Newbie Q: What's the best Tbird to OC? 1, 1.2 or 1.33?

[jonnyjon]

I'm planning on getting a epox 8k7a, 256mb crucial pc2100, using a alpha pal6035 heatsink with sunon fan. Will be running in a sx1030b with 4 case fans.

Need help deciding which tbird to get.

Thanks

 

[Rafael]

Well guess you are asking about the code of the Athlon T-birds, get AXIA or AYHJA. Those 2 ppl been havin success on OCing.
But look at some threads posted here.

Raf

 

[jonnyjon]

Thanks, I guess I should have been more specific.

I was wondering if I should get a 1ghz, or 1.2ghz, or 1.33 ghz.

From the posts that I read most people are going with the 1.33 ghz and apparantly there is much debate on whether or not the AXIA or AHYJA is better.

I'd like to know which chip is the easiest to overclock, or do they all overclock by the same percentage amount.

Is $50 extra worth it to get a 1.33 instead of 1ghz in terms of overclockability?

 

[WarCon]

This seems to be a issue that was being debated fiercely. I am happy with my 1ghz overclocked to 1.4ghz, but this is with watercooling. It probably would of been stable around 1.3ghz with normal air cooling. A Swiftech MC462A is capable of watercooling efficiency, so it isn't normal. With it you would be able to get the 1.4ghz out of this chip.

This is a 40% overclock, but the overall isn't as high as you can get with a 1.33ghz. With good cooling, the better chips in this latest batch have been going well into the 1500's and some even into the 1600's and I have heard of a few going into the 1700's. But most of those overclocks are done with higher vcores than your average board can supply. I guess the new EPOX board can go over 2 volts so it has been one of the ones people have been using. But be warned that some of the chips in this batch haven't been hitting 1500. If you want to be safe, buy a chip with a guarantee to overclock to a certain value.

But some people have been testing a theory that the powersupplies that most of us use aren't strong enough and seem to have better luck overclocking with the 450Watt and higher supplies. Maybe the ripple (which increases as the power that the supply is providing starts to approach the max) is affecting the regulators and the supply of steady voltage. I am thinking about upgrading to a 450Watt Enermax myself.

This your first overclock? Remember to load your system at default speed and then overclock for maximum reliablity of your install.

 

[jonnyjon]

Thanks Warcon,

Now to the second part of the question, is retail any better than OEM?

Thanks

 

[Odin30]

no retail is the same without a heatsink!
Ive tested plenty of both and they usually overclock about the same.

 

[MustPost]

People say companies take out the good OEM chips, but I don't think thats usually true

 

[Paolo]

Jonnyjon, I just ordered a set up very similar to yours: 1.2g 266mhz Tbird + Epox 8K7A + 256meg pc2100(crucial)DDR + TaiSol CGK7600092 HSF. So why not the 1.2 gig Tbird? at overclockers.com the database shows the average o/c's (around which you will most likely endup) as:

1gig o/c average 1329 = 33% gain
1.2 gig--------- 1410 = 18% gain
1.3 gig--------- 1524 = 14% gain

They're incremental gains and clearly on average the 1gig is the best bang for the buck
(<$100 at Newegg recently). The 1.2 gig @ 120 bucks seemed a good value to me. Good luck w/ your decision.

 

[jonnyjon]

Thanks guys for all your input. So is it true that all t-birds over 1.2ghz come unlocked? I may spend the few extra bucks on a higher frequency chip just because it is factory unlocked. Newegg has the 1.2 being more expensive than the 1.33 right now for some reason so, I guess I'll be going with the 1.33! Must..... have..... more...... speeed.......ggrrrnnnnnnhhhh!

So could someone confirm that the 1.33 would be factory unlocked?

 

[jugornot]

Mine is. I have ran it at 10, 11, 11.5, 12, and once booted and crashed at 13. HTH It is a 1.33.