Mobile locked or unlocked

[Titan151]

Hi,

It seems like the other day I coultn't avoid a stepping guide. Today I can't find one to save my life. I am thinking of getting an XP 2600 mobile. Does anyone now if this is locked or unlocked. Or, could someone provide a link to a stepping guide.

Thanks


http://www.newegg.com/app/searchProd...1&srchFor=2600

[8-Ball]

Not really a "liquid and phase change high end cooling discussion" is it?

Sorry, can't really help.

8-ball

[BalefireX]

Yes, it is unlocked. All AMD mobile processors feature PowerNow Technology, which is on the fly multiplier adjustment to reduce heat output when the processor is under low load. All of this information can me found at www.amd.com

[Titan151]

Originally Posted by BalefireX

Yes, it is unlocked. All AMD mobile processors feature PowerNow Technology, which is on the fly multiplier adjustment to reduce heat output when the processor is under low load. All of this information can me found at www.amd.com

Thanks a bunch,

I was under the impression that this was the case but just wanted to make sure. Sorry for posting in this section of the forum, but I value the opinions of the users of this website much more then many other unmentioned ones. It's just that it takes an act of God to get a response some times ! Thanks again.

[bigben2k]

Here's a link to an article, by someone(in)famous, on the very same topic: http://www.computerpoweruser.com/edi...B93D1FADB0F336

Also, http://www.techtastic.ca/reviews3/mo...rton-2500.html

[Titan151]

got one on the way from the New Egg!

[bobkoure]

The best set of forums I've run into for answering AMD questions is AMDMB - now renamed PCper.
FWIW, I've bought three XP-mobile 2600s from NewEgg - the slowest one is running 200x12.5 - and they all needed relatively minimal voltage to get there (1.6 to 1.7V), so you're probably not going to be generating as much heat as whatever you're overclocking with now. This is about as close to on-topic-for-procooling as I can get this.
I assume you're going to be using a nvidia chipset motherboard to overclock with? There have been multiplier issues (essentially one bit missing) with some of them - most notably the Asus A7N8X series, so you'll find yourself limited to multipliers of 12.5 or lower. There's a "wire trick" to get around this - or you could just pick a motherboard without the problem. Go read up on AMDMB if this sounds unfamiliar.
Overclocking any processor is a crapshoot, of course, but I either got lucky or the XP-M 2600s are pretty much all good.
Bob
PS: Yow - just went to Newegg, wondering how much these processors are now (always a bit depressing when you see how much you could have saved by waiting six months or a year). The price has actually gone up a couple of dollars. Guess the word got out about these...

[Titan151]

Thanks for the info. I should be gettin it sometime on Tuesday. As for the mobo issue, you are correct. I have an Asus Deluxe E mobo. I have read of several issues with this board and mobile CPU's. I can always try out the wire trick if needed. I want to get a high fsb with 12.5. After that I will have to see.

[Butcher]

I have a XP-M 2500+ and it overclocks to over 2600MHz - it seems all the mobiles are good clockers. Plus the 2500+ puts out just 35W at stock clock/voltage which is way below a standard 2500+ (they are nearer 70W).

[bigben2k]

Originally Posted by Butcher

I have a XP-M 2500+ and it overclocks to over 2600MHz - it seems all the mobiles are good clockers. Plus the 2500+ puts out just 35W at stock clock/voltage which is way below a standard 2500+ (they are nearer 70W).

Yeah, I wonder what the drawback is: there's got to be one.

[Butcher]

It seems to be cost, largely. I guess they get lower yields due to the lower nominal voltage.

[kronchev]

Originally Posted by Butcher

It seems to be cost, largely. I guess they get lower yields due to the lower nominal voltage.

they take the silicon from the inside of the wafers, so yes lower yield

[kronchev]

Originally Posted by Butcher

I have a XP-M 2500+ and it overclocks to over 2600MHz - it seems all the mobiles are good clockers. Plus the 2500+ puts out just 35W at stock clock/voltage which is way below a standard 2500+ (they are nearer 70W).

both of my 2400+'s were unstable at anything higher than 2.3 ghz

[bobkoure]

Originally Posted by Titan151

... I have an Asus Deluxe E mobo. ... I want to get a high fsb

I've read that the secret to getting higher-than-200MHz fsb working stably with these boards is putting heat sinks on the mosfets.
I'm currently using a pre-E Dlx, but, although I've put a heatsink on these (and removed/replaced the chipset heatsink, looked flat so just AS5) I'm still sticking with 200x12.5 as I want stable - I use this machine for coding and would be really annoyed at a bluescreen. Oh - the memory I've got won't run at 6-2-2-2 past about 203MHz - that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it
Anyway, if they haven't changed the layout for the E, the mosfets are all in a square and the tops are level with each other. If you've got an old socket 7 heatsink laying around, you could just cut it down and stick it on with "frag tape" - or I think somebody's selling mosfet-specific heatsinks.
On a different note, when I get a new CPU set up, I bluescreen-calibrate my diode temps. I essentially have no idea what temp the CPU really is when the diode hits, say 55C - but if it bluescreens out of 200x12.5 at 100% when it's reporting that temp, I consider that to be that to be bluescreen-temp for that system at that particular overclock. I then try to make sure that this system, even with throttled-down fans (watercooling for quiet/silence) will not go above 80% of this "bluescreen-temp" at 100% load. Probably not a thing anyone else at procooling concerns themselves about as they've all got big-ass radiators and big-ass fans/blowers. Note that I'm not entirely sure that this is the right thing to do (find myself trying to get the processor hot-ish once or twice anyway, just to follow the AS5 instructions, so it's just a matter of tracking what reported temp gets a bluescreen). I am guessing that 80% is the do-not-go-over percentage. YMMV, etc. - but it has worked for me in finding the balance between quiet and overclock while not making a system unstable..

[kronchev]

bob: your method makes my head hurt can you explain it a little better? i think youre trying to say you force the temps to never go above whatever you get a bluescreen at, which i get. what i do is just never let the temps go about 40C

[Titan151]

Yes my current setup isn't stable in games above 204. I have great cooling on my XP 2500 but thats about that. Lately I use far cry as my test method. If it runs I call it good, if not I roll it back. May not be the best method, but it's more entertaining then running prime. I also have two sticks of corsair twinX (C2). I have been tinkering with timings and other factors to increas the fsb. I have heard of numerous problems with this memmory and my mobo. So I may not be able to get the mobile much higher then 204 but since my current chip is locked at least I can up the multi. It would be nice if I could get a multi of 13!!! I will make that my goal. Ok, as for the mosfets, I know what they do but not what or where they are. (yes I admit it) Plus my mobo is at home so I can't peak.

[kronchev]

Originally Posted by Titan151

Yes my current setup isn't stable in games above 204. I have great cooling on my XP 2500 but thats about that. Lately I use far cry as my test method. If it runs I call it good, if not I roll it back. May not be the best method, but it's more entertaining then running prime. I also have two sticks of corsair twinX (C2). I have been tinkering with timings and other factors to increas the fsb. I have heard of numerous problems with this memmory and my mobo. So I may not be able to get the mobile much higher then 204 but since my current chip is locked at least I can up the multi. It would be nice if I could get a multi of 13!!! I will make that my goal. Ok, as for the mosfets, I know what they do but not what or where they are. (yes I admit it) Plus my mobo is at home so I can't peak.

let me guess, asus a7n8x deluxe? you cant put the multi higher than 12.5x on them i hate my board. i am starting to think im not getting stable at higher because im at 200 mhz FSB

[bigben2k]

Originally Posted by kronchev

let me guess, asus a7n8x deluxe? you cant put the multi higher than 12.5x on them i hate my board. i am starting to think im not getting stable at higher because im at 200 mhz FSB

Where did you hear that? What version of the board do you have?

[kronchev]

Originally Posted by bigben2k

Where did you hear that? What version of the board do you have?

the 200 mhz thing is a known problem with the mobiles, and that on my part was wild, wild speculation, esp since im running stable at 11.5x200. its just that 2400 is unstable, anything higher wont boot.

as for the board it is revision 2.0, normal deluxe (not E). its a known problem that it doesnt do the higher multis.

[bobkoure]

Originally Posted by kronchev

bob: your method makes my head hurt can you explain it a little better? i think youre trying to say you force the temps to never go above whatever you get a bluescreen at, which i get. what i do is just never let the temps go about 40C

Sorry about the head hurting.
I'm just saying that, even though I don't know what temps my diode readings actually represent, I can find the diode reading that gives me a bluescreen - and then, when I turn my fans down, I never turn them down past the point where, if I were to run at 100%, the reported-by-diode temp goes above 80% of the bluescreen-temp.
I'm pretty sure the diodes aren't even linear (although the diodes on the last few board/cpu combos I've had through here have gone up and down in lockstep with the room temp - i.e. room temp up 3C, idle temp up 3C) but I'm guessing they aren't so non-linear that I have no margin left over if I give myself 20%...
If you don't throttle your fans down, then don't worry about this - I'm fixated on quiet PCs, so it's a problem for me

[bobkoure]

Originally Posted by Titan151

as for the mosfets, I know what they do but not what or where they are. ...

They are here (I've drawn yellow arrows to point at 'em)


and you can slap a heat sink on like this (sorry 'bout the blurry photo)


You probably only need to sink the top left one (seems to be the only one that gets untouchably hot when running CpuBurn).

I had a couple of socket 7 heat sinks kicking around, so I just cut 'em down and used "frag tape" to stick 'em on.

[Titan151]

Ahhh thanks for the pics. I might have been able to figure out where they were if I was home. (lie) Yes I have one of those heat sinks in my junk pile. (composed of something like 15 fans, 5 big heat sinks, many a connectors, and 1000 of those stupid fan 3 pin connectors!)

Anyway, I actually have the deluxe "E" mobo. I read Kronchev's post about mobile troubles on some other board. (yes he's been two timing us). I have read that Asus boards cannot go above 12.5 with the mobile. I will find out when my chip gets here. Sadly I will have to wait till thursday . I need to yank all the insulation off the mobo anyway as I forgot to install my thermistor. This time I am putting 2 in on each side of the top of the chip. Next to the die. You can never have too many. Besides my rig is sitting at 20 C based on mobo sensor and this way I can pretend I am colder then I really is. As they useually read several degrees cooler. So they must be more accurate!! My next project is to wire external thermistors to the mobo (through some kind of interface) and then display them on me new lcd's. I want to have water in, water out, die, and vid displayed on it.

[bobkoure]

Originally Posted by Titan151

I read Kronchev's post about mobile troubles on some other board.

Well, this forum's supposed to be about cooling, not overclocking XP-Ms on A7N8Xs. IMHO he's done the right thing (figure if the mods were unhappy about us having this conversation here we'd be at least be getting PMs asking us to can it - but there's probably going to be more information elsewhere (more misinformation, too )

I have read that Asus boards cannot go above 12.5 with the mobile.

This is certainly true of the A7N8X. It's missing one of the multiplier bits needed. (Search the AMDMB Asus forum for "multiplier" and you'll have a full explanation.) You can remedy this with the "wire trick", but then you're stuck with multipliers 13 and over. If your fsb "maxes out" somewhere around 200MHz, this might be something useful. It's just a matter of connecting two adjoining pins - the "trick" is just using very fine wire to run from one hole in the socket to the other. No soldering, gluing, or conductive-trace building required.

I need to yank all the insulation off the mobo anyway

Insulation? cool! Going TEC? Never done that myself (folks here seem to know lots about it, though - this being a cooling forum and all) Sounds like you are definitely going to need the wire trick...

[Titan151]

13 Degrees C. At 200 x 12. Uses much less power. I also lapped my maze 4 and did a much better job with the mounting setup. I have an aquarium chiller and with my original XP 2500 it was always in the 20's. I still plan on making my own from an AC unit. I also put the heat sink on the mosfets like you mentioned. Next up I will start tinkering with the FSB. My question is this. Won't the FSB be the same regardless of the chip I use. That said if I can suddenly go higher is it safe to assume that this was do primarily to the heatskink on the mosdets? just for future ref. Assuming all other factors other then the chip are the same.

I am stoked!


oh vcore at 1.7 still need to tinker with it. I just put it there for now.

edit. Now I am stable at 206 x12.5 more testing to go.Just surpassed my best 3d mark 2001 rating. Up to 18,600 with no vid card OC. That doesn't meen much just yet but is a nice benifit. Before, any alteration of the fsb caused it to lock up. I think that sink is working. It is still hot on the top left corner of the sink. I may try riggin up a small fan in that area near the NB and see if that helps. Thanks for all the help guys!! As discussed I couldn't go above 12.5. But hey I can worry about that later. If I get that FSB up then I won't need it anyway. When I ran the multi of 13 it came up as a multi of 5 in CPUID.

I like this chip. You know how you can simply feel when your system is faster. That is how this is. Word to the mobiles.

[Titan151]

Hi all,

So with the chiller on the XP 2600-M I have had great results. So far I am able to get it to around 2.8 ghz using a variety of multi/fsb variations. I did the wire trick to unlock the higher Multi (13 and up). With the chiller the temps are around 19 C at idle and up to 23 under load. So far I am very pleased. My FSB has still been touchy despite cooling the mosfets. I also put a fan blowing air over the heatsink for the fets and the NB. I was able to get up to 215 x 13. I like that the best and think I will stick with it. As for stability testing I still need to run prime 95, but I have been able to play all my games and get through 3d mark. I always find it interesting to see how altering my mobo/chip speed increases my score. Last night I got a 19,600 in 2001. This is without any Vid Card OC. Can't wait till I get that thing cooler. (Radeon 9800 XT / 256)

I was also able to run 200 x 14 but could not boot with a FSB above 203. It is interesting to see how one digit makes the difference between stability and instability. If I wanted to go higher at this point I would need to do a volt mod as I am at 1.825 volts at the moment. I really like this chip, it makes all that cash I spent on cooling seem worth while.