First overclock

[Comdrpopnfresh]

lol. I have it at 2.65 volts at 260 now. I ran memtest off of a cd at startup for 2.5 hours, with three sweeps of test number five (at higher speeds and stock voltage i noticed this test gave the most flags), and no errors. What i have done becuase my new hsf is set to arrive today is set my clock to 260mhz and rather than a set multi, i turned on c'n'q. So if I actually need the full 2.6ghz it'll be there, but won't be creating the heat i beleive made it unstable (it went close ot he 40's here last night and i had the window open at 230am with the compute ron- 32*C idle!) My harddrive was running at 29*c, when normlaly it 39, and with the smart analysis from speedfan, it scored 100% in both health and fitness- which it had never done before, and I had never heard of (it even scored 100% in 'unknown attribute 190'! and thats unknown.... lol). It seems in general heat is my enemy, as I only have three fans- stock vga, stock cpu, and a 120mm case fan to exhaust. So I'd say I'm doing fairly well on what i have. Ballistix is rated at 2.6v for 200mhz, with a lifetime-warranty supported ceiling of 2.9, although I hear it can take 3.2v (i'm not tryin to void warranties here). Considering I still have almost .3volts and the cas of 3 to tap into, I hope to keep the divider at 11, and expect to run into a wall with the cpu first (may change the divier to make ram faster than HTT...). But I'm happy where I am for now, until My cooler comes today! Thent he fun will start.

 

[imported_inspire]

Originally posted by: Comdrpopnfresh
lol. I have it at 2.65 volts at 260 now. I ran memtest off of a cd at startup for 2.5 hours, with three sweeps of test number five (at higher speeds and stock voltage i noticed this test gave the most flags), and no errors. What i have done becuase my new hsf is set to arrive today is set my clock to 260mhz and rather than a set multi, i turned on c'n'q. So if I actually need the full 2.6ghz it'll be there, but won't be creating the heat i beleive made it unstable (it went close ot he 40's here last night and i had the window open at 230am with the compute ron- 32*C idle!) My harddrive was running at 29*c, when normlaly it 39, and with the smart analysis from speedfan, it scored 100% in both health and fitness- which it had never done before, and I had never heard of (it even scored 100% in 'unknown attribute 190'! and thats unknown.... lol). It seems in general heat is my enemy, as I only have three fans- stock vga, stock cpu, and a 120mm case fan to exhaust. So I'd say I'm doing fairly well on what i have. Ballistix is rated at 2.6v for 200mhz, with a lifetime-warranty supported ceiling of 2.9, although I hear it can take 3.2v (i'm not tryin to void warranties here). Considering I still have almost .3volts and the cas of 3 to tap into, I hope to keep the divider at 11, and expect to run into a wall with the cpu first (may change the divier to make ram faster than HTT...). But I'm happy where I am for now, until My cooler comes today! Thent he fun will start.

Good luck with your new cooler. I'll say that heat doesn't become a problem until you break the 60c-barrier. So, if your having instability issues at temps below that, it's probably not due to heat.

That being said, my memory passed 2-3 hours of memtest at 1200 MHz on the default range of tests - but failed to POST when I turned the CPU multiplier back up (voltage issues). What I mean to say is that memtest is an efficient way to test memory, but it's not, in my opinion, the gold standard. Two simultaneous instances of SuperPi's 32M test and / or SP2004's (or Prime95's) Blend Test do a better job for me. If you can pass the SuperPi 32M tests, then go for a 24-hour stable SP2004 (or Prime95) Blend test.

Again, good luck and keep us updated!

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

voltage problems when you throttled up the cpu? My mobo guarantees steady power- its got an extra 4-pin plug to keep it stable. And the pwersupply is awesome. But I definitly hear you on the whole using other ways to test for stability thing. I am now running at a full speed of 2.6ghz, with c'n'q running its at 39*C (it stayed at 46 with the stock amd cooler at 2.0ghz, so now its 1.3 when before it was 1.0 on q'n'c).

When I took of the stock hsf I was really mad. The pre-applied paste was unscathed on about half of the area- its like there was a huge air bubble! Coluld have been why i had such high max's. But I doubt it could come close ot outperforming the AC Freezer anyhow (the sound is awesome- nice and quiet). When I applied the new hsf there was a bit of a trugle, but I managed ot keep the thermals paste on the chip die (did u know the AC freezer doesn't even cover the chip fully- I bet it would perform better if they released a revision that filled the whole tension mounting like the stock one does... Is it usual for the Mx-1 (i think thats what it is on there) paste strip on the AC Freezer to ooze out the sides a bit when the tension clip is pushed down? I guess it means it got good coverage... And it only spilled out onto sections that the copper base didn't cover, so it may help heat ot transer over to the hsf instead.

Now heres the hard question- should i put my Antec Sonata II's VGA+CPU Air duct in so that fresh air is streamed right to the cpu? Whether or not, I definitly need to add a 120mm fan for intake near the harddrives.....

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

I went to bed at 5, and set prime95 to run two instances, one witht he blend to eat up all the ram, and the other to use small FFT's so I wouldn't kill my swap drive (an old maxtor 40gb ide that solely lives tobe the ram's lacky...). Four hours in (I lslept for 8 and found this whne I awoke) the Blend had failed- harware failure. and the small fft was still going strogn after 8 hours. so i'm guessing this means my core clock is fine, just need to add some volatge to the memory (runniing crucial ballistix 3200 at 520mhz with only 2.65V) Maybe bouncing it up to 2.7 will be good? Still would enjoy a reply about my message above.

thanks everyone again

 

[imported_inspire]

I still think you're obsessing a little too much in advance about heat. What are your load temps with your new cooler? I don't have a very good idea about your cooling because I can't seem to get a mental picture of it all. You could definitely try doing that, but just keep an eye on your temps and see if it helps. A quick way to test temps is to run two instances of SP2004's (or Prime95's) CPU Stress Test. They should shoot up to their max pretty fast - give it about five minutes and track your temps using the graphs on SpeedFan, and that will give you an efficient way to get load temps.

Do remember, though, that other components will generate heat under stress, and this test only stresses your CPU. Residual heat from your memory, mobo, drives, and gfx card may tack on an extra 2-3c or more - depending on the airflow in your case. Like I said, though, unless your flirting with load temps of 60c (which you shouldn't be), you should be fine.

And, yes - giving your memory more voltage should solve the problem. Glad to hear you ran the blend test.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

When I get my camera drivers and software installed (today hopefully) there will plenty of pics to go around... Whats a good hosting service for them?

 

[imported_inspire]

I use imageshack.us - they'll let you resize them as well...

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

It'll probably have to wait until next week- I'm tryin to get my computer fully loaded and installed, then I'm moving into a dorm...

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

MAN- I got an antec tri-speed fan to put by the drive bays, it pulls air over them and right into the cpu cooler, which then exhausts, and over the pci cards too. With all three fans running at about 1000-1200 rpms, the whole tower is whisper-quiet, and at a mild 2.25ghz, runs around 45*C. The only annoying thing is that asus' qfan2 program can't allow a user-set temp target, so its stuck at 45*, so here and there, the cpu fan jumps back and forth between 1k and 2k... but I'm not complaining. When I ge thtigns set up in my dorm, I'll have pictures

 

[akshayt]

I think 1.4 or 1.45 is safe for the X2s. Else you will never get a good overclock.

Quick Test:
Super Pi 1M
Web surfing

Main test:
Super Pi 32M
Games like Oblivion, FEAR
3d mark 06 and 05 and 01
Memory tests

Bonus
Prime 95

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

thanks. good stuff. I gotta find a day to let the computer sit with two prime95's on so that i can set one to blend and the other to small fft to check both the processor and memory...

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

no pictures yet, but during the 3.5 hour drive to college, my computer must have been rattling around, and any air bubbles got pressed out from under the hsf. Now at 2.3ghz, with c'n'q on, i run at 30-32 idle, and asus's q-fan turns off both the intake and cpu fan- so the only things running are the psu fan (can't even hear it if you stick your ear next to it) and the exhaust fan. Idk wtf happened, but I don't care. lol. now my hdd is at 26 when it usaed to b at 37, and the mobo reported temp is like 30-35