Safe voltage for Socket 939 Athlon X2 and Overclocking

[WhipperSnapper]

Well, it looks like this Socket 939 Athlon X2 4400 that I picked up off of eBay is a horrific overclocker. I want to run it at at least 2.53 Ghz and preferably at 2.64 Ghz.

At 11 x 230 (2.53 Ghz) and 1.575 V it shows errors in Stress Prime Orthos but seemed to do fine in Unreal Tournament 3. As I mentioned in an earlier thread, my computer reports the CPU as having a lower voltage than what I set it at in the BIOS.

Should I just keep upping the voltage in order to increase the overclock or be happy with a lowly 2.53 Ghz? My single core Opteron 148 ran at 11 x 250 (2.75 Ghz) and I had the voltage set at 1.45 V.

Is it possible that I need to adjust some other setting in my BIOS in order to better overclock a dual core? Other than the voltage I'm using the same settings I used for single core Opteron. Could I need a lower memory divider for some reason or a lower HTT multiplier (currently at 4x)?

 

[Rhoxed]

that just doesnt sound right, even most 3800's will hit that with ease at around 1.45v, anyone you know with same mobo? or somewhere you can test the chip?

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Nope. Just bad luck maybe? I'm wondering if I need to do something different with my BIOS setting since it's dual core. I bought the chip off of eBay from a guy who sells lots of pulled CPUs; perhaps this was returned to a computer store for this very reason. Only paid $66 for it total, so I guess I can't complain too much.

HTT multiplier is set at 4x.

RAM divider is set for speed 133.

Chipset voltage is 1.6 (what I had it at for the Opteron).

RAM voltage is 1.8

RAM is 4 x 512 DDR 3200. No problems with the current settings when I had the single core Opteron.

One other possibility -- the power supply? It's a Fortron EPS-SLI 550W, which is a reputable brand and it should be powerful enough for this. Video card is an 8800 GT and the rig has 2 hard drives and 6 case fans running in it (plus HSF fan).

 

[MarcVenice]

I think 1.55v is the upper limit you should safely run a 90nm CPU at. Aren't you seeing very high temperatures with such high voltages ?

 

[Nathelion]

Sometimes, high voltages will introduce new instabilities with the X2s. Have you tried lowering the voltage?
Also, did you do what the guides say and test the CPU speed separately with everything else turned waay down?

 

[sutahz]

I had a X2 4400 s939 awhile back. I wasn't able to OC it very much either (though I am a mediocre overclocker). I think I settled on like 2.5GHz or something, max i hit was like 2.7GHz (not that it was 8hr stable at that point). I don't really remember, the point is that chip isnt a great overclocker. Opterons OC'd better overall (I got help at diy-street.com).

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
I think 1.55v is the upper limit you should safely run a 90nm CPU at. Aren't you seeing very high temperatures with such high voltages ?

Not really. Highest I've seen is 47 degrees under Stress Prime. Idles around 36 degrees with the BIOS voltage set at 1.575. Motherboard reads the CPU voltage as about 1.52.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally posted by: Nathelion
Sometimes, high voltages will introduce new instabilities with the X2s. Have you tried lowering the voltage?
Also, did you do what the guides say and test the CPU speed separately with everything else turned waay down?

No, but I'm thinking I might try that. Guess I could lower the HTT multiplier to 3 and maybe take the RAM divider down to 100.