Just ordered a x2 3800.... what prep work do I need to do?

[Biglunn]

Hi!

I couldnt resist getting myself a x2 3800! Prompltly ordered one, and put my 3000+ up on eBay with no reserve! Anyways.... just wondering if anyone here can give me a litle guidance.

Firstly, I already have my 3000 overclocked to 2.25ghz (4x HTT, FSB @ 250, Mem divider @ 166mhz). I assume that I need to set everything back to defaults before swapping over to the dual core processor. Do I need any extra drivers after putting in this processor? I dont need cool`n`quiet as I will be overclocking. Can I expect a similar overclock as with my 3000? Is my Arctic Freezer 64 Pro (original version) okay for overclocking?

I may also consider reinstalling Windows XP - I have an older (SP1) retail boxed version (which has been great as Ive been able to go many hardware changes with it) - do I just install it, install device drivers, then install SP2 followed by Windows updates?

Many thanks in advance.

 

[w3bbo]

Yeah reset to defaults in the bios. You shouldn't need a re-install tbh, all that should happen is that once you boot up with your new cpu, windows will then ask for a further reboot as it will install the drivers specific to dual core. Do as it says then test your games. If you find some games are 'stuttering' then you may need the updated amd driver and microsoft hotfix.

As for the HSF, you will be fine with the one you have got although you would get better results when oc'ing using a better HSF such as the ninja or TTBT as dual cores pump out a little more heat than single core and therefore would benefit from better cooling.

 

[Biglunn]

Cheers for that!

One more thing.... on my Venice 3000+, I overclocked using Prime95. With that, I coud check to see if everything was stable at a certain speed. But Ive just realised.... I think Prime95 only stresses a sigle core! How on earth can I stress both cores?

Cheers again.

 

[nicRob]

Run 2 instances of p95, can set the second instance to run on the 2nd core (cant remember exactly how, but it's not hard)

 

[Justintime]

Run 2 instances, might want to go into the cpu options and use about 40% of your memory for each instance. So if you had 1Gb, then 400mb on each instance would do it, leaving some for windows and not making it slow down the machine by constantly paging and going idle while it allocates memory.

 

[Dutch Guy]

For Prime testing you need to put the Prime program in two separate folders and start both, next you set each Prime instance to one core and run both.

 

[Biglunn]

Once again, thank you guys!

One final point.... I see people here using a Windows XP hotfix, and a new AMD x2 Processor driver with their dual core processors. Im getting a little confused here - do we only need to install these items if we use Cool`n`quiet? In which case I simply take my Venice 3000 out and swap it with th x2? I Dont use CnQ - who would want to when they are overclocking?

Processor just arrived.

 

[Dutch Guy]

If you are overclocking you must disable Cool&Quiet so I think you only need to install the AMD Dual Core optimiser.

Also do not forget to set the CPU options in the BIOS to default before swapping the CPU.