First overclock

[Comdrpopnfresh]

I tried overclocking my comp for the first time a week ago, and have been away. I have an X2 3800+. I set the memory to 100mhz, and all the NB<->SB and all the different MoBo interconnects to 5x (default, RIGHT?). I kept the pcie where it was, and only changed the FSB (with the multi left at 10x). In about 4 hours I went from 2ghz to 2.7ghz. 2.75 was not stable and 2.80 didn't clear post into bios. I have a feeling it can go further, as I left the stock voltage at 1.35.... I'm not sure what settings to change.... I can clear post, but instead of going to the blue bios, it just puts up a grey screen (with 2.75-2.8 and above, the rest go to windows no problem). I'm onmly getting a 3*C increase in temps, but then again I have the memory uderclocked and everything at the stock multipliers....

I have the A8n32-SLI Deluxe, and supposedly it has CPU CPR... so if the system hangs due to a bad OC it will reset things upon restarting. What a load of bull- every time I tried pressing it-I had to take of the rtc jumper... go in an change the boot settings to what i had, and start off Ocing again. I chanegd the interconnects all down to 3x even, but still couldn't get past 2.8 without problem. How do I go about changing voltages (I know how to, but what increments, and how high is okay)? I read you shouldn't go past 1.45V with X2, but with C'n'Q on it usually takes it up to 1.48 on its own.....
Speaking of, if I find my max OC for the entire system, can I turn on C'n'Q to throttle down everything until I need it? Seems rather dumb to run at >2.7ghz while idling.....

And how come Asus's aibooster program can't change this stuff from windows? It suppsoed to do it without delay, but if I change the internal clock by even 1 mhz, it asks me to restart before chanegs take palce- eff that, I'll just do it in bios.... Is ntune any better? I have it for my graphics card...... and I know my mobo is compatable...

thanks for any help...

::EDIT::
BTW I am not doing any more overclocking (leaving at stock speeds) until I order and install an A64 Freezer- this stock AMD HSF is horrible....... loud and hot- 48*C idle stock!!! (QITH COOL'N'QUIET ON- SO TIS RUNNING AT 1GHZ, NOT 2!!!!)...just crazy

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

BUMP

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

bump

 

[GuitarDaddy]

2.7 on stock vcore is excellent for a 3800+, your not going to get any higher with out bumping the volts.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

oh. I was just hoping for 3.0ghz right out. I still haven't changed things witht he ram and interconencts. Unforunetly my boards does not use dividers, but instead has "limits" the highest my ram can go up to on the limit setting is something like 530mhz... I was hoping my memory could go higher as well....

 

[Kromis]

3.0Ghz right out of the box? I don't think that's possible. At least you have reached the speeds of an FX-60!

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

I know, but not having touched the voltages- Idk whats safe or not. What else could cause that kind of freeze when starting?

 

[mendocinosummit]

Have you performed any stress test onteh CPU when it did boot up? Even though it will boot you should check stability with numerous programs, see OC Athlon 64 thread. I have my X2 3800+ at 1.3875 vCore and a 2.4 ghz OC with ram OCZ ram DDR480 and my CnQ cuts it down to 1.4 GHZ. I thought this was weird since it changes the multi to 5x, but hell it still works. Personally I would never take my proc past 2.6.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

so once your done overclocking you can put c'n'q back on so ur not running at full throttle the whole time? Is that what your saying? Thats awesome- exactly what i'm looking for. I honestly think my motherboard is to thank for being able to the take it to 2.7 without going above stock voltage.... Although unlike oyu, I haven't changed my memory yet- I se it to 100mhz for cpu oc'in....

 

[n7]

Aight, here's my mini Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe OCing guide

First off, a few things to know

CPU speed is determined by multiplier & HTT (Hyper Transport Tunnel - akin to FSB)
CPU multi x HTT = clockspeed.
On an A64 X2 4800+, that's 12 x 200 = 2400 MHz

HT (Hyper Transport) speed (akin to system bus speed) is determined by HT multi x HTT
So normally that's 5 x 200 = 1000 MHz, or 2000 MHz (doubled pumped)
It is generally recommended to keep the HT speed around or under 1000, since performance is not decreased if it's lowered, & it will remain stable.
Running the HT speed much higher than 1000 will often cause instability.

RAM speed is more complicated.
It is based off CPU speed also.
Normally it runs at the same speed as the HTT, so usually 200 MHz (DDR400).
However, when OCing, raising the RAM above it's normal operating frequency only works to a certain point.
Therefore, one can use dividers, meaning the RAM will run at a lower speed than the HTT. On A64 (or Opteron) systems, the performance hit with running the RAM slower is

very minimal, & the resulting increased CPU speed is still much faster overall.

In many cases, this is a much more complicated number to calculate, but here's the formula anyway:


How to calculate RAM dividers:

(CPU multi x 200) / RAM divider (i.e. 166) = ___(always round this up if not whole number)

CPU multi x HTT / result of initial calculation = actual RAM speed

e.g.
OCed CPU clockspeed / result of the first calculation = actual RAM speed

one full example:

12 x 200 / 166.66 = 14.4 rounded up -> 15

12 x 220 / 15 = 176 aka DDR352




Now the good news is, if that's too confusing, you can actually skip straight ahead to the actual OCing, since this guide will lay out the basics in a simple fashion


Okay.

Everything you'll need to change is in the advanced menu.


First, go to Advanced
Then Chipset. Then change SB to NB Frequency to 4x, or if you are raising the HTT above 250, then 3x.

There, you've now lowered the HT multi.


Now go to CPU Configuration, which oddly enough, has no settings to do with the CPU
Make sure the 1T/2T Memory Timing is set to 1T, unless you have all four RAM slots populated. In that case, set it to 2T if it's not already.
Then click on Memory Setting & it will lead you to
Memory Configuration.
Now select Memclock Mode > Memclock Value, which will bring up the RAM divider choices.
I'd select 166 or 183 for light OCing; you can tweak around with your RAM more later.
Also, under the Memory Configuration area, you can adjust your timings for your RAM by setting MCT Timing Mode to Manual.
You can leave everything at auto, but since often motherboard's auto settings have the RAM set to undesirable timings, you can go ahead and manually set the CAS TRCD TRP TRAS to what your RAM is rated for as long as you know those timings.
Usually the numbers are like the following:
E.g. 2-3-2-6 = CAS - TRCD - TRP - TRAS
Leave all the other RAM settings at auto unless you really know what you are doing

There, RAM divider & timings are now set.


Now to actually get to OCing the CPU
Head to Jumperfree Configuration

Set AI Overclocking to Manual.
Now in the CPU FSB Frequency spot, you can key in whatever HTT speed you'd like.
I'd recommend very slowly increasing this, & saving bios settings, restarting into Windows, testing for stability, & repeating.
200 to 205 then to 210, or even smaller increments, etc. Don't do anything crazy like jump to 240 till you know what the CPU is capable of.
Under DDR Vcore you can adjust the voltage for the RAM.
Leave it at auto or set to manufacturer's suggested setting.
Now set FID/VID Change to Manual.
Processor Frequency Multiplier is your CPU multi.
On an X2 4800+, this is 12. The multi can be lowered, but not raised unless you have an FX series CPU.
Leave it at your CPU's normal multi.
Now under Processor Voltage, you have CPU vcore.
Be very careful here; this can damage your CPU if not properly set.
You can leave this auto for light OCing, but i'd suggest setting it manually mainly for one reason.

On the A8N32-SLI Deluxe, the greatly hyped 8-phase power it features doesn't actually kick in until you utilize Over-Voltage CPU Vcore.
Over-Voltage CPU Vcore is roughly an additional 200mV, which means you can set the normal CPU Vcore to a lower amount & utilize the Overvoltage CPU Vcore to get the same vcore as just using the normal CPU Vcore by itself, with the benefit of 8-phase power (explained more here)

You can see in the picture earlier it's set for 1.275V + over voltage (0.2V), which = 1.475V
I'd suggest setting it to 1.2V + over voltage enabled, which will give you 1.4V, same as stock settings.
You usually safely can raise it up to around a total ~ 1.45-1.50V later if needed for heavier OCing as long as temps keep in check, but don't worry about that for light OCing.

Leave the other over voltage settings as default (disabled).

There, now you've OCed the CPU & possibly adjusted RAM/CPU vcore.


One big warning about the Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe:
This mobo has a well known "warmboot" issue.
Simply put, when heavily OCing, you may notice the PC will sit at a black screen after a restart or after saving settings in bios.

If this happens, turn off power, & then turn on power.
So basically, don't restart. Rather, shut down & turn on instead.

Also, if for some reason the overclocked settings are rejected by your system & turning off & then on doesn't fix things, you can always reset the CMOS, which will set

everything in the bios back to defaults & allow you to get the system running again.
The jumper for this is under the bottom PCI-e 16x slot; refer to manual or Asus's website if you don't know this procedure.


Now, good luck, & have fun

I hope to see screenies with overclocked settings, etc. later; keep us posted

 

[Cali]

I just wanted to give you propz for taking your time to write all this stuff down. Way to go

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[lopri]

I wouldn't call that a "mini" guide. Heh.. Great guide - we all appreciate your contribution!

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: lopri
I wouldn't call that a "mini" guide. Heh.. Great guide - we all appreciate your contribution!

I have it saved in notepad for these occasions.
So i can just copy n paste.

I made it up a while ago; still applies now though i think.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

awesome. You'll have to tell me how to get screen shots first The only thing I was confused about is the dividers. I know about them, but don't quite understand the settings on the A8N32-sli deluxe's bios. it had auto (=bad obviously) and hten "limits" are these basically the divers at stock speeds (the 200 would be 1:1, 100 2:1?), and I hope I'm correctly assuming that those speeds are before the doubling of ddr ram (cuz it only goes up to 250mhz...). you should persue getting that put in as a sticky. Turns out my 2.7 I achieved earlier doesn't wanna stay, and even the 2.6 gave errors in prime95, although superpi was ok.... I usually run them both at the same time, so because prime kept failing, then I've been using superpi only on one core at a time, which i belive is not a good stability check (in essence running on 50% of cpu...)

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: Comdrpopnfresh
awesome. You'll have to tell me how to get screen shots first The only thing I was confused about is the dividers. I know about them, but don't quite understand the settings on the A8N32-sli deluxe's bios. it had auto (=bad obviously) and hten "limits" are these basically the divers at stock speeds (the 200 would be 1:1, 100 2:1?), and I hope I'm correctly assuming that those speeds are before the doubling of ddr ram (cuz it only goes up to 250mhz...). you should persue getting that put in as a sticky. Turns out my 2.7 I achieved earlier doesn't wanna stay, and even the 2.6 gave errors in prime95, although superpi was ok.... I usually run them both at the same time, so because prime kept failing, then I've been using superpi only on one core at a time, which i belive is not a good stability check (in essence running on 50% of cpu...)

What RAM do you have?

Running the 100 divider isn't exactly ideal, as it's likely underclocking your RAM quite a bit.

Also, have you increased vcore at all? Stock vcore @ 2.7 GHz is highly unlikely to be stable.

And make sure your HT multi is set to 3x.
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/4294/IMG_0249Large.jpg



Oh, & for taking screenshots, just hit PrtScr & then CTRL + C
Then open Paint & CRTL + V

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

ht multi to 3x at all speeds, or only when overclocked? I've elft it at 5x, and changed the other multi (k8 to NB) to 5x too. Should I mainly aim to keep the end result at 1ghz? (so change it to four at 250mhz HTT, 3at anything much above that? LOL I know how to take screens (didn't know u could do that in bios though.....) but i realized i can host on a server i have a connection to

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

oh- btw. I have crucial ballistix ddr2-400 pc3200. I read they hold their timings thorugh higher speeds better than most other types of ram...

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

oh- i noticed that my graphics card seems to be getting voerclocked when i change motherbaord settings.... i might have set the peg settings higher, but otherwise, if the pcie clock is lcocked, should it do that?

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: Comdrpopnfresh
ht multi to 3x at all speeds, or only when overclocked? I've elft it at 5x, and changed the other multi (k8 to NB) to 5x too. Should I mainly aim to keep the end result at 1ghz? (so change it to four at 250mhz HTT, 3at anything much above that? LOL I know how to take screens (didn't know u could do that in bios though.....) but i realized i can host on a server i have a connection to

Just the one highlighted in the pic. It should be at 3x (same as in pic).

BTW, those are not screenshots of the bios; you cannot do that
They are pics i took with my camera

Originally posted by: Comdrpopnfresh
oh- btw. I have crucial ballistix ddr2-400 pc3200. I read they hold their timings thorugh higher speeds better than most other types of ram...

I assume that's a typo & it's not DDR2

Originally posted by: Comdrpopnfresh
oh- i noticed that my graphics card seems to be getting voerclocked when i change motherbaord settings.... i might have set the peg settings higher, but otherwise, if the pcie clock is lcocked, should it do that?

Not that i know of...not sure on that one.

 

[betasub]

n7, kudos to you for your very patient help to a newbie. Not sure why he's expecting a 50% OC out of the box (3GHz :roll. Or why he can't follow the instructions in the sticky (which clearly state you need to adjust the HT multiplier). Yes, the standout problem is he hasn't dropped the HT multpier to 3x in order to keep the CPU-NT link no greater than 1000MHz.

Edit: oh, he need to switch CnQ off to find a max overclock.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

yeh, typo with the ddr2 there. lol. I've gotten the system to 2.62ghz (1.365 volts~ stock) with a 1:1 divider on the ram, and a cas of 2.5 at 2.65 volts. so I'm running 2.5-2-2-8 at 524mhz. I'm getting random restarts, but I think it was attributed to the auto-overclock on the pcie speeds. I set the peg-link to 'fast' instead of 'faster', and now its okay (it set my 580-1500 7600gt to 626-1592!). I really haven't touched the voltage on the cpu (except kicking it down, then turning on the overvoltage to get the 8-phase on [good tip- i thought the 8-phase was always on!]), and I'll have my A64 Freezer Pro by the end of the week- I feel I may at least get to 2.8 stable (i still have the cas of 3, and a max supported voltage of 2.9 on the ram to keep that 1:1 as long as possible). On my mom's dell theres ddr2 pc 4200. Am I correct in assuming that if I raise the HTT to 263, I'll match that speed? Or is the ddr2 speed measured differently than ddr?
At one point I was running the HT still at 5x, with a total speed of about 1350- there was no instability.

The thing I don't understand is, with all the overvoltage controls, and the ht mulipliers available up to 8x i believe, can you make the ht and the k8-nb run higher than that 1000mhz u mention without problems? What do you gain by overclocking that?
Also, is there any benefit in increasing the pcie bus speed (from 100mhz to...), and what about the other (nb to sb maybe, its manual set to 200mhz now...)?

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: Comdrpopnfresh
yeh, typo with the ddr2 there. lol. I've gotten the system to 2.62ghz (1.365 volts~ stock) with a 1:1 divider on the ram, and a cas of 2.5 at 2.65 volts. so I'm running 2.5-2-2-8 at 524mhz. I'm getting random restarts, but I think it was attributed to the auto-overclock on the pcie speeds. I set the peg-link to 'fast' instead of 'faster', and now its okay (it set my 580-1500 7600gt to 626-1592!). I really haven't touched the voltage on the cpu (except kicking it down, then turning on the overvoltage to get the 8-phase on [good tip- i thought the 8-phase was always on!]), and I'll have my A64 Freezer Pro by the end of the week- I feel I may at least get to 2.8 stable (i still have the cas of 3, and a max supported voltage of 2.9 on the ram to keep that 1:1 as long as possible). On my mom's dell theres ddr2 pc 4200. Am I correct in assuming that if I raise the HTT to 263, I'll match that speed? Or is the ddr2 speed measured differently than ddr?
At one point I was running the HT still at 5x, with a total speed of about 1350- there was no instability.

The thing I don't understand is, with all the overvoltage controls, and the ht mulipliers available up to 8x i believe, can you make the ht and the k8-nb run higher than that 1000mhz u mention without problems? What do you gain by overclocking that?
Also, is there any benefit in increasing the pcie bus speed (from 100mhz to...), and what about the other (nb to sb maybe, its manual set to 200mhz now...)?

That's an extremely good overclock for your RAM.
Very impressive, but keep in minds the restarts could well be due to the RAM being unstable.
I'd recommend first finding out CPU max, & then worry about maxing out your RAM later.

As for your mom's Dell, no, it's not likely the same.
I'm gonna assume she had a P4 or P-D, which would mean the FSB is @ 200, & the RAM @ 266.

As for HT settings, i just noticed there's a mistake in my guide.

You want to set both K8 to NB & SB to NB to 3x.

Sorry 'bout that.

Leave PCI-e bus @ 100. Again, going higher isn't going improve performance, but it could hamper OCing.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

i think the sb to nb link can be left at 5x, because for one of those interconnects you can manually set the frequency to 200mhz, so ti slocked in there despite all the htt changes....

 

[imported_inspire]

Just to add my thoughts... Increasing the HT Bus isn't going to give you a noticeable performance boost. Same thing with the PCIe Bus - in fact, OC'ing the PCIe Bus can make you unstable.

If you're having random restarts, you may want to enable the BSOD on your computer to try to track down what's going wrong. Right-Click on 'My Computer' and go to properties. Then go to 'Advanced', then go to 'Startup and Recovery' and click on 'Settings'. Now, under 'System Failure' uncheck the box 'Automatically Restart'. I would also suggest that you turn off screen savers and any power-saving features of your monitor. This way, the next time your system hangs, you'll have the BSOD error message to help you diagnose it.

My hunch would be that it's your memory and your BSOD will say something about a physical dump of memory. That's good memory, though, so I wouldn't be surprised if I'm wrong...

 

[myocardia]

Inspire is completely correct. Your problem, besides having the HTT multi at 5x, is that you aren't giving your RAM anywhere near enough voltage. Your RAM requires 2.8v, to run stable at 200 Mhz, and you're trying to run it at 262 Mhz? No wonder you aren't stable! Just give your Ballistix 2.8v, and don't go higher than that. If you need to/want to take it higher, you have to do it with higher timings, not with more voltage.