Going over 2.4 GHz on AMD64 3200+

[joe2004]

Yes, I finally achieved this feat on my Asus K8V.
The trick #1: 600 MHz HT
The trick #2: 256 MB sticks of HyperX BH-5, 512 sticks won't do it no matter what, the same ones that do just fine 280 MHz bus at 5:4 in Intel board.
The trick #3: revision 3 of AMI Bios, the voltage on max, 1.75V on the chip.

So far 2.45 GHz, it seems to have stability problems in Windows at 246, don't know if that can be remedied. Amazing SuperPI 2 MB of 84 seconds, my 95 seconds Barton maxed at 2.40 GHz under 1.87 V.
Boy do I love Asus, never had any stability problems with their board, move on Abit.

And don't believe all those silly web evaluations they cannot get over 220. They don't know what potential to unlock. This K8V is a rocker.

 

[Geomagick]

nice one.

Makes a mockery of getting an FX.

 

[joe2004]

Anand recently wrote AMD64 board shootout article
http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=6&id=921
and it is between Epox, Albatron, and Asus all VIA boards.

I don't see Epox better than Asus so I am thinking it is not worth a switch since the stability with Asus was always better than Epox. In my view. On the other hand Albatron seems to be very attractive, $125 only but I have never had one by Albatron. Little apprehensive. Anand was by the way the only one getting 255 of that board, all other evaluations were much more modest.

NForce 3 board? Three problems: #1 you need to do volt modding, #2 risky (CPU dying a lot), #3 which one (none is a sure bet for overclocking).

So, my choice is Asus K8V, but I am tempted by Albatron K8X800 Pro II, due to very nice BIOS options and fine features otherwise.

Anybody with any experience with Albatron?

 

[sandorski]

******Caution******

Until more is known, **do not** raise your voltages! I followed a link to another forum to Xtremem Systems Forum. At that forum are many people who have had their A64's die unexpectedly. So far upping the voltage has been blamed, but it seems that upping the Ram voltage is as potentially dangerous as upping the cpu voltage.

Just a warning. Extreme Sytems

 

[joe2004]

many people who have had their A64's die unexpectedly.

Yes, I read that but it all seems hypothetical. Three things are very different in my case:
#1. I use Asus K8V, Via board, absolutely the most stable 754 board around. It seems most trouble is connected with NForce boards, in particularly volt-modded ones and the Chaintech (I'd never again buy Chaintech, no matter what they say).
#2. I have 2.8V on my BH-5 memory, very acceptable.
#3. I actually dropped voltage to 1.65V which is good enough to power 2.45 GHz which I have now. The chip is passing Prime and the temps are rather low, using TT Venus 12 on full force. This is almost a kilo of a full copper heatsink.

 

[Duvie]

JOe what is the default vcore??? Is that 10% over default???

As like the p4 .13 micron chip these tiny chips with there tinier parts are becoming increasily more sensitive to any vcore adjustments.....

I would be careful as well as I just saw someone mention the same thing in another forums cpu overclocking forum and I don't think it was as high as yours.....

80 dollar barton is different to a near 300 dollar 3200+......


Good luck though...I guess someone has to find the limit for the rest to not exceed...


One other question an old trick of all Asus mobos is to overvolt. So is that 1.75v set in bios actually that??? I would question that...

 

[joe2004]

Asus Bios revision 3 is overvolting, the max was 1.7 but is more like 1.73V. I have it now 1.65 actual since I really cannot press chip further since the board cannot go over 245. Chip can. I had it 1.7-1.75 for about a month now and no problems, Prime95 and such. With 1.65V I doubt there is any trouble. The default is 1.5V.
As a matter of fact, I paid $400+ plus $40+ for heatsink so you are right, no joking here.
But really these people have trouble with volt modding. That isn't job for everybody.

 

[govtcheez75]

I'm assuming that the Asus board like the other Via Chipset boards doesn't have an AGP/PCI lock? How are you able to use a Video Card/Sound card with those FSB speeds? I start having video card and sound card issues if I go above 220. I also hear that you get alot of corrupt files on your hard drive due to the unstable southbridge clock speeds.

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: govtcheez75
I'm assuming that the Asus board like the other Via Chipset boards doesn't have an AGP/PCI lock? How are you able to use a Video Card/Sound card with those FSB speeds? I start having video card and sound card issues if I go above 220. I also hear that you get alot of corrupt files on your hard drive due to the unstable southbridge clock speeds.

Yup. I have problems with 3d games at 220, can't even finish 3dmark03. 218 works fine (so far, 2 days). It will do 220 in regular windows, so if I want to leave it running seti for an extended period, I up it to 220. Might try more just to see where it stops. I also DON'T overvolt for just the reasons mentioned. I don't need the speed that much.....

 

[joe2004]

I am actually able to enter windows and run SuperPi and Sandra benchmarks at 2.47 GHz but it isn't stable. I mean Prime95 is crashing. I don't know what are your problems but believe me it is not PCI/AGP lock. That should give you room to about 255-260. There is a little gap between 228 and 233 where the PCI/AGP is too high, but that is all.
The main problem must be the quality of memory you use or the wrong timings. That is up to you to figure out. Also this overclock of mine is with 512 MB while with 1 Gig I can get only 2.39 GHz. Also 244 in the maximum stable with enabled bank interleaving. I go higher but only with interleaving disabled. I don't gain much MHz that way so I stick to 244.
You need a decent heatsink since default is too weak for 400 MHz overclock. I suggest Zalman or TT Venus 12. The voltage must be better tha 1.5V default as well, perhaps that is a problem.
Lastly, Athlon64 3000+ is not the same as 3200+ which I have. Given the fact that it has half the cache disabled due to defects in manufacturing one would expect that the other half is not exactly the top quality either. I am not an expert but my guess is that can be a problem as well.
As far as 3200+, people are reporting going over 2.5GHz without much trouble so I guess it is possible with increased voltage fairly easy. Asus board limits are 240-248, depending on the board.

Update:
I am actually entering the windows at 249, this is over 2.5 GHz (Asus Bios shows that)! Unfortunately I can do that only by using 1x256 stick of Winbond BH-5. Apparently memory controller problem by Athlon 64.

Here are the maxima for my board:
1x256 = 249 MHz, 247 Prime95 stable
2x256 = 245 MHz, 244 Prime95 stable
2x512 = 239 Mhz, 238 Prime95 stable

(Prime95 stable meaning about 30 minutes. I know what you all gona say but I just don't have a time to do that for many hours now and this is usually good for me for everything else.)

And the good news today, AMD will be releasing new version of 754 socket chip, called Athlon64 3400+ CG, this is to have memory controller enhancement to be able to use memory with more density and faster clock.