Why can't I push my FSB > ~230? GA-MA790X-UD3P

[soccerballtux]

I've cranked the voltages on everything. Going +0.1 to SB and +0.1 to NB let me boot into windows from 237mhz, up from 235mhz. Both lock up under load though. I'm at 230mhz at the moment, for a total speed of 3.45Ghz. I was 24/7 stable 3.5ghz with bus at 200 (17.5 multiplier), so I don't think the CPU is the issue...

 

[BD231]

CPU Northbridge limitations. The C2 chips top out at 230 to 240 so if you were lucky enough to grab a retail 720 you can probably hit 240 at 1.325v, maybe a tad bit more if your board dose not deliver exact voltages.

You'd need a C3 to get higher.

 

[soccerballtux]

CPU Northbridge limitations. The C2 chips top out at 230 to 240 so if you were lucky enough to grab a retail 720 you can probably hit 240 at 1.325v, maybe a tad bit more if your board dose not deliver exact voltages.

You'd need a C3 to get higher.

seriously? I have never heard of this. When was this determined? I usually read a lot of threads here and never saw anything about this.
I can hit 2.6ghz on the CPU-NB at 1.4v...but that's it. I do indeed have a C2.

What would be the limit if it weren't my CPU? I was debating at one time going to a 1055T and overclocking to 4ghz instead of a Bulldozer and needing new ram and mobo.

 

[richierich1212]

Double check your memory settings. Sometimes you have to go higher because mobos dont like certain HTT combinations.

 

[BD231]

seriously? I have never heard of this. When was this determined? I usually read a lot of threads here and never saw anything about this.
I can hit 2.6ghz on the CPU-NB at 1.4v...but that's it. I do indeed have a C2.

What would be the limit if it weren't my CPU? I was debating at one time going to a 1055T and overclocking to 4ghz instead of a Bulldozer and needing new ram and mobo.

You'd have better results with the C3 or Thuban, the info is everywhere, the C3 has an updated memory controller that scales higher and allows for higher DDR3 memory speeds. From what I've read Thuban is using the same controller as the C3.

Being that your motherboard is more than capable of handling a high NB overclock its certainly not the board. I've had the chance to play with a few C3's and C2's and as some else suggested the only way to get your clock up on the NB is to soften your memory timings. The trade off for the few extra mhz you gain (I can get to 250 if I relax my timings) is not worth the added stress you'll put on the controller.

Keep the lower timings and be happy with 240, I've been messing with my c2 chip for well over a year now and my wall is pretty much identical to yours.

 

[Zap]

Why can't I push my FSB > ~230?

Lower memory and HT multipliers.

 

[soccerballtux]

Lower memory and HT multipliers.

Did.

 

[soccerballtux]

You'd have better results with the C3 or Thuban, the info is everywhere, the C3 has an updated memory controller that scales higher and allows for higher DDR3 memory speeds. From what I've read Thuban is using the same controller as the C3.

Being that your motherboard is more than capable of handling a high NB overclock its certainly not the board. I've had the chance to play with a few C3's and C2's and as some else suggested the only way to get your clock up on the NB is to soften your memory timings. The trade off for the few extra mhz you gain (I can get to 250 if I relax my timings) is not worth the added stress you'll put on the controller.

Keep the lower timings and be happy with 240, I've been messing with my c2 chip for well over a year now and my wall is pretty much identical to yours.

Alright thanks. Going from 200 to 230 was a huge performance improvement in Firefox smoothscroll anyways, so I'm happy. I can't imagine what 300mhz would be like on Thuban!

 

[BD231]

I was pretty surprised when I bumped up my NB as well, didn't expect there to be any noticeable increase but it really dose speed up *everything*. My most notable gains are seen gaming.

That 1090t is getting awful tempting. I have DDR 3 2000 7-10-8-22 sitting at 1600 just itching to do 2000. I'll need the Thuban for that. I'm planning on the 1090T and aiming for 270/280mhz NB/4ghz +, that seems to be a wall on the C3 for many but some can get higher.

 

[soccerballtux]

I was pretty surprised when I bumped up my NB as well, didn't expect there to be any noticeable increase but it really dose speed up *everything*. My most notable gains are seen gaming.

That 1090t is getting awful tempting. I have DDR 3 2000 7-10-8-22 sitting at 1600 just itching to do 2000. I'll need the Thuban for that. I'm planning on the 1090T and aiming for 270/280mhz NB/4ghz +, that seems to be a wall on the C3 for many but some can get higher.

Did you start with a multiplier overclock and move to a bus overclock? I had my CPU-NB running at 2.6ghz (13*200) now at like 11*something. I am aware that simply having the CPU-NB clocked higher feeds the cores better and enables them to scale much better...but I've never seen a bench comparing a bus vs multiplier overclock.

 

[BD231]

If you do not increase your CPU FSB you do not increase the speed of your L3 cache which happens to be one of the biggest performance gains you can get out of a Phenom II (the only other performance gain I consider worth perusing outside of cpu clock speed). Decreasing your processors cache latency is much more appealing than messing with the northbridge.

To put it simply you're adding to an already deep and spacious pool of bandwidth overclocking the northbridge, that's about it.

That's why running at 200 while messing with only the NB multi is not going to give you max results. You can clock that northbridge up higher with the multi but that's not doing nearly as much for you as upping your cpu fsb. The idea is to overclock the CPU FSB and NB in tandem, then push for more NB if you can. Max FSB should be your main goal.

As for my overclock, I messed with a bit of everything but mainly focused on getting that CPU fsb and core clock up. Why bother with a northbridge that's already forced to run at 240mhz. AMD has chips out at 3.4ghz+ running on that same 2000mhz nb, there's clearly not much need for it past a certain point.

 

[soccerballtux]

If you do not increase your CPU FSB you do not increase the speed of your L3 cache which happens to be one of the biggest performance gains you can get out of a Phenom II (the only other performance gain I consider worth perusing outside of cpu clock speed). Decreasing your processors cache latency is much more appealing than messing with the northbridge.

To put it simply you're adding to an already deep and spacious pool of bandwidth overclocking the northbridge, that's about it.

That's why running at 200 while messing with only the NB multi is not going to give you max results. You can clock that northbridge up higher with the multi but that's not doing nearly as much for you as upping your cpu fsb. The idea is to overclock the CPU FSB and NB in tandem, then push for more NB if you can. Max FSB should be your main goal.

As for my overclock, I messed with a bit of everything but mainly focused on getting that CPU fsb and core clock up. Why bother with a northbridge that's already forced to run at 240mhz. AMD has chips out at 3.4ghz+ running on that same 2000mhz nb, there's clearly not much need for it past a certain point.

yeah the 3.4ghz + 2ghz nb is silly IMO.