Overclocking an AMD 3800+ X2 socket 939

[GeezerMan]

We have a team effort here in overclocking a socket 939 3800+ X2. This is only my second overclock, but I'm in charge. So far, things are good. Here's what we have:
Biostar Tforce6100
Ultra X-finity 500 watt
7600GT video
200GB SATA
2GB Corsair XMS PC3200
X2 3800+ 939
AMD Heatpipe HSF
Arctic Silver 5
DVD burner

CPU-Z indicates:
stock CPU voltage
CPU multiplier is at 10
2.608 GHz
HT Link 1043, it's ok to be a tad over 1000 if it's stable, right?
Ram at 217.4 MHz, 2.5-3-3-6 1T

The board is my old one, and will go to 300 HTT. The ram will go to at least 450DDR
The goal was to get to 2.6GHz on as low as possible voltage, and have decent temps. I think we suceeded pretty well. We have it at 2.6GHz, dual Orthos stable for 24 hours nonstop. Under 100% Orthos load, temps were at 55 degrees Celsius in a 78 degree F room. Ram is at 2.5-3-3-6, all other settings at default.
I guess I just have some simple questions. It's OK to have the HT at 1043 if it's stable, right? Should we bother to adjust any other ram settings?
We are very casual gamers, like an hour a week.

Any other suggestions are appreciated. Thanks

Just overclocking because nothing is on TV to watch.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: GeezerMan
HT Link 1043, it's ok to be a tad over 1000 if it's stable, right?

While that's true, there's absolutely no reason to be above 1,000; you'll see zero benefit, ever, with any software.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: GeezerMan
HT Link 1043, it's ok to be a tad over 1000 if it's stable, right?

While that's true, there's absolutely no reason to be above 1,000; you'll see zero benefit, ever, with any software.

This is correct. This bus has way more bandwidth then it needs. Thats such a minor overclock though it shouldn't make any difference stability wise.

 

[yuppiejr]

Looks like a good O/C to me on stock voltage, if the HT bus is stable at 1043 you're fine - I've seen folks posting up to 1150 on the HT bus with this board. With a 7600GT I am guessing that will bottleneck your gameplay more than RAM timings so I'm not sure the effort:benefit ratio make it worthwhile.

If you know the board will run a 300 mhz FSB stable and the RAM can do 250 You could try pushing your CPU into 3 GHZ territory by going with a 300 mhz FSB @ 10x multi, 3 x ratio HT link and a 3:4 RAM divider. Might kick your temps into uncomfortable territory though since I'm guessing you'll need to throw some extra voltage to the CPU. I've also heard 285 is a doable number with a 4x HT link (1140).

 

[GeezerMan]

Thanks guys. I think we decided to stay with the 10 multiplier since the Gogar optimizer indicated best performance with the 10. I guess we could lower the mulitplier.
With the 10, and the HTT of 260, the HT multiplier of 3 gives us 780, so we went with a HT multiplier of 4. Is it better to have a 780 or a 1043 as the HT?


Gogar

Say, is there any merit in the Tcase temp as it relates to overclocking that was talked about a couple of years back? This chip idles rather warm at 40, but only goes to 54 with dual Orthos. Having a rather warm room to experiment in does not help either.

 

[five4o]

Am i missing something, I can't get my 939 X2 3800+ past 2175.

I followed the quick guide, what gives

 

[GeezerMan]

Originally posted by: five4o
Am i missing something, I can't get my 939 X2 3800+ past 2175.

I followed the quick guide, what gives

Could be the CPU won't go above 2.175GHz. Have you tested the limits of the ram and motherboard separately? My personal MSI K8N board is good for at least 300 HTT
What are the steppings for your CPU?

 

[five4o]

Originally posted by: GeezerMan

Originally posted by: five4o
Am i missing something, I can't get my 939 X2 3800+ past 2175.

I followed the quick guide, what gives

Could be the CPU won't go above 2.175GHz. Have you tested the limits of the ram and motherboard separately? My personal MSI K8N board is good for at least 300 HTT
What are the steppings for your CPU?

Not sure, CPU-Z tells me that right.
I will have to check when I get home (at the job now)

 

[GeezerMan]

The steppings are printed on the IHS. Only way to know them is to read them before you put the HSF on.

 

[Jeff7181]

I also have my 939 X2 3800+ at 2.6 GHz on default voltage.

Also using an aluminum chunk heatsink from my old Athlon 64 3500+ With two instances of Prime95 it doesn't go over 55 degrees. In the hot summer months I'm guessing it'll still stay below 60. Normal gaming loads keep it in the mid 40's.

 

[f4phantom2500]

Originally posted by: PingSpike

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: GeezerMan
HT Link 1043, it's ok to be a tad over 1000 if it's stable, right?

While that's true, there's absolutely no reason to be above 1,000; you'll see zero benefit, ever, with any software.

This is correct. This bus has way more bandwidth then it needs. Thats such a minor overclock though it shouldn't make any difference stability wise.

yeah just try to keep it as close to 1000 as possible; a couple hundred over or under shouldn't be an issue. Like I said, just keep it as close as you can in either direction.

 

[imported_Kiwi]

The search won't pull up the old A64 OC guide that sat on top of this forum for so long (while I still was running AMD XPs). Now I do have a couple of A64s, a year after the C2Ds kicked them into last week, but that's just the way it goes when funds stay short. Anyone have a link to that thread?

Thanks.

P.S. (In Edit, 12-4) What the blue blazes happened to the signature formatting here, and when did *THAT* foolishness happen ?

 

[myocardia]

Sure, it's just a click away.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: five4o
<blockquote>quote:
Originally posted by: GeezerMan
<blockquote>quote:
Originally posted by: five4o
Am i missing something, I can't get my 939 X2 3800+ past 2175.

I followed the quick guide, what gives</blockquote>

Could be the CPU won't go above 2.175GHz. Have you tested the limits of the ram and motherboard separately? My personal MSI K8N board is good for at least 300 HTT
What are the steppings for your CPU?</blockquote>

Not sure, CPU-Z tells me that right.
I will have to check when I get home (at the job now)

Make sure you run a heavy memory divider and loose timings until you see how high your CPU can go. Increase the vcore a bit (1.4v +/- IIRC), along with the memory volts. Drop the HTT multiplier to 3. Now, adjust your FSB to around 260 and keep working your way up. If you take your time, you will at least post, and you'll know it's unstable if Windows won't boot up.

Once you're at a speed that seems reasonable, Prime95 it.

Good luck!

 

[imported_Kiwi]

OK, Myocardie, I've printed that out now.

Next, as this is my first time dealing with any type of memory divider settings, let's pin down specifics, shall we ? Sickbeast, be somewhat more numerically inclined than the word "heavy", if you will, please ?

(I didn't like the ugly mess that my Sig here had degenerated into some time in the six weeks I've been away, either, and I hope it's fixable ! OK -- it seems better now.)