Help Me Get A Decent OC!!!

[Cares]

Okay so my system is in my signature and I'm just trying to get a decent OC. All I want is to get something like 230 x 11 (2530) but it appears I can't get it for some reason. I don't think that is too much of an OC is it?

FSB 230mhz
HT Mult 4x
CPU Mult 11x
RAM 200mhz
2-3-2-6@1T Timings

Voltages
VCORE 1.55v
MEM 2.9v

I think these would be correct settings but it won't run stable. I see people with 2.7-3.0 OCs with 3000+ chips. I can't even squeeze 2.5 out (currently can only run 200x11=2420 stable). Should something be changed to just get 230x11?

Edit:

Now I'm running 130 with 11x and 1.525v and also 166mhz with 2-3-2-3@1T and 2.9v.

It has been running Large and Small Prime95 and no errors for 3 hours already. Going to attempt to tighten the timings and benchmark with SiSoft Sandra 2005 to see the difference in performance.

Is it better to have tighter timings with 166mhz or loose timings with 200mhz for RAM?

 

[GMtheBest]

Follow this guide
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=28&threadid=1497607&enterthread=y

Try looser timings, could also be that your motherboard doesn't OC very well.

 

[Cares]

Everyone tells me to look at that guide but it just confuses the heck out of me when it comes to the RAM settings.

 

[GMtheBest]

What part of the guide confuses you ? Set the ram timings to 3-3-3-10 1T to make sure it is not the limiting factor and set the DRAM speed to 100 mhz

Ideally you should start at the begining of the guide

It was my 1st time OCing, I followed the guide and without too much tweaking I got my
3700+ San Diego to 2.6 Ghz, 236 FSB
RAM at 2-3-3-8 1T

 

[Cares]

My timings are at 2-3-3-8-1T after talking to a friend. I booted now.

230 x 11
200mhz with 2-3-3-8 @ 1T for RAM

1.525v vcore
1.9v mem

Let's see how stable this is ....

Okay I errored out of the 2nd torture test (Large) in P95 in a few seconds ... but it is still going for the 1st torture test (Small) .... Does that mean anything? CPU temps are about 53-55ish

 

[Cares]

Should I try to loosen my timings more? Or lower my RAM to 166mhz?

230 X .83 (166) = 190.9 ... or leave it at 1:1? In CPU-Z it says my RAM is running at 130.1 just like my HTT.

Which is better? Loosening timings or changing the divider?

 

[Icepick]

Don't bother loosening your timings just yet. Apply a divider to the RAM to slow it down a bit and rule it out as the culprit that's limiting the overclock.

 

[GMtheBest]

You can also keep your current ram settings and run memtest test 5 and 6 for atleast 20 passes each. If it errors, then your RAM \ RAM settings are the cause of your instability. If there are no errors after 20 passes of each test then the ram is not the issue.

I really recommend following the guide instead of trying "random" fixes to the issue. Knowing the limits of your hardware will save you alot of time and frustration when tweaking your system.

 

[Cares]

Okay so I lowered it from 200 to 166. When looking at CPU-Z it says my memory is running at 180 instead of 190 (230*.83). Why? Anyways, I should be able to run 2-3-2-6@1T with 166mhz?

 

[Jeff7181]

2.4-2.5 is the limit of most Winchesters anyway... so it may just be that you've reached the max it's capable of.

 

[furballi]

5:6 memory divider should allow you to hit 250MHz FSB. Looks like you don't have a great CPU.

 

[Icepick]

Originally posted by: AlphaQ
Okay so I lowered it from 200 to 166. When looking at CPU-Z it says my memory is running at 180 instead of 190 (230*.83). Why? Anyways, I should be able to run 2-3-2-6@1T with 166mhz?

Here's the formula that is used to determine the DRAM clock. (I pulled this from an Anandtech article here: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2469&p=2

CPU Clock / (ceil(CPU Clock Multiplier/Memory Divider)) = DRAM Clock

Plugging in the values from your overclock:

2530 / (ceil(11/.83)) = 2530 / (ceil(13.253)) = DRAM Clock
-ceil means that you round up a decimal value to the next whole number.
2530 / (14) = DRAM Clock
180 = DRAM Clock

 

[Icepick]

Originally posted by: AlphaQ
Okay so I lowered it from 200 to 166. When looking at CPU-Z it says my memory is running at 180 instead of 190 (230*.83). Why? Anyways, I should be able to run 2-3-2-6@1T with 166mhz?

You'll PROBABLY be able to run those timings with your overclock. The rule of overclocking is that it's always YMMV. The only way to know for sure is to run a stress test on it. Preferably memtest and then Prime95.

 

[Cares]

What is YMMV?

Anyways, I'm not at my computer right now but I'm pretty sure it is running stable at

2-3-4-9@1T and 230 x 11
1.55v and 2.9v

I'm going to try to lower it to optimal 2-3-2-6@1T later if it doesn't fail out of P95 when I get home.

 

[Cares]

Originally posted by: icepik

Originally posted by: AlphaQ
Okay so I lowered it from 200 to 166. When looking at CPU-Z it says my memory is running at 180 instead of 190 (230*.83). Why? Anyways, I should be able to run 2-3-2-6@1T with 166mhz?

Here's the formula that is used to determine the DRAM clock. (I pulled this from an Anandtech article here: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2469&p=2

CPU Clock / (ceil(CPU Clock Multiplier/Memory Divider)) = DRAM Clock

Plugging in the values from your overclock:

2530 / (ceil(11/.83)) = 2530 / (ceil(13.253)) = DRAM Clock
-ceil means that you round up a decimal value to the next whole number.
2530 / (14) = DRAM Clock
180 = DRAM Clock

So would it be more beneficial to loosen timings and use 200mhz or use 166mhz with tighter timings?

 

[Icepick]

The Athlon 64 architecture favors tighter timings over higher memory bandwidth.

Originally posted by: AlphaQ
What is YMMV?

YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary

 

[Cares]

Okay so I guess I'll use 2-3-2-6@1T timings with 166mhz then.

 

[Cares]

Okay so I think I have a pretty stable system at 2530 (230 11x) 1.525v and 2-3-2-6@1T with 166mhz 2.9v.

I think that has been my limit. I now want to try to get 236ish 11x to get 2.6ghz.

I tried 236 11x with 1.55v and 2-3-4-9@1T with 2.9v and I error out of Prime95. What should I do next? What is the best way to loosen RAM timings? I'm not sure exactly which numbers to change when loosening.

 

[Cares]

Now I'm using 232 and 11x with 1.55v and 2-3-2-6 and 166mhz with 2.9v

It finally errored out of Prime95 at 6 hours and 11 min. Does that mean I should lower my overclock? Or loosen timings? Isn't it true that I can use tight timings since I'm still under 200mhz with my DDR400 RAM? What's the next step? Lower to 230?

 

[Merovingian]

mobo model please?

 

[Cares]

In my signature ... Shuttle SN25P

 

[Cares]

Okay so I've been still in Prime95 for about 16 hours now. Is it safe to say that using 230 and 11x is safe for me?

 

[Merovingian]

OMG, you should never prime95 more than an hour to find if your safe. Once you get that and can get the next click then dial back and run it overnight. I have never had a machine pass an hour test and fail an all night test.

 

[SrGuapo]

Originally posted by: TheMerovingian
OMG, you should never prime95 more than an hour to find if your safe. Once you get that and can get the next click then dial back and run it overnight. I have never had a machine pass an hour test and fail an all night test.

It happens all the time to me... My CPU at 2.6 will fail after 3 hours at 1.55 V...

Anyways, just follow the guide. Do one thing at a time. First, find you max HTT capable. Set your RAM timings to 2-3-2-7 and a 1:2 divider (100). Set the CPu multi to the lowest the board can do. Rasie the HTT until wndows does not load.

Next, leave the memory, but raise the multi to 11x. Start around 230 and raise the HTT slowly until you error out within ten minutes of Prime95. Then back it off a bit and run overnbight.

THEN start working on the memory. Lower the CPu multi all the way and set the RAM divider to 1:1 (200) with 2-3-2-7 timings. Starting at 200, raise the HTT until you fail memtest86+. Back it off and try again.

Combine all your maxes. Set a RAM divider that will get your RAM as close to its max without going over. IE, if you can hit 245x11 (2695) and the RAM maxes out at 210, set a 5:6 (166) divider. That puts your RAM at ~204 MHz.

 

[Cares]

I think I'm satisfied with the stability of my system. I'm not doing anything heavy that will probably ever cause it to crash anyways. 230x11 is good for me. If it ever does happen to be a problem then I'll simply lower it to 2400 or something.