OC'in my Athlon 64 3700 754

[AceFactor]

Hey guys, since i have OC'd my graphics, and firmwared a new DVD-RW, i though i might have a go at getting more performance from my CPU!

I know that its already mega fast :D , but i wondered if it is worth OC'ing it, and how good my performance boost would be?

My current Rig is:
Athlon64 3700+ 754 Clawhammer . . .with stock cooler
Sapphire X850XT 256Mb AGP 8X flashed to X850XT PE. .stock cooler soon to be AC ATI 5 Rev 2
2x 512Mb Kingston Value KVR-400 DDR 400 Ram + 1x 512 K-Data DDR 400 Ram
Z-Alien Case
250Gb Maxtor Maxline II ATA133 (p.o.c) > soon to be DiamondMax 9 160Gb Sata 150
Gigibyte K8 Trition K8NS Pro . . with latest bios
Pioneer DVR-107D with lastest firmware
NEC 3520A
Floppy Drive
Audigy 2 Platinum Pro > soon to be X-Fi Elite Pro
Q-Tec 550w Triple Fan > soon to be Tagan 580W
Inspire 6700 6.1 Speakers
Compaq S710 17" Monitor > soon to be a Samsung 19" TFT on D-Sub connector

As i said i'd like to OC the CPU, but i have heard the core will not go much higher than stock :(

Is this true, and how should i be able to go with the stock cooler?

Also, and other upgrades to my PC?

All ideas would be gratefully accepted :o

Thanks in Advance

Adam

[wtf8269]

My experience with 754 was never good. I could never get more than a 200mhz overclock on my system. Once I switched to SATA on my 754 motherboard I wasn't able to overclock at all because the hdds/file systems would become corrupt. Also depending on if you have an NF3 150 or an NF3 250 will greatly affect your overclocking. NF3 150s are lacking a PCI lock that the NF3 250s have. This will allow you to overclock without the PCI bus frequency increasing with the FSB overclock.

As far as your cooler goes, I'm not sure how well it will perform. I used a Thermaltake Venus 12 from the day I got my 754. Just keep an eye on your temps and don't allow the CPU temperature to go above 55º C load.

[AceFactor]

It has a NF3 250 chipset on the mboard.

Seems like the OC'in possibility is not so good then?

Why should i watch the temps, so they dont go about 55c? I thought A64 could run hotter? Or am i missing something?

Beare with me, it my first time OC'in a CPU! :o

Thanks

Adam

[wtf8269]

You could run hotter if you want, I (and i think many would agree with me) don't feel safe running hotter than that. I think the max core temp on AMD 64s is around 65º C. They're a lot more sensative than other chips that I've seen run at 90+ and still run okay.

[AceFactor]

OK, that clears it up.

I had previously heard that they melted at 80c :eek:

How would i got about OC'in the CPU itself, and what cooler would you recommened? I have been looking at the AC Freezer 64, and the AeroCool DP 103 SuperConducter. :D

I want a decent cooler, that will lower my temps lots, i will pay up to £35 in total. I also want a cooler than will secure on the standard motherboard clips! As i have seen a friend mount a Thermatake Silent Tower on his motherboard after putting bolts thru it, and making a real mess of his CPU! :(

Thanks

Adam

[wtf8269]

A Thermaltake Venus 12 will mount perfectly on the stock mounts. However your best performing cooler would be a Thermalright XP-90, XP-90C, or XP-120. But they require you to change the stock mounts, and might be more expensive than what you said. I don't know how much that is in $US but an XP-90C will run you about $48 USD.

[wazzledoozle]

Id say max of 55 celsius for load temperatures. ~80 will ruin a chip
If you saw a chip at 90 celsius, it immediately burnt up.

[wtf8269]

Id say max of 55 celsius for load temperatures. ~80 will ruin a chip
If you saw a chip at 90 celsius, it immediately burnt up.
I had a 1.4ghz Athlon that was running at 97º C because the fan got stopped by a wire, I put a desk fan next to it in order to cool it down quickly and it still runs fine to this day since I've tucked the wires away. It's currenly my half brothers PC.

[nightelf84]

The AC Freezer 64 is a great 'little' cooler. I have mine on my venice at 2.7Ghz. Temperatures at full load is right about 40C, though this may have something to do with the low room temperature :)

With better cooling, you may be able to get an extra ~20HTT from your 3700+ and I emphasize the word 'MAY'. Every chip overclocks differently, so to be safe, go in small increments, keep an eye on the temperature, and when you've hit a wall, increase the vcore by the smallest increment possible and go on from there. Also, you might want to look into some better RAM as value RAM generally don't overclock all that much.. unless you go ahead and use a divider of course.

[wazzledoozle]

I had a 1.4ghz Athlon that was running at 97º C because the fan got stopped by a wire, I put a desk fan next to it in order to cool it down quickly and it still runs fine to this day since I've tucked the wires away. It's currenly my half brothers PC.
The 1.4 GHz athlon were completely different chips.

Athlon 64's run cooler on less voltage, and thus have less overhead for max heat.

And for the record, my uncle's compaq had a 2400 XP that was 72 celsius idle. :eek: It stopped working about a month later.

[wtf8269]

Okay when you said "ruin a chip" I wasn't sure if you were talking about just AMD 64s or just any chjp in general.

[AceFactor]

Thanks Guys! :D

It seems that i will go for a new cooler with the "Tower" design.

Nightelf84- how good is the Freezer 64 on your CPU, and what is it at stock, what are the temps, and what have you clocked it to?

Any other coolers i should look at getting in that price range that use the standard mounting?

I probably wont bother OC'in the CPU, but i think that the stock cooler is a bit crap! :D

Thanks

Adam

[nightelf84]

Thanks Guys! :D

It seems that i will go for a new cooler with the "Tower" design.

Nightelf84- how good is the Freezer 64 on your CPU, and what is it at stock, what are the temps, and what have you clocked it to?

Any other coolers i should look at getting in that price range that use the standard mounting?

I probably wont bother OC'in the CPU, but i think that the stock cooler is a bit crap! :D

Thanks

Adam

I'm very happy with it. However you cannot compare a 3700+ Clawhammer with a 3200+ Venice at stock as the venice runs a whole lot cooler. Compared to my stock cooler, I would say the average drop in temperature is about 8-10C. I've clocked my 3200+ venice to 2.7Ghz and temps at full load is 38-40C. My room temperature now is 24C

[wtf8269]

Thanks Guys! :D

It seems that i will go for a new cooler with the "Tower" design.

Nightelf84- how good is the Freezer 64 on your CPU, and what is it at stock, what are the temps, and what have you clocked it to?

Any other coolers i should look at getting in that price range that use the standard mounting?

I probably wont bother OC'in the CPU, but i think that the stock cooler is a bit crap! :D

Thanks

Adam
If you're not planning on overclocking you should keep the stock cooler, that way you won't void your warrenty.

[AceFactor]

It doesnt matter about my warranty anyway. :D

I have been informed by a full ICT technician, that if you tell AMD that your CPU has burnt out, or broken. . . .they tell you the F@#K OFF!

So i dont really care, there is no reason why the CPU should fail anyway! And if it does, i would neva buy AMD again! :)

Thanks for the advice though! :D

Adam

[wtf8269]

Well I've determined quite the opposite. In December '04 I fried my 754 3200+ because I was rewiring my case and didn't drain the power from my PSU. So when I plugged the 20 pin power cable back in everything started to boot up for a milisecond and it's right about then when I figure the CPU fried. I was using aftermarket thermal paste with an aftermarket cooler while overclocking. There's three ways i voided the warrenty. Then once we knew it was fried we played catch with it (it happened at a lan party) and I proceeded to comb my hair with it. It says in the warrenty thing not to touch the pins or that will void it. Well I deffenitely voided that. Anyway, I sent it back to AMD because they didn't ask if I did any of that stuff when we called them, and withen a week and a half or so I had a new one.

[AceFactor]

That quite funny! :D

Did you send off for the registration and all that, cause i havent, and nor did i see how to register! :o

I just heard that the stock cooler that came with the A64 were pretty crap, and you can get better cooling from aftermarket fan/heatinks. :confused:

Thanks

Adam

[wtf8269]

All you have to send back is the CPU and the stock cooler back to them I'm pretty sure. I don't quite remember. And you can deffenitely get a lot better cooling with aftermarket coolers, it's just that they void your warrenty. My 3500+ is an OEM chip so it didn't even come with a warrenty. Which means if I fry it I just have to go out and buy a new one.