How to overclock this system?

[Dougmeister]

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000 Brisbane 2.6GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor

GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H

PNY XLR8 2GB (2x1GB) Dual Channel Kit DDR2 1066 MHz

While the computer is booting, it says something about DDR2 memory running at 667 MHz. I went into the BIOS and saw an option for "easy tweaking" (or something to that effect... I'll reboot and post the exact menu item if it would help).

I bought the system last fall to play around with Windows Vista Ultimate and it's media features. I don't game much (anymore). Just trying to make sure I'm getting the most out of my system. Some light programming.



MOD EDIT: Moving to CPUs and Overclocking - who would'a thought that we have a forum dedicated to overclocking? - Zap

 

[Dougmeister]

bump?

 

[cparker]

If you are satisfied with what you have with that combo, why not leave well enough alone? I'd recommend not doing anything. Enjoy your system as it's configured. It's well balanced and you should be able to do everything you seem to be interested in doing with it as is. While the motherboard can be overclocked (I've done it!) it's really designed for lower powered cpus. You already have a 65 watt cpu. If you overclock it significantly, you will raise the power usage factor, and at some point you could have problems with the motherboard. (Yes, they have been known to go snap, crackle and pop!)

If you have a need for heavy duty video encoding, for example, I'd opt for a different motherboard/cpu combo rather than trying to squeeze more performance by overclocking your own system.

Actually, the motherboard works very well with 65 watt and under cpus, and the onboard graphics are great. Personally, I wouldn't try using a 95 watt cpu on the motherboard, even though it's certified for usage on some of those by Gigabyte.

I'm typing this on the same motherboard using an le 1640 cpu (45 watts), and I'm very happy with the combo.

 

[JackMDS]

I do not know about your specific CPU but in the general the AMD Athlon 64 x2 line are lousy overclocker cpuz. I would not do not be bother with OC it.

 

[robmurphy]

I have a X2 4850E. Its running at 2.8G and has been for some time now.

The overclock was done by setting the HT clock to 224, instead of the default 200. It runs that at standard voltage. One change I did make was to use the previous HSF from a 90 watt TDP S939 cpu. The old heatsink was much more substantial than the one shipped with the 4850, and was designed for 90 watts instead of 45 watts.

I did have it running at 3.0 G but this needed a little more voltage. I dropped back to 2.8 G to get the memory running at the best point. The DDR2 memory I have is set to ddr2 800 (I cannot remember the setting in the bios), but with the increase in HT this is raised to 896.

I have cool'n'quiet enabled and so the system drops the CPU frequency and voltage when idle. At present is shows 1125 Meg for the CPU cores.

I did do some power tests and found about 1 watt difference at idle between the stock 2.5 G and the overclocked 2.8 G speed. I think for a modest overclock that uses stock voltage then power is not a worry.

There is a sticky on this forum about over clocking the AMD X64 CPUs, and I would read it. I also posted my experiences in overclocking the 4850E. Some of what I posted is not quite correct as I was new to AM2 and overclocking.

I would also read up on how the memory speed is decided. I cannot remember exactly but I think for DDR2 800 the clock speed is divided by 400 Meg , so multiples of 400 give the best memory banwidth. As far as I understand the memory speed is then raised bt the HT overclock, but this could be incorrect. The gigabyte overclocking utility shows the memory running at 896 Meg under load, but I do remember that the gigabyte utility and AMD's OverDrive software gave different readings.

I think first of all you should try varoius BIOS settings and make sure you are getting the memory to run at DDR2 800. That would put your system at stock settings. I would then run something like prime95 and have it setup to run on both cores. If this runs without errors for 24 hours on both cores this should mean the basic system is stable at stock settings. This will also give you a chance to check the CPU and system temps. If any of these are getting high when running prime 95 you will need to resolve this.

I would then for a very modest overclock try working up to 215 as the HT speed. This would give 2.8 G for the CPU and 860 Meg for the memory. I do not know the X2 5000 CPU, but the 4850 does this at stock voltage. Again use prime 95 to check stability and temps.

If you want to try a higher overclock then read the sticky on this forum first, and if you still have any queries have a look at the posts I made.

Rob