overclocking versus unlocking - testability differences?

[VirtualLarry]

Just wondering if there is anyone here that is pro-overclocking, but anti-unlocking. I think I might be in that category. Just my feeling is, there are so many parts to a CPU, and the mfg is able to test them far better than I would ever be able to, as far as functionality goes. So while overclocking may be safe (assured functionality was tested at the factory, but clock speeds might allow headroom), unlocking (bad cores might be bad for various reasons, and might not be testable) might not be safe.

I just keep thinking about Rubycon's example with an overclocked 45nm 775 quad, in that it passed all "stability testing", but on her application, which actually used SSE4.1, it would fail. And things like AMD chips failing in 64-bit OSes, at certain clock speeds in which they were stable in 32-bit OSes.

Edit: By "unlocking", I'm specifically referring to core unlocking with ACC as seen on AMD systems.

 

[Rubycon]

CPUs are not technically locked because of speed step. That's all I have to say about that. :hmm:

The problem is the testing. It's not using all the features?

Best bet IF you depend on your computer for its calculations leave it to INTC or AMD.

It's fun to see what it can do though. Overclocking production stuff - especially servers - is playing with fire! It's bad enough that you can have other issues both hardware and software go awry on a server and adding another factor with the overclock just makes pinning the trouble even more time consuming!

Overclocking is fun because you can crash and not hurt others, yourself or damage things (for the most part). With racing cars you can crash, hurt yourself, do a ton of damage to a motor, etc.

 

[SonnyDaze]

I've been pondering the thought the last few days of the benefits of running my 550BE unlocked. It is stable unlocked with an overclock @ 3.6. Only needs 1.40 volts in the BIOS. Only stability testing was Prime95 for about 8 hours. It hasn't given me any troubles with daily use (gaming as well). I bench marked GTA IV (probably my most demanding game at the moment) and @ 3.6 there's only a few FPS difference (still 60+) between running it normal or unlocked.

 

[Hyperlite]

I've been pondering the thought the last few days of the benefits of running my 550BE unlocked. It is stable unlocked with an overclock @ 3.6. Only needs 1.40 volts in the BIOS. Only stability testing was Prime95 for about 8 hours. It hasn't given me any troubles with daily use (gaming as well). I bench marked GTA IV (probably my most demanding game at the moment) and @ 3.6 there's only a few FPS difference (still 60+) between running it normal or unlocked.

use something that you can really see the difference in more easily. like, lin-x or cinebench. test stock and unlocked, you'll see pretty significant differences, on the order of 25%. Gaming? no, honestly, unless we're talking about....well, dragon age...you aren't going to see a whole lot of difference. that will continue to change with newer games though.

 

[Udgnim]

the only difference with an unlocked CPU is that someone can just increase the multiplier instead of FSB to OC?

 

[SonnyDaze]

the only difference with an unlocked CPU is that someone can just increase the multiplier instead of FSB to OC?

Well yes an unlocked multiplier allows that. But what is referred to here is with the PhenomII 550BE and the 720, they were made as a quad core but were binned as dual or tri-cores (failed testing as quad core?). The other cores are physically still there but just locked to make the them a dual or tri core. They locked cores can be unlocked with certain mobo chipsets (SB710 should do it) using ACC.

 

[dbcooper1]

The locking in some instances likely has as much or more to do with marketing than anything technical.

 

[Ben90]

The locking in some instances likely has as much or more to do with marketing than anything technical.

/thread

 

[aigomorla]

Overclocking is fun because you can crash and not hurt others, yourself or damage things (for the most part). With racing cars you can crash, hurt yourself, do a ton of damage to a motor, etc.

oh i crashed cpu's plenty of times to tell u, that u can have hardware damage.. and i bet a couple of the cpu's ive lost would make 80 percent of the people on this forum cry a big river..



What can overclocking do?

Well whats confirmed...

1. It can EAT though your ram...

(no there was no pic and save for ram.... most of those sets, i rma's and bought a loaner set while waiting for RMA.)

2. It can EAT though your PSU supplies.
(some board just dont like some psu's while others couldnt care less what was used on it.)

3. It kills your motherboard.... *sigh* i think ive lost more boards as of today, then what some of you guys will go though in your entire lifetime.
(sorry no pictures of all my boards, but ask gillbot what he got this weekend... lol)

4. It will kill/degrade your cpu.
*YMMV* totally depends on how hard you push your system....

So overclocking is not as "safe" as you make it sound.

the only difference with an unlocked CPU is that someone can just increase the multiplier instead of FSB to OC?

There is 2 ways you overclock a processor.

1. is the multi
2. is the fsb/bclk.

The multi is whats known as a "lazy mans" OC.
You wont see much gain from this vs a pure fsb/bclk, because the only thing thats running faster is your cpu.
YOur board is pretty much still at stock, and so is everything else.

The second is a pure overclock.
The fsb/bclk needs to be tweeked with Ram timings, and FSB straps.
In fsb/bclk overclocking, everything is overclocked.
Ram + Board + CPU + PCI-e.

So the pure overclock is whats known as "OCD overclocking".
Because you are obsessive compulsive..

What XE users do is find a nice multi they like... i personally like 29-33... and then we slowly raise bclk until the system is no longer stable.
Vs. On a 920, you would use the highest multi, and play solely on the bclk.

XE users usually get higher overclocking, because of less stress on the board, but these are just pure raw numbers.
For actual benchies, its better to have a high fsb / bclk, and it does make a hugh difference when your ram is running faster in joint with the cpu.

 

[Shmee]

higher uncore speeds may help also? Though that can also be changed with just multis on most boards.

 

[Rubycon]

Stop buying crappy gamer's boards!

Yes if you use ridiculous settings this can happen.

I have very low failure rate outside of things that are POS.

It's good that things get screened.

higher uncore speeds may help also? Though that can also be changed with just multis on most boards.

UNCORE overclocking is awesome! Combined with really tight ram timings a lowly 4.2GHz i7 can smack a 4.5GHz requiring water cooling!

The bad news is it delays their arrival to ME.

Even better news is I don't have to deal with all the mess of something that could not make the cut.

I've killed far more stuff from it crashing to the floor than you have by overclocking I can guarantee that. (about $55k since late 2005)