my overclocked £300ish system.

mymorph

mymorph

mymorph

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25 Jan 2010
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my cheap as chips system is heading to 3.1ghz (stock 2.6)

spec:
amd athlon2 quad (stock cooler)
asrock k10n78 mobo (intergrated graphics)
2x2 gb kingston ddr2 (pc2-5300)
samsung 1tb harddrive etc etc..
windows 7 64 bit.


purpose for the machine is a mixture of business software - adobe suite, design/photoshop etc. some gaming and video. i tend to run several apps at once so the multi core i tought was a good idea.

im at the point i need to change the stock coolers, maybe the corsair h50 but probably go for quality air as im thinking itll be less maintainance over the next 5yrs. must be quite!

also a passive northbridge cooler maybe a zalman? or other?

question?
  1. is it worth buying some ram heatsinks or ram cooling at this stage?
  2. im aiming to overclock to 3.4 ghz (seems achievable)

  3. also looking to buy a budget graphics card, maybe a geforce 9800gt?
    as this is the weak point in my system right now, the intergrated graphics just cant cut the mustard!

    current sandra index is around 550 as i say the graphics performance is the weak point.


    any comments on my build most welcome, bear in mind its a cheap system!
    see http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=991999
 
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I wouldn't bother with additional ram cooling at all to be honest, if you hit anywhere near dangerous temperatures for your ram it's probably time to run it asynchronously and drop the voltage.
 
bang goes my overclock

tried for 3,4ghz - unstable, tried reducing the n/bridge multiplier as was running 2600mhz still unstable - blue screen:(

rebooted - into bios - not happy - cleared cmos - not happy - reinserted ram.
now only able to achieve a very small overclock. but running ok prime95 stable.

ram/cpu or motherboard damage? i think ive cooked the n/bridge? what do you think?

shAME:o
 
FSB 2600? Are you sure? I run intel cpu E8200 and my FSB is 1700 and thats quite high. Although I have nxt to zero experience ocing AMD.
I thought it was pretty much impossible to cook things these days with all the thermal cut offs and voltage protection.
 
mymorph said:
tried for 3,4ghz - unstable, tried reducing the n/bridge multiplier as was running 2600mhz still unstable - blue screen:(

rebooted - into bios - not happy - cleared cmos - not happy - reinserted ram.
now only able to achieve a very small overclock. but running ok prime95 stable.

ram/cpu or motherboard damage? i think ive cooked the n/bridge? what do you think?

shAME:o
Click to expand...

Try Memtest? :D

Could have upset a stick!!
 
Simple_Steve said:
FSB 2600? Are you sure? I run intel cpu E8200 and my FSB is 1700 and thats quite high. Although I have nxt to zero experience ocing AMD.
I thought it was pretty much impossible to cook things these days with all the thermal cut offs and voltage protection.
Click to expand...

sorry northbridge@2600mhz, fsb260!!!:(
 
all is good

:Dran memtest all is good.
looked back at the memory timings, bios had changed the cr timing to 1t, and i hadnt noticed (bottom of the list and have to scroll down) anyhow changed back to 2t and all is well in the budget system. back upto 3.3ghz.:D
 
3.35ghz.

well i think this is as far as i can go at present.

3.35ghz
wprime 32m score 11.8 (performance index 530)
1024m 369
CPUz
:D

sandra index score 580

basic build spec:

case: shinobi 600watt
mobo: asrock k10n78
ram:twin kingston ddr2 2x2gb (pc2 5300)
hdrive: samsung 1tb
processor: athlon II x4 620 (stock 2.6)
cpu cooler: Zalmon cnps 9500
dvd writer
5-1 card reader
edimax wlan card pci

build cost approx £350



next: graphics card & new monitor, new case rear fan.
 
DEAD PSU

guess the psu unbranded which came with the system (supposed 600watt)
couldnt handle running seti@home all night again and died:(

yiu get what you pay for and this has made a real dent in my build costs with a new psu going to cost £40 - 60 depending if i go modualr or not

the original psu is still under warranty so ill see how that goes - might get some cheap replacement in return which ill keep as a spare or i might just bin it and save on postage!

so now build cost will be £400ish inc some new fans & n/bridge heatsink

be interesting to see if i can get a better oc with a new branded psu. was at 3.45ghz before the psu died
 
all done.

final oc @3.4ghz (3.5 possible but not reliable enough for 24/7 crunching)
added a gtx 260 oc@ 692/1491/1202 £82 2nd hand.

air cooled. zalmon cnps9500 £25. 1xscthye 1xnoctura 1xpanaflo fans.aprox £40
exrta n/bridge zlamon sink (probably not really needed)
extra ram coolers copper. again probably not really needed but may help extend life
new psu as stated previuosly.

so not quite as budget as i hoped. but then i never planned on crunching.


next system - sata 6? phenom hex core? ati crunching seti?
 
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