Overclocking

neokenzo

I am thinking about overclocking my cpu. I remember reading in one of the post here where someone had a link to a very good overclocking guide website?
One of the program I have states that the max I can go is 2200Mhz. Is this true? How much do you think I can overclock my cpu?

[Edit]Now my CPU temp is roughly around 35C-38C. Only during DVD encoding did it reach 44C. I presume that it would go higher once I o'c it?[/edit]

Jammer

what cpu do u have?

Col_Loki

That system is sweet by the way !!

Depends on what setting you have the Zalman on, but the current temps are fine and leave a nice ammount of headroom for overclocking. Its very hard to tell how a chip overclocks TBH, 2200mhz with a stock cooler and little Vcore increase is average (from what ive read) so with the Zalman you should be hope'n for atleast that if not more.

[edit] Read his sig he has an AMD64 Xp3200+ ........etc

neokenzo

Thanks COL_LOKI, it was your advice and others that I got this rig

Zalman has settings? I'm using the case controllers for Zalman. So I'm not sure what kind of setting it is on. Maybe I should just connect it back to the mobo.

My memory cant seem to run on DDR400. The highest I can go is DDR333. Will that my cpu overclocking?

Col_Loki

The Zalman 7000 has two stages, Normal and silent...... you prob have it on normal which is fine !!

Could you post your Ram timings when your trying for DDR400 with your memory, its very strange that OCZ ram wont hit its designed target (generally more). Something like 2-3-3-7 , 2-2-2-5 etc..... and also the Vdimm (or ram voltage) - all info in the bios.

If the Ram doesent meet the stated spec then your probably better off RMA'ing it.

I would have thought that ram would hit 215-220mhz FSB which would be very nice for your overclock !!

What happens when you try to post at DDR400 (200mhz FSB) ?? Unstable/unbootable etc.

neokenzo

Yeah the Zalman is on Normal. Now I remember

The thing is I dont know whether it is the mobo or the memory causing the problem. AT the moment I am running DDR333 with timings 2-2-2-7. The Vdimm is the DDR Voltage is set as auto, which porbably is at 2.6V.

At the moment I am running a 205Mhz FSB.

I have tried all kinds of settings for DDR400. I have the timings on auto and still it wont boot up to windows. I have even tried loading BIOS default settings and changing the DDR to 400 and it still wont boot to windows. Sometimes the BIOS tells me that "System overclocking fail" and asked me to change the settings again.

In theory right, if I increase my FSB to 215-220Mhz, wouldnt that increase my DDR closer to 400Mhz? At the moment it is running at 341.6Mhz and my FSB is at 205Mhz. Wouldnt it increase as my FSB increases?

Col_Loki

You might want to try the timings at 2-3-3-7 and up the DDR voltage to 2.7v , if that doesent work then it looks like you have faulty ram.....

When you up the FSB (not exactly FSB but for less complications we'll call it that), if your using dividers to set the ram to run at DDR333 then it will increase the memory speed also. BUT your not getting what you paid for if your running it at a lower speed .....

Ignoring the Ram for the min your in a perfect position to see how the CPU will overclock in that system as Ram should be out of the way as a limiting factor. Pop up the FSB , watch your temps, use Prime95 to insure your system is stable (will check Ram & CPU ), increase the Vcore slightly if need be (generally 10% is considered v.safe - specially with a good cooler)..........and enjoy

Woden

aye the ram may be rated for 2-3-3-7 or whatever but check what voltage they use to achieve that, also check what vdimm your ram is warrantied up to, its probably something like 2.8v

anywho digs out the overclocking guide again

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=138583&highlight=overclocking

there she is

data

neokenzo

Originally posted by COL_LOKI
You might want to try the timings at 2-3-3-7 and up the DDR voltage to 2.7v , if that doesent work then it looks like you have faulty ram.....

When you up the FSB (not exactly FSB but for less complications we'll call it that), if your using dividers to set the ram to run at DDR333 then it will increase the memory speed also. BUT your not getting what you paid for if your running it at a lower speed .....

Ignoring the Ram for the min your in a perfect position to see how the CPU will overclock in that system as Ram should be out of the way as a limiting factor. Pop up the FSB , watch your temps, use Prime95 to insure your system is stable (will check Ram & CPU ), increase the Vcore slightly if need be (generally 10% is considered v.safe - specially with a good cooler)..........and enjoy

I'm a noob so the timings that you've suggested, this is what I need to change right?
cas-2
trcd-3
trp-3
tras-7
I doubt that its going to work but I will try it anyway. I tried setting as auto on DDR400 and still doesnt work. Someone suggested that I reset CMOS and try loading BIOS default setting and change that to DDR400. Thing is I'll probably have to remove my pci cards to do that. Kinda not looking forward to it

neokenzo

Originally posted by Dataisgod
aye the ram may be rated for 2-3-3-7 or whatever but check what voltage they use to achieve that, also check what vdimm your ram is warrantied up to, its probably something like 2.8v

anywho digs out the overclocking guide again

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=138583&highlight=overclocking

there she is

data

I think the ram can go 2-2-2-7 but I would be happy if it just runs on DDR400

Thank for the link data, that was what I was looking for

So basically, to find an ideal overclocking probably will take a couple of days with all the testing?

neokenzo

I now know why I cant reach DDR400. According to OCZ website I must have my memory in either slot 1 & 2 or 1 & 3. Thing is I have my memory on slot 2 & 3. I have my hard disk on RAID0 and the other day I tried to change my ram from slot 2 to slot 1. Once I started my PC, it says that my RAID array is broken, do I want to delete the array. Of course I didnt coz I dont want to lose everything I got. I tried rebooting a couple of times but same thing. I changed my memory back to its original slot and everything works fine.
I know setting RAID means I would have a hard time upgrading hardware but I didnt think that I wouldnt be able to change my memory slot? Anyone knows how I can fix this apart from reisntalling my RAID?

[Edit]I just found out that the RAM I have has been discontinued by OCZ. Should that be a bad sign?[/Edit]

Woden

should matter i would think if the ram has been discontinued, perhaps they have ran out of the chips they used to use to make that ram. for example mushkin level 2 ram was great but it was finished up a while ago as they only had so many of those BH-5 chips i reckon and you ram is limited edition

stupid question but doesn't your cpu default at 200mhz FSB by 10 or something. and wouldn't the the divider by set to auto 1:1 and this still doesn't work? so for it to boot you have (leaving it on auto) you have to reduce the clock speed to 166*10 is it?

as loki says if your struggling to get the ram up to spec up the vdimm to at least 2.7V (i tried 2.8 if that doesn't work i think thats what i had to do). i was having trouble reaching 200mhz fsb for a while as well. just checked the manufacturers site and they used 2.7V to get those specs and you do have a lifetime warranty.

i would have thought the reason they suggest slot 1 and 2 or 1 and 3 was just to enable dual channel and not related to the performance of the ram, you should also remove and test each ram stick individually to see if you can easily get 200fsb with on on its own (if this doesn't mess up your raid)

with regards to the raid, i know nothing about it i'm afraid

good luck anyway

data

neokenzo

I tried using slot 1 & 3 which had the RAID problem. I have now changed to slot 1 & 2 and it works Its now on DDR400 at 205Mhz = 410Mhz and no array problems
I didnt even increase the vdimm voltage.
Now must try overclocking

[Edit]Which test should I do for Prime95?[/edit]

Woden

sweet with that i reckon you'll get 2.2ghz alright don't think that motherboard though has a working pci lock iirc which is a pity

good luck

data

Sir Random

Originally posted by neokenzo
I tried using slot 1 & 3 which had the RAID problem. I have now changed to slot 1 & 2 and it works Its now on DDR400 at 205Mhz = 410Mhz and no array problems
I didnt even increase the vdimm voltage.
Now must try overclocking

[Edit]Which test should I do for Prime95?[/edit]

The Blend test (#3) is fine for stability testing.

NB:
If your mobo doesn't have AGP/PCI lock, then you're risking losing your RAID array as the PCI speed increases. I'd google for more info on o/cing your board before going any higher.

EDIT:
Apparently the Promise controller, which branches off the secondary PCI bus, is clock-locked at 33 MHz

There's also a big difference between BIOS's for that board, here's a good guide to clocking it :
http://www.lostcircuits.com/motherboard/a64_oc/

neokenzo

Thanks for the link Sir Random. I think I'll read a bit before I decide to overclock.

angelofdeath

just got an azus mobo this morning, and the bios has an option to quickly overclock by 30%, anyone try this, how safe is it, i would've thought 30% would be a little extreme, but its like they're actually encouraging it! dont know much about it myself, pretty new to this end of things, this is my first build my own pc project

Col_Loki

Good to hear you got that sorted ok (was away for a bit). I dont think you'll really have to worry about PCI/AGP locks when your going to be overclocking 10% ish. Havent heard of any problems with that ammount.

It depends alot on your components , some deal with an overclocked speed better than others. 2200mhz shouldnt be much of a problem, would be nice if you could get your Ram to stay 1:1 with your FSB........ tighter timings are always better, 2-3-3-7 would be very nice. What are your timings at the min @DDR400 , 2-2-2-7 or 2-3-3-7?

Even increasing the Vdimm a bit should help.........anyway let us know how you get on!!

I always use Prime95 for stability tests, its what pretty much everyone uses!!

neokenzo

I really want to try overclocking just for the curiosity sake. Chances are I wont get to go above 2200Mhz mark. Do you think its worth trying even for the extra 200mhz?

I think my timing is at 2-2-3-7.

Asus gives me an option that will increase my speed a bit. Atm I'm running at 205Mhz before I have even started anything yet. Should I leave it at turbo when I start overclocking or should I just set it back to standard and then overclock?

Woden

its always worth overclocking if you can get away with it, and 200mhz on an athlon64 is worth more then say 200mhz on a p4, you'll effectively have a chip then that is better then a standard 3400+ as you would have a wider fsb.

with regards to the ram i'd set it back to standard, i'd say your ram can handle tight timings at higher fsb but your trying to find the fsb limit of your board and you don't want it hindered by the ram, if you have trouble getting the fsb up and you know its not pci/agp frequency related you can always up the ram voltage as well

Col_Loki

Well your system is top of the range at the min and will run anything at full spec....... but if you can get a nice 10% extra performance for FREE then why not go for it!! It will also get you more use to your system.

Basicly like data said, the tighter your timings the better your memory scores, the looser your memory scores the higher FSB you tend to be able to get. If you can have tight timings like 2-3-3-7 at high FSB then your winning all the way.

PS personally i would ignore the asus yolkie, do it manually and just keep an eye on temps (although this wont be a problem) and check for stability with Prime95.

neokenzo

I have tried overclocking. Kinda pushed it too much, was trying to be greedy and as a result my RAID broke but that is a different story

I am confident that I can run my system at 220Mhz FSB. I think all it need is some tweaking out. This is what I have done so far:

Memory is at DDR400 with timings of 2-3-3-7
Vdimm is at 2.7V (OCZ's website said I can pushed it up to 2.8V without losing warranty)
I was looking for the multiplier but I couldnt find it so probably it is locked at 10.

I ran Prime95. At 100% load maximum temp is the highest it went is 45C but usually around 42-43C and at low load its about 36-38C. I ran it and there was an error after 5 hours. But I did this on a fresh Xp install with nothing else in it and no tweaking yet.

Is there anything else I can adjust to try make it stable at 220Mhz FSB or higher?

Woden

5 hours stability is not bad and your temps are good i reckon your nearly there just lash the vcore up one more notch and run it overnight tonight and you might just find yourself with a rock solid overclock

neokenzo

Okay here is the latest update.

After increasing my Vdimm to 2.8V at 220FSB and seem stable enough, I pushed it 225FSB (I know I was being greedy ). Immediately Windows wont boot and when I rebooted, the BIOS said that my RAID array was broken. I tried everything but there was nothing I can do apart from destroying the array and rebuild it on VIA RAID.

After reading many many websites and forums and spending many many hours, I tried pushing it to 222FSB at 1.575V vcore. It was stable so I pushed again to 224FSB. After a couple of hours I had BSOD and when I rebooted, it said my system file was missing. At this stage I just couldnt be bothered trying to fix it as I knew that the VIARAID doesnt like overclocking. So I installed my RAID using the Promise controller.

I went straight to 230FSB and increased vcore to 1.6V. I tried running 3DMark03 and it stops half way so I dropped it to 228FSB. 3Dmark03 ran fine but I was getting BSOD from windows so I dropped it by another FSB. Ran 3DMark03, 3Dmark02 and Aquamark ran fine. Temperatures are around 35C to 45C. Only once so far it reached 49C when I was doing ATItool test for my graphic card. I didnt run Prime95 yet because the way I see it, as long as the system is stable enough to do what I need to do, thats fine with me.

I will probably try taking it to 230FSB. That will be my target. But later, kinda tired installing windows 3 times in 3 weeks Probably after either I can find a good image programe or buy an external HDD.

Col_Loki

Thats a very decent overclock already, you really should run prime95 ...... everything might seem fine until you start encoding or in the middle of a game etc and your PC will crash. Prime95 will test your CPU & Ram and give you prob the best indication of your PC's real stability.

If prime95 lasts over an hour then its either fully stable or very very close ..... most of the time it will crash in the first 10mins. Main reason people run it for 24hours is to take into account the change in ambient temps, ie when your heating comes on, day/night etc.

I take it your using dividers for your memory? Would be a big shock if it goes to 230mhz with tight timings....

Well done so far

neokenzo

Does overclocking my video card effects Prime95? I have my card at 411 core and 360 mem.

Col_Loki

Also a nice overclock!! And no prime95 shouldnt affect your Video card at all, just CPU & memory. Run 3dmark in loops and play some tough games to test video card stability....... watch for artifacts, ie things that shouldnt be appearing, black squares etc.

What 3dmark scores are you getting with that rig? Must be pretty damm high.

neokenzo

You were right COL_LOKI. At 227FSB, Prime95 only lasted 1 minute before giving me an error. I had to drop it back to 222FSb before it was stable. Probably will stay there

Thanks for both of your advices Data & COL.

My 3D marks are on my isg

Col_Loki

Wow i must say again thats such a sweet rig, and over 21k in 3dmark2001 ......... games must run top notch for ya. Also nice to know that when Windows 64 comes out your lookin at a nice performance boost for free aswell.

Glad to hear your overclock worked out aswell, do you find your pc noisey or is it ok?

neokenzo

Yeah I wanted to try the Windows XP 64 but from what I hear there are still a lot of problems in terms of drivers. I'll probably wait until ATI has a driver for 64bit before taking the plunge.

The pc is a bit noisy but I'm used to it. I had a laptop before this and it was more noisier than my current rig. Part of the reason its a bit more noisy is because my case has 5 fans. I could control the speed of the fans and make it more silent. But when I was clearing out the wires, I screwed something up and couldnt find a way to fix it so it is set at max, which means more noisy.

I havent tried any games so far since my last windows installation. Before the games ran quite good I must say but I ran into some problem with C&C Generals and Warcraft 3. I think it was due to overclocking. Will try again later.

Overall I am really pleased with the rig. Mind you when I started to get parts for my build, I had no idea what I was getting. Looking back now, most of the parts were crap. Thanks to people on this board who suggested these part, especially you COL, I got a nice rig

unkel

Nice rig, neokenzo :cool:

Very glad to see the improvement in performance you got with a bit of help from the local Lords of AMD: COL_LOKI and Dataisgod :ninja:

neokenzo

Thanks unkel

Definitely wont be able to do it without the local Lords of AMD

Col_Loki

Very glad to see the improvement in performance you got with a bit of help from the local Lords of AMD: COL_LOKI and Dataisgod

lol , never had it put like that before !!

Part of the reason its a bit more noisy is because my case has 5 fans. I could control the speed of the fans and make it more silent.

I have the Xaser II case aswell with 5 fans and its noisey when there on full. I never bothered with the fan controller either . On your power supply there is connectors marked "fan only" ......... plug the fans into these and your PSU will regulate them for you, ie low speed when browsing the web, faster when playing games etc. Will cut your noise in half.
Ohh and you can connect them in parallel, ie 3 fans to one connector etc...... hope this helps a little, was delighted when i found this out!!

And i think your right to hold off on Win64, when the bugs are ironed out (lol funny saying that about anything to do with windows but u know what i mean) will be a nice bonus!!

RuggieBear

Just curious to know what a good temp to have my overclocked barton 2500 (3200)at. Its been in the low 40s since i can remember but today it's staying steady at 53.

Sorry if this has been asked a billion times before just cant seem to find the info at the moment as my BB is crawling...(but thats another board!!!:D )

Col_Loki

No problems at all.

Temp's are awkward in a couple of ways and the limit etc will change from person to person. Also with different motherboards comes different readings, for instance comparing temps between my Abit and Asus board there was 8' degree's in the difference with the exact same setup!!

AMD chips handle Vcore & Heat better than intel chips, if you look at the max operating temp on the AMD site i think its 85' degree's which i find crazy. Id say it will run for all of an hour that high.

I try to keep my temps under 60'C but im using water cooling and am picky about temps. TBH id keep it under 65'C under load just to be safe.

Higher operating temps & Higher Vcore will reduce the life of your CPU !! That sounds like a really bad thing but consider a CPU lasts 10years, operating at a high Vcore & High temp it might last 3-5years.......... i know im not going to care much about it at that point as it can be replaced for pocket change.

Im currently running my chip at over 1.8v and have had it at 2.05v for a while, still running perfectly. You should download Prime95 and run the torture test for a while, this will test your overclock to make sure its totally stable and it will also let you know what your load temp is.

RuggieBear

Thanks COL_LOKI....

i've downloaded that Prime95 and i'll give it a go when i stop surfing!! Think the next thing on the agenda is a new power supply but that'll be a couple of weeks away!!!

Bloody hell this upgrading/overclocking malarky is darn addictive:)

Thanks again

p

PS: Oh yeah...i've also ordered that Gainward Hollywood@Home 7.1
soundcard PCI, Retail....€19 for an average card. Not bad at all!

unkel

Originally posted by COL_LOKI
if you look at the max operating temp on the AMD site i think its 85' degree's which i find crazy. Id say it will run for all of an hour that high.

I think it is even as high as 95 degrees for some of the Athlon XP chips. You'd probably be surprised by the length of time it would live if constantly at this temp. Have never seen any firm figures from real tests, but it might still be a year or two

unkel

Originally posted by pekelly
Bloody hell this upgrading/overclocking malarky is darn addictive:)

It's desperate