How far can i push my Athlon X2 6400+?

[Chefuk]

Having just finsihed my upgrade of a new case (Antec 900), i am seeing temps lower than i have ever seen. I will be asking the same question as i am here about my 8800 GTX in the gfx forum but for the CPU specifically how far can i take it?

At stock its 3.2ghz and i have just pushed it up to 3.36ghz with max CPU temp reaching 45c. Baring in mind before in my old case i had 51c at idle and 62c under load.

So my simple question is can i just keep going until i hit 62c under load for example or are CPU's limited for some reason? I sort of know memory needs adjusting with four sets of numbers meaning something (yea im still a noob). So any help on that front would be nice.

Here's what i have ifi ts any help:

CPU - AMD Athlon 64 x2 6400+
CPU HSF - Zalman CNPS8700 (Zalman CNPS9500 sitting spare aswell)
GFX - EVGA 8800 GTX
Mem - Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 1066MHz & GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency.
PSU - Corsair HX 620W
Mobo - Asus M2N-SLi Deluxe
Case - Antec 900

Many thanks for responding

 

[cubeless]

are u increasing the voltage? 62c is a bit warm for an x2, i try to stay below the mid 50's... but with the huge decrease in temps that you are seeing now (sure you didn't just remember to plug in the hs fan this time?) you should be able to keep pushing until it isn't stable, if you aren't increasing voltage... once it tops out, if it's still reasonably cool you can bump the voltage and try some more...

you aren't going to break the chip by crashing it due to too much clock, too much heat is the killer...

 

[Chefuk]

I haven't increased the voltage as i wasn't sure which to choose. I have presets in the bios so i guess i go up each one as i increase the multiplier.

My old case was bad for airflow and the mobo won't boot up unless the fan is connected.

What about memory? do i need to adjust that asi go or does it do that itself? as i understand it, the 800mhz will go up as i OC the CPU so i have to lower the mhz the memory runs at? Is that correct? And if so does leaving that setting on auto in the bios sort it itself?

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Chefuk
as i understand it, the 800mhz will go up as i OC the CPU so i have to lower the mhz the memory runs at? Is that correct? And if so does leaving that setting on auto in the bios sort it itself?

You're correct, your RAM speed will go up as you overclock. And no, leaving it on Auto doesn't "sort it itself", that has to be done manually. Just lower your RAM speed to 333/667 DDR2 speeds, and you should be fine, since you have high speed RAM, and a very high CPU multiplier. Just don't forget to lower your HT multiplier to 4x, before starting overclocking.

 

[Chefuk]

righto thanks alot will post up how i get on.

 

[Gikaseixas]

got mine to 3.5ghz with 40 idle

 

[Chefuk]

Just gone higher than i could when i tried before i read your post myocardia Obviously lowering the RAM has done that trick. Ilde temp is 1c more at 3.45ghz so will load 3dmark up and see how high it goes.

Finally i also see voltages may need highering as i go along? I have 4 or 5 to choose from but the two i think are relevent are CPU/HT and chipset. So is it the CPU/HT Voltage (1.20) that needs highering? Or the Chipset voltage (1.40)? Or both?

 

[Chefuk]

Hmm, was getting BSOD's in 3dmark and Crysis CTD within seconds lol. Temps are fine so does that mean the voltages are the next thing to increase?

 

[DrMrLordX]

Originally posted by: Gikaseixas
got mine to 3.5ghz with 40 idle

Impressive. I haven't heard of any k8s besting 3.3 ghz on air.

 

[Hacka]

i got mine to 3556 on air 38c idle

 

[DrMrLordX]

I hope the B2 or B3 stepping Phenoms can hit similar clock speeds. Wishful thinking, perhaps . . .

 

[Chefuk]

Ok, spent all night tinkering and my highest stable settings are as follows:

CPU 3.36Ghz 50c max
Memory 832Mhz - 4.4.4.12 - 2.5v

8800GTX: (Stock core 576mhz mem 900mhz)
GPU Core - 621mhz
GPU Mem - 972mhz max GPU temp 68c

I can get 3.37ghz on the cpu with no impact on temps but stability goes.

When i brought the 6400+ i knew hardly anything about how to overclock and what hardware was best. Now i know a bit more i will probably sell this CPU and mobo and get the Q6600 and asus P35 mobo. This current rig overclock gives a 1000 points increase in 3dmark06 with 700 coming from the CPU OC. I'm guessing its slightly bottlenecking my GTX somewhat. I have £80 spare from my last ebay sell of componants so should hopefully get enough from this CPU and mobo to make up what i need for the Q6600+mobo.

Thanks for your help though guys.

 

[myocardia]

Raise your memory timings to 5-5-5-15, and lower your vdimm to 2.1 or 2.2v, or you'll be buying new memory very soon.

edit: BTW, the voltage you needed to raise was vcore, not vdimm.