A64 Overclock Help ?

[MiTz]

Hi guys,

I've recently decided to dabble in overclocking, but things don't seem to be going that well or are they ?? I've read as much as i can, but i think it's time for advice.

I have the sata drives in port 3 and 4.

I'm only on air cooling (A64 freezer pro + AS5), and the highest i've been able to go with prime torture test lasting more than 10 minutes is 210fsb, is this about right with my processor? the heat was 45c

I had the vcore at 1.65, multiplier at 12x, ram at 200 + 2.8v...

When i first started i turned down the multiplier to 6 and ram to 100 and managed to increase the fsb to 235 until it wouldn't boot anymore (i thought that was low) and i figured there was no need to test the rams capability as its rated at DDR500..

Am i going about things the right way? is there something i'm missing?

Any advice much appreciated

 

[Tweakin]

That seems really low as I have another system running a bus of 322 stable. Here is what I would try next:

Drop the multi to 8, then set the HTT to 3, adjust the vcore to 1.45 and then set the memory at 3-3-3-8 on the 133 divider. This should keep everything but the system out of the loop for now.

Use clockgen to slowely crank up the bus while running Prime95. Wait until Prime fails within 5 minutes or so, and then drop the fsb down 5-10%. From here you can bring your memory up to it's rated speed and see if the system is stable for some time.

 

[MiTz]

Cheers mate.

I'll try that later on, it's 1.30am here...

I'll give you an update of how i get on

 

[MiTz]

Hi mate

When you said put the HTT to 3, do you mean the FSB to 300? or the HT Frequency to 3x?

I tried the FSB to 300 with all the other settings you mentioned (which should have took it back to 2400mhz on a 8x multi right ?), but it wouldn't boot with a screen at all, so had to reset the cmos

cheers

 

[crazylegs]

think he meant multiplier tp x3.... taking that out of the equation...

 

[MiTz]

I'll try that then.

I had a little play around earlier and thought i was getting somewhere.. Here's what i tried.

11x multiplier / 230fsb / 2531mhz / 1.55vcore / 200ddr 3.3.3.8 1T / 2.8v (which went to 230mhz)

prime torture test for 2 hours no errors 45c, but when i went to reboot it wouldn't post, so had to reset cmos... I've managed to get prime to pass on various other settings similar to the ones i mentioned, but it just wont restart

I'm starting to get frustrated now, but i'm sure it's something simple that's holding me back, but then again what do i know this is the first time i've tried overclocking manually lol .

 

[i3igpete]

i've got that same mobo, for me the mobo wouldn't POST after anything higher than 220fsb in the bios. i've been reading around and apparently there's some kind of bug on some k8n neo4 boards so they won't boot on anything higher than 219. unfortunately a reflash doesn't do anything.

what i've been doing is loading into windows completely stock fsb, but with multipliers lined up, then clocking it up with clockgen. i've personally hit 344fsb and 2.39ghz on my winchester 3200. tested for 30 mins on prime95, but just kind of pissed that my cpu won't go any higher without errors

 

[MiTz]

I had a little go again today and here's what i managed.

I lowered the HT to 3x as mentioned, mem to 100mhz and cpu multiplier to 5x and managed to get the fsb up to 340 until it wouldn't boot (thats from the bios) i was well happy with that.

Then i thought i'd have a go at the memory, so i left the multipiers as they were, but reduced the fsb to 200 and put the memclock to 200, but the highest i could up the fsb to was 240 before it wouldn't boot anymore, and that was with 2.8v and the timings it says its rated for ddr500 (3.4.4.10) pretty slack really !

I'm finally starting to get my head around the whole process, but keep hitting a brick wall.

Have you any ideas/advice as to why i can't get my mem to post past 240? I've seen peeps with pc3200 go higher than that... I was thinking maybe bad dimms? I've seen other peeps with the same kit as me get 280 !

Cheers for the help

 

[MiTz]

I found the problem, it was my cpu... It must have had a sensitive memory controller.

I got myslef an FX-57 and my overclocking experience has changed dramatically.

The first thing i tried was to take it past the 230fsb which was max on with my 3800 until it crashed... To my amazement it just keeps booting well past my previous overclock.

I can't believe the difference, at the moment i'm at (3000mhz 12x cpu 1.4volts / HT4x / 250fsb / 250mhz mem 3.3.3.8 (2.7v) / temps no higher than 43c (32c idle), prime stable for 4 hours and memtest no probs, cold boots and reboots no probs everytime..

I also used clockgen to bump it up higher just to see, but it just keeps going with no probs and that scares me a bit lol... I pushed the fsb to 265fsb which was almost 3200mhz :Q

Now my only problem is how far to push it, after my previous experience i'm well happy with this overclock... It's so easy now it's just really tempting to go even further (even though running at stock is like a rocket compared to my 3800)..

Is it the case that, as long as the temps are below 55c while priming then its a safe overclock? While it's tempting to go higher, i really don't want to kill anything either.

I also have a lot more options for voltage now, but i guess that could be i big killer on air if too high?

If anyone can tell me safe temps and volts, so i know what to stay within


Cheers for the advice