Overclocking Intel Celeron 420 to 4040 MHz on LGA 775: TerraRaptor

Kazakhstani overclocker TerraRaptor appears serious about shattering LGA 775 records. Just over two weeks ago, the enthusiast made headlines benchmarking an overclocked Core 2 Duo E8200, and now his focus has shifted to the single-core Celeron 420, based on the Conroe L core.

Let's dive into TerraRaptor's most impressive achievement: setting a new frequency record for the Celeron 420.

Using a phase-change cooling system, the enthusiast pushed the chip to 4040MHz. As a reminder, the Celeron 420 runs at a meager 1600MHz stock and lacks an unlocked multiplier, so its overclocking relies solely on increasing the FSB frequency. Moreover, this CPU features an extremely low 8x multiplier, making its overclocking heavily reliant on both the RAM's potential and the motherboard's ability to run system memory at speeds insane for the LGA 775 platform. For instance, TerraRaptor pushed DDR3 RAM to an incredible 2020MHz — a wild speed for LGA 775!

Even more interestingly, the overclocker used two different memory modules: the first slot housed a Kingston 2048 MB (DDR3-1337) stick (P/N: 99P5471-002.A00LF), while the second held a G.Skill 2048 MB (DDR3-1337) XMP 1.1 module (P/N: F3-17600CL9-2GBXMD).

Update:

Both sticks were G.Skill F3-17600C9D-GBXMD based on Elpida BBSE. For slot #2, an external SPD is used (the native SPD of any stick inserted into slot #2 won't be active — the VDD_SPD contact started burning out, so to avoid further problems, it's been broken off the DIMM slot, and the SPD contact group is isolated with lacquer) with the safest JEDEC 1333 mode.

— TerraRaptor

Achievements like this are practically priceless, as they involve extensive and meticulous preparation, from component selection to prolonged testing with various motherboard BIOS settings.

With this Celeron 420 chip, TerraRaptor snagged nine gold medals in the processor's model ranking:

Beyond the two distinct RAM sticks already mentioned, the overclocker's test bench included these components:

Motherboard - Asus Rampage Extreme
RAM - 2x 2GB DDR3 sticks, Kingston (P/N: 99P5471-002.A00LF) and G.Skill (P/N: F3-17600CL9-2GBXMD)
Storage - GeIL ZENITH-A3 60GB (FW: G1BD43)
Operating system - Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Source: Enthusiast's HWBot profile