First timer with an AM2 processor

[Andrew1990]

Ok, I have been an Intel person for the past 4 years but I just upgraded from a Pentium D 805 -> Pentium M 730 -> AMD Athlon X2 4600+.

AM2 seems to have a lot more voltages such as the HT Voltage. I was wondering what voltages I should try and keep the processor and the other voltages within. I have overclocked to 2.76GHz on a Gigabyte Nforce 57SLI-S4 with the following options

(FSB) 230
Multi x12
HT Link Did not mess with this yet
CPU Voltage 1.5v
Memory 960MHz 5-5-5-18 @ 2.0v

And every other voltage I kept the same. Temps are fine, idles at 25C and 50C at full load on both cores.

Any tips on getting the overclock higher?

 

[myocardia]

You won't have to add any HT voltage, when using a CPU with a 12x multiplier, and usually don't even need to with a lower multiplier, depending on the board. And you definitely don't want to mess with the HT Link Width; always leave it at 16x. BTW, you're using way too much Vcore for 2.75 Ghz. There's a very good chance that the reason you're having to use so much is because you haven't lowered your HT multiplier (most BIOS's call it the LDT multiplier). It should be set @ 4x, not 5x. You also need to lower your memory speed to at least the next lower setting (I'm not sure which settings your board has, or what they're called), if not two lower.

edit: You also shouldn't need to add any northbridge voltage, as long as you use the 12x CPU multi.

 

[ultimahwhat]

I've read in a lot of places that you'll want to keep your Hyper Transports (HT) around or not much more than 1000 MHz. So, keep HT multiplier x FSB <= 1000 MHz. At 4 x 230 = 920 MHz, you should have some room to go, as long as your CPU frequency isn't maxed out.

Before I read about keeping HT around 1000 MHz, I had my fool overclock set such that my HT was > 1400 MHz. My system was not happy

And also like myocardia suggested, should probably set your memory to DDR 667 (I assume our Gigabyte boards have similar BIOS, but I could very well be wrong). Personally, I like to run my RAM as close to stock as possible, especially with the relative inflexibility of RAM dividers on my Gigabyte board. I don't know what dividers the 4600+ uses. My 5000+ uses a CPU/7 mem ratio when I set it at DDR 667.

I have no good advice about voltages. My tweaking in this area has thus far been disastrous.

Oh yeah, I've also heard that X2's like to run with RAM set at 1T command rate vs. 2T. See if you have this setting. Although, I have encountered problems with putting Vista to sleep with the OC and RAM at 1T, but there are ways around that

edit: there are some decent AM2 overclocking guides around the net. One of my main references has been an Anandtech topic called Quick and Dirty Guide to AM2 overclocking, or something like that. I think it might be a bit dated, but so are our cpu's. But it has good advice about how to systematically overclock your X2.

 

[cmrmrc]

CPU:
1-keep HT voltage as default.
2-keep HT frequency at ~1Ghz
3-use 2T command rate to begin with and use ddr2-667 divider
4-determine highest stable cpu frequency at your 1.5v, don't go any higher.
5-once you got your highest cpu frequency, start lowering the cpu voltage down to the lowest stable voltage.

RAM:
1-keep HT voltage as default.
2-keep HT frequency at ~1Ghz
3-use 2T command rate and use ddr2-800 divider
4-set cpu divider at 10x and start bumping up the HTT (your memory frequency will increase) with 1.5v cpu.
5-determine your highest memory frequency.

BOTH:
my opinion is to keep memory frequency as high as possible even if your cpu frequency is lowered a bit. For example, if at 2.8ghz cpu, u have 932mhz on the memory stable, and for 2.9ghz cpu u need to lower memory to ~725mhz, keep your 2.8ghz/932mhz overclock.

FIY, i dont know how you got 960mhz on 230mhz HTT, its suppose to be 460x2=920 not 960. Here's a nice guide to am2 dividers:http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=105798

 

[cmrmrc]

Originally posted by: ultimahwhat
I've read in a lot of places that you'll want to keep your Hyper Transports (HT) around or not much more than 1000 MHz. So, keep HT multiplier x FSB <= 1000 MHz. At 4 x 230 = 920 MHz, you should have some room to go, as long as your CPU frequency isn't maxed out.

Before I read about keeping HT around 1000 MHz, I had my fool overclock set such that my HT was > 1400 MHz. My system was not happy

And also like myocardia suggested, should probably set your memory to DDR 667 (I assume our Gigabyte boards have similar BIOS, but I could very well be wrong). Personally, I like to run my RAM as close to stock as possible, especially with the relative inflexibility of RAM dividers on my Gigabyte board. I don't know what dividers the 4600+ uses. My 5000+ uses a CPU/7 mem ratio when I set it at DDR 667.

I have no good advice about voltages. My tweaking in this area has thus far been disastrous.

Oh yeah, I've also heard that X2's like to run with RAM set at 1T command rate vs. 2T. See if you have this setting. Although, I have encountered problems with putting Vista to sleep with the OC and RAM at 1T, but there are ways around that

edit: there are some decent AM2 overclocking guides around the net. One of my main references has been an Anandtech topic called Quick and Dirty Guide to AM2 overclocking, or something like that. I think it might be a bit dated, but so are our cpu's. But it has good advice about how to systematically overclock your X2.

I don't know about 1T vs 2T but i remember when am2 just came out, 1T was horrible; couldnt even get 800mhz stable. thats why im still running 2T 1.12ghz on the memory.

 

[ultimahwhat]

Originally posted by: cmrmrc

I don't know about 1T vs 2T but i remember when am2 just came out, 1T was horrible; couldnt even get 800mhz stable. thats why im still running 2T 1.12ghz on the memory.

well, 1T is working for me so far. I don't know if it does anything as opposed to 2T, but I feel better about it. And isn't that what it's all about, when you get down to it?

no two systems or people tweak alike. andrew, you've got the info and tools now; tweak to your heart's content. OC and be happy.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Andrew1990
(FSB) 230
Multi x12
HT Link Did not mess with this yet
CPU Voltage 1.5v
Memory 960MHz 5-5-5-18 @ 2.0v

To take it even higher you'll need good cooling, drop the HT a notch, drop the memory a notch. CPU is already overvolted so don't give it any more for now. If it starts requiring much more voltage, then back off the overclock.