Gigabyte GA-K8NS Pro

[Etrnaly]

What's the default clock speed for the 3000+? What's the highest you got it to go without getting unstable? Have you tried increasing the core voltage? Be careful though. Setting it too high may burn your chip. You will need to go up by 1 Hz when you get to the higher frequencies. Also, use something like SuperPI or Prime95 to test for stability.

 

[Lamberth]

The default clock is 10x200.
The highest I got was 9x234 or 10x215
I have increased voltage to 1.6v but same results.

Thanks for answering

 

[Etrnaly]

That clock speed isn't incredibly bad. A64s aren't known to overclock that much. The highest I got it to go and still be stable was about 10X230. I think I had to up the voltage closer to 1.7V though. But not too sure...it was a pretty long time ago. I'm running it at 10X215 and 1.5V right now. Didn't want to push it too much.

 

[Lamberth]

Do you have mem lock set to 166?
Dont you think is better 9x233 than 10x215?

 

[eLeven]

DDR RAM QUESTION

I have had the K8NS Pro for maybe 2 months now... Have had the heat problem. Turned Voltage down, problem gone.

I've been using mixed266/333 ram and am buying some new ram. Will this board support PC4000 500mhz Dual Channel ram? or should I just get some pc3200 400mhz ram?

 

[Lamberth]

Note fot Darietti: Hola! He visto tu mensaje. Ese cheers from Spain llamó mi atención.
Soy de Madrid y me gustaría hablar contigo de temas de overclocking.
Mi messenger es sir_lamberth@hotmail.com

 

[rperezlo]

Also from Spain...

Can anyone check what is your memory bandwidth with a simple tool as PC Wizard? It's free and downloadable from CPUID.

My problem is that I switched from Kingston DDR333 to Kingston DDR400 and the memory bandwidth decreased from 2.7 MB/s to 1.7 MB/s. This is on a K8NS Pro, A64 3000+ NewCastle @ 240 x 10. The overclock is not the fault, because if I set it to 200 x 10 the memory bandwidth goes down to 1.4 MB/s.

Everything is in default configuration. CPUZ reports that the memory is running at 240 MHz with the default SPD config.

 

[Lamberth]

Originally posted by: rperezlo
Also from Spain...

Can anyone check what is your memory bandwidth with a simple tool as PC Wizard? It's free and downloadable from CPUID.

My problem is that I switched from Kingston DDR333 to Kingston DDR400 and the memory bandwidth decreased from 2.7 MB/s to 1.7 MB/s. This is on a K8NS Pro, A64 3000+ NewCastle @ 240 x 10. The overclock is not the fault, because if I set it to 200 x 10 the memory bandwidth goes down to 1.4 MB/s.

Everything is in default configuration. CPUZ reports that the memory is running at 240 MHz with the default SPD config.

I have downloaded and installed PC Wizard but I can't find where is the memory bandwidth value!!
Tell me where it is and I will tell you my values.

Also, could you please tell me what are your settings to archieve 240x10?
Bueno acabo de darme cuenta que eres de España tambien!!
Pues eso, dime donde pone lo de la memoria que no le encuentro y dime tambien como coño lo tienes puesto para llegar a 240x10. me refiero a voltajes en la bios, LDT, y eso, porque lo mas que consigo yo es 10x220.
Venga gracias tio

 

[rperezlo]

Lamberth - let's keep the discussion in English for the rest of the people in these forums. If you want to contact me directly in Spanish (of course I also prefer Spanish ;-) ) use MSN Messenger.

The memory bandwidth is in the benchmark section. But I've found it to very unreliable. Using Sandra I got more normal values (Int 2785 MB/s, Float 2775 MB/s). Sorry about my last post but I think it is solved now.

Regarding your O/C, I would take a look at your memory. Set it to Max 166 MHz in the BIOS and see if that is the bottleneck. With the limit at 166 MHz it will actually run at 200 MHz when the FSB is set to 240 MHz.

I'm lucky enough to have a DDR400 rated memory that runs at DDR480, so that I run it at full speed.

 

[Lamberth]

Please give me your messenger so that we could keep talking in private. Or add me to your contacts: sir_lamberth@hotmail.com
BTW I already have memlory lock set to 166, but still can't go over 220 FSB. What are your voltages? Thanks man

 

[rperezlo]

Everything is at default or auto with the exception of VDDR +.1 and FSB 240 MHz. The memory is a single 512 Mb stick of Kingston DDR400 3-3-3 based on Hynix D43 that happens to run at 480 MHz. I'm considering upgrading to 1 Gb RAM but I've read that O/C is worse with more sticks, so that I'm not sure if I will do it.

It works quite well at 245 but it isn't fully stable. I could play with multipliers, but frankly I don't think it could get any better, as my CPU and memory seem to top at approximately the same frecuency.

I previously had 333 MHz memory that reached 400 MHz, so that I also had memory limited to 166 MHz in the BIOS, but with the new memory it is at 'Auto' and effectively running at 240 MHz.

The only difference I see is the 'Pro', but I don't know the differences with the non Pro motherboard.

 

[Lamberth]

Well then I don't get it. I have the same rig, only difference the "non-pro", and with default bios settings and vddr+.1 can't go over 10x220, where you go for 10x245...
What are your voltage readings in CPUZ?
Thanks man

 

[imported_pvdven777]

Isn't the difference something like extra SATA+PATA RAID on the pro version + Gbit LAN !? Those extra raid controllers can easily mess things up when on too high a bus speed I would think !? This could be your limiting factor. Logical question would then be, have you tried switching those off in the BIOS ?
I even read somewhere that these extra Raid controllers give memory corruption problems even when running within normal spec. Didn't yet see a reason or solution.

 

[Lamberth]

But it is ME who have the non-pro version!
The max stable overclock I can reach without touching voltages is 10x210
And with VDDR +0.1 10x218

 

[rperezlo]

My voltage reading in CPUZ is 1.55, a bit higher that the 1.5 that should be. Anyway, I don't trust the voltage readings in this MB at all. They seem to be completely screwed up (-3 VDC instead of -12, +1 instead of +5, they are completely wrong). In fact CPUZ is the only software reporting something similar to what is expected. In any case, I don't think that voltages are your problem unless you have a bad power supply.

Do you use SATA or PATA drives? Check the Anandtech socket 754 review number 3, where it is stated that SATA drives overclock worse. I only have PATA so that I can't check by myself. I can tell you that I was using the integrated GigaRAID IDE ports for a while to solve other problem and they worked fine at 240x10.

 

[Lamberth]

I have an execelent power supply so i don0t thinik that's the problem.
But I am using a Western Digital S-ATA 160gb disk drive.
Where can I find "Anandtech socket 754 review number 3"? Doy you think that could be the problem?
Thanks again for your help

 

[rperezlo]

I don't have any SATA drives so that I can't tell you for sure. I just remembered that I had read that somewhere and I finally found it here:

Article #1
Article #2
Article #3

And the exact page that refers to the SATA drives and overclocking is here:

ASUS SATA

The board is an ASUS, but if you read it you'll find that the problem comes from the nForce3 and other peripheral chips that come with it toghether with the implementation that the MB manufacturer does.

You may be lucky and some member of these forums may have SATA and PATA drives and time to play with them to find the maximum overclocking with both.

 

[Lamberth]

Thanks a lot man. Very interesting.

Well, does anybody have a SATA hard disk and the GA-K8NS ? Please post overclock results!

Thank you very much

 

[rperezlo]

BTW, you have two sticks of 512 Mb Kingston memory. Does it work at DDR400 when not overclocked? I have only one and I'm considering purchasing a second one but I don't really need it and I'm not sure if the increase in memory would be worthed a potential loss on O/C or having to set the speed limit to 166 MHz.

Have you tried to O/C with only one RAM stick?

If you want to compare your overclocking with other users, you can go to http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=319185

 

[rperezlo]

Another link to compare overclocking results. There is one K8NS running @235x10

http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=51380

 

[Lamberth]

I have two memory sticks, and yes, the max freq you can set is 166, so you will lose substantial OC on your system.
Gonna check that link right now..

 

[Savarak]

I'm able to run mine at 240x10, fairly stable(amd64 3000+), but I'm still trying to figure out where my crashing/random stuttering lies... it happens even at stock sometimes... i can only run 512 stable, with 2 sticks, even at 166mhz and my 3000+ at stock 2ghz(200x10), i get random BSODs and horrible stuttering even when idle and moving my mouse around(it is more evident if i play music)

F8 bios

 

[Lamberth]

Do you have ide or sata hdd?

 

[Savarak]

sata for my main drive

 

[Lamberth]

So basically this mobo is made out of crap. It a shame what happens when you put two memory sticks...