ASUS A8N32sli deluxe; Opteron 170 OC'ing Help

[FSH42NA]

Although I'll be happy with my overclocking from 2ghz to 2.6ghz if that really is my limit, I'd like to see if I'm doing something wrong (being my first real attempt at overclocking).

Here are my specs:

ASUS A8N32sli deluxe; bios 1009
Opteron 170 OCZ #OCZ5002048ELGE-K
OCZ Gold (2x 1gb) PC4000 in dual channel (OCZ #OCZ5002048ELGE-K )
Evga 7800GT (single)
Benq 1640
Hitachi 250gb SATA2
Onboard sound
Enermax EG701 (600w noisetaker)

At this time, all I have hooked up is the mobo, memory, cpu and video card. I'm still messing around with Memtest 1.6. Apparently, I've hit a wall at 260HTT with the following settings:

CAS 3 4 3 8 (I think that's the order)
Vdimm 2.8
V core 1.4
HTT 260
Hyperthreading multiplier 3x
Cpu multiplier 10x (down to 9x)
Memory ran at 1:1, 4:6, 5:6

I ran this by the OCZ forum and ryder just said that this memory usually tops out at HTT 260. However, I'm confused that it won't run with the divider since that brings it down to less than 260. Is this just a memory issue or mobo or both? If memory, any suggestions out there for an alternative? I'm kinda curious about Gskill Extreme PC4000.


Thanks for any comments and suggestions.

 

[n7]

Doesn't sound like RAM's the problem.

It appears you've hit your CPU's max with that vcore.

My 165 won't get past 2.6 GHz with only 1.4V either.

If you aren't happy with 2.6 GHz, raise the vcore to ~ 1.5V as needed.

I'd suggest setting the vcore to 1.250V & enable overvoltage, as that will enable the 8 phase power, & should give you a steady 1.450V (or increase/decrease as desired).
(Overvoltage adds an extra 200 mV.)

 

[FSH42NA]

N7,

Thanks for the fast and informative reply. It just didn't make sense to my noobie brain that I couldn't squeeze out a little more with a divider.

Heading out to do the Mother's Day thing with the wife and kids. I'll follow your suggestions once I get back and will let you know how it goes.


Thanks again:thumbsup:

 

[FSH42NA]

N7,

Well the Vcore was the problem. Thanks to YOU I overcame the wall at 265HTT. Ran 2 loops of Memtest and passed fine. Mobo and cpu temps were a little toasty though:

CPU 51c and mobo 47c. The house is a little warm today since we having a mini heat wave (San Francisco style) = 85 F out and 80 F in.

I'm running HTT 270 now and will see how that goes. My heatsink is a Zalman 9500 with fan on full blast. I might swap that out and put in an XP 120 I've got sitting around and combine that with a Panaflo. Luckily I'm using a Lian Li case with removeable mobo tray, so it won't be too much of a pain to swap coolers. I'll update once I get that done.


Thanks again.

 

[Absolute0]

I'm in berkeley and i'm feelin the SF heat wave, my PWMIC hit 53c (it's usually like 44c).

Zalman 9500 should be at least as good as the XP120. Looks can be deceiving, but the XP120 doesn't perform great for it's size, IMO. It's kinda old technology, stick with the 9500.

Sounds like you're doing good, keep pushing upward (as soon as it cools off!)

 

[FSH42NA]

Well my attempt at HTT270 was a bust. :Q I first went into the bios to lower Vcore to 1.25 and enabled Vcore overvoltage. Memtest error'd out bigtime. When I hit escape to reboot, I got a bad cmos error and bios recovery from floppy, blah, blah. I almost messed my pants. I pressed the power button to power down since I didn't have a bios on floppy, didn't have an optical drive installed yet and my puter was locked. Luckily after powering back up and going back into the bios, I was able to recover my failed overclock.

I guess I could've bumped my Vcore to 1.5, but the thought of a dead mobo made me a little nervous. I think I'm gonna just stay with my 2.6 overclock which has been stable with Vcore 1.35. I just can't justify the extra heat and juice (0.1mv or more) to get an extra 50mhz or more. I know, I know, I'm a weenie, but making a $1000 processor out of my $400 processor is making me warm and fuzzy already:thumbsup:

 

[n7]

Hmm, were you still using a divider when you tried to boot @ 270?

I hope so.

If you wish to test just how far you can go with your RAM, you should be running the CPU at say 8x270 or 7x270 to see how far the RAM gets.

Then test the CPU for how far it gets by using a divider, & then once you know the max for both, then you can combine the values.

But very gradual steps is imperative also.

BTW, the reason i suggest switching to 1.25V + overvoltage is because it doesn't enable the greatly hyped 8-phase power until you do have overvoltage enabled.
I found that while yes, you can up vcore regularly, it doesn't result in nearly as accurate vcore, whereas lower vcore + the 200mV results in very steady vcore.

Now once you get it running fine with the lower vcore + overvoltage (do this at stock speeds), then bump it back up, & once you are trying to get past 2.6 GHz, very slowly raise HTT (with RAM divider till you find your RAM's max). 260, 262, 264, etc.

You more than likely have 2.7 GHz in your CPU, you just need a bit more vcore & more patience when testing perhaps

 

[FSH42NA]

N7,

thanks for your time and advice. I did have my divider up at the time of my testing. I set Vcore to 1.25 and enabled the overvoltage to give me 1.45. I guess when I saw that scary bad bios, blah, blah message, I ran for the hills. This combined with the heat I was seeing made me reconsider whether I really needed 2.7. I did notice that the Vcore setting I selected in the bios wasn't reflected in the hardware monitor section. Not sure which one to trust, cuz the board seems to overvolt by approx. 0.4mv. When I get home later today, I'll give it another shot(s).

Thanks again

 

[n7]

Well really, 2.6 GHz is very good, especially at stock vcore.

Personally, i'd likely just stick with that if your RAM is running 1:1.

Actually, on second thought, i likely wouldn't anyway, since i'm always pushing for more

Try getting the vcore + overvoltage working at stock speeds. Then once you've got figured out, try for the higher OC.

BTW, with vcore adjustments coming into play, i find these are two ways to find your max.

You can either decide on a max vcore you want to use (say 1.3 + overvoltage = 1.5V), & then see how far that takes you, & then back down the vcore later till it becomes unstable.
Or, the better way IMO, you can increase clockspeed, & increase vcore only when you aren't stable (as you keep increasing HTT). The only crappy thing about this method is that you'll get lots of instability along the way, since you are only raising vcore when your system becomes unstable.

Also, what temps are you seeing under load, & what programs are you using to monitor vcore, temps, etc?

 

[FSH42NA]

Well, looks like 2.6 is as far as I can go with my cpu. Tried 2.7 but got errors on memtest and temps were a bit toasty (with open case). Temps based on the bios since I haven't even installed the OS yet. I'm gonna go back to stock to install the OS and then run prime 95 to confirm stability at 2.6. I can be definitely happy with this OC (being my first):thumbsup:

Thanks for your advice N7