Overclocking with a RAID

[crsgardner]

I posted this in the highly technical forum and it may interest some of you (particularly those that run gaming rigs with RAIDs). I'm curious what people have run into in terms of overclocking video cards and stability of other components. Hopefully we'll get a good variety of opinions.

 

[MDE]

The thing you probably need to worry about is the lack of a PCI\AGP lock. When you overclock the "FSB" you're throwing the PCI bus out of spec, which is what your RAID controller is running on and is what will cause corruption.

 

[crsgardner]

Assuming I don't overclock the FSB, and only overclock the video card's core and memory (which I assume I can do without affecting the FSB) do I need to worry?

 

[Rent]

Originally posted by: crsgardner
Assuming I don't overclock the FSB, and only overclock the video card's core and memory (which I assume I can do without affecting the FSB) do I need to worry?

Um, no.

I run overclocked 24/7 with my setup and have yet to have any problems.

 

[crsgardner]

I run overclocked 24/7 with my setup and have yet to have any problems.

What RAID controller do you use? I'm basing my worried off complaints I've heard from other posters (mostly those who tried to overclock everything). A performance kick is great, but not if I have to worry about a corrupted RAID.

 

[Rent]

Originally posted by: crsgardner

I run overclocked 24/7 with my setup and have yet to have any problems.

What RAID controller do you use? I'm basing my worried off complaints I've heard from other posters (mostly those who tried to overclock everything). A performance kick is great, but not if I have to worry about a corrupted RAID.

I use the built on Promise VIA SATA Raid Controller.

 

[crsgardner]

Identical controller... hmm. By the way, my board is an ASUS K8V SE. I thought I saw something about changing the FSB in the BIOS. You're saying there's no way to do this? What about changing the CPU speed (which I know I can do). Should I risk it?

 

[loafbred]

Funny you should ask about this. I have a K8V SE, running RAID 0 on the Promise controller. I did corrupt my array beyond repair last week, using the VIA controller, but it was brought on by a fairly extreme overclock (10*223 or so, not sure exactly which attempt caused the actual corruption). I coudn't restore or repair Win XP, which was a first for me.

I have a 9800 Pro, and I get artifacts at 212 bus, when running bus/dram 1:1, 800 HTT.

Lowering multiplier to 9.5 automatically changes bus/dram ratio (I'm a little confused about exactly what the ratio is), and I can run bus at 220 without problems. Memory bandwidth is about the same, or a tad lower than when running at 210*10. I've tried changing the ratio to 5:3 using multiplier 10 and 220 bus, and I think my early 3200+ just won't do it. Lowering HTT from 800 to 600 helps with the artifacting problem, but not much. I think I've tried it all, and 10*210 or 9.5*220 is all mine is good for.

 

[crsgardner]

See, that's what I'm talking about. I have a stable system right now and the RAID (at least on the Promise Controller) has literally been flawless. I don't want to wreck anything. Still, the performance gains I've seen tweaking the video card's core and memory have been quantifiable (at least 20% performance increase).

 

[wseyller]

I have my k8v deluxe at 10x225 and memory at 5:3 I have raid 0 and system run perfect.

I ran prime 95 for about an hour, multiple 3dmark03 test, and I'm constantly play Desert combat and battlefield vietnam. No artifacts or unstableness.


I had problems at first too with my Asus K8v. If you got 2 - 512 sticks of ram, try slots 1 and 3. It was more stable that using 1 and 2. Also upgrade bios to newest version, this helps to get a better overclocking.

 

[jagec]

as long as your AGP/PCI bus is locked, your RAID won't even know you're overclocking.

 

[AnnoyedGrunt]

crsgardner are you talking about OC'ing JUST your video card?
If so, then it won't have any effect on the rest of the system, other than causing its own instability.

I think everyone else is talking about OC'ing your FSB, which would normally overclock the rest of your system since the bus speeds are based of divisions of the FSB (so, if you normally run a 200Mhz FSB, clocking it to 210 (5%) would raise your PCI and AGP bus by 5% as well and you'd go from 33Mhz to 34.6). Now, if you have a MB with the AGP/PCI lock, it will keep that 33MHz no matter what your FSB is. That way you can overclock your RAM and CPU without worrying about your HDD's and video interface.

At least, that's my understanding of the situation.

-D'oh!

 

[crsgardner]

"Now, if you have a MB with the AGP/PCI lock, it will keep that 33MHz no matter what your FSB is. That way you can overclock your RAM and CPU without worrying about your HDD's and video interface"

Ok. To be a little naive: why would anyone want a system *without* a lock, then? Doesn't it lead to more stability?

 

[Rent]

Originally posted by: crsgardner
"Now, if you have a MB with the AGP/PCI lock, it will keep that 33MHz no matter what your FSB is. That way you can overclock your RAM and CPU without worrying about your HDD's and video interface"

Ok. To be a little naive: why would anyone want a system *without* a lock, then? Doesn't it lead to more stability?

It just takes away some of the flexibility. Some people can achieve higher overclocks and still be stable with out the lock. Some systems just can't take it.