Any point in overclocking my Northbridge?

[daveybrat]

So my system specs are below. Using the AMD 960T, i don't currently have it unlocked to a hex-core, just a Quad at 3.5GHz running extremely cool.

I've tried to do some homework and DD on overclocking the NB but i've yet to find a real conclusion. It's currently at stock 2GHz, but a lot of sites recommend 2.4-2.6GHz.

1) Does it really even make a performance difference i'll see?

2) Does it increase the heat output of the Northbridge?

Thanks!

 

[2is]

I haven't messed around too much with AMD recently but when I did and OCd my NB I really didnt notice a difference. As far as heat, if you make something operate at a higher frequency it will run hotter, just as every other IC does like CPUs and GPUs

 

[SPBHM]

it affects memory/l3 performance considerably... but also power usage I think.

 

[Soulkeeper]

with llano overclocking the NB has a noticeable effect (similar core design as your cpu).
but keep in mind llano only runs 654 MHz by default
I suspect most the benefit of going to 1600 mem (800 nb), or 1866 (900 nb) comes from the nb increase.

The nb is a very small number of transistors on the die and shouldn't increase power usage/heat a noticeable amount if overclocked.

since you are already running at 2GHz you might not notice anything if you go higher

 

[(sic)Klown12]

The affects of overclocking the IMC/L3 cache will depend on the application. Ones that need lower latency or additional cache bandwidth can show a nice improvement. You can usually get a 200-400Mhz gain without messing with voltage or temps so I don't see why not at least try. There are some user generated benchmarks showing what kind of gains you can get but I have no idea where I saw them.

 

[tweakboy]

I say unlock the cores instead of OCing.

That will give you biggest gain then any overclock will on this chip. gl