1st Opty 2.97GHz @ stock volt!

[Dirk]

Got my first Opty and 4th 2GB RAM kit today. The 06 Opterons have been great so far from what i've seen other people do with them so i wanted to try one for myself. This one is CAB2E 0602.

The RAM is Mushkin Redline XP4000 3,3,2,8 2x1GB.

I started feeling good about this CPU once i reached 290x10 without raising the vcore but i didn't expect it to go this far though...

Became unstable although it booted to Windows @ 298. Raised vcore one notch....

All this is with the RAM running stock timings/volts and 5/6 divider. Going back in now to see what the memory can do. Very pleased so far.

 

[Dirk]

Well, the recent 2GB RAM problems have raised their head. The Infineon C chips were capable of 290+ when they first appeared but these days are much more limited. I'm getting 266MHz @ stock voltage and timings but no more than that. More vdimm or looser timings fail to help. This is consistent with how other kits using these ICs are doing these days.

My Ballistix which were good for 300MHz are being RMAd right now so i'll carry on clocking the Opteron using these Redlines. Using a 5/6 divider the RAM will let me go up to 3.2GHz. Lets see how close i can get to this

 

[Dirk]

So did it make 3.2Ghz....?

Still some headroom....

Still going....

...with maximum vcore that i'm willing to try on Air...

Ok, so it didn't quite make 3.2GHz on Air but maybe on H2O this Opty could be capable of good things. Overall, very happy with the result. The RAM could use some tighter timings @ this speed so i'll be playing about with that a bit. Everest latency score is the same as my Crucial achieved @ 300MHz so the Infineon chips live up to their reputation.

Found the 704-2BTa BIOS very useful. Usually when i'm clocking up a new set-up i can expect to reset the CMOS several times. This BIOS seems to almost totally alleviate that problem.

Got a lot of tweaking and stability testing to do now. Opening a bottle of wine first though to celebrate.

Both the CPU and RAM came from OcUK so it looks as if the Opterons in stock now are a good Batch. Might be a good time to buy one if you haven't already!

 

[Dirk]

I got my opteron @ 2.65 with stock volts prime stable for 14 hours, but cannot get it stable any higher, even with 1.550 Volts. I'm using an Ultra-d and 1gb of geil value ram @220mhz. Any ideas?

Have you taken the RAM out of the equation completely by using a bigger divider?

 

[Dirk]

Been testing and watching temperatures. This is under full load with GFX card working hard...

CPU-43c @ 1383 RPM
NF4-50c @ 4210 RPM (chipset covered by GFX card )
PWMIC-46c
GPU-73c

Glad i bought a CM Stacker when i did.

 

[Dirk]

thats way better than my chip with the same stepping :|

What Mobo/BIOS/PSU are you using? Cooling is a factor too. I'm tempted to go for some phase change cooling but it'll have to wait until i can sell some of my old kit

 

[Dirk]

Yep, prime stable after 14hrs. Even the RAM is 3D stable, which i'm suprised about after hearing so many horror stories about the Mushkin and 3D stability.

Had to send my Ballistix back today, they died the poor things Apparently they will have stock to replace them with so i'll be getting some new 'uns. Strangely, i heard a rumour that Crucial may have solved the problem with the ICs and would be shipping this fixed RAM soon. Anyone else heard this or have more info? Anyway, when i get my new modules i'll throw them in and see how they get on with this Opty.

1M Superpi isn't a test of stability.

....

Anyone here not already know this?