Basic Overclocking question on an Athlon 64 3200+

[rainz]

The option for setting the multiplier higher is there, but it wont stock. All retail A64's are multiplier locked from going up as far as I know. Theu can go down, but not up. I have an option for 14x, but its not going to work. While the FX's are not.

You cant go up on any A64 ?? If so that's pretty sad..

RainZ

It's not like you're actually missing something. All A64 so far (including the FX) are pretty poor overclockers anyway, that meager 10% they'll overclock usually (sometimes less, for more you probably need some sub-zero cooling) you can just get as well with "fsb" overclocking...

Well i have around the same temp ( ~1 C ) with 2000mhz or 2200mhz ... i'm sure i can overclock it to 2400mhz or more ... if i had the chance to boost the clock multiplier .. That's the reason why they are bad overclockers ..

RainZ

 

[mczak]

It's not like you're actually missing something. All A64 so far (including the FX) are pretty poor overclockers anyway, that meager 10% they'll overclock usually (sometimes less, for more you probably need some sub-zero cooling) you can just get as well with "fsb" overclocking...

Well i have around the same temp ( ~1 C ) with 2000mhz or 2200mhz ...

The temperature will not rise a lot, that's true - however the cooler the cpu is, the higher you can overclock it.

i'm sure i can overclock it to 2400mhz or more ... if i had the chance to boost the clock multiplier .. That's the reason why they are bad overclockers ..

That does not seem to be the reason in general. You can for instance see that here, http://www.anandtech.com/chipsets/showdoc.html?i=2046&p=5 with a working pci/agp lock. So, now able to increase bus clock to 250Mhz, but the cpu still won't do more than 2300Mhz (up from 2200!). And that seems to be rather typical for these A64.
Maybe yours would do somewhat better, but I doubt it would reach 2400.

 

[rainz]

It's not like you're actually missing something. All A64 so far (including the FX) are pretty poor overclockers anyway, that meager 10% they'll overclock usually (sometimes less, for more you probably need some sub-zero cooling) you can just get as well with "fsb" overclocking...

Well i have around the same temp ( ~1 C ) with 2000mhz or 2200mhz ...

The temperature will not rise a lot, that's true - however the cooler the cpu is, the higher you can overclock it.

i'm sure i can overclock it to 2400mhz or more ... if i had the chance to boost the clock multiplier .. That's the reason why they are bad overclockers ..

That does not seem to be the reason in general. You can for instance see that here, http://www.anandtech.com/chipsets/showdoc.html?i=2046&p=5 with a working pci/agp lock. So, now able to increase bus clock to 250Mhz, but the cpu still won't do more than 2300Mhz (up from 2200!). And that seems to be rather typical for these A64.
Maybe yours would do somewhat better, but I doubt it would reach 2400.

Well this is an FX-51... not mine .. and wtf i've seen ppls on the hall of fame of Futuremark with clock multiplier of 12 and ++ with the Asus K8N-E motherboard ( for Athlon 64 ) ... Can we on this board or you still have to " hack " something out.

RainZ

 

[fallguy]

The option for setting the multiplier higher is there, but it wont stock. All retail A64's are multiplier locked from going up as far as I know. Theu can go down, but not up. I have an option for 14x, but its not going to work. While the FX's are not.

You cant go up on any A64 ?? If so that's pretty sad..

RainZ

It's not like you're actually missing something. All A64 so far (including the FX) are pretty poor overclockers anyway, that meager 10% they'll overclock usually (sometimes less, for more you probably need some sub-zero cooling) you can just get as well with "fsb" overclocking...

Ive already gotten a 15% overclock, as I posted in the picture. And gone as far as 400Mhz, to 2.6gig. No they dont overclock as many Mhz as P4's do, but they dont have to. They get more per Mhz.

Lowering the multiplier and raising the FSB to 250 can be very good. More bandwidth and better performance. Even if it is only 100Mhz over stock clock, it will be much faster.

 

[mczak]

Ive already gotten a 15% overclock, as I posted in the picture. And gone as far as 400Mhz, to 2.6gig. No they dont overclock as many Mhz as P4's do, but they dont have to. They get more per Mhz.

15% is quite good indeed - even for a P4 3.2 that would be quite ok (3.7Ghz). From the results I've seen, 15% overclock seems to be way above average for A64 though.

Lowering the multiplier and raising the FSB to 250 can be very good. More bandwidth and better performance. Even if it is only 100Mhz over stock clock, it will be much faster.

You can maintain an FSB of 250 with your memory clocked at 250/500Mhz with 2 512MB dimms? Impressive, most board/mem combinations can't even handle 2 double-sided dimms at stock (400Mhz) speed...
btw what's your cooling setup / vcore?

 

[rainz]

The option for setting the multiplier higher is there, but it wont stock. All retail A64's are multiplier locked from going up as far as I know. Theu can go down, but not up. I have an option for 14x, but its not going to work. While the FX's are not.

You cant go up on any A64 ?? If so that's pretty sad..

RainZ

It's not like you're actually missing something. All A64 so far (including the FX) are pretty poor overclockers anyway, that meager 10% they'll overclock usually (sometimes less, for more you probably need some sub-zero cooling) you can just get as well with "fsb" overclocking...

Ive already gotten a 15% overclock, as I posted in the picture. And gone as far as 400Mhz, to 2.6gig. No they dont overclock as many Mhz as P4's do, but they dont have to. They get more per Mhz.

Lowering the multiplier and raising the FSB to 250 can be very good. More bandwidth and better performance. Even if it is only 100Mhz over stock clock, it will be much faster.

When your memory can handle it and when you have an AGP/pci lock .. I've seen Athlon 64 at ~3ghz (300mhz) .. that's insane ... but with the Asus K8N ... damn via :?

RainZ

 

[mczak]

When your memory can handle it and when you have an AGP/pci lock .. I've seen Athlon 64 at ~3ghz (300mhz)

I bet with LN cooling

 

[fallguy]

Ive already gotten a 15% overclock, as I posted in the picture. And gone as far as 400Mhz, to 2.6gig. No they dont overclock as many Mhz as P4's do, but they dont have to. They get more per Mhz.

15% is quite good indeed - even for a P4 3.2 that would be quite ok (3.7Ghz). From the results I've seen, 15% overclock seems to be way above average for A64 though.

Lowering the multiplier and raising the FSB to 250 can be very good. More bandwidth and better performance. Even if it is only 100Mhz over stock clock, it will be much faster.

You can maintain an FSB of 250 with your memory clocked at 250/500Mhz with 2 512MB dimms? Impressive, most board/mem combinations can't even handle 2 double-sided dimms at stock (400Mhz) speed...
btw what's your cooling setup / vcore?

My cooling is in my sig.

I havent got to try lowering the multi, and upping the FSB yet. My bios doesnt allow the lowering of the multi, but the next one will. A beta one already does, but its buggy. Lots of people have done it, and Ive got to 235FSB at the stock 11x multiplier. I dont think Ill have a problem with hitting 250FSB@1:1 with a 9x, or maybe even a 10x.

 

[mczak]

My cooling is in my sig.

Ok, I'm blind .
That is above-average cooling though...

 

[rainz]

Fallguy this is your PC in the slideshow ? If so .. great job ! So freakin professional and nice ! I want one like that

RainZ

 

[fallguy]

Yeah its mine. I plan to do a seperate loop for my video card in the next few months.

I just suck at making webpages.

 

[rainz]

Yeah its mine. I plan to do a seperate loop for my video card in the next few months.

I just suck at making webpages.

How much your case+watercooling+fans(anything related in the cooling) ( not the mobo+cpu+ram+video+hds blabla ) ... cost ? prolly a lot.

RainZ

 

[fallguy]

Around $700 or so.

Dual rad was $120
Fan guard for it $25
CPU block $106
Chipset block $60something
Pump $80
Res+accessories $115
Tubing $30
Water additive $12
Case $160

Got my parts fron snt, highspeedpc, frozencpu, and excaliberpc.com

 

[rainz]

Hi Aalchemy / Fallguy !

I'm back in the overclocking .. ! 8)

I'll receive my X800 XT PE this month .. (preordered 2 july) and .. i was able to FINALLY exchange my Asus K8V Deluxe motherboard (some serious bugs with the Via chipsets .. long story, the guy at the store said i was not alone with those bugs) for the MSI Neo Platinum Nforce3 250 motherboard ! (i'll receive the new mobo in 1week).

And now i have some questions !

Since i'll finally get the AGP/PCI lock i'll be ok with that .. And i can lock my HT Frequency ( 200/400/600/800/1000) and even the ram ... So can i overclock JUST the cpu bus ? ( Since my ram is cheap Kingston Valueram with slow timing ) like up to 240mhz w/o affecting anything else ? So can i boost only the cpu at 240mhz and lock the HT Frequency at 800mhz and the ram at 400mhz ?

A) 240mhz cpu / 200mhz ram
VS
B) 220mhz cpu / 220mhz ram

I have good airflow + 4X 80mm Antec Fans + Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu

I guess B win ? well .. not sure since i always have to use 3-3-3-8 timing.

http://www.hardocp.com/image.html?image=MTA4MjM1MDg3NWxrOFNyWHJRcTNfMl8yX2wuZ2lm

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjA3LDI=

Thx

RainZ

 

[rainz]

When your memory can handle it and when you have an AGP/pci lock .. I've seen Athlon 64 at ~3ghz (300mhz)

I bet with LN cooling

"With some help from the Koolance EXOS water cooling system, we were able to push to board to a whopping 300MHz FSB with rock solid performance."

Source: http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjA3LDY=

RainZ

 

[mczak]

When your memory can handle it and when you have an AGP/pci lock .. I've seen Athlon 64 at ~3ghz (300mhz)

I bet with LN cooling

"With some help from the Koolance EXOS water cooling system, we were able to push to board to a whopping 300MHz FSB with rock solid performance."

Source: http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjA3LDY=

RainZ

Yeah ok, but that's "only" 300Mhz FSB, the cpu is running at 2.1Ghz, not 3Ghz. The cpu didn't overclock to more than 2.25Ghz it seems. The performance benefits of overclocking only FSB to 300Mhz are probably pretty limited.

mczak

 

[jvd]

Excuse me guys .

I have an a64 3000+

Its running at 2.5 ghz .

All the newer cores are running at around that speed. Only catch is u need ram that will run fast as you can't raise the fsb.

Its like having a p4 . That is all.

A 2.5 ghz athlon 64 with 300mhz ram is very very fast and would certianly give the 3800+ a run for its money

 

[rainz]

When your memory can handle it and when you have an AGP/pci lock .. I've seen Athlon 64 at ~3ghz (300mhz)

I bet with LN cooling

"With some help from the Koolance EXOS water cooling system, we were able to push to board to a whopping 300MHz FSB with rock solid performance."

Source: http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjA3LDY=

RainZ

Yeah ok, but that's "only" 300Mhz FSB, the cpu is running at 2.1Ghz, not 3Ghz. The cpu didn't overclock to more than 2.25Ghz it seems. The performance benefits of overclocking only FSB to 300Mhz are probably pretty limited.

mczak

Never said it was THIS ONE .. Just cause i saw this while reading the review of my new mobo. ( and ya i saw 3Ghz Athlon 64 )

RainZ

 

[mczak]

Never said it was THIS ONE .. Just cause i saw this while reading the review of my new mobo. ( and ya i saw 3Ghz Athlon 64 )

And I bet if it was running at 3Ghz it did use LN cooling!

 

[jvd]

Never said it was THIS ONE .. Just cause i saw this while reading the review of my new mobo. ( and ya i saw 3Ghz Athlon 64 )

And I bet if it was running at 3Ghz it did use LN cooling!

no many people are hitting 2.8-3ghz on just liqud. Alot of people are getting around 2.6-2.7 on air and with the new 120mm heatsink you will most likely see alot more people hitting it. Its really the ram thats the problem .