[mikemgs]

Hello all,
I am fairly new to overclocking and have read most of the tutorials on the site, I just have a couple of questions I need clearing up. When overclocking my cpu, is it best to lower the multiplier and raise the fsb, or keep the multiplier at 12 (default), and try to raise the fsb as much as possible from there. I understand that the cpu speed is multiplier x fsb = clock speed, I am currantly running 260fsb @ 10 multiplier. I have not touched my default RAM timings and they are at 1.1 - 3-3-3-8
I will post up heat and voltage when I get home from work. Any advice how I can improve this overclock.
Thanks
Mike

 

[xms]

You will see more performance gain by lowering the multi and raising the FSB. However, beware that your mem (if in 1:1 ratio) will be running at the same speed, so you need to be sure it can handle it.

Edit: Just looked at your profile, and you have pretty good ram. So running the FSB at 250mhz (your rams rated speed) should get you a good performance gain .

But as always, increase the FSB a little at a time.

Also, you could probably tighten you ram latency to something like CAS2.5.

 

[shermstix]

I would try all avenues. Try raising your FSB without dropping the multiplier and see how high you can get. Run some benchmarks, then drop the multiplier and see how high you can push the RAM. Run some more benchmarks. Then once you max-out your RAM try tightening your timmings. I think that you would have a better overall gain if you lower the multiplier and crank up your RAM. But first see how far you can push the CPU. You might be pleasently surprised.

 

[mikemgs]

Thanks guys, just wanted to make sure I was going the right way about overclocking this system. I will have a play about later tonight, then come back here and ask for more help when I cant do it

 

[YiffyGriffy]

Athlon64s on Socket 939 already have more bandwidth than they can use effectively so you won't see much benefit in trying to maximize the memory bus. It would be best to try it best of both ways, I would drop the FSB/HTT to about 230 or 240 and up the multiplier to x11 and then continue on raising the FSB/HTT until you hit a the wall. Keep the temps below 55C on load (FX's run pretty hot, so that'll be hard) and pretty much any voltage is accetable as long as the temperatures are fine.

 

[mikemgs]

Ok, Dropped the HTT down to 220 and the multiplier up to 11, started to crank things up from there. Got to 230 @11 before I started to get lock ups. I then raised the V core to 1.6 and everything seemed fine, then ran prime 95 overnight. This morning when I checked it had crashed after 7 hours. The CPU temp is around 55 at load. Is this an acceptable overclock, is it worth playing with the ram now????
Thanks for all your help so far !

 

[Sloth_Boy]

Maybe you should try raisng the Muti above efault to about 13x and then start rising the FSB and see if you get a higher clockspeed

 

[mikemgs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sloth_Boy Maybe you should try raisng the Muti above efault to about 13x and then start rising the FSB and see if you get a higher clockspeed

Yeah maybe, I might give that a go later. I am at work right now. WHat do you make of prime 95 crashing after 7 hours, is that stable ?

 

[xms]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikemgs Yeah maybe, I might give that a go later. I am at work right now. WHat do you make of prime 95 crashing after 7 hours, is that stable ?

Not really. It should never crash. But to be honest, try playing a game or something for a few hours and if that seems stable, and your not going to be running programs like [email protected] or [email protected] then you might be OK.

 

[mikemgs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xms Not really. It should never crash. But to be honest, try playing a game or something for a few hours and if that seems stable, and your not going to be running programs like [email protected] or [email protected] then you might be OK.

Cheers, but really I want it to be 100% stable. It doesn't really seem like a very good overclock for the spec of my system after looking at the results that some other forum members are getting. Maybe I am doing something wrong.....

. I'll fiddle about later tonight, try a few differant ideas like the higher mutiplier and stuff. Cheers

 

[xms]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikemgs Cheers, but really I want it to be 100% stable. It doesn't really seem like a very good overclock for the spec of my system after looking at the results that some other forum members are getting. Maybe I am doing something wrong..... . I'll fiddle about later tonight, try a few differant ideas like the higher mutiplier and stuff. Cheers

Have you tried bumping up the voltage at all? That will increase stability

 

[mikemgs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xms Have you tried bumping up the voltage at all? That will increase stability

I have raised the voltage from default to 1.6 Volts. That allowed me to run Aquamark and got prime 95 to run for longer than 5 minutes, I can't really go much higher on the voltage because of the heat issue. Its running about 55C at load at the moment.