Apparently I don't know WTF I'm doing and can't overclock my CPU

[BrokenVisage]

So I built an AMD computer to play games on last summer (rig specs in sig) and it was usually good enough to play all games maxed out without needing to OC my processor. Now I can't play Q4 and FEAR at 1280x1024 without sacraficing detail so I figured it was time for a little OC'ing. I have read guides and howto's in the past and it all made sense to be, but I still can't even rasie my FSB 205 x 10 without having boot problems. I recently put in a 24-pin 450w PSU thinking my older 350w was the culprit, still didn't work. I'm doing everything in BIOS and have tried many option tweaks while moving along, none of them made it worked. I'm at work right now so I can't try anything new until tonight, but some help would be appreciated for when I get home. Thanks.

 

[Furen]

Your video card is, most likely, what's limiting your FEAR framerates. If you cant go over 205htt I'd guess that your hypertransport multiplier is too high (if it's at 5x/1000MHz try bumping it down) or your memory is not overclocking too well (try dropping the DRAM clock to DDR333--166MHz or increasing the memory voltage and loosening the timings).

 

[almach1]

OC the video card too. I picked up 500pts in 3d05 using atitraytools

 

[n7]

Have you followed Zebo's guide?

LDT dropped to 4x?
RAM dropped to 5/6 (166) divider?

You got give more info on what you've tried.

 

[BrokenVisage]

Originally posted by: n7
Have you followed Zebo's guide?

LDT dropped to 4x?
RAM dropped to 5/6 (166) divider?

You got give more info on what you've tried.

I did lower the LDT to 4x which didn't seem to help much, but I don't know much about OC'ing memory and haven't messed with dividers much, I couldn't even be sure I found where to do so in BIOS.

 

[Markbnj]

It's really important that you take it one step at a time. There are three major factors: how fast the cpu will run; how fast the hyperlink transport will run; and how fast the ram will run. We can take the second one right out: most hyperlink tunnels won't run much over their rated speed, or at least not without further tweaking for little benefit.

So first step should be to decide which of these to try first. If you want to ramp up the CPU and find its limits, set the memory divider low to make sure the ram stays under spec, and set the HT multiplier low to keep the hypertransport under spec. Now fiddle with the base clock, cpu multiplier, and vCore until you have the highest stable speed for the CPU.

At this point you can either accept things as they are, and set the ram multiplier so that at the new base clock freq. the ram runs under spec. (i.e. 230 mhz base clock * 4/5, which is roughly the 166 mhz ram divider), as well as keeping the HT multiplier set to 4x (4 x 230 = 920 mhz.)

Alternatively, you can now slow the CPU down and see how fast the ram will run. Do this by setting the CPU multiplier back. If you had 230 x 11, for example, set it to 230 x 8. Now the CPU will run at 1840 mhz, and won't cause any problems. You can then try different ram dividers until you see how fast the ram can run without causing errors. Bear in mind that a system will often boot fine with the ram o/c'd, but will show memory errors when the whole range is tested. Proceed from the assumption that the system should never cause an error, ever. So you are looking for a combination of ram speed and cpu clock that will run at high loads for a very long time without error.

Have fun .

 

[richardrds]

My quess is you are using PC3200 Value Ram and the Ram is what is making your OC fail. There is nothing wrong with using value Ram, i use it myself and acheive a nice OC (see sig). You just need to make sure you use a Ram divider to keep the Ram close or below 200Mhz.

Ocing your CPU may not help your pblm much, you wil probbaly see better performance in games if you OC you x800XL instead.

Your A64 3200 Winchester at stock is probably not holding you back in you games, but you should be able to OC this CPU from 2Ghz to around 2.4-2.6Ghz easily!!!

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

You may have the winnie bug . . . what version of BIOS are you using?