First Time Overclocker...

[crazylegs]

Hi all, as you can see from my sig. i have an AMD64 Venice 3000+(stock cooling), ASUS A8N-Sli, and 2x512mb (cheap and nasty RAM)...

Anyway i have been doing some research into overclocking and it seems like a bit of a no brainer to me... even though i am not a PC pro i am confident in my ability to carry out the procedure i have seen on a few very handy guides!

And while i dont expect to get close to some of the 2700Mhz posts i've seen - 2300Mhz ish possible??? My main concern would be that my mem will hold me back...anyway:

1) What 'safe' overclock should i expect with Stock Cooling?
2) How long will the procedure take?

Thanx all

 

[addinator]

time... you can spend anywhere from five minutes, to five hours if you wish. hell, five days if you really want to. normally, i'd suggest that you go up in small incremements (50-100mhz). then test for a bit for stability, then continue. your cooling will really determine how high, on stock, i wouldn't expect much more than 2300mhz, though you could get lucky. your memorty woun't really hold you back, you'll just have to use a divider. which really isn't that big of a deal, i run a divider and it works great. i would think you'll hit around 2.1 to 2.3 somewhere in there on stock cooling, but then again i could be wrong. really the only way to know is to try .

 

[crazylegs]

just had a quick bash with ClockGen NF4... to seen how high i might be able to go - at 2.35Mhz the heavy load temp is 45C and all seems to work fine i.e. games, Prime95 (not had time for a full test yet only like 15mins) and 3DMARK 05...

Probably going to do it 'properly' this weekend - can't wait !!!

 

[crazylegs]

using ClockGen i'm running @ 261.87*9 = 2356.79 Mhz

so when i do it properly from BIOS can i start at about 260 HTT and move up slowly???

thanx again

 

[Uhtrinity]

I set up a system for a friend using the same chip on a Chaintech motherboard. Happily running one step above stock voltage at 2.4Ghz with stock air cooling.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Originally posted by: crazylegs
using ClockGen i'm running @ 261.87*9 = 2356.79 Mhz

so when i do it properly from BIOS can i start at about 260 HTT and move up slowly???

thanx again

Yes, thats how I would proceed. Did you increase vcore any to acheive that speed? If not it looks like you have a good overclocker. 1.55v is what I consider the safe limit on stock cooling, I would set HTT to 260 and vcore to 1.55v in bios then use clockgen to see how high you can go. And monitor your temps, anything under 60c with a full load is ok, under 55c is better.

You can probably get 2.6ghz 289x9 pretty easily, if your lucky you may get 2.7ghz 300x9. Just remember to set the HTT multi at 3x and drop your memory divder another notch if your memory speed goes over 200mhz.

 

[Markbnj]

It's not easy to say what "safe" overclock you will get. The important thing as far as I can see is to work the three main subsystems independently: HT link speed, DIMM speed/voltage, and CPU speed/voltage. Just pick any two and set them so they always run slow, and then see how fast the third will run. Take it up from a safe speed/voltage to the point where it fails. Write down those numbers. Repeat for the other two. Then take the numbers and figure out a combination of base clock, HT link multiplier, ram divider, and CPU multiplier that will: a) not run any component faster than it has shown it can run; b) not overvolt anything into cripsy oblivion; and c) give you the fastest speed you can get for each component. Your goal with ram and cpu is the fastest stable performance. Your goal with HT link speed is to keep it as close to stock as possible without exceeding it (by much).

As for time, I have been tweaking mine for over a month. But then I can only play with it for an hour or two a day.

 

[crazylegs]

like i've already said i can't wait to sink my teeth into some deep down and dirty BIOS overclocking probably have a session this friday/saturday... you can bet that i'll have a whole bunch of questions concerning optimum settings once i get stuck in!

One quickie though just thought of - are there any decent benchmarks that take into account the 'whole' system? So, i could see what sort of an effect my messing is having with more real time tasks - rather than just benching the CPU power/ stability?!?

thanx all

 

[jutetrea]

Also a first time Overclocker, Is there a "cookbook" type process located somewhere for overclocking an AMD x2 3800?

Getting a rig built now

x2 3800
Abit fatal1ty a8n-sli
7800 GTX
2gb ram (not sure what kind yet, have to do a bit of research)
everything else pretty standard
Coolermaster midtower
Stock cooling intially

thanks
(sorry for the minor hijack, didn't think it was new-thread worthy)

 

[kwarkers]

 

[kwarkers]

What's this ClockGen thingy (im also a 1st time OC)??? I've got an A64 3500 venice and i really need some help to ever clock this thing! ive tried Ai booster but that isn't really good...

 

[kwarkers]

Ah one quick search on google told me what ClokGen is, but any extra hints/help would be good