Overclocking guide for newbies here...

Soldato
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Biglunn: nF4 boards have all locks enabled. I will edit my guide to reflect this. You are roughly correct about what you are doing so you are in the right direction.

However, 2 things.

1) Your signature is too big. 4 lines of text maximum OR 1 Picture of no more than 20KB and 400x75 pixels + 1 line of text.

2) This is the guide thread so all questions should be posted in the forum itself as a new thread. Only guides go in here (or are supposed to) not help/questions unless they relate to something specifically in a guide e.g. corrections. Just for future reference :).
 
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Soldato
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smids said:
Biglunn: nF4 boards have all locks enabled. You are roughly correct about what you are doing so you are in the right direction.

However, 2 things.

1) Your signature is too big. 4 lines of text maximum OR 1 Picture of no more than 20KB and 400x75 pixels + 1 line of text.

2) This is the guide thread so all questions should be posted in the forum itself as a new thread. Only guides go in here (or are supposed to) not help/questions unless they relate to something specifically in a guide e.g. corrections. Just for future reference :).

Christ sake give the new guy a break Mr Policeman. Besides the whole of the last page was nearly all your posts :D
 
Soldato
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MoNkEyMiKeY said:
Christ sake give the new guy a break Mr Policeman. Besides the whole of the last page was nearly all your posts :D
Which I've asked to mods to delete :) including all these ones. :). He may be new but I just point him in the right direction. I don't mean to sound oppressive, just merely point out the rules so he doesn't get into trouble with the mods.
 
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Associate
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Just changed the size of my sig - sorry about that...I am slowly learning and getting the hang of things here... remember... I am an idiot! Will be giving it a go tomorrow - just out of interest, how much do you think an average Venice E3 cpu could be expected to get on stock cooling? Last advice post in this thread! Cheers
 
Associate
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Bios or Third Party

I have been using Fuzzy Logic to overclock to 2005mhz (222.8 x 9.0). I have been running this for a month or so now with no apparent problems apart from a slow-down in opening programs after about 5 hours of use.
Would I be better to use the Bios to overclock instead? :(
Speedfan shows the following:
Vcore1=1.38V
Vcore2=2.54V
Cpu Temp=34c
 
Associate
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The BIOS is where your true hard core overclockers will live. I don't know what the "Fuzzy logic" is that you are refering to, but I assume it is a windoze utility.

BIOS overclocking will nearly always give you access to finer settings for your to tune to perfection. :)

Personally I have found that the MSI WIndowze utility is a bit dodgy, and a BIOS overclock will always get me further and more stable. :) (This is just my own personal experience.....)

Edit: Eeek!! You are talking about an MSI Windoze Utility. They must have changed the name in the last few months. This is the dodgy util that would lockup my PC at random, but when I used to BIOS for "real" overclocking, I found no problems and could push a lot further. :D
 
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Associate
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I am absorbing as much info as my brain will take with regards to o'clocking, I think I'm starting to understand where to begin.
I'm hoping to get an A7N8X or A7N8X Deluxe to start o'c my Athlon 1133 then XP2200 as I presently have a Gigabyte GA-7VM400M which has very few options.
I have read and have a hard copy about unlocking my XP2200, but am unsure as to what's best to use to fill the laser cuts, (I'll be painting them with the old de-mister repair kit).
My main questions are

: DOES the A7N8X / Deluxe have a PCI/AGP lock? (It's not mentioned on any of the pages I've viewed).

: Is the Athlon 1133 un-locked like the Duron?
 
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Underboss
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smids said:
Right, here we go:

AMD64 Clocking

HTT is also known as FSB on Intels.
CPU multi : 12x on your CPU (4000+SD) (can be dropped down, but don't use half multi's they do weird things to memory speeds), this, multiplied by FSB = core speed. It varies depending on CPU. FX's have multi's unlocked both ways. The rest have a locked upwards multi but unlocked downwards. i.e. a 3000+ @ 1.8ghz will have a multi of 9. 9 x 200mhz HTT = 1.8ghz. The minimum is 4x, all the way up to the max of your chip.
HT (aka LDT on DFI's) multi: 1-5x this, multiplied by the FSB = the bus speed of the board i.e. 1000mhz maximum. Try to keep it under 1000mhz as often boards will crash/not boot even 1mhz over this figure. x5: 200mhz, x4: 250mhz, x3: 333mhz. These are the limits you can go up to on FSB when using a specific multi. DFI's are different though, often they can run higher than 1000mhz but it may cause some minor stability issue. I have however run 1250 (5x250mhz) but this is all the luck of the draw. It makes very little difference to benchmarks etc so most O/C'ers leave it at 3x and don't worry about it. (unless they are only using up to 250mhz FSB in which case they set 4x - you might as well).

Now onto RAM. When you overclock the FSB, you are also overclocking the RAM. Never leave the main 5 RAM settings on auto: CAS, TRCD, TRP, TRAS and Max mem clock <- this should be set to 200mhz unless you want to run on a divider. People run on dividers when their RAM can't go high enough with the FSB. e.g. the ram has a limit of 250mhz and they have their FSB set to 275mhz. The divider then splits the RAM and the FSB into a ratio. 1:1 is the best ratio i.e. FSB=RAM. A 166mhz divider changes the Ratio to 6 (FSB) :5 (RAM) i.e. a 300mhz FSB will run the RAM at 250mhz - 300:250.
Now onto the actual timings:
CAS: this has the biggest effect on memory. Try to keep it at 2 or 2.5 (depending on your RAM -I see you have TCCD like me so I'll give you more specifics). TCCD will run at CAS 2 up to about 220mhz max usually at low voltages. After this, you must use 2.5. Do not use 3 until past 300mhz at least as there is massive difference between 2.5 and 3. 2.5 offers the best stability and really is what you should leave it at.You change this setting last if you can't get stable at a particular frequency.
TRCD: This should ideally be set at 3 for high FSB. If you can't get stable at 3, use 4 but go no higher. This is the second timing you change to try to get stable. This is the 3rd setting you change to get stable
TRP: this should ideally be kept at 3 like TRCD. These two timings are very similar and ought not to exceed 4. 3 gives good performance and with the right other settings can allow good FSB.
TRAS. This is the first setting to change. It can be set from 5 to about 11 which ought to be the limit on TCCD. Once the RAM is not stable at 11, change other settings.

Order of change to get stability: TRAS (to 11 max), TRCD (to 4 max), TRP (to 4 max), CAS (leave at 2.5, don't use 3 unless you reaaaally have to).

1T/2T is known as CPC enabled and disabled on DFI's, or memory command rate on other boards. 1T is CPC enabled and 2T CPC disabled. It is the memory command rate and should always be left at 1T because although 2T allows for higher speeds, it takes a massive performance hit on the RAM and is just not worth it. Always try to keep 1T settings.

TCCD is very fussy with volts, no-one can say how well yours will do. Mine was very responsive at 2.6V up to 260mhz after which 2.9V was required. Everything in between would give me lots of memtest errors. As a general guide, your RAM shuld be able to do these settings at these speeds:
200mhz 2-2-2-5 1T default
250mhz: 2.5-3-3-5 (or 6) 1T
275mhz: 2.5-3-3-7 1T <- with the right settings. (see I have 2.5-3-3-6 1T, but that required lots of settings changes into other areas, don't ask, I just copied them from someone at Xtremesytems). If not 2.5-3-3-7, 2.5-3-3-10 or the like.
300mhz: 2.5-4-4-8 <- this is not really a guaranteed, it's all down to your specific chips. Mine did 300mhz at this speed but I haven't really tested it much, it was mildly stable.

All other settings are out of my knowledge. In this area, there is a thread at Xtremesystems which I just copied and tweaked to get my speed: Click me. Don't use the same voltages, just find your best. This was for G.Skill RAM but all TCCD is the same.

Special Note: When overclocking, you must lock any AGP/PCI or PCI-e locks. In the case of the DFI you have, you must set PCI-e frequency to 101mhz to avoid getting screen corruptions when you set a high FSB.

An example overclock on your system to 2.8ghz from 2.4ghz stock:

HT multi x3.
HTT (FSB): 280mhz
CPU multi: x10
CPU voltage: anything up to 1.55V on air, 1.6V on water, and 1.7V on phase change. See how far you get on stock volts first then work up to reach stability.
LDT voltage, just try 1.3v
Chipset voltage, try 1.6V
RAM voltage: up to you but 2.9V max on TCCD without a fan blowing over your RAM sticks. 3.1V absolute maximum - <- don't use this though, 3.0V is all you really need max.
RAM timings, follow the 275mhz thread at xtremesystems above and adjust for 280mhz by dropping the TRAS to 8 say.

Once you have done the timings, straight in for a memtest (built into the DFI BIOS). memtest tests 5 and 8 for about 30mins each for a rough idea of stability and then the whole test for about 6 hours (overnight) to make sure. To run a specific test, type this upon entering memtest.
'c'
'1'
'3'
'5' for test 5, '8' for test 8
'Enter'
'0' <- zero.

Once memtest is done and passed, go into windows and use OCCT from here and this runs a 1/2 hour test and will give you an idea of stability (run the stability test). Then once this has passed, run prime95 for about 10 hours I'd say, longer if you want. Then use away at your new speed.

I hope this helps. If you've got this far you're probably wondering why I just typed all this out - well Liverpool just won the Champions League last night and I'm absolutely hyper at the moment and feeling quite generous. Still in shock. :D :D :D Can't get over it.

Smids. (going for a lie down now).

EDIT:
1) Made some grammatical corrections
2) Added AGP/PCI lock and PCI-e frequency warning
3) Added link to OCCT v0.91
4) Added 1T/2T memory command rate
5) Added title AMD64 clocking
6) Altered CPU multi information


ooo

thanks mate

HEY NF7-S , any chance u adding this as part 2 on your first post ? lucklly i was scanning through and foumnd this,

very usefull

thanks!
 
Associate
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hey guys, this is my first time so be gentle.

I have a DFI LanParty UT NF4 SLI-DR now I have read all the posts and I have failed misserable to even gt off the starting blocks. As I can't seem to translate your posts to my bios. The options in this bios are so many and so confusing ;)..

So I will put what I have tried:- you can then drag me over the coals. laugh at me or even help me!!

Gone in to the Genie Bios, alt the FSB Bus Freq to 205, the LDT/FSB Freq ratio to x1 and the CPU\FSB Freq to x4...on boot up I get pass post but then get h/d failure. I am booting of Sata1.
Help much appreciated!!
 
Soldato
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This is a guide posting thread pricha3518. Questions about specific problems should go in the motherboard thread, just for your future info ;). With regards to your problems (seeing as I have virtually the same motherboard) - why have you set the LDT multi so low? 3x is the lowest you should really need to go - I run at 4x. CPU multi down to 4x too? Why? Perhaps this bus slowdown has caused problems, I don't know as I've never set it so low. In any event, there is a whole 100 page help thread in the motherboard section for this motherboard here. Ask this question there and you will get DFI help. Failing that, ask at DFI street as I have no idea why, unless of course the HDU is faulty - check the manufacturers website for a DOS drive checking utility.
 
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Firstly, you need to set AGP & PCI locks to on or AGP=66mhz and PCI=33mhz before doing the following. (Refer to the manual - usually there's a setting of 6/6)

Put your multiplier on a low setting (10) and up the FSB in increments of 5mhz. After each increase of the FSB run stress tests such as 3DMark, prime 95. When your computer does not complete these stress tests increase the DDR voltage by 0.1v. Re-test. If the tests complete keep going in 5mhz increments. When you get to a unstable FSB again increase the DDR voltage by 0.1v. (I wouldn't recommend going over 2.8v) You will reach a point when the tests fail even at 2.8v this means you have overclocked the FSB too much so lower the FSB to the highest setting in which the test completed (you should have taken a note of the last successful setting (FSB & DDR) you had).

i'm sorry for being so thick :confused: but i can't begin this guide because i can't do the following:

figure out how to lock the pci lock in my bios.

when you say up the front side bus in increments of 5mhz i gather that refers to the cpu frequency?? am i right??

if anyone is interested enough a copy of my bios manual can be found at http://www.ntj9.co.uk/epox_EP-9NPA+Ultra_bios.pdf

i want to overclock this thing but at the moment i am finding the learning curve more or less vertical :D
 
Soldato
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buachille said:
i'm sorry for being so thick :confused: but i can't begin this guide because i can't do the following:

figure out how to lock the pci lock in my bios.

when you say up the front side bus in increments of 5mhz i gather that refers to the cpu frequency?? am i right??

if anyone is interested enough a copy of my bios manual can be found at http://www.ntj9.co.uk/epox_EP-9NPA+Ultra_bios.pdf

i want to overclock this thing but at the moment i am finding the learning curve more or less vertical :D
nF4 ultra's don't have any PCI locks because they are all completely locked already :). And yes, Epox seem to call the FSB, CPU frequency.
 
Soldato
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cathain said:
Whats this all about, cant find anything in my bios that relates to this?
I have an AGP card btw.
PCI-frequency. Must be locked to 33. If not, it will cause crashing when overclocking. - Which motherboard btw?
 
Associate
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I have an Abit Av8 running bios revision 26.

After a bit of searching I found 'AGP Ratio' which I set to Fixed 66MHz.
According to my manual locking it at 66MHz means PCI is locked at 33MHz aswell, so its all good then yeah?

Anyway why exactly does it have to be locked for overclocking does anyone know?
 
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