Some tips on OC`ing please..

[groovesection]

So i built my new budget rig last week...

Gigabyte MA78LMT-USH
Atholon X3 445 @3.1ghz
8GB of XMS3 Corsair 1600mhz (bought 4GB elsewhere on special for £40 next day delivery!)

I was hoping to be able to unlock the 4th core gaining a Quad Atholon, This did not go to plan, I set AAC to auto and upon rebooting the system did not even POST, the fan on the HS was running @ 100% and i had to power off the system.
This left me with the only option of clearing the CMOS,
Which incidentally Gigabyte have decided to locate bang in between the PCI-E & PCI slots,
So i had to remove my TV card just to get a screwdriver in to contact the pins and clear the CMOS
(****ing dumb design)

Anyway, have i done everything correctly to unlock the 4th core? Am i missing something?

I knew it was a gamble relying on the 4th core unlocking, so now i am thinking i might as well just push this chip to see what i can get out of it.
(i plan on getting a hex core later this year anyway)

Anyway, i have not been an overclocker since the Socket A days when all you could really change where the FSB & Multiplier.
Now it is all core voltages and NB voltages and i am a bit lost,
Any pointers to help me squeeze some more mhz out of this chip will be greatly appreciated

 

[Blue160]

Not all AMD chips unlock successfully. Sounds like you got one that won't. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it, the X3 is a good chip

As for overclocking, there are some good guides at the top of this forum. I don't want to give advice myself, as i use intel, and I don't know if AMD overclocks differently.

 

[groovesection]

Cheers bud

I did have a brief read through some of the sticky`s and it appears that the HT is really only the other setting i need to worry about (apart from Vcore & NB voltage)
Suppose i should just start in 2mhz increments on the FSB and see where i can get to
Apparently the Athlon X3`s have a good bit of headroom for OC`ing.
I will be happy if i can squeeze 10-20% on the stock taking me to over 3.5ghz.

I should have just spent the extra £60 and got a Phenom X4 965 as i doubt my MB will support the 8 cores when they finally arrive later this year.

 

[SeraphX]

you might want to bring your signature down to the 4 lines that the rules call for

as for overclocking, it is still mostly fsb and multiplyers, although only the black series amd chips come with unlocked multi's, so fsb is the only option, but it's not all that hard

read OcUK's Official AMD Athlon II Overclocking thread for hints and tips on what other people have achieved with your chip and look through their settings for idea's on what will get you a faster clock speed

FYI, you might want to upgrade your HSF before trying any tweaking, the stock fans are notoriously bad,

have a look at the following depending on your budget and size of case

Entry Level:
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro

Mid Level:
Titan Fenrir Evo

High Level:
Noctua NH-D14

 

[groovesection]

Cheers mate,
I have removed my sig as i was unaware it was in contradiction of the rules (does anyone actually read the rules?)

I would rather not have to spend any money on another HSF, i am currently getting about 20c idle and 48c under full load (Prime95) so i am thinking i could possibly squeeze a few extra mhz for no more investment.
I actually ran an Athlon socket A (on stock HSF) @ 2.4ghz (200 x 12) instead of the rated 166 X 12.
I ran that for a couple of years with no problems.
But that was years ago on a GB 7400N Pro MB with just 512mb of 667mhz DDR2.
I also use no case cooling, i have my Tower with the sides off (that`s my cooling lol)

I will certainly have a read up, thanks