Which AMD single core CPU is the "sweet spot" for OCing these days?

[MichaelD]

Looking to build a new gaming rig, don't want to shell out the big bucks for an X2.

Which Athlon64 (rating and "version" San Francisco, etc) is the sweet spot these days for OCing? And I'm talking a STABLE OC, not a "I got it to run at 4GHz for 2 seconds before it combusted!" overclock.

Can you use the stock HS or do you need an aftermarket? Man, I wish my trusty SLK900 would fit on these newer CPUs. Thanks.

 

[TankGuys]

Opteron 144/146 is the best bet I think. The 3000 and 3200 Venices are still a good bet, but I like the Opterons better

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: TankGuys
Opteron 144/146 is the best bet I think. The 3000 and 3200 Venices are still a good bet, but I like the Opterons better

Hmm, I was just going to edit my post and ask about The Opty 165. I know it's dual core, but it's the price of a A643800 dual core, but looks like it'll overclock to 2.4GHz pretty easily. That's faster than the X24400 1MB L3 cache CPU I have, for about $150 less than I paid for it.

I will research this. Thanks.

 

[imported_ST]

Originally posted by: MichaelD

Hmm, I was just going to edit my post and ask about The Opty 165. I know it's dual core, but it's the price of a A643800 dual core, but looks like it'll overclock to 2.4GHz pretty easily. That's faster than the X24400 1MB L3 cache CPU I have, for about $150 less than I paid for it.

I will research this. Thanks.

The Opty 165 can't OC for crap. I can barely manage 1938MHz on it!

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g319/stranx44/sp04-1938.jpg

Just get an 0608 / 0610 / 0550 stepping and you'll be fine...

 

[dguy6789]

For the price, the Athlon 64 3000+ cannot be beat. These commonly overclock from 1.8Ghz stock speed to 2.6Ghz and 2.7Ghz on stock cooling. The only prerequisite is to have a mainboard that supports higher HTT clocks.

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: dguy6789
For the price, the Athlon 64 3000+ cannot be beat. These commonly overclock from 1.8Ghz stock speed to 2.6Ghz and 2.7Ghz on stock cooling. The only prerequisite is to have a mainboard that supports higher HTT clocks.

Thanks. This probably belongs in a separate thread, but how do you overclock A64s? Do you just raise the mem freq (necessitating good quality memory) or do you raise the HTT speed or both?

 

[nyker96]

Yes I believe for non-budget OC opteron 144/6 is the best perf/price.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: MichaelD

Originally posted by: dguy6789
For the price, the Athlon 64 3000+ cannot be beat. These commonly overclock from 1.8Ghz stock speed to 2.6Ghz and 2.7Ghz on stock cooling. The only prerequisite is to have a mainboard that supports higher HTT clocks.

Thanks. This probably belongs in a separate thread, but how do you overclock A64s? Do you just raise the mem freq (necessitating good quality memory) or do you raise the HTT speed or both?

You typically raise the HTT/CPU clock. Running memory on a divider does not cause a performance hit, so high end ram isn't really necessary. Its nice that the ram has some 'play' though since most motherboards do not support the less conventional dividers (150mhz, 183mhz...113mhz?) and its better to error on the upper side of 200 then the lower of course.

Running the memory at a higher frequency of course has its benefits, but it won't hurt you if you can't.

My venice 3000+ primed for 10 hours at 2466mhz and default voltage and the stock cooler + AS5. I just run it at 2400 though.

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: PingSpike

Originally posted by: MichaelD

Originally posted by: dguy6789
For the price, the Athlon 64 3000+ cannot be beat. These commonly overclock from 1.8Ghz stock speed to 2.6Ghz and 2.7Ghz on stock cooling. The only prerequisite is to have a mainboard that supports higher HTT clocks.

Thanks. This probably belongs in a separate thread, but how do you overclock A64s? Do you just raise the mem freq (necessitating good quality memory) or do you raise the HTT speed or both?

You typically raise the HTT/CPU clock. Running memory on a divider does not cause a performance hit, so high end ram isn't really necessary. Its nice that the ram has some 'play' though since most motherboards do not support the less conventional dividers (150mhz, 183mhz...113mhz?) and its better to error on the upper side of 200 then the lower of course.

Running the memory at a higher frequency of course has its benefits, but it won't hurt you if you can't.

My venice 3000+ primed for 10 hours at 2466mhz and default voltage and the stock cooler + AS5. I just run it at 2400 though.

Thanks, PingSpike. LOL@ your sig, btw. Been there, done that, except with the CD player in my car. It really liked to have pieces of gooey paper from around an icecream cone jammed in there. :rolleyes;

Anyway! I'd be very happy with 2.4GHz stable. Even 2.3.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: MichaelD

Originally posted by: PingSpike

Originally posted by: MichaelD

Originally posted by: dguy6789
For the price, the Athlon 64 3000+ cannot be beat. These commonly overclock from 1.8Ghz stock speed to 2.6Ghz and 2.7Ghz on stock cooling. The only prerequisite is to have a mainboard that supports higher HTT clocks.

Thanks. This probably belongs in a separate thread, but how do you overclock A64s? Do you just raise the mem freq (necessitating good quality memory) or do you raise the HTT speed or both?

You typically raise the HTT/CPU clock. Running memory on a divider does not cause a performance hit, so high end ram isn't really necessary. Its nice that the ram has some 'play' though since most motherboards do not support the less conventional dividers (150mhz, 183mhz...113mhz?) and its better to error on the upper side of 200 then the lower of course.

Running the memory at a higher frequency of course has its benefits, but it won't hurt you if you can't.

My venice 3000+ primed for 10 hours at 2466mhz and default voltage and the stock cooler + AS5. I just run it at 2400 though.

Thanks, PingSpike. LOL@ your sig, btw. Been there, done that, except with the CD player in my car. It really liked to have pieces of gooey paper from around an icecream cone jammed in there. :rolleyes;

Anyway! I'd be very happy with 2.4GHz stable. Even 2.3.

I wish I could take credit for that, but it was shamelessly stolen from some newsgroup poster's sig. I used to pull exciting things out of computer drives when I did some work for my highschool though.

Overclocking on the A64 platform is...easier, but more complex then the socket A platform was. Its easier in that you don't have to overclock your ram in tandem to keep the performance benefit. Its more complex in that you have to keep track of a few different buses, which don't have any direct counterparts in socket A world. So its kind of confusing at first, but I believe Zebo had a good quick and dirty guide.

But yeah, all I wanted was a modest overclock out of mine, hopefully on stock vcore and definately on the stock HSF. My goal was 2.4ghz...I pushed it up to 2.466 and after that my motherboard was the limiting factor. So I don't even really know what the chip would top out at.

 

[furballi]

Best deal is probably A64 3000 for $106. You will need a good board to push the 144 beyond 2.5GHz.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Venice-core A64 3000+s. Can't beat a ~$110 proc that OCes easily to 2.6 - 2.7GHz on even the so-so stock cooler. Of course, it runs even better on an X2-4800+'s stock heatpipe cooler

 

[RallyMaster]

Opteron 146 I think.

 

[nJett]

I'm happy with my A64 3000+ - I bumped it up to ~2.3ghz without any issues and it's been running solid on stock cooler in a hot room for awhile now. I could probably take it higher but I'm happy with its performance and don't feel like spending the time. I run a 6600GT slightly OC'd in it and play HL2 and Oblivion without issue - Oblivion isn't on the highest settings obviously but it still looks damn good and completely playable at all times (minus the usual bugginess in the game).

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks very much everyone. You've given me solid leads. I'll do some more research. Thanks again. :beer:

 

[n7]

Opteron 146, or if your mobo can hit very high HTT speeds, then Opty 144.

 

[BernardP]

The 3700+ San Diego is worth considering (and not only because I have one :thumbsup: )

It is the least expensive of the 1 Mb cache single-core family. Is has the same core as the 4000+ and the single-core FX line.

You can overclock the 3000+ or 3200+, but you can't increase their 512 Kb cache.

The 3700+ price point is currently only a little bit above the 3500+. There is a bigger pricing step to the 3800+ (2,2 Ghz, 512 Kb cache) and a much bigger step to the 4000+, which is identical to the 3700+ but runs at 2,4 Ghz instead of 2,2 Ghz. Let's not even talk about the prices of the FX line.

Have a look at This Review for its overclocking potential.

At the time of the above review (June 05), the author was doubtful of the value of this processor when not overclocked. But now, with the smallish price difference with the 3500+, this jugdment would have to be re-considered.

 

[videopho]

Mine which is A64 3500+ Venice was overclocked nicely with AC/NV Freezer cooler to 2.62ghz until Oblivion came in and messed it up. Back down it went to 2.42ghz and stable with Oblivion too. When was at 2.62ghz it never failed Prime95.

 

[bargainshopper]

Originally posted by: furballi
Best deal is probably A64 3000 for $106. You will need a good board to push the 144 beyond 2.5GHz.

What board do you suggest for A64 3000?

 

[furballi]

My favorite was the NON-SLI version of this board...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127207R

Others have done well in the overclocking department with the BIOSTAR. Personally, I'm not a big fan of OBV and micro ATX case.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138264

I have the socket 754 version of this ECS board. The ECS NF4 754 board is very stable and can easily hit 289MHz FSB with a good CPU. There is a bug in the BIOS that prevents boot above 289MHz. There are reports about high speed USB 2.0 lockup with the 939 board, although this is more of a generic issue with the NF4 chipset. Board's layout is very good with the 754, and just okay with the 939. I paid $80 for the ECS 754/Sempron 3100 Paris combo at Fry's. Currently running at 2.43GHz with 166 memory divider, 1.48Vcore, and 2.5-3-3-6-1T Corsair Value Select. This sytem is a little faster than a stock A64 3500.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813135177

The Epox is another good overclocking board with plenty of I/O connectors! It is also plagued with the USB 2.0 lockup issue. There are reports about a BIOS patch to resolve this problem. I don't have a high-speed USB device to confirm the fix. The board's layout is not very good.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813123236

I would also recommend that you swap out the fan on the NF4 chipset cooler with the Zalman ZM-NB47J passive heat sink. All of those tiny fans are loud. Plus there is the possibility of frying the NF4 chipset if the fan goes out.

 

[ebucemagx]

With a little cooling u can hit 2.7-2.75ghz