#191 Another Run

[stevorob]

To view this project, go here (http://www.techpowerup.com/ocdb/details.php?id=191).

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 'Windsor', 2736 MHz, 248.7 MHz FSB
Memory: 2048 MB DDR2, 4-4-4-12, 390.9 MHz
Motherboard: ASUS
M2N-SLI DELUXE
Graphics: ATI RADEON X850 XT, PCI-E, 256 MB DDR3, 256 bit, 621.0 / 639.0 MHz

SuperPi 1M: 31.984 sec.
Everest Read: 8478.7
Everest Write: 7867.6
Everest Latency: 47.0 ns
3DMark05 Graphics: 7362
3DMark05 CPU: 7193

http://www.techpowerup.com/ocdb/data/191/cpuz1_small.gif (http://www.techpowerup.com/ocdb/data/191/cpuz1.gif) http://www.techpowerup.com/ocdb/data/191/cpuz2_small.gif (http://www.techpowerup.com/ocdb/data/191/cpuz2.gif) http://www.techpowerup.com/ocdb/data/191/cpuz3_small.gif (http://www.techpowerup.com/ocdb/data/191/cpuz3.gif) http://www.techpowerup.com/ocdb/data/191/cpuz4_small.gif (http://www.techpowerup.com/ocdb/data/191/cpuz4.gif) http://www.techpowerup.com/ocdb/data/191/superpi_small.gif (http://www.techpowerup.com/ocdb/data/191/superpi.gif)

[regan1985]

is that stock volts on your card?

[stevorob]

Yeah, it's at stock voltage.

[regan1985]

what did u use for overclocking the 850? coz i cant get passed 600 stable?

[stevorob]

ATI Tool .25

I can go up to 630 or so on the core...right around there it starts to artifact just a little bit, so I give it a little bit of room to flux.

I want to vmod it and see how high I can go... seems like my core is pretty responsive... I have seen alot of people who have trouble hitting 600 on their x850's.

[FLY3R]

Thats a nice stable overclock, wut is limiting you from going further? those should hit 3.0

[stevorob]

My mobo doesn't seem to be stable past 250...

I'm thinking about getting the m2n32-sli soon... Might end up selling this board...

[casualt]

Hey have pretty much identical setup as you, just wondering if you manually set the FSB:DRAM @ 7, mine is currently at 6 and the memory is running @ 440 4-4-4-12 which i think is limiting my overclock to 2640- 240 x 11 HTT @ 4x stable..... Any feedback would be great cheers.... Also have you got cpu voltage set to auto or did you manually set it to 1.375??

[stevorob]

Hey have pretty much identical setup as you, just wondering if you manually set the FSB:DRAM @ 7, mine is currently at 6 and the memory is running @ 440 4-4-4-12 which i think is limiting my overclock to 2640- 240 x 11 HTT @ 4x stable..... Any feedback would be great cheers.... Also have you got cpu voltage set to auto or did you manually set it to 1.375??

I lowered my divider so I can reach these speeds. My RAM doesn't like to go much past 450, so I can't run them at 800, have to drop the divider to 667.

I'm also running at 1.5v core. Temps are good... I never usually go above 40c. I think defualt is 1.35 on these chips. I was limited at around 2.55ghz on the 1.35 v core, so upping to 1.5 helps me get a better OC. That was after I added my AC Freezer 64 though. I wouldn't go that high with the stock heatsink.

I get 249 x 11 @ 4x HTT stable with RAM running at around 390.

EDIT: Wrong voltages :)

[casualt]

Hey dude, cheers for the info... Ended up buying a Thermaltake 600w power supply and a freezer 64 pro... Have now got mine stable at 249 x 11 cpu voltage at 1.500v with my memory at stock voltages running at 913 4-4-4-12... Had trouble trying to adjust voltages on memory, wouldn't even allow me to post with even minor changes but seems stable with voltages set to auto (should note that my g.skill is rated at 800 4-4-4-12)... ran prime95 for 10hours with no errors... Have managed a 31.797 in super pi with current setup... Seems it was my power supply that was limiting my overclock with my old one rated at 430w... Am gonna try and push it a little further will post some results asap... Posted some pics also...

[stevorob]

Not bad. Anything past 250 and stability becomes an issue for me at least. Maybe you can have better luck with the freezer.

I didn't have a problem with my mem voltages. You can adjust them with AIBooster in windows, reboot, change timings in bios, and you're on your way. I have mine manually set at 4-4-4-12, and around 450 they become unstable, so I have to drop the divider and run them at like 400ish. I run 2.2v through them but I also have a fan blowing on them to keep them cool (I took the fan off of my stock heatsink and used it :D)

I feel as though we can push these proccys to 3.0 on a better board. Temps just don't seem to be an issue for me with the freezer.

SuperPI is right there with mine as well.

Nice job, and I wish these boards oc'd a little better... at least let me hit 2.9 stable. :(

[Wile E]

I lowered my divider so I can reach these speeds. My RAM doesn't like to go much past 450, so I can't run them at 800, have to drop the divider to 667.

I'm also running at 1.5v core. Temps are good... I never usually go above 40c. I think defualt is 1.35 on these chips. I was limited at around 2.55ghz on the 1.35 v core, so upping to 1.5 helps me get a better OC. That was after I added my AC Freezer 64 though. I wouldn't go that high with the stock heatsink.

I get 249 x 11 @ 4x HTT stable with RAM running at around 390.

EDIT: Wrong voltages :)
You probably don't even need to run at 1.5 Vcore. My 3800X2 does 2.84 on 1.4v. With an aquagate mini, my temps never exceeded 47C. Try turning it down a little, it will produce less heat, and you may be able to get the board to clock higher.

And have you added any voltage to the chipset?

EDIT: Oh, and your G.Skill will handle 2.3V without problem, especially with the fan on them.

[stevorob]

I tried various voltages, and I don't do Prime95 stable at anything under 1.5v @ 2.7. Heat really isn't an issue, the difference is about 1C

I think I bumped my chipset up .1v from default, I'd have to double check.

Good to know about the RAM. Might have to bump it and try to run it back at the 800 divider.

[Wile E]

I'm actually in the process of stealing your fan idea. Don't know why i didn't think to use the fan from the stock HSF. lol. Thanks for the tip.

[stevorob]

Yeah, it works, and pushes a decent amount of air. :)

[casualt]

Hey, funnily enough have also implemented the HSF cooling method, is very efficient starting somewhat of a trend here... I thought id also note that i have got my system running stable with the HT multiplier at 5x only very minor performance increase with HT Link @ 1245MHz... Wondering if there is any negative implications of keeping it at 5x???? Everyone seems to think there is a problem when runnig over 1000 just wondering what the basis of this was???

[Wile E]

Hey, funnily enough have also implemented the HSF cooling method, is very efficient starting somewhat of a trend here... I thought id also note that i have got my system running stable with the HT multiplier at 5x only very minor performance increase with HT Link @ 1245MHz... Wondering if there is any negative implications of keeping it at 5x???? Everyone seems to think there is a problem when runnig over 1000 just wondering what the basis of this was???A little over shouldn't hurt, but 1245 might be overkill. Causes stability issues mostly, I would have completely random BSODs at 1250. Not very often, mind you, but lowering the multi to 4x completely eliminated them. I'm guessing it could also cause premature failure, as with overclocking anything. The performance benefit is so little, that it's better just to keep it as close to 1000 as possible. I'm assuming you run a 249 HT speed, lowering the multi to 4 and bumping the HT speed by 1MHz would give 1000 even.

Now on to the fan thing, thanks for the idea stevorob. I previously wasn't 100% stable @ 2.8, because my ram would overheat after about 1 hr of heavy gaming. Played Need for Speed Carbon for 3 hrs straight last night, no hiccups.

[stevorob]

I've ran at 1100 before and didn't notice any stability issues.

I would still keep it around 1000 if I had the choice, just because that seems to be the most efficient and anything over doesn't offer much performance over the 1000 mark.

[casualt]

Am still having issues with my ram, my system will not allow any changes to memory voltage whatsoever... The ram is rated at 1.9~2.0v, but is currently on auto and runs @ 1.8v, any slight increase and i get nasty system beeps and it refuses to post... The reading of 1.8 could be wrong as I am going by the voltage reading in ai booster... Any thoughts??? System is stable on auto, but still i should be able to have the ram running at its rated voltages... G Skill F2-6400cl4d-2gbpk

[DOM]

Am still having issues with my ram, my system will not allow any changes to memory voltage whatsoever... The ram is rated at 1.9~2.0v, but is currently on auto and runs @ 1.8v, any slight increase and i get nasty system beeps and it refuses to post... The reading of 1.8 could be wrong as I am going by the voltage reading in ai booster... Any thoughts??? System is stable on auto, but still i should be able to have the ram running at its rated voltages... G Skill F2-6400cl4d-2gbpk

did you set the MEM Tim in the bios

[stevorob]

Hmm, I'm at work right now, so I can't tell you how to do it off the top of my head, but there should be an option in the jumper free configuration to change the voltages.

[casualt]

did you set the MEM Tim in the bios

Yeah i set all my memory timings and voltages manually in the bios... Seems odd could be a fault with the dimms???

[stevorob]

I don't see how upping the voltages in the BIOS could cause stability problems... unless you are way overvolting them, and that would kill them instead of cause the problems you seem to be getting.

Have you set the divider to 667 and tried to up the voltage?

[casualt]

I don't see how upping the voltages in the BIOS could cause stability problems... unless you are way overvolting them, and that would kill them instead of cause the problems you seem to be getting.

Have you set the divider to 667 and tried to up the voltage?

Just tried changing the divider, and it will allow me to change the voltages.. Yay... However seems im better off sticking to auto voltage on 800 speeds, even if 1.80v seems a little low... Thoughts???

[stevorob]

If you want some overclocking headroom on the RAM, it's best to up the voltages a little... I don't know why dropping the divider let you change your voltages, doesn't make sense...

Try upping the voltages, turning the divider back up to 800, and see what happens.

[Wile E]

Bios bugged, maybe? Try flashing to the newest bios available?

[stevorob]

That's not a bad idea.

The asus bios flash tool that's built into the bios makes flashing extremely easy. FYI, I'm running 0402.

[casualt]

That's not a bad idea.

The asus bios flash tool that's built into the bios makes flashing extremely easy. FYI, I'm running 0402.

Flashed my bios with asus update last night, not a very nice piece of software... Managed to crash windows and corrupt the bios... Had to reset jumpers, on the mainboard... And finally (around 3am) flashed to the latest bios revision 0609... Have since changed my memory voltage, after some more homework, to 2.3v and my system is now stable with 4-4-4-12 timings at 912... Success... Would avoid using asus update where possible, have read nothing but bad things about it... Flash through bios or from a boot disk to ensure maximum stability... Cheers for the replys good to keep this thread alive... Is somewhat annoying we cant push these processors to 3.0ghz think cooling is more than adequate, seems the bottleneck is the motherboard after all... Will persevere however and update any minor improvements as i go..

[stevorob]

Good to hear you got everything working straight.

I was actually telling you to use the BIOS flash utility in the BIOS, not the windows asus update tool, it's garbage.

I didn't know asus had a new bios, I may have a look see... Do you know what kind of changes it makes to the previous versions?

[casualt]

Good to hear you got everything working straight.

I was actually telling you to use the BIOS flash utility in the BIOS, not the windows asus update tool, it's garbage.

I didn't know asus had a new bios, I may have a look see... Do you know what kind of changes it makes to the previous versions?

Yeah sorry dude my bad... Nasty piece of software indeed...

Have had my comp running prime95, with 255 x11 i.e. 2.8ghz at 1.5vcore, for bout 1hr without a glitch... So far... Temps are at a very reasnable 24C idle, 34C under load.... Not gonna hold my breath however, but is definitely a step in the right direction...

UPDATE: Have just finished six hours of prime with no hiccups, also did a 30min OCCT test with no errors just to be sure.. The new speed gives me a super pi score of 30.906 1M !!! which is faster than a stock FX62 which is pretty impressive, im happy with this for the moment, but keen to hit 3ghz in the near future!!!!