i've started overclocking

[bigKr33]

I just started overclocking, but technically right now i'm under clocking because i'm working my way up. My rig is in sig, as you guys know my san diego is stock 2.2ghz w/ 11x multiplier. Right now i'm running it at 10x mp, with 205fsb (just for a start), and a ldt/fsb ratio of 4x. I know its pittyfull right now, ands its not 1:1, well atleast not yet. I turned my ram timings from 1.5-2-2-5, to 2-2-2-5. But what kind of stress should i do for testing my overclocks?

With the overclock that i just posted, i ran the (blend) torture test on prime95 just for 17mins to see if it could pick up any errors, and it passed with non. But what tests should i do and how long should i run them. This was my plan and please comfirm me if i'm doing ok.

-overclock 5mhz, and run prime95.
-If i pass crank up the fsb an additional 5mhz
-once i finally get the cpu to the speed i want, run prime95 for 4-6hrs.
-If that passes run it for 24hrs.

 

[Wentelteefje]

What type of GeIL memory is it? And at what speed is it right now? A Cas Latency of 1.5 is VERY tight...

What speed are you aiming for? With such an incredible overclocking mobo I wouldn't settle for any less than 2.6GHz, it'll provide you some great processing power at that speed... (equal to an AMD FX-55)

About the overclocking, your tactic is good, but I'd go with jumps that are a little bigger... With that mobo, processor and PSU, you won't run into any problems before 250, 260 "FSB" at that multiplier. If I may advise you something, drop your multiplier to 9, so a "FSB" of 300 (which should be easy to attain with just a minor bump of voltage) would equal 2.7GHz.

That's a speed increase of 500MHz, it may not seem that impressive, but it will certainly provide you with higher frame rates in games...

The memory side... Your memory is probably capable of going really high with quite tight settings, you'd have to figure out how high approximately... In that case you can still decide what multiplier you take. If you like the tight settings you have now, you can put a divider (3/2 @ "FSB" 300), which would give you the nominal speed of your RAM (provided it's PC3200 of course ).

Of course, higher speeds will give you more bandwidth, but an AMD64 is very efficient (because of the integrated memory controller) with memory bandwidth, so it wouldn't lose you much points in AquaMark...

Hope I was of any help!

 

[Wentelteefje]

Ow, forgot the part about the tests... my mistake. Prime95 is an excellent method for testing failed overclocks, but one that I could also recommend is OCCT. Beware of beta versions, as the last one keeps crashing my comp... not because my overclock isn't stable, just because of its beta status I guess... Previous versions worked like a charm though... With OCCT you'll probably know it within some minutes if your overclock isn't stable, whereas Prime95 can go on for a little longer... So I'd advice to test your "5-to-10MHz-jump" overclocks with OCCT...

OCCT 0.91: http://www.short-media.com/download.php?d=456

MemTest86 is thé testing utility for your RAM, I even think that with your mobo you can make it run from the BIOS, don't quote me on that, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were the case... (I know some mobo's of DFI can do this)

Memtest86: http://www.snapfiles.com/get/memtest86.html

BTW keep an eye on the HTT bus, don't make it crap out... Between 800MHz and 1GHz is the sweet spot, you can go even a little over that one GHz...

 

[bigKr33]

how do you set the divider. And the speed i was going for was 2.5ghz, with my ram at ddr500@ 2-2-2-5. I'm using geil one S which uses (tccd chips), on the dimms themselves it says 1.5-2-2-5 ddr400 & 2.5-4-4-7 ddr600. So i think ddr500 should be a happy medium.

 

[Wentelteefje]

Wow... that's really decent RAM you got there :Q

That's a good option too to make it run @ 250Mhz, but you can go the full 300 if you'd want, and those are still nice timings.

You'd want a divider of 5/6, of course you won't find that option in your BIOS, so you wil have to set your memory speed at 166MHz, so it will grow equally with your "FSB".

By the time you'll have reached 300MHz on your processor, your RAM will be chugging along at 250MHz. So you could have the 2.7GHz, and have your RAM @ 250Mhz with tight settings...

Otherwise, if you want 2.5GHz, you just have to leave the RAM @ 200MHz and so you'll end up with your processor and your RAM @ 250MHz. It's your choice, but you have hardware with a lot of potential...

 

[bigKr33]

So really you have to do the math when you set the divider. Example, say your fsb is at 250 and your divider is at 166mhz which 5/6ths or .83% of the of the fsb. i did the math .83 x 250= around 207mhz which just a little over ddr400. Is my guess right?

 

[Wentelteefje]

Yep, that's correct! To have a perfect 200MHz, your FSB should be 240MHz, but of course this little difference is of no importance. It's that simple...

But I think DDR400 is a bit weak for that memory of yours...

A situation for a nice overclock would be: FSB 300, RAM 250, Multiplier 9, HTT 3

It would give you a lot of power!

 

[bigKr33]

Do you have to be running 1/1 to have a good solid overclock? Or does it not really matter if you're running atleast 900mhz fsb for htt.

 

[JohnAn2112]

With Athlon 64 you don't need to run 1:1. You can run a divider without hurting your performance because the memory controller is on the CPU. As for your memory, I doubt you'll get DDR500 at 2-2-2-5. TCCD cannot hit that high with the low timings. You'll probably have to settle at 2.5-3-3-8 or so at 2.7v.

 

[bigKr33]

For that occt torture test program, how do you know if you're getting errors. Will anything pop up or no. I've only ran the program about 5-6mins at a time with nothing wrong. Sorry for all the questions.

 

[Wentelteefje]

Like JohnAn2112 says, the Athlon 64 has a built-in memory controller, so it will take the fullest of your memory, regardless of the speed.

Of course, you have some great RAM, but not all samples are equal, so it's up to you to find out how high it can go...

About OCCT, yes, you'll get an error message (don't know anymore what it was like ), or otherwise your system will just hang... Keep also an eye out for temperatures (what Swiftech heatsink do you have?), control them with MBM 5 or SpeedFan (preferably MBM)... You wouldn't want to fry that nice processor of yours...

MBM 5: http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,7309,00.asp

Temps around 50° - 55° under load are perfectly acceptable (at least after your overclock ), any lower and you're perfect...


BTW: FSB 300, RAM 200, Multi 9, HTT 3 can leave you at the lowest timing settings possible, and will still provide you with some 6GB's per second of memory bandwidth

 

[bigKr33]

That overclocking stuff works. Right now i'm only at 235x10 with a 5/6 divider running the ram at 1.5-2-2-5. And my aquamark score jumped from 79005 being the max stock to 81700 something. And my 3dmark03 score went up over 120 points.

 

[Wentelteefje]

Of course it works! That's just the great part about it! It surely gives you higher frame rates and higher scores... It's actually quite fun, working with your computer and making it perform better... Enjoy!

Next thing to do, overclocking your GTX No, just kidding, you wouldn't get much more out of it without extreme cooling and/or voltmods... Doesn't bother, it's already extremely fast...

 

[bigKr33]

I ran occt's 30min. stability test passed with the cpu at 2.5ghz, and the ram with a 5/6 divider so the ram is still ddr400@ 1.5-2-2-5, with no errors. My idle temps are still the same as when the cpu was stock, and my load temps are only 41-42c. The swiftech 6400-vx heatsink is excellent. My aquamark score used to 79005 stock, but now its 85492. I'm extremely impressed by my oc'n results. I'm going to shoot for 2.7ghz very soon.

 

[Wentelteefje]

That was to be expected, you've got some nice hardware, even that 2.7GHz will hardly make it sweat. Good luck!

After your final overclock, let OCCT run for a good while, say some 8-9 hours (let it run all night) to be sure of it... OCCT is very good, but it isn't perfect as well... I've had it too, thinking that my overclock was stable @ 2.7GHz, 'cause it had not given a message after some 30 min testing, but I ran it all night, just to find it completely locked up in the morning...

Your mileage may vary of course... I would let OCCT run, but Prime also (e.g. OCCT first night, Prime second...)

Good luck and ask all you want!

 

[bigKr33]

The results are now in my sig. I passed occt in their 30min stability test and my aquamark went from 79k max stock to an amazing 91k+. My idle temp is only 34c w/my room 67F ambient, and load temps are in the low 40'sC. And what types of 8hr tests should i do for this. I've only done the 30min stability test and nothing else. And what i mean by what types of test should i do, i mean precisly what types of tests, torture tests, mem tests,etc....

And just a couple of additional questions. Could i possibly save my overclocking config so i can put it back to stock whenever i want to. Example say i wanna just run the comp back to stock, could i just save the config and whenever i feel i need the overclock for games could i turn it all the way back up to those settings or do i have to work my way up again?
Another question is, how reliable is a 500mhz overclock like i have now. Is it fine to just leave it at this speed, or should i occasionally turn it down and stuff.

Thank you everyone for the tips, super impressed with oc'n results.

 

[Wentelteefje]

I know of GigaByte mainboards that have dual BIOS's, but I don't think yours has that option... I wouldn't worry too much about it... Although it is a 500MHz overclock (mine's 600MHz ), it won't harm your hardware, as long as your not putting extreme voltages through it... So don't fiddle with it anymore, unless you want to go even higher...

About the tests, you'd want Prime95 to run the "In Place Large FFT", you can find it under Torture I think, as that one will create the most heat...

With OCCT, you'll have to go to the Options panel and select there "Highest" with Test Priority, the rest you can leave at standard... Then click the "Torture" button, this one will go on until you stop it...

BTW: Realize that you have a processor that's nearly as fast as an almighty FX-57... (Because of the added memory bandwidth, it will probably be just as fast in a great deal of the benchmarks...)

Good luck with it! (sorry I didn't answer sooner, I kinda lost this topic out of sight...)

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Nice overclock! what vcore are you using? You can likely get a little higher with some vcore. My SD 3700+ does just over 2.7ghz with stock volts, with 1.55v it does 2.8ghz

 

[bigKr33]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
Nice overclock! what vcore are you using? You can likely get a little higher with some vcore. My SD 3700+ does just over 2.7ghz with stock volts, with 1.55v it does 2.8ghz

My voltage under cpu-z and the bios shows anywhere between 1.36-1.38v which i think is too low, should i change it? Right now I'm running the rig back down to 2.5ghz (250x10) 9/10 divider because games were running too sketchy (excessive tearing), and it still does a little at 2.5ghz, but all in all i really think its the voltage.

What should i change it too and how do i change the voltage for the cpu. I did find these two options in my bios, but don't know what they mean and what voltage to select.
- cpu VID startup value
&
- cpu VID control (auto)

 

[Wentelteefje]

The lower the voltage, the better... If your CPU is stable at that voltage, that's just perfect...

LOL, you have one of the best overclocking mobo's around, and you don't know how to change the VCore?

I'll leave that to the experts at HardOCP:

"The BIOS offers two types of CPU voltage control: startup voltage and running voltage. The CPU VID StartUp Value controls the CPU voltage set at system initialization time, allowing for a maximum initialization voltage of 1.550V. This setting is very useful and welcome because a good number of CPU overclocking related failures occur because the CPU initialization voltage on a cold system boot is too low. The CPU VID Control allows for configuration of the CPU voltage, with a maximum of 1.550V selectable. However, the CPU voltage can be increased to a healthy 2.108V using the CPU VID Special Control option. Using this amount of voltage with an Athlon64 socket 939 processor is not recommended without a superior CPU cooling solution, however."

Hope this made it clear? I'd stay of the "CPU VID Control" (leave it on auto), and would raise your "CPU VID StartUp Value" to 1.4V... You seem to have one of the chips that can run stock speeds at 1.35V... So this little raise in voltage has to be enough to keep your CPU stable enough for OCCT...

Hope I helped!

*Now going to sleep...

 

[bigKr33]

Yes it does help, but before you even posted i tried raising the cpu voltage vid control and start up to 1.4v, and i guess it did nothing because when i went into cpu-z it still showed as 1.36v. I like how my oc is getting my benchmarking scores up and stuff, but games are playing rather crappy, and sort sketchy even with frames 100+. Do i need to do more indepth tweeks you think?

Sorry for all the questions, but am a curious person who just wants to know everything about computers. Keep up the good work with your posts.

 

[Wentelteefje]

Games are playing rather crappy...? :Q

That could well be a driver issue, do you have the newest NF4 chipset drivers?

EDIT: Hmm, so that "CPU VID StartUp Value" didn't work? Then I'd try the "CPU VID Control" one, just check with CPU-Z that you don't end up supplying too much volts... 1.4V - 1.45V is perfectly acceptable, and will make sure your overclock is stable...

 

[bigKr33]

Well maybe its not my board because now i think its my psu. Because i checked the 12v rail and its low like only 11.71v? same goes with the other rails too, i know its not always a flat number, but thats still low.

Yeah actually i just turned my computer back to stock to double check everything in games to see if its just me or my psu & overclocking abilities suck, lol. I will keep you posted.

 

[bigKr33]

Yeah i did some tests, and i think its just me. I ran the computer stock on far cry and still same results. I ran far cry benchmark on volcano level both 1280x1024 & 1600x1200, level detail: ultra, 8x AA, and 16x AF, and when i had the comp overclocked to 2.7ghz i got 144fps average on 1280res, and 113fps on 1600res. I just ran the same benchmark stock and i got 127fps on 1280, and 111fps on 1600. So i definantly know the overclocking is working, well atleast when i had it overclocked.

 

[Wentelteefje]

Although those voltages aren't alarming, it would indeed be better to have them closer to the nominal values...

Hmm, too bad, those Seasonics are said to be very good... Try RMAing it, it might be just your PSU... Normally this one really should be able to keep up with your system...

Or you could try selling it, you'll make a lot of money out of it, and buy one of these, they cost only 3/4 of that Seasonic, and are one the best PSU's around...

Consider it... You wouldn't want that beatiful overclock wasted by a "bad" PSU...?