How to Overclock Amd 64 bit Winchester?

akshayt

Banned
Feb 13, 2004
2,227
0
0
Hi

How to overclock this rig( cpu and mobo a year old, card, ram, psu new, all other things over a yr old)

Amd 64bit 3200 Winchester
1gb X 2 ddr 400 transcend ram
Asus A8N E
Radeon 1900XTX
160gb sata NCQ
2 optical drives
Only stock cooling + a local fan
Antec SP500

I would like to know if overclocking is required to play games like FEAR and Quake 4 at 1280*1024 maxed, 4x aa and 16x af?

If 'yes', is it possible to reclaim warranty by returning to default settings, in case a problem occurs?

If yes, then how much can I overclock and how much performance boost will I get?

Can I overclock the cpu and not the ram?

How do I overclock?
 

akshayt

Banned
Feb 13, 2004
2,227
0
0
Could you please explain in context of my motherboard ram cpu etc.

I want proper guidance in this case.

Please answer above questions.
 

GuitarDaddy

Lifer
Nov 9, 2004
11,465
1
0
Originally posted by: akshayt
Hi

How to overclock this rig( cpu and mobo a year old, card, ram, psu new, all other things over a yr old)

Amd 64bit 3200 Winchester
1gb X 2 ddr 400 transcend ram
Asus A8N E
Radeon 1900XTX
160gb sata NCQ
2 optical drives
Only stock cooling + a local fan
Antec SP500

I would like to know if overclocking is required to play games like FEAR and Quake 4 at 1280*1024 maxed, 4x aa and 16x af?
NO

If 'yes', is it possible to reclaim warranty by returning to default settings, in case a problem occurs?
Possible yes, ethical ???

If yes, then how much can I overclock and how much performance boost will I get?
You can probably get 2.5-2.6ghz, in games not much 1-3% maybe, GPU is much more important than CPU in games

Can I overclock the cpu and not the ram?
Yes, using a memory divider

How do I overclock?
Read the guide linked in the previous post

 

Maximilian

Lifer
Feb 8, 2004
12,604
15
81
I read your other thread and NO you DONT need to overclock, i have no idea why everyone thinks that is the solution because its not gonna help you any.

Plus overclocking an X1900XT is daft, its already one hell of a powerful card, only enthusiasts who want to squeeze every bit of performance out of their system will bother with that. I Guarantee you at stock speeds that card is FINE. Now go twiddle with the game's settings :p
 

akshayt

Banned
Feb 13, 2004
2,227
0
0
I am not talking of overclocking my card.

I am talking of overclocking my cpu for most if not all(I have known recently not in near past) at anandtech think that my system can't play FEAR and Quake 4 at 1280*1024,maxed, 4x aa and 16x af.

Can my system handle this at stock
 

Maximilian

Lifer
Feb 8, 2004
12,604
15
81
Evidence says no, thats why i keep saying play with your settings.

But if you wanna go the overclocking route i can give you the basics, different motherboards have different ways of overclocking and differing terminilogy somtimes, so you should google "overclocking with an Asus A8N E" Which i cant say im familiar with, i dont generally keep up with motherboards.

Right the first thing you should do, is go download speedfan and Prime 95 its called SP2004, but its the same thing. This will help you test your overclock to see if its stable.

1. Go into the BIOS, locate the FSB setting of your cpu, which should be in the "frequency & voltage control" menu or somthing with a similar name and the FSB is the setting you raise to overclock your mobo. You should also see a multiplier setting in there, this is how the end clock speed is derived. For example, your chip stock runs at 2.2ghz dosent it? that could be a multiplier of 10 and an FSB of 220, 220X10=2200mhz. so if you raised the FSB to 240 you would get 2400mhz, lowered the multiplier to 8 and left the FSB at 240 and you would get 8X240=1920mhz see? Raise the FSB about 100mhz at a time until it fails prime instantly, then lower the FSB until you can run prime stable for well 12 hours is a good amount of time.

2. The memory divider! This stops you from overclocking your ram, which there isnt much point in doing with an A64 system as it dosent need fast ram. Now i have no idea what the ratio's are about if your mobo has ratio settings, mine has settings that say DDR266 DDR 333 DDR 400 etc. At stock FSB your ram will be at DDR400, but if you overclock that FSB by 20mhz it will go up to somthing like DDR420, which isnt good for the ram since its only rated at DDR400 i assume, so what you do is drop it down to DDR333, and itll run at somthing like DDR353 with the overclock, which is fast enough and safe. Not that overclocking your rams not safe, it is, but it causes instability.

3. I dont think you really wanna mess with the voltages for now, as your CPU gets faster it needs more juice, some need more than others it depends, try overclocking it on the stock voltage first. Voltage changes are the only real thing that can fry a cpu. Your winchester is a 90nm cpu and its stock voltage is 1.4V, the safe range is probably 1.4-1.5V, i wouldnt go over 1.5. but some people have 1.6 and 1.65 and run without problems. But its a limit of mine with 90nm.

Thats a really basic guide to overclocking kinda based on what ive done on my rig. Use that "quick n dirty" guide too theres a lot of info in there, google can help you too, for example if you wanna know about the dividers specifically on your mobo just google "Asus A8N E memory divider". Its a pretty easy process.
 

akshayt

Banned
Feb 13, 2004
2,227
0
0
what evidence are you talking about?

Can I play 1280*1024, maxed, no aa/af?

Can I underclock later to get warranty?
 

Maximilian

Lifer
Feb 8, 2004
12,604
15
81
You said "FEAR and Quake 4 kills your rig" thats my evidence that you cant run it at those settings at stock speed.
 

Maximilian

Lifer
Feb 8, 2004
12,604
15
81
Ok right i just read the last guys post in thr original thread, you have a 6600GT not an X1900XT, everyone is assume you have the X1900XT and its not performing well... they dont realise you're talking about the 6600. lol, see this whole overclocking thing, forget it, go install the card, and enjoy, you will find its leaps and bounds ahead of that 6600 :)

and yes you should be able to max out aa and af with it. i can on mine
 

akshayt

Banned
Feb 13, 2004
2,227
0
0
The title is an attractive one. I haven't even installed the card yet and I never play as such any game with a 6600gt on those settings.

Most people earlier at AT agreed that I should be close to settings like 1280*1024, 4x aa and 8x af, fine?
 

orangat

Golden Member
Jun 7, 2004
1,579
0
0
Originally posted by: akshayt
please reply.

You are the lamest dumbass currently on AT.
You said you just bought the x1900xtx, so plug in your x1900xtx and play FEAR and Quake4 at high settings and don't overclock your cpu.

 

Maximilian

Lifer
Feb 8, 2004
12,604
15
81
Originally posted by: orangat
Originally posted by: akshayt
please reply.

You are the lamest dumbass currently on AT.
You said you just bought the x1900xtx, so plug in your x1900xtx and play FEAR and Quake4 at high settings and don't overclock your cpu.

:thumbsup:
 

akshayt

Banned
Feb 13, 2004
2,227
0
0
The card will be installed only when my new power supply comes.
I don't want to play at high settings, I want to play at Max/Ultra High settings for those respective games.