Quick and dirty A64 clocking guide **UPDATE** X2 OC information!

[imported_wyrmrider]

I can't get to your rig
spd is default memory or AUTO
spd is "serial presence detect" your bios reads a rom on your memory module
get out your motherboard manual
find a forum for your motherboard
the first things you want to do is reduce your hypertransport multiplier
make sure your agp/pci can and is locked try setting manually at 67- but some VIA cannot be locked
if using sata make sure they are locked or change ports- motherboard
all above motherboard specific
then re read page 16 this thread for a couple of good guides
report back

wyrmrider

 

[kcporsche959]

very nice guide for first-timers

 

[theMan]

Originally posted by: Accipiter22
this guide is reeeeally frustrating....is there a better beginner's guide out there? I can barely make head or tails out of this thing...My bios doesn't have anything to set the multiplier, I don't know what 'SPD' is for memory, and it looks like you just find the HTT 3 different times, without ever tying them together....can someone point me to a reliable noob oc'ing guide?

i have the exact same mobo u have. to change the multi, go to advance>system frequency>then set voltages and multis to manual. then you can change the cpu voltage also. make sure you set the agp/pci frequency to 66.66/33.33. then go to cpu config>hypertransport> and set it to 600. then go to memory settings, and make sure everything is auto. that is SPD. then, go to memclock mode and set it to manual. set i to 1:1 ddr200. then start to follow the guide.

1st you find your highest HTT possible
2nd you find your highest cpu frequency possible.
3rd you find your highest memory possible. to do this, change from 1:1 ddr200 to 2:1 ddr400.

ALSO, A NICE FORUM ON YOUR MOBO: http://www.abxzone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74370&page=1&pp=15
thats the 1st of like 165 pages.

 

[imported_wyrmrider]

way to go theman
he go a lucky hit with you

now a little patience...
remember all overclocks vary
let us know how you do
wyrmrider

 

[Sithtiger]

Would this also apply to a A64 X2 processor as well? I have one preordered right now. My MSI Neo4 Platinum nForce 4 Ultra (non-SLI) mobo will be used with it. Would O/Cing say an A64 X2 4400+ proc be the same as O/Cing a A64?

 

[imported_wyrmrider]

Exactly the same
same advice
find a good forum/ forums for your MSI board
see what others have done with x2
have a good power supply
you could check your bus speed and memory speed now
see if it's the same with the x2
remember to lower your hypertransport multiplier first
and dbl check your pci lock which seems to not only be chipset specific but also moterboard and bios rev

wyrmrider

 

[htmlmasterdave]

I just recently bought some new ram for my A64 2800+ and VNF3-250 system. I picked up some OCZ PC4000EL. I haven't had a lot of luck yet getting this ram to run stable at 1T. My proven to be stable o/c of 255 doesn't let me run my ram at any decent kind of timings at all... even 3-4-4-15 i eventually gets errors in both memtest86 and prime95. (at 2.9V)

My question comes down to what is more important for general responsiveness, performance and all that? Right now I'm testing at 9x255 1:1 and 2.5-4-4-7 but only 2T. It looks like it could be stable. Should I run at 1T and lower timings? (I think 5:6 ran at 2.5-3-3-7 1T) or keep the much higher frequency? It's one of those things that's a bit hard to judge. Thanks!

 

[imported_wyrmrider]

BTW when going above 250 set your hypertransport down to 3x
start your overclock over with new ram
try the 1/2 ram divider (200) or whatever and get max for your cpu back off a little
then start pushing your ram, it does not make nearly as big a difference as cpu speed
I'm thinking the 1t will be quicker but it depends on the ratio of the two speeds
you will have to benchmark with your applications to actually find out which is best for you.

one way to look at is that all of these setteings translate into nanoseconds
so cas 2 at 200 is the same length time as cas 2.5 at 250 and cas 3 at 300
(hey it's just an example)
so if you could hold cas 2 to 220 it would be quicker than cas 2.5 at 250
same idea with 1t vs 2t
of course you have to look at the best combination of all the settings, the second two sometimes (usually with athalon?) making more difference than cas
what you are shooting for are the quickest times
this is also why DRII at CAS 4 or 5 has to run so fast to get the same latency as DDR1

wyrmrider

 

[htmlmasterdave]

max I can get my cpu to is about 2.3 ghz which is what I'm running at now, if I go any farther windows freezes while booting. What you are telling me translates to go for the slower speed but 1T and better timings? I had that feeling too since dual channel doesn't add a lot to the performance, so low latency should be a better choice. Am I right?

Edit: Looks like I bought the wrong ram then... I should have gone for some 3500 stuff that can do really low timings

Edit2: Right now it's at 212mhz 2-3-3-6. I'll have to do more testing, but it's looking good so far. Would you say that this would probably beat 255mhz but 3-4-4-8? It seems like the other timings are considerably better and probably overall more responsive. I was playing TFT with the old settings and the performance seemed to be a bit sluggish now and then. I'll try with these ones in a few minutes.

 

[imported_wyrmrider]

you have all the symptoms of:
oc hypertransport lower to 3x
serial hard drive in wrong channel- check a motherboard forum or post where connected if you have serial ata
oc agp/pci- dbl check this one
oc" ram- lower your divider
are you reaching 250+ with relaxed settings?
lower divider and crank it up- then tighten your settings
THE RAM WILL MOST LIKLEY AFFECT YOUR CPU OC MUCH (if you use a divider)
might affect a benchmark somewhat
but there are exceptions- right Kingston user Hakim!

 

[Sithtiger]

Originally posted by: wyrmrider
Exactly the same
same advice
find a good forum/ forums for your MSI board
see what others have done with x2
have a good power supply
you could check your bus speed and memory speed now
see if it's the same with the x2
remember to lower your hypertransport multiplier first
and dbl check your pci lock which seems to not only be chipset specific but also moterboard and bios rev

wyrmrider

Thanx, I've got a good PSU, it's a 350 generic PSU but they guy at the computer store said they were all the same and it would be enough for an A64 X2 proc. I'm just kidding of course. I've got an Enermax 535 watt PSU with full PCI-E support here: http://www.enermax.com.tw/products_page.php?Tid=1&gon=263&Gid=18&Gid2=45

My ram is 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 Corsair Value Memory VS1GBKIT400. http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant...40443&Category_Code=Unbuffered_Corsair
I know it's not the TwinX or other low latency memory, but even with this memory, I believe I can O/C my 4400 to a 4800+ from what I've read about A64 X2 overclocking along with using this memory for overclocking. Down the road, I might buy some of the faster memory but I've got to cut something out and this looks to be the best thing for now.

 

[imported_wyrmrider]

$15.95 for that 350 ps at Fry's- Great Savings!
let us know when you get your xp
well you saved a couple of hundered dollars on fast ram and $500 on the cpu-you're good to go
I think that enermax is the same one my son got

 

[Accipiter22]

Originally posted by: theman

Originally posted by: Accipiter22
this guide is reeeeally frustrating....is there a better beginner's guide out there? I can barely make head or tails out of this thing...My bios doesn't have anything to set the multiplier, I don't know what 'SPD' is for memory, and it looks like you just find the HTT 3 different times, without ever tying them together....can someone point me to a reliable noob oc'ing guide?

i have the exact same mobo u have. to change the multi, go to advance>system frequency>then set voltages and multis to manual. then you can change the cpu voltage also. make sure you set the agp/pci frequency to 66.66/33.33. then go to cpu config>hypertransport> and set it to 600. then go to memory settings, and make sure everything is auto. that is SPD. then, go to memclock mode and set it to manual. set i to 1:1 ddr200. then start to follow the guide.

1st you find your highest HTT possible
2nd you find your highest cpu frequency possible.
3rd you find your highest memory possible. to do this, change from 1:1 ddr200 to 2:1 ddr400.

ALSO, A NICE FORUM ON YOUR MOBO: http://www.abxzone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74370&page=1&pp=15
thats the 1st of like 165 pages.

cool man, thanks a ton, only problem, there's nothing there about agp/pci, or at least nothing i can set to 66.66/33.33...I guess I'll just proceed and assume they're automatically set to that

edit: Is it ok to just use clockgen to change the mutiplier and agp/pci?


EDIT 2: Guess who's bios was from april 2004 and needed to be updated.....ok i should be all set for the moment....thanks for the help everyone...though i still dont' see how to set my memory to '100'..I'm not even sure what that means, I assume that means the 1:1 thing mentioned previously...i hope it doesn't mean the mhz of the memory cause the bios won't let me edit that, and i don't think clockgen will either

 

[theMan]

go to advanced>cpu config>memory config>memclock mode>set it to manual>set it to ddr200.

if you dont have a venice or san diego core, i would suggest using the 1009 bios. it is the best. but, if you do, just get the newest one. i think its 1013 or 1014. i forgot.

 

[imported_wyrmrider]

Your board- chipset compares apples to oranges

DDR= Double Data Rate
it passes two sets of data PER CLOCK CYCLE
400 DDR operates at a REAL 200 megahertz (MHz) memory clock
what we want you to do is set your ram at half speed for testing
That's why we want you to set it to DDR= 200 which is really a ram bus speed of 100 MHz
(which is the same bus speed as PC100 SDRAM everyone used to have)
now as you overclock your ram bus speed will increase from 100- but will still be way under the DDR 400 (200MHZ) your ram is rated for- we'll fix that later

some motherboards call this divider by fractions 1/2 would be DDR 200, 2/3 would be DDR 333 and 1/1 would be DDR 400
YOUR MOTHERBOARD DOES NOT DO IT THIS WAY EVIDENTLY
on some mother boards 1:1 is DDR 200 2:1 is DDR 400
you have to get your head screwed on as to how Your motherboard shows these settings
follow theman's advice- he has the same board as you do
watch for the other methods on this forum as they may not apply to your board, chipset, bios

I do not have your board but I can assure you that the default pci/agp is not usually locked
look for an AUTO setting and set it to Manual - or something like that
some boards have to be set to 67 to lock

also let us know if you are running sata drives and where you have them connected
help Theman

These three things are why those who just boot up and start pushing what they call "front side bus" cannot get past 220 or so even when they are a site testing high buck ram

 

[Accipiter22]

ok, my HD is an SATA on Raid 1.....

and what do the numbers for ram mean 2-2-2-7 for instance...I don't know which clock settings each one of those corresponds to

 

[theMan]

it is CAS-tRC-tRP-tRAS

 

[Accipiter22]

Thanks...i definetly don't have enough in my bios though, there's none that go to 7...

shoot i also forgot, which voltage do I change to 2.9V?? None of hte voltage settings in my bios seem to pertain to the ram...there's a ddr voltage, but that only goes up to 2.8...

 

[theMan]

yes, ddr voltage is the ram voltage, on the a8v deluxe, it only goes up to 2.8v. which is enough for most ram.

 

[imported_wyrmrider]

http://i4memory.com/showthread.php?t=327
Guide to AMD64 Overclocking (21/06/05)
from I4memory.com by eva2000 forum administrator

patience theman

 

[theMan]

what arent i patient about?

 

[imported_wyrmrider]

you are the most patient soul I've ever seen
COOL
I do not have nearly that much patience
why I manage programmers but am not a good one myself

 

[cryptonomicon]

wow, fvcking awesome script.. wish i had known about that ages ago

 

[kman79]

Hey guys, on an A*N-SLi Premium board, where is the SPD found? Is that what the CAS value is? There is the DDR frequency and I set that to 200, which is 100 right. That's what the guide says to use, but I can't locate SPD anywhere on the motherboard.

Another question, dividers. I am new to building computers and I don't know where I can find dividers.

Any help on this is greatly appreciated

 

[imported_wyrmrider]

Hi K
Can't see your post from here
sorry no one has responded so I'll take a shot
first get to a forum for your motherboard and read up on it
start with Anands motherboard forum below
SPD= spd is a small rom on each memory stick that has the values for that memory
the bios, by default, will read these values and input them into the bios
so SPD = default memory timings

for dividers you will have to research your motherboard- there are several different terminologies
did you get this board on the tech tour?- if so I got one too but have not looked at it yet

wyrmrider
get your board and memory burnt in and benchlined before you start worrying about dividers