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4200+ 939 stepping

I finally got around to running Orthos blend test over last few days and I couldn't get my X2 4200+ to pass at 3GHz for more than 9 hours. It runs the small FFTs test all day but with the blend test it eventually does a stop. At 1.425v it runs for around 2 hours then up to 1.525v for around 7 hours and the last time I tried was 1.55v which was good for around 9 hours. I suspect the memory controller just can't hack it at 3GHz regardless of using good settings for the ram. :(

So I've now gone back to basics and had it run a full 24 hours Orthos blend test at 2.75GHz with the default 1.35v and my TCCD memory at 2.7v so will see how much higher I can go over the next few days without having to bump up the vcore much and then probably just leave it at that:

CPU-Z Validation




Still haven't bought a 2GB kit yet either but I might go for 2GB Crucial Ballistix PC4000 which seems good value at £125.
 
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Whats a good stepping for these chips guys?

May purchase one but if I can buy one with a sense that it has good potential to over clock I would feel better?

Is there a chart or summit?
 
The opening post has the codes of both that are generally available at various retailers. It's a newish stepping so not much is known besides what has been said above by the few who have reported their results in here.
 
Well, so far I cannot get my LDB9E 0646 UPMW stable above 2.8ghz.

It will do 2.65ghz on stock vcore ( 1.36v in windows ). For every 50mhz above that, it needs a .05v increase to run stable. At 2.8ghz, vcore in bios is 1.485 ( 1.52v in windows ) which drops to 1.5v when running Orthos. Load temps are below 55c with the Ultra 120 at 1.5vcore, so I can't complain really.
 
I'm doing 10 x 275 instead of 11 x 250 (both = 2750MHz) to properly test my memory at it's rated timings as well as the memory controller. It's taken around 5 runs of Orthos blend with stops but finally it's looking like I have decent settings as it looks to be doing a good run although I've had to increase the vcore to 1.4v.

It's weird how increasing the HTT yet keeping the CPU at the same speed by lowering the multiplier results in failure but I guess the memory controller must be stressed more hence the need to increase vcore.
 
I've given up fiddling with the settings. Settled for 270x10 / 1.4vcore, as the PC3200 ram is running at 225fsb / 7-3-3-3-1T. I could run at 250 or 255x11, but since the ram will be running around 200fsb with those settings, any benefits from the extra cpu performance would be lost afaik in most cases due to the lower ram bandwidth ( around 450mb lower according to Everest )

I'm not sure what's going on with my board / HTT, as at the above settings the HTT is at 1080mhz and its been fine.Tweaking the memory settings in A64Info or Memset 3.2 helped a lot here with passing Orthos Blend. As I don't completely understand all the settings, I went with half way between what you had in your screenshot and what it said my ram was set at, and so far so good :)

If you do get around to the TForce 550 / AM2 setup over the next week or so, I'd appreciate it if you could let me know how you get on, as it'll be maybe 2-3 weeks before I can switch.
 
It'll probably be early next week before I get a chance to buy the AM2 setup. I'm still not sure about going for the 550 or the 570U will try find some more info on the 570U first.
 
Maybe the A64's aren't so fragile to high temps after all. The CoolLaboratory MetalPads I ordered arrived this morning :



Left the cpu running Orthos Gromacs at this for around 5min to try and melt the pad, which is meant to happen around 58c. It didn't... but I don't believe its the pads fault, as I've a feeling my cpu / heatsink mating isn't too good so both might need lapped for better contact.
 
Good to know that stepping handles heat so well. :D

I bought the AM2 kit yesterday and most arrived today except from one supplier (where I bought the Biostar mobo and a couple of other things) that did a 24 hour check or something so rest won't be here until Monday.

The spec is:

Jeantech Phong II
Corsair 520HX
Biostar AM2 TForce 570U
AMD X2 3600+ 65nm
2GB Geil PC6400C5
X1900XT
Windows Vista Home Premium

Not my choice of case but looks to be functionally good with a 140mm front fan and various other niceties. I decided on the TForce 570U as it appears to be based on the TForce 550 SE so hopefully will be a good clocker.
 
str said:
Good to know that stepping handles heat so well. :D
Click to expand...

I had it up to 5c higher today burning in the last pad :) It worked this time as I lapped my IHS and Ultra 120 base earlier. They both needed it as the pen marks I put on beforehand disappeared from the edges much quicker than the centres. So far the pad is the same as As5 at 1.4vcore, but 2-3c cooler at 1.5vcore ( around 49-50c at load in Orthos )

Biostar AM2 TForce 570U
AMD X2 3600+ 65nm
2GB Geil PC6400C5

I decided on the TForce 570U as it appears to be based on the TForce 550 SE so hopefully will be a good clocker.
Click to expand...

It'll be good to see how it does. Here's hoping it hits the 3ghz mark like most TForce / X2 65nm appear to do. Never realised the 570U was only £8 more than the 550, so I might change to that if you get good results as I sent them an mail asking what rev their 550 boards were, and got a reply back saying they had 4 in stock....

Just noticed the line of caps above the cpu socket on the TForce boards. I've a funny feeling my Ultra 120s' heatpipes would hit the top of those caps :rolleyes: Wouldn't feel comfortable using the S-clip on the AM2 socket since it only has 1 lug per side.
 
I haven't done much with my X2 4200+ recently. Have been trying to figure out if my Geil PC4400 Ultra-X is actually faulty at DDR550 at it's rated settings as I'm finding it difficult to get it stable. I've emailed Geil to see if they can help.

The AM2 X2 3600+ CPU stepping is:

ADA3600IAA5DD
CAALG 0708 TPMW

From what I've read the 06 CPUs were easily hitting 3GHz but many 07 CPUs are only able to overclock up to around 2.7GHz although some of the 0708s are going further so hopefully this will be a good one. :)
 
Any news as to how the TForce 570U clocks ? The supplier doesn't have the 550U listed anymore, so just curious how you got on with the 570U.
 
At first it was terrible at overclocking but I suspected it was the shipping BIOS and with the latest it was much more overclocking friendly. Eventually though I gave up as I didn't have enough time to do proper testing. The highest I got it memtest86+ stable was 2.8GHz at 1.45v and the fastest in Windows was only around 2.4GHz. I'm sure with more time I would have achieved better results but in the end I left it at default clocks as it's fast enough like that for her just now.

A really nice feature in the BIOS is that shows the current setting for many of the options. So when an option is set to Auto you can see the actual setting chosen by the motherboard. Very useful.

The CMOS reloaded thing like with DFI motherboards was annoying as it didn't work. I saved settings in there but when I tried to retrieve a few reboots later they were deleted. I suspect the board was clearing that area of the CMOS due to a failed overclock. Also the chipset fan is very noisy but I used a fan speed changer to slow it down to make it much quieter.

Overall I'd say the build quality and overclocking stability was average (although no doubt I didn't know enough to get the best out of it) but seeing as it's so cheap I guess that's to be expected.
 
Here's some of the stepping / clocks I've found for the 3600 Brisbanes so far :

CAAFG 0650 MPW 2670 1.4v
CAAFG 0651 VPCW 2610 1.33v
CAAFG 0652 SPAW 3106 1.47v
CAAFG 0653 SPAW 2755 1.44v
CAAFG 0657 XPAW 3208
CAAIG 0652 VPEW 2881 1.325
CAALG 0706 TWMW 2800 1.3v
CAALG 0706 TPMW 3021 1.35v
CAALG 0706 TPBW 2945 1.32v

There's a distinct lack of info / reviews on the TForce 570 U which has put me off from ordering it. Might go with the Biostar TA690G-M2 instead as the latest bios revisions for it appear to have sorted out its poor overclocking abilities - most people seem to get 280-345 fsb with the newer bios, whereas older versions struggled to go above 230fsb from what I've read.

I've also managed to come across another store that stocks the TForce550. Although they aren't in the UK, they do ship here. Works out at the same price inc shipping as it would be buying from a shop here.
 
Did you test your new kit yet mate?

I successfully removed my X2 4200+'s IHS with no damage to the CPU or the little chips! :cool: Load temps have dropped ~12c on both cores and the area around the CPU socket etc is also much cooler.
 
str said:
Did you test your new kit yet mate?
Click to expand...

In the middle of finding its max atm. Ended up going for the Biostar TA690G mATX board / X2 4000 Brisbane / 2x1GB Kingston PC5300 as a few have been getting 3ghz / 310-340 fsb out of them.

Unfortunately I don't think I got the greatest Brisbane stepping, as it appears to need 1.5v / 1.488 under load to do 3ghz. Also having trouble getting the board above 295fsb as there's some odd things going on with recent bios versions. One wont let me change the cpu multi but I can change the ram timings, and another version lets me change the multi, but not the ram timings. Could be down to me not being familiar with a lot of settings in the bios though, as there's 15+ for the ram timings alone ( similar to DFI boards I expect ), never mind anything else :p Can't complain at £45 though I suppose.

One other concern is the bios and Everest Ultimate show my psu's v12 rail at 11.7'ish, whereas with my old skt939 board it was 11.97 in bios / Everest. Time to get the multimeter out I think.

Oh, and getting accurate core temp readings on the AM2 chips seems to be an impossibility atm, which is annoying.

I successfully removed my X2 4200+'s IHS with no damage to the CPU or the little chips! :cool: Load temps have dropped ~12c on both cores and the area around the CPU socket etc is also much cooler.
Click to expand...

:D

I considered doing that to my 4200+ but didn't as I was too afraid of killing it.

Has the temp drop allowed you to clock it any higher ?
 
Hope you get a good result with it once you get to grips with it. The AM2 setup I built is still at stock but I will probably get a chance next week to have another go at overclocking it.

I tried my X2 4200+ at 3GHz again and even with the lower temps it still fails with Orthos which isn't that surprising as I suspect the memory controller can't handle it.

Also my DFI NF4 Ultra-D shows +12v at 11.77v in Smart Guardian but I tested with a multimeter and it's just over 12v.
 
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