Expected OC

[acole1]

I am planning on upgrading in a couple of months to a setup that will have an X2 4400+, DFI ultra-d, and 1.5GB (3x512) Kingston HyperX PC-3200 (already have), and a likely addition of another 512 stick.

The reason for the X2 4400+, is its the lowest price Toledo core (1MB L2 cache) - the same as the X2 4800+, and the FX-60... the clock speed being the only thing that separates them; a separation of ~$300 for 200mhz on the 4800+, and ~$600 for 400mhz on the FX-60.

I know it is possible to get 400mhz+ OC out of the 4400+, but with the KHX ram what would I realistically be able to get? I have an Athlon XP 2800+ Barton right now that is locked (too lazy to unlock it), but when we tested it on my friends 754 it wouldn?t overclock at all... which was somewhat surprising, except for the fact his mobo "preferred" Corsair and OCZ over Kingston (not even on their list).

So, realizing that the 4400+ with a DFI mobo should overclock at least 400mhz, and realizing that KHX is horrible at OCing, what might I realistically expect from this setup? And what might I do to get the most out of it? (i.e. timings, voltage, etc.) Buying new RAM is not an option... if I was going to do that I would get an AM2 setup with DDR2 (for an additional $250).

Thanks for your input!

 

[Bobthelost]

RAM dividers means that you can OC the CPU without worrying about the RAM. I have a 4400 and it's happy @ 2.55Ghz and 1.45V, however you might want to think hard about an opteron instead. They OC just as well for the most part if not better and the 165 is cheaper.

I did have a 170 on order myself but i got screwed by the company i was buying it from.

 

[acole1]

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
RAM dividers means that you can OC the CPU without worrying about the RAM. I have a 4400 and it's happy @ 2.55Ghz and 1.45V, however you might want to think hard about an opteron instead. They OC just as well for the most part if not better and the 165 is cheaper.

I did have a 170 on order myself but i got screwed by the company i was buying it from.

RAM dividers? Please explain... I might be a little rusty on my terms.

Looking at the Opteron 165 here it looks like the L1 cache is 1\2 the size (lower power requirements I suppose), and is 400mhz lower. Would the OC ability of the 165 makeup for this 400mhz difference? and have another 400mhz on top to make it worth my while to get it?

Its something to think about. Thanks for bringing it up!

 

[Bobthelost]

The cache is the same size, 1mb per core. Oh i see, the L1 cache! As far as i know that's just sloppy marketing from newegg. They are the same.

The 165 (or better yet 170) OC to the same levels if not higher than the X2 range do. By all means wait for more opinions though, chose with haste repent at leisure.

RAM dividers let you run the RAM slower than the FSB, A64 chips are very forgiving of it and it means that you can have the CPU running with a FSB of 300 and the RAM @ 200Mhz. Or some other multiple.

Check out the overclocking forum, for more info.

 

[acole1]

Yeah I have been planning this for months and I'm still somewhat undecided(alteast on the CPU). The opty presents a very tempting buy. In the OC forum there are regular OC's up to 2.8 and 3.0 from the stock 1.8... which is very impressive! And its $130 cheaper! But I really don't know what I'm doing that well.. but I'm sure it wouldnt be hard for me to catch on.

Cons are
- taking the work to find the right OC for my core (pain in the @$$)
- and usual risks involved with OCing
result - lots of maint.

I really would like this to last a long time too... so will OCing it (to relatively normal voltages) shorten its lifespan?

(mod - you can move this to OC forum if you like)