Want to take my Opty 146 higher

[stockjock]

I'm using AMD Opteron 146 2000MHz @2.8Ghz water cooled


Motherboard: DFI Lanparty UT nF4 SLI-DR Expert


Memory: 2gig of G.Skill DDR 400 ( not sure of timing)


Video Card: Saphire X850XT PCIe ATI Radeon (Water Cooled)


I'm wondering if I could get some help...my temps are great as you can probably imagine using a water cooled system...idle at 32 under load running around 37..vid card is around 37 idle and 44 to 47 under load (vid card is water cooled as well). Anyway, my question is I just can't seem to grasp the change from Socket A to 939 for multipliers for CPU and memory. If I wanted to take this cpu up higher could you tell me what the bios settings should be for to take it up to 3Ghz and then to 3.2Ghz...I want to see if I can get that high but as I said...I just can't grasp the memory timing stuff etc...

Thanks in advance if you can help

Stock

 

[StopSign]

You'll need to use a memory divider because I don't forsee your memory running in the 300-320 MHz range. Since you're able to run it at 280 right now, try this:

- keep all your memory timings and voltages the same
- use the 6:5 divider (it's called 166 or something on the DFI boards, I don't quite remember)
- reboot
- raise Vcore a bit
- reboot
- raise HTT all the way up to 320
- reboot and see if it even boots up at all

Btw I assume you disabled all the CPU features like Cool n' Quiet, etc.

 

[Shimmishim]

I highly doubt you will be able to do 3.2 ghz stable on water.

3.0 should be obtainable depending on the stepping of that chip.

do everything stopsign said except I would recommend you use the 133 divider since your ram is rated for ddr400 and we're not sure of how high it can clock to.

As for timings, just leave them on auto for now.

 

[stockjock]

Thanks guys for the input...I'll try them out.

 

[StopSign]

Originally posted by: Shimmishim
do everything stopsign said except I would recommend you use the 133 divider since your ram is rated for ddr400 and we're not sure of how high it can clock to.

We're sure it can handle 280 because that's what he's using right now. That is, I'm assuming he's 1:1.

 

[Shimmishim]

Originally posted by: StopSign

Originally posted by: Shimmishim
do everything stopsign said except I would recommend you use the 133 divider since your ram is rated for ddr400 and we're not sure of how high it can clock to.

We're sure it can handle 280 because that's what he's using right now. That is, I'm assuming he's 1:1.

ah. didn't account for that. i didn't assume 1:1 but most likely he is at 1:1.

so the 166 divider should be fine then since it'll place his ram at or around 250 mark... but i'd recommend the 133 just to eliminate the ram completely from the oc equation for now

 

[StopSign]

Oh, and I hope you lowered your HT multiplier to x3.

 

[stockjock]

ok...I'm starting to get confused again...
can you guys just go through exactly the changes I need to make to try and get up to and then above 3Ghz.

in other words...if you came to my house and sat at my computer..what would you do?

Thanks

stock

 

[Pens1566]

Originally posted by: stockjock
ok...I'm starting to get confused again...
can you guys just go through exactly the changes I need to make to try and get up to and then above 3Ghz.

in other words...if you came to my house and sat at my computer..what would you do?

Thanks

stock

It's not a guarantee that your chip will hit 3GHz. Depends on the stepping.

Best guess, lower HT multi to 3, use a mem divider once you reach the max of that GSkill, and up the voltages. If you don't want to mess with the mem timings, just try and keep the stock timings and use dividers to keep the mem ~200.

 

[StopSign]

I was about to say. Opteron 146 is no E6300. Don't be expecting a ridiculously large overclock.

 

[stockjock]

It's not a guarantee that your chip will hit 3GHz. Depends on the stepping.

Guys...I totally understand the part of "maybe" not getting there...I've overclocked before and get that point...really I do...I just don't understand the whole memory timing and HT stuff...I just must be dense or can't get out of the ol' socket A mindset. Anyway

Best guess, lower HT multi to 3, use a mem divider once you reach the max of that GSkill, and up the voltages. If you don't want to mess with the mem timings, just try and keep the stock timings and use dividers to keep the mem ~200.

You are still talking greek here...I guess I'm asking too much because all I wanted if one of you guys to say...go into your bios and move HT to x and then go to memory and move to this and then got to vcore and do this...

I have read all the stuff on this board and online about the 939 way to overclock and it's just not sinking in...talk to me like I'm a complete noob...

Thanks
stock

 

[StopSign]

The only ones who can tell you exactly what to do in the bios are people who use the same board and bios as you. I used to use the DFI Lanparty UT nF4 Ultra-D which I believe had a similar bios. It has been well over a year since I last went into the bios and now I don't even own the board anymore. I have no idea what DFI's bios is like now so I'll just try to give you a brief rundown on how 939 works.

HyperTransport bus = HT Multi x HTT (stock is 5x200 = the "1000 MHz" you see on specifications everywhere)
HT Multi = 1 to 5
HTT = Basically the same thing as FSB, but they use a different name because the memory controller is on-die instead of on the northbridge

The idea is to keep HyperTransport as close to 1000 as possible without going over too much. Going over will reduce stability. Dipping below 1000 makes no performance difference so if you ever overclock, set HT Multi at 4 right from the start. Once you go over 250 HTT, drop it down to 3. This is pretty much all there is to HyperTransport.

Now for memory....

A divider is a bios setting that allows the memory to run at specific ratios relative to your HTT.
2:1 = DDR200 = memory runs at ~100 MHz if your HTT is 200 MHz
3:2 = DDR266 = memory runs at ~133 MHz if your HTT is 200 MHz
6:5 = DDR333 = memory runs at ~166 MHz if your HTT is 200 MHz
1:1 = DDR400 = memory runs at 200 MHz if your HTT is 200 MHz

These are the standard dividers that all bioses have. Some bioses have other dividers like 10:9 (I believe the DFI mobos have this one) and etc. I used the ~ for non-1:1 dividers because if your CPU multiplier is not 10, the memory doesn't run at the exact speed calculated using the divider ratios. They will be in the neighborhood, however. There's an Athlon 64 overclock calculator out there that calculated the exact memory speed at different dividers and multipliers.

Now for timings...

I think the NF4 chipset gives best performance using 2-2-2-7 timings. There are a handful of timings for a memory module and you're probably overwhelmed by all the memory options on the DFI bios. Generally the ones that people care most about are the first three: CAS, tRCD and tRP. If I recall, tRCD has the most impact on memory performance out of these three. The impact of the fourth number varies from chipset to chipset. For NF4, 7 is the best. For Socket A, 10(??) was the best.

What you want to do is try to use the lowest timings possible. If they're too low, your system will be unstable or won't boot. If they're too high, it severely reduces your system's performance since you're on a 939 platform. Only the really good memory out there can use a tRCD of 2, so if your memory is not rated for that, don't even bother trying to set it to 2. It will not boot. Find the balance between stability and performance.

The last thing is command rate. There's 1T and 2T. If you can, run at 1T because it's faster. Only use 2T if your system is unstable due to a memory problem.

 

[stockjock]

StopSign....THANK YOU SO MUCH...that is what I have been looking for!! you have explained it soo well to me that I think I actually get it now.

 

[stockjock]

OK have had Memtest running for over 12 hours now and no fails...does this look like good memory timing

2-2-2-5 1t looks like the speed of the ram is at 280 DDR and I had to up the voltage on the ram just bit to get it to boot...I think to 2.66v but I may be incorrect on that number as I'm not at home right now...but I do know it was not much of a bump.

So, does this look good? if so, I will proceed to the next level of the 3Ghz quest.

Thanks

Stock

 

[StopSign]

You're at 280 DDR?! So basically, you're running it at 140 MHz?

 

[stockjock]

yes...140Mhz...is that too low?should I take it upto 166?

 

[StopSign]

Use the 166 divider. You might need to use slightly higher timings but that's okay. Change to 166 without changing the timings and see if it works. Probably won't, but might as well try.

 

[stockjock]

If it won't work...should I move that 5 up to 7 first in the 2-2-2-5 sequence?

 

[StopSign]

That shouldn't matter. Try 2.5-3-3-5 or 2.5-3-3-7 and see those work.

 

[stockjock]

ok...having problems running the ram at 166 can't get it even to the Windows screen...so I set it back to Auto...good news is I have the CPU upto 2.9Ghz and is running great. Now, to get the memory worked out

 

[StopSign]

That's weird because you had the RAM running much faster than this before...

 

[stockjock]

Hey Stopsign....is the CPU + VID is that the voltage area I need to mess with to up the voltage to the CPU? Also, I have the ram in slots 1 and 3 am I messing things up by doing that?

thanks

Stock

 

[StopSign]

Are 1 and 3 the orange slots? If not, put the memory in the orange slots.

And yes CPU+VID is the CPU voltage.

 

[stockjock]

You are going to laugh...but that was my whole problem with my performance issues...I had the ram in the wrong slots...I was running at single rate...now I'm at double rate!!

 

[StopSign]

Yeah...DFI boards are tricky like that. I had to do a ton of research beforehand when I used the Ultra-D.