first major overclock, anything better i could have done?

barney

barney

barney

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22 Mar 2006
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Kent
Ok just overclocked my duel core 4800 which was running at 2.4ghz (200X12) to 2768Mhz (230X12) prime stable for 3 hours (which i know doesnt mean its 100% stable).

At the moment its running at around 42c idle and 60c under full load which for me is too hot so i will be putting it back a bit (though i havent yet found the limit).

Ok what i did. I dropped the multiplier from 12 to 10 and upped the FSP by 10 to 210. Tested with prime and it run fine.

Increased by 5 and tested each time upto 235X10. This booted once and prime tested ok but then when i restarted it wouldnt post. Cleared cmos and tried again putting the memory voltage up to 2.7. Wouldnt post.

Put back to 300fsb and ram voltage to stock (2.6).

Put the multi up to 11, tested ok.
Put multi upto 12 tested and failed botting into windows.
Put core voltage up 0.25 volts. booted to windows but failed prime.
Put core voltage up another 0.05 volts (+0.3v) total, booted fine, prime stable, 3dmark stable but high temp (60c under max load)

I havent taken it any further yet and dont intend to unless i can get a phase cooler. im going to drop back to X11 multi and drop the vcore voltage back and have a play with the memory timings to see if i can up the FSB a little bit (currently 2.5,3,3,7).

Anything i have done wrong or should have done differently? Cooling on air at the moment which i think is going to limit me to 2.7 max before it seriously starts to cook my processor.
 
Have gone for a fairly good middle ground. 223X12 (2676) idle temp around 36 and full load temp around 48 max (average of about 46-47).

My memory is stuck at 178.4 and i cant find any divider settings in my motherboard, what else could they be called (sorry for being really stupid here). Im guessing its running on a divider of 15 and would need a divider of 12 to make it run at the same FSB speed as the CPU (is this right yes?)
 
Sorted my memory now :) Set it to run at 223. Also for anyone with an MSI neo Rd480 the duel channels are labeled wrong!!! Its actually channel 1 and 2 not 1 and 3 so i have been running all this time in single channel mode :(

I have changed my memory settings and it is now at 3.0,3, 3, 8 and so far seems stable (need to prime it).

Now i have figured out how to change the memory settings properly (and have them in duel channel!) i will have to up the overclock again tomorrow and see if i can improve my 3dmark06 and superpi scores :)
 
Yeah the memory timiings are a bit rubish at the moment but i just wanted to get it running at the right speed first then see where i can take the timings from there :)

Using a Sycthe ninja at the moment with 12cm on it, have a 12cm and two 8cm intakes at the front of the case and two 8cm on the side (mainly to cool the graphics cards). Think i need something more pulling some air out as i only have an 8cm and the PSU fan at the moment (12cm) but i have kind of run out of space in the back end of my case :)

I was pretty happy with it, i did run a 3dmark06 test though and scored lower then i did with my system at stock which i dont understand. Im guessing its due to the memory timings?

Still looking out for a second hand phase cooler then i can see how far this chip will actually go ;)
 
Its cruicial 400Mhz pc3200 so shouldnt have any problems with making the timings a bit better, was just getting a bit late last night to do it. The memory is running on exactly the same FSB as the CPU (223).

Just have to get through 6 hours of work first :)
 
ummmm no.....

Will give that a try tonight when i sort my memory timings out and make sure it is still stable. I assumed that prime would automatically just max both cores.
 
Thats great thanks. I really should learn to actually look at things properly, just hope it passes now with two of them running (im pretty sure it will but will leave it on overnight).
 
Hmmm had a fear this would happen, im completely stuck with the memory timings. the main problem being is that i dont know what half the options are for :)

i have Cas Latency (i understand this one)
Tras (should be set to 7 or 8?)
TRP (no idea?)
TRCD (no idea?) Edit: guessing Ras to Cas delay?
TRC= this is what i used as a divider but not sure i should have done?
TRFC (umm no idea)
TRWT (ummm?)

When looking at timings say 2.5, 3,3,7 which numbers match to which names? Im going to have a look for it now but if anyone can give me a quick answer it would be a big help :)

Just tried setting Cas to 2.5 with TRC at 12 and the rest set to auto but it wouldnt post (maybe if i change these two i have to set all the rest manually?). Tried a couple of other things as well but all fail to post. Im pretty sure its more to do with my lack of knowledge then the memory not being able to handle it.

I think different memory sometimes requires different timings so while 2.5, 3, 3, 7 might not work something like 2.5, 4, 3, 7 might (numbers made up). is this right? If so i guess its trial and error so is there a best way to try them (ie increase cycle time first if that doesnt work try increasing TRC, etc).
 
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Prime testing now with prime running on both cores. been running 1 hour with no problems. temp maxing out at 53, average around 51.5 and im happy to live with that as its not often both cores are put under max load. Will leave it overnight to make sure its 100% stable.

I still cant figure out what these settings corrispond to and whenever i try to change any of them it stops my PC from posting. been trying to find some more info but nothing i have read so far really seems to help. Would raising my ram volts to 2.8 help this? would switching from T2 to T1 work?

Sorry for the stupid questions, im sure it is very, very simple. I understand what i should be changing the settings too and why but then there are loads of other settings there which i dont know about :)
 
Umm not sure how much im allowed to post about the memory, lets just say it comes from a well know memory supplier. (im actually regreting getting this ram now, wasnt planning to overclock at all and had it before i started checking out OCUK site and forums).

Details i can post below. Cant find any better information then that.
Module Size: 2GB kit (1GBx2)
Package: 184-pin DIMM
Feature: DDR PC3200
Specs: DDR PC3200 • CL=3 • UNBUFFERED • NON-ECC • DDR400 • 2.6V • 128Meg x 64

Not at my Pc now so cant post the timings its currently on.

Having a look at that link now btw, so far it has already cleared a couple of things up for me :)
 
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Its Cruical ram, Part Number: CT2KIT12864Z40B

Looking on their site i cant find any suggested/rated ram timings.
 
Thats what im thinking now too. I might put in a divider to run at a lower FSB with better timings as this actually seemed to perform a lot better (lost about 2000 points in 3dmark06 after i set the memory to run at the same speed as the CPU FSB).

Thanks very much for your help guys. I understand how the memory timings work a LOT better now :)
 
Just wanted to say thanks again, with your help i now actually understand how it all works and have got my memory running at 179Mhz again but on T1 with 2.5,3,3,7 timing. if i manage to push the FSB up on my CPU (which with air cooling is a bit dodgy) it might be worth using 1:1 but the increased frequency of the memory doesnt make up for the performance lose with the crappy timing at the moment.

Looks like i need to get some better ram (and another visa card :)).
 
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