amd64 Overclocking

[imported_Vox]

Yet another newbie question... brace yourselves for some real stupidity.

I've been an Intel user forever, and now I've got been given a second chance at life from AMD. I've got an Abit AV8 motherboard, and I have no idea how to overclock it. The only thing I've overclocked was my graphics card through CoolBits, and that was nothing.

Now on with the real stuff. I use stock cooling. Yes, I know it sucks. No, I can't do any better. What do I need to modify, what does it mean, et cetera.

Oh, and here's the specs:
Abit AV8 (Not "3rd Eye")
Kingston "HyperX" 2x512 (Dual Channel)
AMD Athlon64 3000+ (S939) (Winchester)
et cetera

If you need any more specs, let me know. I just need help finding out what to do and how to do it.

-Vox

 

[ts3433]

The stock cooling on A64s isn't that bad, actually

There are various overclocking guides here (Zebo did a good one) and around the internet that should point you in the right direction--search for some of these (I'm assuming you never overclocked with your Intel CPUs). I've heard that the AV8 is sometimes a flaky overclocker, though.

 

[imported_Vox]

Ok, thanks. I'll be sure to take a look.

EDIT: I didn't overclock the Intels (this was the first computer I've actually built; the rest were brand name).

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Its really pretty simple, only a few factors in play

There are basicly three clocks (speeds) that are involed.

HTT - sometimes refered to as FSB(front side bus), this affects CPU and RAM
RAM - this is the speed that your memory runs stock is 200mhz(DDR400)
HT - Hyper Transport bus also refered to as FSB this affects system stability

Stock setup for a 3000+

Total CPU mhz = HTT x CPU multi 200 x 9 = 1800mhz
RAM = HTT x mem ratio 200 x 1=200mhz (DDR400)
Total HT = HTT x HT multi 200 x 5 = 1000mhz

The object to overclocking A64's is to get the highest possible CPU mhz, this is accomplished by increasing the HTT. You raise it in steps testing your system for stability with programs like memtest86, prime95, and other benchmarks of your choosing.

The memory ratio or "dividers" allow you to run your ram at a lower speed than the HTT. This is very important on A64's because most all of the best overclocks on A64's are using a memory divider. Because A64's have an ondie memory controller running ram at a 1:1 ratio puts additional stress on the CPU limiting your overclock. And CPU speed provides much more performance than ram speed. The dividers are especially important on 3000+ chips because they can be overclocked 500-800mhz but to accomplish this takes very high HTT up to 300mhz or above and most ram can't run at that speed

You also need to maintain the HT bus at around 1000mhz or less, by dropping the HT multi to 4x when you begin raising HTT, and dropping it again to 3x when you go higher than 250mhz HTT. I'm currently running 290mhz HTT x 3 multi = 870mhz. The HT bus speed has very little affect on performance except that if you get to far over 1000mhz the board becomes unstable. Everyboard is diferent some work fine at 1100 others become unstable at 1050, all become unstable at some point. So the safest bet is always to keep it under 1000

 

[imported_Vox]

Abit seems to have done something funny. Because of "uGuru", I can't get ClockGen to work. The BIOS is stuck on 200MHz for the RAM.

Any ideas on how to change the memory speed? Chances are I'm being stupid, so any idea's worth a shot.

EDIT: Ok, I was being stupid. I've got settings for DDR200 through DDR400. I still can't modify the speed with anything but those though. I'd like to be able to increase one by one. I'm open to all suggestions.