Upgrade from Opty [email protected] but to what ?

[ademcg]

Guys,
I am in a bit of a dilema, I have been running my Opteron 144 at the 2.6 GHz setting since I over clocked it back in November 2005.
24/7 nice and reliable, gaming is error free, no glitches what so ever


I am now getting itchy fingers for another upgrade, but don't know what to go for.
I am heavily into my games, so this is my primary reason for any upgrade.

Obviously there is the 146, but I am already at 2.6 GHz with my 144 & 146 not guaranteed to get higher ! Not bother with this chip???

The Dual Core Opterons 165 and 170 are there too, but I would have to re install windows and start my 3 week OC routine again,...not that is an issue, I quite enjoy it , but I can't do without gaming for that long ,.........is there a cost effective simple chip replacement ?
Is there a such a thing ?

 

[ademcg]

Why would you have to reinstall??

I might of got it wrong, but I have seen on the forum that Windows (if I went to Dual Core) would have to be re-installed to be properly configured to cope with addressing two cores ?

Is this correct ?

I have also seen that there is some sort of driver too, maybe this would negate the need to fully reinstall Windows ?

I would like this clarified though as it would make the decision a lot easier !

 

[ademcg]

You guys can sense my irrational upgrade twitch

When you look at it in the cold light of day, yes I do have the equivalent of an FX 55 chip,(for £99 I might add) ...but we all crave that little bit more.

As for waiting, TBH I think this is what I will do, Games will take a while to catch up with the processing power available at this point in time.

hmmm maybe I could buy 2 Gb of Ram instead !

 

[ademcg]

you should just overclock your 144 properly, it should do more than 2.6

How Very Dare you !!

I did do it properly, I read and followed all of the guides on here and on DFI-Street, I wanted a clock that was 12 hours prime [and anything else you can throw at it] stable and that is 2.6 GHz @ 1.55 V with an AC Freezer 64 Pro cooler.

I think I am limited by my stepping, cab2e 0540 it aint the best I see others have hit similar clock limits.
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=6566426&postcount=14

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17542893

In any case, for my first PC build and OC, I am pleased with the outcome, but I am only human and tend to want more,...more I tell ya !!

 

[ademcg]

Yeah, when I looked at possibly getting a 146, I thought I would be playing Russian roulet, I am already at 2.6GHz (a 69% overclock) and some 146's only get to that.

I guess I was swept along on the tide of DC euphoria that seems to be sweeping the land.
Bide my time I am sure it will all change.

As for revisiting my current clock, I am at 1.55 v and don't want to put anymore through it, it isn't stable at any higher clock so I feel I have reached the max of this chip.

Perhaps my Ram could do with replacing, I couldn't get much of an OC with that (don't think I got pucker TCCD chips ) I had to go on a harsh divider for my clock.

 

[ademcg]

Ok, you have all got me thinking now, call me paranoid but I have revisited my OC details and pulled this from the Bios:

FSB = 288 MHz (Max stable CPU FSB before Ram OC was 290MHz @ 1.55v)
LDT/FSB Freq ratio: X 3
CPU.FSB Freq Ratio = X 9

CPU Vid Start up = 1.55v
Chipset Voltage control = 1.60v
Dram Voltage = 3.0v ** High volts but stable and OCZ can go higher.

the DRAM settings:

Dram Freq: 166 (Dram / FSB: 5/06) See what I mean about a harsh divider .

CAS = 2
Trcd = 3
Tras = 8
Trp = 3
Trc = 7

This took me a couple of weeks to get the ram working with the CPU clock to produce a stable system, so in one sense I have "clocked it properly" I just feel a little cheated by the lackluster performance of the RAM which max'd out around 245 MHz or something similar.

So, if anyone can point to something obvious I have missed then please shout, always open to tweaks !

Just a thought, seeing how I have ben running since December 24/7 at this config, solid as a rock, does anyone think the CPU or ram will have bedded in and might be open to another push ??

I have heard "Burning in" can help with clocking ??