Procedure for OC'ing A8N-SLI Deluxe

[Jack31081]

I've read a number of the other a8n-sli threads here, but i'm still fuzzy on a few things, so I have some questions.

First, specs:

Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe w/ BIOS version 1003 (release)
Athlon 64 Winchester 3200+
Kingston HyperX PC3200 (2x512MB) (2-3-2-6 1T)

Here are the settings I'm currently using:

- CPU Frequency : 225.00
- PCI Express Clock : 100Mhz
- DDR Voltage : 2.75
- CPU Multiplier : 10
- CPU Voltage : 1.45

- Max Memclock : Auto
- 1T/2T Memory Timing : 1T
- CAS# Latency (Tcl) : 2
- RAS# to CAS# delay (Trcd) : 3
- Min RAS# active time (Tras) : 6
- Row precharge Tim (Trp) : 2

- Hyper Transport Frequency : Auto

I think these are the relevant settings for overclocking. If there are more, what are they? Also, where would I change the mem:cpu ratio (e.g., changing it from 1:1 to 2:3 or 3:4)

So the system works fine now, but where do I go from here? Keep upping Cpu frequency? At what point do I drop the multiplier? Would I want to lower the memory timings at any point?

I understand the idea is to get as high a HTT as possible, which winds up involving dropping the mem:cpu ratio and the multiplier, I'm just not sure how exactly to proceed.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Jack31081]

Ok. Now I'm confused. When I was running at 225x10, my memory was also running at 225Mhz (DDR450).

However, I slowly bumped up the HTT, and when I got it to 239, I reran the sandra benchmark, and the memory was running at 199Mhz. My initial thought was that the motherboard took care of the fsb:ram ratio all on its own (setting a 5:4 ratio), seeing as how i upped the HTT but the ram speed dropped.

I kept bumping the htt up, and got to 250x9. I reran the sandra benchmark, and now it says the memory is running at 160Mhz...giving an fsb:ram ratio of 25:16???

What's going on? Can I manually override what the motherboard seems to be doing?

 

[JBDan]

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=1441072&enterthread=y
http://www.insanetek.com/index.php?page=overclocka64
http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rlid=93806
Heres a little readin for ya. Check it out

 

[Jack31081]

Thanks for those links, especially the insanetek.com link.

I'm still a bit confused about one thing though.

I'm now stress testing my CPU at 295x8 (2365MHz), and everything seems ok. My memory BIOS settings are currently 2-3-3-7 1T with 'Max Memclock' set to auto. In CPU-Z, it's showing a ram frequency of 197MHz with what I believe is a 133 divider (according to insanetek, the 'FSBRAM' is CPU/12.0).

I'd like to ramp up my RAM now, but I don't know how. Every time I try to manually set the 'Max Memclock', my pc freezes after post. Do I need to drop to 2T before doing so? Once I can change 'Max Memclock', what do I change it to? DDR333 or something else?

 

[JBDan]

I prefer "manual" oc's. I'm not familiar with "maxmemclock" as you say (or as your BIOS says lol). Your mem will probably hit a ceiling as mine did (CorsairXL) around 230-240 because it is only rated at DDR400. Your better off with the A64 by keeping the mem speed @ DDR400 or lower and keeping tight timings (in your case I would run memtest with 2-2-2-5 at your present 197MHz and see if it errors after 3 or 4 passes). If it does not error then you are set with your mem. You need to keep it @ 197MHz 2-2-2-5 on the A64. --> Plz read this --> http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=1475190&enterthread=y
It explains the advantages of running tighter timings async at pc3200 or below over that of oc'ing your mem and runnin it n-sync. Next, its time to work on your cpu speed . I use 240 x 10 with ddr333 divider (5:3 on the A8V). Gives me 2.4 GHz cpu with 200.01MHz on mem 2-2-2-5. HTT is x4 (800MHz on A8V).

 

[Jack31081]

what advantage does 240x10 have over 300x8? Does it allow me to get tighter timings on the RAM? Because when my cpu is at 300x8, I can't get it to boot if I try to set the memory timings to 2-2-2-5.

 

[JBDan]

240 x 10 with the ddr333 div gives you a perfect 200MHz on the mem and my A8V does not like high fsb speeds with my present bios. Asus boards are known for there disliking of high FSB speeds. I just wanted to suggest you try this 240 x 10. Run memtest at 2-2-2-5 and see if it errors. If it does use advanced options in memtest and change timings to 2-3-2-6 and test again. Did you read Zebo's post on timings and mem? If your looking to score higher on Sandra/Everest benchies then oc'ing your mem will get you there, but in real-world apps (games) on your platform, low latencies win hands down.

 

[Jack31081]

alright, so I can boot up fine at 240x10 with 2-2-2-5 1T mem timings. However, CPU-Z says the memory is running at 160MHz. Whatever the divider is, it's not DDR300. However, whenever I try to manually set 'Max Memclock' (which I assume is the same as divider, because the choices are the same) to DDR333, I freeze up after POST.

What move do I make from here? Go to 2T? Drop the timings a bit? If so, which ones?

*update*

i dropped the timings back to 2-3-2-6 1T and I can boot with the DDR333 divider and 240x10 cpu.

Sanda's bench for the mem gets me 5945/5924, which is as high as i've gotten.

i guess i'll just play around with the individual timings and see if i can get any of them lower?

 

[GuitarDaddy]

With your memory you should be able to run DDR400 up to 240 with timmings like 2.5 -3-3-8 1T.
This board currently is limited to 240mhz with 1T.

Your best results can most likely be acheived by using a 9x cpu multi, and DDR333

My current setting with a 3200+ on this board are:

284 x 9 = 2557mhz 1.58v (set using 1.6375 in bios 1003.006 beta, or using 1.55 with Clockgen NF4)
RAM DDR333 = 233mhz 2-3-3-5(auto) 1T(manual) 2.8v(manual)


And don't use 2T! Its a huge performance hit.

I just tested the following two settings and the first one beats the second by 3-5% in all benches.

1. Listed Above

2. 287 x 9 =2583mhz 1.58v
RAM DDR400 = 287mhz 3-4-3-8(manual) 2T(auto) 2.95v(manual)

 

[Jack31081]

Thanks. I'm currently in the process of running some benchmarks for a variety of settings. i'll post 'em here when I finish up.

 

[JBDan]

Originally posted by: Jack31081
alright, so I can boot up fine at 240x10 with 2-2-2-5 1T mem timings. However, CPU-Z says the memory is running at 160MHz. Whatever the divider is, it's not DDR300. However, whenever I try to manually set 'Max Memclock' (which I assume is the same as divider, because the choices are the same) to DDR333, I freeze up after POST.

What move do I make from here? Go to 2T? Drop the timings a bit? If so, which ones?

*update*

i dropped the timings back to 2-3-2-6 1T and I can boot with the DDR333 divider and 240x10 cpu.

Sanda's bench for the mem gets me 5945/5924, which is as high as i've gotten.

i guess i'll just play around with the individual timings and see if i can get any of them lower?

nice! Sorry power outage's here in Atlanta just got back up. So its runnin good?

 

[Jack31081]

Now I'm just getting frustrated. I went back to stock settings to get some benchmarks on various OC settings, and now I can't get past 219x10 w/o locking up after post. Just yesterday I was running 280x9 and 300x8 just fine.

Why would this happen? My temperatures have been fine, so nothing's overheated. I'm a bit confused.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

What happens when you drop back to the 9 multi? My 3200+ doesn't overclock very well with the 10x multi, some settings will work others will not. But with a 9x multi everything up to my CPU's limit seems to boot.

Another thing to check is your HTT mult, if you have it set 3x with HTT 219 that gives you a FSB of only 657, I have read of problems running FSB's two low on A64's, if your going to set HTT lower than 250 you should use 4x. When drastically changing your HTT settings like from 280 to 219 you should always change the HTT multi to keep FSB as close to 1000 as possible.

HTT x HTT multi = FSB
200htt x 5 multi = 1000fsb (stock)