]

This is a BIOS flash I found that fits your PC description, check your BIOS date when you turn on. a flash may not be neccessry but I see this one is very current and mentions "updates Intel processor microcode"



BIOS Update for MS-6577 Motherboard
Compaq Presario SR1020LA Desktop PC

Release Date: 2005-05-11

Description

This is a BIOS update for MS-6577 motherboard.

Purpose: Recommended Update

Operating System:
Windows XP Home
Windows XP Professional

Fixes

Resolves startup issue with iPod.

Updates Intel processor microcode.

Resolves issue entering hibernation.

Adds HP SMART hard drive diagnostic feature.




NOTE TO : WANNABE, stop me at anytime


This photo is my motherboard, look familiar?

Edited by crunch, 22 October 2006 - 02:01 PM.

[-OCM770-]

yes, i am running v. 6.00PG and ill post more info later, got ot go NOW!. see you later, thanks for the help crunch, you are great computer tech.


-OCM770-

[-OCM770-]

Ok, i am back, i am using Phoneix, AWARD BIOS v. 6.00PG (note i am on spanish version xp, don't think it matters though).
Yes, i guess that is my motherboard, and i don't want to open the case, my dad wont let me, just leave that part there please. so how do i overclock?


-OCM770-

[crunch]

OK, there are some problems then. Yes, I was able to identify your BIOS chip from the photo that I'm 99% sure is a match to your's. Looks just like the one on this test board and they had same BIOS version number. Doesn't mean they were identical. Just that they came out at same time and contain same basic instructions, shape and size and were both made by Pheonix that is now Award so after flashing the name will probably change to Award. Since you can't open it up to do several things needed (1. confirm board number. 2. identify brand of IC chip that controls CPU speed located by the 14.3 crystal. (needed for software clocking) 3. Check BIOS unlock jumper so they can be flashed. 4. look near the RAM slots for a jumper to change FSB. 5. Check for "jen jumper" to allow Clocking in BIOS.) DON'T OPEN IT UP AND PISS YOUR DAD OFF! IT'S POSSIBLE TO KNOCK OFF OR UNPLUG A WIRE. WORSE YET DROP SOMETHING IN OR CAUSE A STATIC SHORT. Stay out of it for now there is another way around. Let's take this one step at a time. I have found a live BIOS flash for it if we confirm your board and deem neccessary. The BIOS flash is accumulative, so it contains ALL fixes from 2002 through current, not just the most recent fixes and updates listed, also others such as ability for
xp64, vidio, sound, IE, anti-virus, lockups, etc.
I need you to do what I did to scan your PC on "PCPITSTOP" then copy and paste to here, if you can. If not able to, you can send mail directly out of pcpitstop to me. We would just need to PM you my email.
1. Open "add reply" here, if underlined link works open 2 pages here, so (two windows) are ready.
2. If it doesn't click and open here, open "internet explore" at top of IE try putting all this in the address
bar, see if it takes you to pitstop full test screen:
http://www.google.co...h7xPw0RquvFlUo=
3. Or else google for it, When you get there click the "new member key". Next screen click "Don't create an account". next
screen click "Let's Go" then "allow to install scanning system" then allow to "gather information".
Unblock if it picks up your firewall, also Norton will mess with it, just follow the instructions. It can be
deleted afterwards if you want. you'll like watching this. Then enter your connection info, something
like this:
This computer is used at:
UnknownWorkHomeBoth
Connected to the Internet via:
UnknownDial-upISDNDSLCableT1T3 or FasterSatellite
And speeds, like (512 downloads and 300 uploads if 512 DSL)
THEN PRESS "GO" at bottom
4. select "test details" in the yellow box upper right.
5. scroll way down to heading "main board" copy and paste eveything from "main board' down
through "memory configuration" to the reply you opened here. Then add the reply so I can confirm
what we are working on.
Next we will try to look at your existing BIOS. If we resort to downloading software clocking, I will get IC chip info.

By the way, I am old school, EVERYTHING IS PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL TO ME! Therefore I am the "hardware guy" (tools, solder, electricity, uh,uh,uh) if you need help with what can not be seen, ie programming and software, you need "WANNABE" the KING of programming or KEITH or one of the many others. Building them is my area.......

[crunch]

Very simple BIOS flash with MSI "LIVE FLASH"

* Installation Instructions*

1. Download the BIOS update.
2. Double-click the BIOS update icon, and then click NEXT.
3. Accept the license terms, and then click NEXT.
4. If an Overwrite Protection message appears, click YES TO ALL.
5. Click OK at the Windows Based BIOS Update window.
6. Click YES at the next Windows Based BIOS Update window, and then wait for the update to complete.
7. At the Windows Based BIOS Update window, click YES to restart your PC.
8. If you see the following message during the restart of your PC, continue with the remaining steps; otherwise you are done with the update.

Default BIOS settings have been loaded due to BIOS update or checksum issue.
Press to enter Setup. Otherwise, allow the PC to continue.

9. Press and hold F1 for a few seconds to open the BIOS Setup. (Note from crunch: browse these BIOS for clocking)
10. Press F5 for a few seconds, choose YES, and then press Enter to load the BIOS defaults. (Use the arrow keys to choose YES, if necessary.) *note from crunch- do F5 first to make sure it boots fine, then come back again to tweak and save changes.*
11. Press F10 for a few seconds, choose YES, and then press Enter to exit the BIOS Setup and save your changes. (Use the arrow keys to choose YES, if necessary.)
12. Press Enter to confirm the save.
13. If you see a System Settings Change message prompting you to restart your PC, click YES to restart the PC again.

* Note from crunch:When done, Check "save changes and exit" if you altered default settings to make improvements (like increase FSB to highest level till PCI reaches 37 or set dram to manual and cas latency to 2, can be undone later.*
That's all there seems to be to a live flash, many changes can be made from default to improve and are desribed in book and on screen. Clocking ,graphics, latency, wake methods, saftey shutdowns, monitors, quick boot, and much more. Will get you the flash when /if needed.

Edited by crunch, 24 October 2006 - 11:37 PM.

[crunch]

ATTENTION EVERYONE!!!!!

I downloaded a manual for this young mans computer from this site...IT CONTAINED A VIRUS!!!
It's been a nasty one, has disabled "Ad-aware, Malware sweeper, and completely illiminated firewalls" Microsoft was unable to repair firewalls of either method. AVG caught it coming in but did not prevent it. Now AVG picks up half dozen "Trojans" 4 scans a day. Stay out of the following site: http://www.plexxa.co...crostar_ms_6577 Fought it since sunday night, also blocked all restore points prior to sunday night. Both malware and adaware could not scan nor get updates. Appears all is fine now after reinstalling those downloads and reinstalling the OS.

I'm ready to continue.

[-OCM770-]

Here's the PC Pitstop results.

Main BoardDescription Your Results
Brand/Model Compaq Presario 061 DW283A-ABM SR1020L LA510
Type Desktop
Serial Number MXK4251VW3
BIOS Phoenix Technologies, LTD 3.10 04/15/2004
System Board MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD Gamila/Giovani/Neon series 030
ProcessorDescription Your Results
Brand/Model Intel Pentium 4
Nominal Clock Speed 2600 MHz
Measured Clock Speed 2600 MHz
External Clock Speed 100 MHz
CPU Load Not tested (-2)
Speed Rating 3279 (90% of 1595 similar)
Memory ConfigurationDescription Results
RAM installed 256 MB
Windows RAM 248 MB
Total RAM slots 2
Available RAM slots 1
Max RAM module size 1024 MB
Memory Type 256+0;DIMM,SDRAM,|Synchronous;T16
Speed Rating 4746 MB/s (82% of 1595 similar)


-OCM770-

[crunch]

OK, that didn't turn out well at all. No board rev. number and your CPU speed score sucks. Yet it clocked at 2600 and it is factory rated for 2600. Your Speed Rating 3279 mb per second. Look back at my test board's 2600 underclocked at 2300 Speed Rating 6861 mb/second (No similar CPU/MHz). I got your board listing from Compaq, which said it's a MS-6577 and BIOS flashes availible from both Compaq and MSI. Since Microstar special built them for Compaq and HP they are not listed in the retail boards listing by their name or number. They can also be found by looking up the north bridge chip Intel i845GE. and Neon. specs for it show 400 and 533 FSB and 266 and higher RAM speed. PC2100 or PC2700. You are short on RAM!!! RAM is your best bang for the buck. Your processor is the DANCER and RAM is the DANCE FLOOR. WITHOUT ROOM TO DANCE, YOU CAN"T DANCE!!! You have more than twice the FSB and RAM speed and twice the CPU cache as this old MSI test board. There's some problems why you scored half.
1. You need to do some serious cleaning. Shut off unneccessry programs with task manage, or msconfig,or crap cleaner and tweak now. From> downloads.com <get for free about eight things. one (ad aware) two (tweak now) three (AVG free) four (spybot) five (spyblaster) six (crap cleaner) use two parts to it "clean" and "scan/fix issues", seven (Malware sweeper) eight (ewido) , after running all those (TWICE) some might remove the other so you got to put them back in again till you learn what to block, ie malware takes out ad aware(lavasoft). THEN go to system tools and do disk cleanup then defrag three times.
2. If you can get in BIOS,by pressing delete or F1 at start, found two versions so not sure, (maybe Grant could download the manual from plexxa.com for us) if advanced is left to right, use side arrow to advanced then >enter, tab down to CPU host or BUS speed and if it's dark try to change it higher a few, if light grey you can't. other BIOS version, open then tab down to frequency/voltage > enter go down to CPU HOST press enter and change from default to something a few higher than the lowest. Then Esc > go to save and exit. Exit and boot to desktop. Right click "my computer" then left click "properties" see what your CPU and RAM show.
3. Confirm pcpitstop's FSB error by using http://www.powerleap.com/InSPECS.html copy and paste the processor and mother board section on the left from there to here again.
4. next we will do a software download for clocking. Without the IC clocking chip ID CPUCOOL is risky. there are others. Perhaps inspecs will enlighten us, or we can go from the north bridge ID. Even with your higher speed processor and RAM we still have to keep PCI speed below 38.
5. RAM,RAM,RAM, You gotta open it up to put more RAM in (ya can't slide it in the floppy you have an empty slot in there for more. it's cheap. When in there ya could ID three chips and number off board, BUT DON"T GIVE IN TO THE DARK SIDE, STAY OUT OF IT
Maybe a reader has one and can peek in for us, I'll post elsewhere to find out. it's kind of fun not being able to look inside but since it was made in 2002, there is quite a buildup of dirt in there (they are vacume cleaners) DIRT MAKES HEAT, HEAT KILLS!!!

check out proper instalations and cleaning methods in this informative vidio on how to do a professional job. has sound turn it on CRUNCH

[crunch]

When you get results on inspecs, press tab at top called processor and copy information about your CPU from there.