cheers for the info on the SATA.. im not using it so i will see about disabling it...i cant get complete stability if i alter my FSB but i can if i up my multipler

Strange

If i ran at 200x11 so that my CPU and RAM are running together what would you suggest my vcore to be set at...i cant get the system to run well like this but i really want to cos t will go like the clappers...

Any ideas would be great

Cheers all

If upping your multipler (from say 10.5 to 11) still provides stability, yet setting the multiplier at 10.5 and upping the FSB to get the same Mhz speed causes it to fail then id say its one of a few things.

You PCI/AGP bus isnt locked and is being raised when you up the FSB.
You are upping the memory FSB by mistake

Id find out for sure just what is affected when you up each of the FSB's - run SiSoft Sandra and check the speed shown for CPU/AGP/PCI/memory, etc

No wonder Pete nearly had a fit! Your PCI bus runs at 33mhz app. and your AGP bus is 66mhz or thereabouts. Can vary by about 1 or 2 mhz, thats all. Its a wonder you still got something to overclock, 85 notched it up almost 20 above its normal frequency.

well i think i may have it running stable

I have it running at 200x11x1.8 with the memory timings at 9.4.4.3.

I think half the problem i have is heat...the case i have at the moment is poor for expelling heat but i have a zorro case coming next week and i am able to fit 4 80mm fans (cold)

i have also disabled the onboard SATA controller and the system runs alot more stable then it ever has.

Thanks to everyone for their help in this thread im really gratefull

ANYONE HAVING PROBLEMS OVERCLOCKING A 2500 BARTON READ THIS THREAD FROM THE BEGINNING...VERY USEFUL INFO

Ronnie mentioned the board having thermal protection against overheating - i think most (if not all) Nforce2 boards have that, but you must enable it in BIOS and also set what level it cuts off at (mine is shown as a percentage)