Overclocking A64 3000+ Winchester

[BigErn314]

Hello all. I have a Winchester core A64 3000+ CPU. Stock speed is 1.8Ghz. Well I have an EPoX EP-9nda3j MB that lets me set the FSB speed via BIOS and it also has a setting for the HT multiplier which is set to AUTO but you can set it from 1x to 5x manually. Ok so via the FSB modifier I have it up to 234Mhz, which with the 9x CPU multiplier gives me 2106Mhz with the stock cooler and I'm getting idle temps of 36-37 with load temps of 46-47. I've ran it for about 17 hours on the Prime 95 torture test and no errors in memory or anything and gaming seems fine so I think it's stable at this speed. Benching it on Doom3 at 1024x768 I went from 66 fps to 75 fps, so I'm getting more punch out of the system now which is excellent, but I know I can take this baby further.

Now here is my main question(s). At what point do I have to manually start moving the HT modifier to 4x or do I? How do I tell what the Bios is setting the HT value to?

At what Temps do I have to worry about heat problems as well? I know I've read about people OC'ing thier stuff to the point where they are getting 75-80 degree load temps, but I don't want to push that far and screw up the CPU. What is the max safe load temp for this CPU?

I'm using generic PC3200 DDR and the timings are 2.5-3-3-7 right now. I guessing this will start screwing up before the CPU starts having issues.

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

I run the 3000 Winnie for my HTPC setup. I used to have it in my main rig with water cooling and could hit a stable 2.6Ghz. Good Chip.

HTT should be lowered when the FSBxHTT is greater then 1000.

So at 250FSB your HTT should be 4. Just try to keep it under 1000, unless your epox board will allow more. MY current setup is running 311x4, that is obviously over 1000. But its a DFI board and is very stable.

 

[Tatty_Two]

So it wont hurt to drop it now to 4 x as you are already overclcoking your HTT. The maximum operating temp for the Winnie 3000 is 70C....this is max I would not personally ever take it above 60C and my aim would be to always keep it below 50C (but thats a personal choice).

I assume you are using a stock cooler, I would suggest before you get into any serious overclocking you invest in a decent one, The Artic freezer 64 Pro is excellent value for money and should knock 10C off your current temps, on top of that its really easy to fit and does not require any removal of motherboard or screws, just a simple "swivel and click".

As Zen has said, 2600 is possible but on good air cooling 2400-2500....good luck! Just take it steady at first but I would not go much (if any) further on your current cooling solution as your temps are gonna increase pretty fast and before long you are going to need to increase your Vcore volts to get more juice and that in itself will raise temps fast.

 

[BigErn314]

Thanks for all the tips guys. I've got it at 234*9 right now. And under load it is getting up to 47 C and It ran the Prime95 Torture test for 24 hours with no errors, and appars fine under gaming, so I think its plenty stable. I had the HT value set at "AUTO" in the BIOS. How do I see what the exact value is? I'm assuming it defaults to 5x since that would be the standard value under normal clock? If that is the case the HTT would be 234*5=1170. Anyway, I think I'm going to try 250 FSB with a 4x HT modifier and see if it is still stable at that speed. I know the CPU can handle it(2.25Ghz), but will my memory hold up is the question I think.

Anyway I've been thinking of checkign out a better fan system so I'll look at that one you mentioned. Thanks again everyone!.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Thanks for all the tips guys. I've got it at 234*9 right now. And under load it is getting up to 47 C and It ran the Prime95 Torture test for 24 hours with no errors, and appars fine under gaming, so I think its plenty stable. I had the HT value set at "AUTO" in the BIOS. How do I see what the exact value is? I'm assuming it defaults to 5x since that would be the standard value under normal clock? If that is the case the HTT would be 234*5=1170. Anyway, I think I'm going to try 250 FSB with a 4x HT modifier and see if it is still stable at that speed. I know the CPU can handle it(2.25Ghz), but will my memory hold up is the question I think.

Anyway I've been thinking of checkign out a better fan system so I'll look at that one you mentioned. Thanks again everyone!.

Well drop your memory speed in bios then, because mine is overclocked by 650Mhz my memory is set to 166 rather than 200 (remember x 2) and it is therefore still heavily overclcoked.

 

[BigErn314]

Well I moved the HT to 250, and dropped the HTT multiplier to 4x and it seems stable at 2.25GHz. It's been running Prime95 torture test for about 9 hours now and so far so good. Hopefully it's the same when I get home from work in 9 hours to check it.

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

Thats good news. How do your temps look?

If your CPU is sitting below 53C under load ( around 45C) you can push it further. I noticed on my winnie once I pushed over 2.3Ghz I had to throw in some extra voltage.

 

[BigErn314]

Thats good news. How do your temps look?

If your CPU is sitting below 53C under load ( around 45C) you can push it further. I noticed on my winnie once I pushed over 2.3Ghz I had to throw in some extra voltage.

Yesterday was pretty hot here and it was running all day in the 90 degree house, the CPU temp under load was 52C I believe. But it ran the Prime95 torture test for 17 hours without any errors anyway. So I cranked up the AC when I got home and the case temp went down and I wrote a infinte loop program in VB to get it under load and stay there. It then went to 46-47C. I know this CPU has more to offer, I was reading a review where they took the Winnie and with stock cooling and a bit more voltage got it up to 2.385Ghz. I think I'm going to buy some quality memory in a 2GB kit, since I'm using cheaper generic stuff, then slap a better cooler on it and see if I can take it up to 2.5 or 2.6Ghz. But who knows, maybe this cheaper memory will handle a heavy overclock? May as well find out.

This is a sweet CPU. I paid a hundred twenty bucks for it 9 months ago and it was kicking butt at 1.8Ghz. Now at 2.25 its like I upgraded to a 3500+ chip and it's ripping through games like a champ. Man I wish the CPU multiplier was unlocked though.

Thanks for the voltage tips! I notched mine up a bit by 0.05 already, but in hindsight I probably didn't need to do that yet. However it always seemed like it was actually running lower on voltage than the specs called for when I checked with CPU-Z.

 

[BigErn314]

So it wont hurt to drop it now to 4 x as you are already overclcoking your HTT. The maximum operating temp for the Winnie 3000 is 70C....this is max I would not personally ever take it above 60C and my aim would be to always keep it below 50C (but thats a personal choice).

I assume you are using a stock cooler, I would suggest before you get into any serious overclocking you invest in a decent one, The Artic freezer 64 Pro is excellent value for money and should knock 10C off your current temps, on top of that its really easy to fit and does not require any removal of motherboard or screws, just a simple "swivel and click".

As Zen has said, 2600 is possible but on good air cooling 2400-2500....good luck! Just take it steady at first but I would not go much (if any) further on your current cooling solution as your temps are gonna increase pretty fast and before long you are going to need to increase your Vcore volts to get more juice and that in itself will raise temps fast.

Is this the one you were talking about?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835185125

 

[Dedodido]

Yup, that's the one he was talking about. I'm going to get it myself, looks like a very nice cooler for the money

 

[trog100]

my 1.8 winnie bombs out at 2.5 gig.. heat isnt a problem around the 50c mark.. i run it at 2.4 gig.. with 1.5 core voltage its happy all day at that.. the chip has had high-end water cooling its now got an artic pro air cooler.. neither type of cooler altered the bomb out at 2.5 gig factor..

and yes those are very nice coolers.. not just for the money they run nice and quite and do a good job.. near enough on a par with the zalman 9500..

trog

ps.. but whatever u do a winnie wont go where a venice goes thow..

 

[BigErn314]

my 1.8 winnie bombs out at 2.5 gig.. heat isnt a problem around the 50c mark.. i run it at 2.4 gig.. with 1.5 core voltage its happy all day at that.. the chip has had high-end water cooling its now got an artic pro air cooler.. neither type of cooler altered the bomb out at 2.5 gig factor..

and yes those are very nice coolers.. not just for the money they run nice and quite and do a good job.. near enough on a par with the zalman 9500..

trog

Excellent. I'll have to grab one and see if I can get my rig stable at 2.4 or so. It's rocking at 2.25 an an extra 150Mhz or so can't hurt.

Thanks!