Lanparty SLI-D and Opteron 146 Issue

TBirdUK

TBirdUK

TBirdUK

Soldato
Joined
9 Jul 2005
Posts
2,614
Location
High Wycombe
Put a couple of other threads up but thought I would bring it together and was wondering if anyone can answer a few questions for me to tidy my thoughts up.

Got an NFI Lanparty SLI-D
Opteron 146 on water
2 x 1GB Giel Value dual channel
6800NU (6800GT now dead!)

Cant seem to get past a FSB of 260 without it failing to post. Tried mem dividers to rule that out but can someone tell me:

What BIOS should I be running with?
Max voltage for the Opteron and the RAM?
Max temp idle/load for the Opteron?
best way to rule out the RAM causing the problem (apart from dividers)?



Any other thoughts/settings I've forgotten?

Cheers
 
I would think 6/23 BIOS would be perfectly acceptable for an Opty. But really it shouldnt make too considerable a difference.

I would say max voltage at 1.65. but only because your on water. I always stick to around 1.55 just as a personal rule. As for RAM.. I've no idea matey, I wouldnt of thought you would need to touch the RAM voltage.

My mate's Opty at 2.9 (Thermaltake Typhoon Cooling) maxes out at 57C max load. Pretty sure its safe up to 65 or so.

Not sure what you mean by "ruling out the RAM apart from dividers"... just shove them on a huge divider and find the max overclock for the CPU?
 
Cheers, will try it when I get home from work. Have tried on my 3000venice but had the same problem (ish). Put the RAM on biggest divider (1/02) and still couldnt push it beyond 265 FSB.

Am hoping that the Opty can get to 3Ghz on water but to do this I need to push it to 300 x 10. The temps were really low at 265 (28idle/39load) so that shouldnt be a problem it just seems the thing wont post past 265.

I've even upped the vore to 1.55 (*110%) which is 1.7 although the mobo does undervolt by 0.05 so it should be ok.

What else could be stopping the machine posting? One other thing is the N/B seems to get about 15deg hotter with the opty in, any clues why?
 
i would try running diffrent dividers and find one that works. As or some reason on my board some dividers dont work.

The ram isnt the problem as they result in a lower fsb just the board being picky.
I run 1.65V on air just now and i aint having any problems so 1.7v will be plenty safe on water.

The cooling i am using the the Thermalright SP 120
 
Will do, finishing work soon and will have a crack at it after feeding the dog!

Cant believe when I rang up DFI (15mins international call) they told me Opteron wasnt supported by DFI!!!!!!!!
 
You know - the more I think about it the more I think that board of yours just isn't up to scratch - neither the Opty nor the Venice seem to allow a FSB above 265 - your HTT is way below 1000 so it should work - is there any way of lowering the multiplier on the chip to test the mobo (like we used to with socket A's to see where the mobo maxes out) - that would at least rule out the NB/SB failing - if you could lower the multi to about 5, then just push the FSB all the way to 300 to see if the board can handle it (though I still reacon it's borked!)
 
Shouldnt be anything wrong with the board, or with the boards compatibility with Opteron chips. My mate is running at a perfectly prime stable 2.9 with his Opty on a DFI SLI board.
 
Well, still got the venice in and up to 295 FSB x9 multiplier = 2656 with the memory at 147mhz.

Will go as far as possible then swap over to the Opteron. Guess it was a memory issue. Not sure why as it memtests to 205 but when clocking the chip it wont (can only use 1/02 divider to work!!)
 
TBirdUK said:
Will do, finishing work soon and will have a crack at it after feeding the dog!

Cant believe when I rang up DFI (15mins international call) they told me Opteron wasnt supported by DFI!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

That's an AMD thing - opty's are meant to be workstation chips, so they won't allow mb manufacturers to support them on their consumer products or else they'll start severing their relationships with them, so DFI have no choice but to 'officially' not support them.
Technically, of course, they work fine - my 146 is running on my Expert happily @ 2820x10 (although it needs just under 1.6V to do it :() on air, 3xLDT, 1.6V for chipset, 1.4V LDT, max load temps 47C (SI120). Might up the voltage at some point to see how far I can push it, but this is fine for a 24/7 overclock.
RAM is very variable - my old OCZ needed 3.1V to get decent speeds, my current Gskill doesn't see any benefit over 2.6V. The Geil looks to be rated up to 2.95V, so I'd be tempted to up that a little and try to get some airflow over it as you might not have much in your case considering you're on water.
Finally, how long have you had the board? Mine suddenly started working at previously tried (and failed at) settings a couple of days after I got it, so going through lots of testing, changes, CMOS resets and all that might change the characteristics a little. Finally (this post is longer than I thought it was gonna be...), try finding your max CPU clock with just a single stick of memory in. This is generally more stable for overclocking.
 
Thanks Louis Y for that will give it a go tomorrow. Venice is now prime stable at 300FSB x 9 = 2700. Temps good at 42 whiles under load.
Not sure what pwmic means but thats at 57 and the chipset is at 44
Vcore at 1.6, LDT at 1.26, DRAM at 2.7 and chipset at 1.57 (all mbm5 readings under load)
RAM at 150mhz CPU/18, 3,4,4,8 2T
Will push as far as poss then change for the opty. Then I will look at the ram to increase the speen and tighten the timings.

The info you gave is perfect - will use and post the results tomorrow
 
PWMIC = Pulse Width Modulated Integrated Circuit. Basically, it's near the top right corner of your CPU socket (as you look down on the board with the RAM slots above the CPU). Your temps for that are a little high, but nothing to be worried about. When you can, just get some airflow over it and temps should drop considerably - my SI120 overhangs this area and mine is around 41C under load but temps around 55C are not uncommon, whereas my chipset it closer to 50C compared to your 44C - is your chipset watercooled too?

Anyways, good luck with it :)
 
I would raise LDT and Chipset voltages to the max.

Also, what are your memory timings? I have a suspicion they could be at fault.

I'm running an Opty 144 in a DFI Ultra D. I'll post my memory settings in a mo.
 
chipset not watercooled, just have sides off case, not even a case fan at the moment. Had the board 7 months now but never been able to get it above 265 before!

Put a fan on the pwmic - dropped down to 47 quite quickly. Must go to bed now, will leave prime95 overnight, cheers louis

Jimbo - mem timings are above, 3,4,4,8 2T running at 150mhz on a 1/02 divider - will look at these tomorrow. This venice keeps going - not sure if I need the opty 146 now!!
 
Well I think Ive reached the limit of the Venice:
305 x 9 = 2745
vcore 1.6 40 deg under load pwmic 38 deg
ldt 1.3
DRAM 2.7 3,4,4,8 2T
chipset 1.6 43 deg under load

Have tried upping voltages etc but wont get to 310. Think its time to put the Opteron back in!
 
Opteron is in, pushed it up to 280x10 with 1.6v vcore, 1.4v LDT and 1.6v chipset.

Temps are vcore 31/50 (idel/load)
Chipset 42/43
pwmic 33/40

Think I need to let the AS5 settle in a bit so will prime95 it for the next hour and then push it to 290.

Edit

Up to 290, same volts, now, tightened down the block a little and seemed to help by 1 deg!

Temps are vcore 31/49 (idel/load)
Chipset 43/43
pwmic 35/38
 
Last edited:
3Ghz!!!!

:D :D :D

Made it to 300, same volts.

Temps are vcore 31/49 (idel/load)
Chipset 42/43
pwmic 34/39

Leaving for a few hours to prime then going to see if I can drop the volts a bit. There was me thinking it was the mobo and all the time it was the RAM (although probably wouldnt have brought the opteron if I'd managed to get the venice that high before! :cool: )

Thanks for all the help guys, really was spot on
 
Good result! :cool: Better than my 2820 (my excuse is you have better cooling ;) )

Now go get some decent RAM, and you should really be flying.

Glad it's going so well, don't post benchmarks - I'll only get jealous.

-Lou
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom