Sempron 3100+@ 2400 mhz Benches

[charloscarlies]

Well I finally got my Sempron setup back together and wanted to run it through a few benches and share it with everybody here.

The setup:
Sempron 3100+ w/ retail cooler
Chaintech VNF3-250
512 Corsair XL

Bios settings:
Vcore - 1.6
HTT - 267
LDT - 3x
Vchipset - 1.7
Vdimm - 2.7
Ram settings - 166 divider @ 2.5-3-3 (could probably tighten this up but having some issues with this Corsair)

The max stable I can seem to get with the stock cooler is right around 2.4 ghz on 1.6 volts. Prime ran 2 hours at 1.55 before failing, but 1.6 ran for 20 hours before I decided that was stable.

I must say I am very disappointed with this stick of ram though. I read all sorts of good things about the TCCD chips and maybe I got a bad one, but it will not even POST at 245 or above with 2.5-3-3 timings (at 2.9 vdimm). I don't even feel like trying 3-4-4 at 250 because even the old Hynix chips will do that. 2-2-2 timings are only good to around 208ish before I start getting errors as well.

Benches:
Sandra Multimedia & SuperPI

This is all I have right now and if anybody would like to see some other benches let me know. I have to say I'm fairly impressed with what this chip will do on stock cooling. If the price goes back down to $99 when I bought it...these could make for a nice little cheap setup.

 

[Concillian]

If your memory will do 240 stable, you can try running at 8x300 with memory set to 166. This will run 2400 MHz and 240 memory.

Right now on my Chaintech vnf3-250 and 2800+ I finished 30+ hours of Prime95 at 8x300 and just started 8x304 with value RAM PC3200 with memory set to 133 to keep things near 200 MHz RAM speed.

My chipset didn't even need extra voltage to get there, but I bumped it up 0.1v just to be sure.
If you look at the AT reviews of the TCCDs, you'll see that few are actually doing 2-2-2 very high. Though they were all doing 266+ MHz eventually.

 

[charloscarlies]

Originally posted by: Concillian
If your memory will do 240 stable, you can try running at 8x300 with memory set to 166. This will run 2400 MHz and 240 memory.

Right now on my Chaintech vnf3-250 and 2800+ I finished 30+ hours of Prime95 at 8x300 and just started 8x304 with value RAM PC3200 with memory set to 133 to keep things near 200 MHz RAM speed.

My chipset didn't even need extra voltage to get there, but I bumped it up 0.1v just to be sure.
If you look at the AT reviews of the TCCDs, you'll see that few are actually doing 2-2-2 very high. Though they were all doing 266+ MHz eventually.

What bios are you running? I can't seem to take it past 280 or so without errors on the 7/29 bios.

That's what I'm disappointed in with the XL. I figured it could do 250+ without a hitch. Maybe I just got a bad stick.

 

[Concillian]

I'm using the 10/19 BIOS from this thread:
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...9&threadid=1424088

According to the OCZ guys when they give advice about their TCCD RAM they say 2.7-2.8v is best and that 2.9v can actually cause more errors than lower voltage.

Also, there were older versions of the TCCD that didn't do well in A64 systems. Is your stick older or relatviely new?

 

[charloscarlies]

Originally posted by: Concillian
I'm using the 10/19 BIOS from this thread:
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...9&threadid=1424088

According to the OCZ guys when they give advice about their TCCD RAM they say 2.7-2.8v is best and that 2.9v can actually cause more errors than lower voltage.

Also, there were older versions of the TCCD that didn't do well in A64 systems. Is your stick older or relatviely new?

Just get it a couple days ago at Fry's, so I'm not positive but I'd assume their stock is relatively new. I might try dropping to 2.8 or so, but I don't think that's the problem because it won't even post.

I'm gonna give that bios a try though. Thanks man. :thumbsup:

 

[Concillian]

Yeah, that should be new enough, it's been at least 2-3 months that TCCDs have been performing well on A64s.

Thank BW86 for the BIOS, he's the one who found it.
With the Chaintech if you can't POST at high bus speeds, sometimes you just need to reset to give it a warm boot. It's the only annoying thing I've found with the vnf3-250 so far.

 

[charloscarlies]

Wow I tried 8 x 300 and been running prime for the last 30 minutes with no problems so far. Chipset voltage is only 1.7 as well.

Hmmm....maybe some of the BSOD errors were caused by my memory. Didn't know the Chaintech went this high. For $70 it really is a hell of a board..continues to impress me.

 

[Rhoel]

Good info. I might try that also. I just got a stick of ballistix and am running 267x9 with 1:1 memory at 2.5-3-3-6 with 2.9v. Does dropping the multi down help performance at all?

BTW my system

sempron 3100+ 1.65v
vnf3-250 10/19 bios
ballistix 512mb 1:1 2.5-3-3-6 2.9v
xp-90 w/panaflo h1b

 

[Concillian]

Not unless it's otherwise beneficial for your memory.

In my case I couldn't run at 5:6 high enough to reach my max CPU speed. at 8x300+ the memory speed is low enough that my RAM can run, but not too low. If I had stayed at 267-275 range, I'd either need RAM that could run 225 MHz or I'd have to drop down to the 185-190 range. For me it increased my memory speed by more than 10 MHz, or it allowed me to save money on new RAM

In Charloscalies case he was running in the 220 MHz range, and 8x allows him to run in the 240 MHz range.

In your case, you would have to run lower RAM speed (unless you could do 400 at 1:1... not very likely) That would likely yield lower performance.

I must admit it's kind of funny to see people with expensive RAM running Sempr0ns.

 

[charloscarlies]

Originally posted by: Concillian
In Charloscalies case he was running in the 220 MHz range, and 8x allows him to run in the 240 MHz range.

In your case, you would have to run lower RAM speed (unless you could do 400 at 1:1... not very likely) That would likely yield lower performance.

I must admit it's kind of funny to see people with expensive RAM running Sempr0ns.

Yep exactly.

Stable at 2.5-3-3 on 2.7 vdimm. I guess this will do for now.

I know it looks funny having expensive ram with a Sempron, but it's from my other rig w/ a 3000+. Just wanted to play around with this chip for a while. An expensive hobby I know.

 

[Rhoel]

Originally posted by: Concillian
Not unless it's otherwise beneficial for your memory.

In my case I couldn't run at 5:6 high enough to reach my max CPU speed. at 8x300+ the memory speed is low enough that my RAM can run, but not too low. If I had stayed at 267-275 range, I'd either need RAM that could run 225 MHz or I'd have to drop down to the 185-190 range. For me it increased my memory speed by more than 10 MHz, or it allowed me to save money on new RAM

In Charloscalies case he was running in the 220 MHz range, and 8x allows him to run in the 240 MHz range.

In your case, you would have to run lower RAM speed (unless you could do 400 at 1:1... not very likely) That would likely yield lower performance.

I must admit it's kind of funny to see people with expensive RAM running Sempr0ns.

Yea, I know. I wasn't planning on buying it. But the ballistix was only $111 shipped to my house with a 15% off coupon. I'm also selling my old ram on ebay, so it's not too much of a cost. This is my first time overclocking a cpu, and just wanted to have a little fun with it. And if I upgrade later, I should be able to bring it over.

 

[Concillian]

Wow, 111 512MB of Ballistix... can't blame you for that one... 15% off for me would half be used on the tax :disgust: