A Beginner's Guide to Overclocking

[MrSeanKon]

freeboy you have this mainboard????
I try to download the manual just to see if it has any photos of BIOS photos but the server there is very slow.
That's why I said above post screen captures of your BIOS

 

[Glitched System]

<deleted>

 

[freeboy]

Thanks for attempted the help Shaun, looks like the bios power is locked/limited to 1.4.. the memory seems to be doing very well, I am returningthe board to Tigerdirect as a non satisfactory working board at their suggustion! AMAZING cutomer support on their part.. getting an asus a8n 32 sli delux. only issue I may need to tweek my HUGE ultra xwind due to the unique passive cooling asus has adopted for this board near the cpu

 

[freeboy]

ok, new mobo a8n32slidlx works wonderfully, too good, I already tried to cook my system with all the volt adg lol.. was wondering why things where so hot, went form Idle at 31 c to close to 50 oops!

 

[D007]

One thing you should all keep in mind that has saved me many a heart ache when your bios stalls and it will stall lol..

(Remember the jumper).. the little blue chip that you can pull off the 3 prongs i assume it's typically along the botom of the MoBo.. you just take the jumper off the 2 prongs it's coveing and switch it to cover the other prong it wasnt covering and one of the ones it was.. it will reset your bios..

 

[xvi]

One thing you should all keep in mind that has saved me many a heart ache when your bios stalls and it will stall lol..

(Remember the jumper).. the little blue chip that you can pull off the 3 prongs i assume it's typically along the botom of the MoBo.. you just take the jumper off the 2 prongs it's coveing and switch it to cover the other prong it wasnt covering and one of the ones it was.. it will reset your bios..

Just remember to unplug the power cord and to put the jumper back where it was before you turn your computer back on!

 

[MGrant1957]

Quote from thr "guide" up front :
What if you just raise the CPU Multiplier?
Lets say I raise it to 11.
CPU:
200 FSB times 11 = 2,100MHz, or 2.1GHz.

correct me if I'm wrong, but 200 times 11=2200 or 2.2Ghz

Also, just to clear things up a bit.... the HT link is a high speed 16-bit serial link between CPU cores on a dual-core chip. it allows the two cores to communicate at high speed ON CHIP without having to go out past the L1 cache or L2 cache to go through the FSB. The HT link also connects the Cores to communicate with the PCI-e x16 video slots at 2.1GB/s in each direction. It is also used to connect 2 or 4 or 8 CPUs together in multi-chip systems.

 

[freeboy]

ok, so what is the best setting to have this on?

 

[xvi]

Quote from thr "guide" up front :
What if you just raise the CPU Multiplier?
Lets say I raise it to 11.
CPU:
200 FSB times 11 = 2,100MHz, or 2.1GHz.

correct me if I'm wrong, but 200 times 11=2200 or 2.2Ghz

Also, just to clear things up a bit.... the HT link is a high speed 16-bit serial link between CPU cores on a dual-core chip. it allows the two cores to communicate at high speed ON CHIP without having to go out past the L1 cache or L2 cache to go through the FSB. The HT link also connects the Cores to communicate with the PCI-e x16 video slots at 2.1GB/s in each direction. It is also used to connect 2 or 4 or 8 CPUs together in multi-chip systems.

Read your question wrong the first time around. Sorry. You're right. I was trying to show two ways to get the same frequency with two examples. I must of written it too fast. Thanks.

As a side note, many processors have the CPU multiplier locked (or at least to any multiplier higher than stock) so increasing performance via CPU Multiplier might not be an option for most. Also, it seems to be popular to drop your multiplier down and increase FSB to widen the buses and increase memory bandwidth without setting a divider.

Unfortunately, this is only a guide and not a walkthrough.

Edit: Couple more errors fixed. Cleared up the HyperTransport section slightly.

 

[MGrant1957]

a few sugestions....

I knew going in that I was going to be overclocking so I bought 2 1GIG sticks of Corsair's great/cheap stuff the Twinx2048-4000PT sticks. these are rated at 250MHz with timings of 3-3-3-8-1t with just 2.7v. using these I can just set the HT multi to 4, crank the FSB/MEM up to 250 and the CPU stays at 2.0GHZ as well and keeping the HT set at the default 1000MHz.
I have the lower model of that board, the A8N SLI Deluxe. nice board, but I dont think it will OC as well as a DFI Lanparty. but it does have support for 4 SATA150s and 4 SATA300s. I'm using an Athlon 64 X2 3800+. On stock HSF I have been able to push it up to 2.6GHz stable. with the water I'm shooting for 3GHz+ but I don't think I'll get that high. CPU @1.35v and MEM @2.75v.
the problem is that the CPU won't let me up the Multiplier, I CAN lower it. but so far I havn't been able to get the mem much higher than 270 without crashing.

any other sugestions?

 

[xvi]

The CPU speed isn't (or shouldn't be) based off the HT speed. You're trying to run 250MHz FSB and keep the stock CPU speed? I'd try setting the HT multi to 4x anyways, lower your CPU multi to match. I'm guessing it's the the 3800+ 2.0GHz and it's running 200x10. If you want stock CPU speed while taking advantage of memory write speeds, 250 FSB at 8x multi will hit your stock 2000MHz mark.

Your stock HT speed (according to amdcompare.com) should be 2000MHz.

AMD has locked higher multipliers to prevent resellers from upping the multiplier and selling the processor as a higher model. The lower multipliers are unlocked for PowerNow! support. (I think Intel is the same. Not completely sure.)

Umm.. Suggestions.. Suggestions. Are you sure it's your memory? (CPU multi down and OC till it breaks). I'd set your CPU multi to 8x, HT multi to 4x, and max OC again. (..if you haven't already). That should put the most stress on your memory and hopefully give you a definite answer on what exactly is breaking. It could be your motherboard limiting you too. It's hard to say sometimes.

 

[MikeJeng]

It's a bit confusing.



Can I just raise my FSB without changing the voltage?

I have a Q9450 and a P5E motherboard.

 

[farlex85]

You can definately raise the fsb without changing the voltage, its just a matter of how much they will handle on stock. Your nb will need some extra voltage to get to high fsbs (over 400) and your vcore will need a little more to handle higher proc speeds that come from higher fsb. Then mem voltages and the like may need to be tweaks to get your strap stable.

 

[MikeJeng]

Hmn... lol.



How about... 435fsb X 8 without any voltage changes?

 

[xvi]

Hmn... lol.



How about... 435fsb X 8 without any voltage changes?

You just have to try. If it doesn't work, go down until you find a speed that does, then add a little voltage and see if you can get any higher.

Edit: The proper way to do it is to start at stock and increment 5-10 FSB at a time. When you find your limit, try to figure out what component is causing the limit. If it's your CPU, you have a few options.

1: Make the CPU colder. Overclock more.
2: Increase the voltage. Overclock more.
3: Go down a few FSB and accept this as your top speed.

If it's your memory, your options are..

1: Set a memory divider. Overclock more.
2: Relax your memory timings. Overclock more.
3: Replace your memory with higher rated memory. Overclock more.
4: (Only for when you don't plan to overclock your CPU any higher) Lower the FSB slightly and increase your CPU multiplier.

If it's your motherboard, the only two options I can think of are..

1: Check and relax BIOS settings. Overclock more.
2: Get a new motherboard. Overclock more.

 

[MikeJeng]

How much should I increase voltage?



"Eye HERD IT wuz deng-gerous"

 

[xvi]

How much should I increase voltage?
"Eye HERD IT wuz deng-gerous"

It is dangerous. You can try +0.1 volt and see if you can get higher. If that works, maybe try +0.2.

Voltage is a little different than FSB in the sense that when you go to high with your FSB, you just reset the BIOS and try again. If you go too high with your voltage, you go back to the store and buy a new processor... and try again.

 

[dipsta]

i've been educated thanks

 

[MGrant1957]

Been a long time since I've been in here so...

here's the update:

New Processor is an Opty 185
New RAM is 2GB of Corsair Twinx-2048-4400PRO DDR550
New watercooling system includes:
water blocks for CPU, SB, motherboard VRM, both 7800GTX cards,
both VGA VRMs, and 2 custom backside RAM blocks for the backside RAM on the
video cards. 2 2x120 blackice pro radiators, DD12vD5 pump with 1/2 inch tubing
on the cpu, SB, and GPUs, with 1/4 inch on all 3 VRMs and teh backside VGA-RAM

stock CPU settings is 200x13 for 2.6GHz, I'm hoping to get 3.2GHz
from what I've read, this RAM tops out around 280MHz
and the video cards run stock at 460 and 650 core/mem, I still have to see how far
I can push them on water.

what I really want to do is through in a few peltiers... on the CPU... the VGA chips...
and maybe the VGA RAM and SB though I dont think it will to much good on the SB.

any ideas????

 

[xvi]

here's the update:

New Processor is an Opty 185
New RAM is 2GB of Corsair Twinx-2048-4400PRO DDR550
New watercooling system includes:
water blocks for CPU, SB, motherboard VRM, both 7800GTX cards,
both VGA VRMs, and 2 custom backside RAM blocks for the backside RAM on the
video cards. 2 2x120 blackice pro radiators, DD12vD5 pump with 1/2 inch tubing
on the cpu, SB, and GPUs, with 1/4 inch on all 3 VRMs and teh backside VGA-RAM

stock CPU settings is 200x13 for 2.6GHz, I'm hoping to get 3.2GHz
from what I've read, this RAM tops out around 280MHz
and the video cards run stock at 460 and 650 core/mem, I still have to see how far
I can push them on water.

what I really want to do is through in a few peltiers... on the CPU... the VGA chips...
and maybe the VGA RAM and SB though I dont think it will to much good on the SB.

any ideas????

If you're going to go to all that trouble, you might as well just do water cooling instead. Peltiers can be dangerous.

RAM isn't going to get very hot and nor will the southbridge. GPU RAM will get hot, but there isn't much reward in cooling it. If you're going to go to extreme cooling methods, it would only be worth it for CPU and possibly GPU. RAM needs nothing more than a heatspreader and possibly a fan.

 

[MGrant1957]

did you read the last post?

It IS water cooled.... 2 radiators and 9 water blocks.

what I'm wondering is weather putting peltiers on the GPU and VRAM will give me that much of a boost in framerate. And will putting small peltiers on the VRAM will help with overclocking the VRAM a noticible amount.

I've got peltiers for both GPUs and all 16 Memory chips on the VGA cards.
Will a 127W peltier be enough for the GPUs?
Will 8W/3.3v peltiers be enough for the RAM chips on the VGA cards?
and how much additiional radiarot will I need to cool all of that?

thanks.

 

[CDdude55]

What if i want to OC just my CPU. So all i would need to do is raise the Multiplier? But what if the highest it can go is 10x(which is the default for my Core 2 Duo E4400)?

 

[xvi]

I did read the last post, but it seems that you have not attempted an overclock on your current cooling system. Because of that, I assumed that it was either recently installed, not installed or not yet ordered.

I'm no water cooling expert (and barely a novice), but I'm not so sure that adding extra radiarot would help cooling at all.

The peltiers themselves won't increase or decrease your frame rate. The only thing they will do is bring your temps down so you can increase voltage and clock speed even more (which would bring your temps back up).
Otherwise... Yes, I would imagine that adding a peltier to your GPU would let you overclock more. No, I do not think adding peltiers to your GPU memory will help all that much.

I would worry less on the wattage of the peltier and more on the efficiency of the water block. If the peltier spits out heat faster than the block can take it in, it might trap heat between the block and the core. If I recall correctly, even a 1 watt peltier would move a small amount of heat and lower your temperatures (although it would do so ever so slightly). Does anyone else agree, or would I be wrong to state that adding a, say, 50 watt peltier to a 50 watt processor would give 100 watts of heat?

If it's extreme cooling you want, you might as well look in to compressor cooling.

Also, this might not be the appropriate place to ask these types of questions as this is "A Beginner's Guide to Overclocking". What you're talking about is a bit more advanced.

Honestly, I would see how far of an overclock you can manage on just water cooling alone. It sounds like you have a fairly nice cooling system as it is and I don't think you've said you've overclocked on it yet.

 

[xvi]

What if i want to OC just my CPU. So all i would need to do is raise the Multiplier? But what if the highest it can go is 10x(which is the default for my Core 2 Duo E4400)?

Raising your multiplier is one option. Since your multiplier is most likely locked at 10, you would have to rely on raising your FSB. Remember that FSB times your Multiplier equals your clock speed. Also remember that raising your FSB raises everything attached to it (Memory, chipset, etc). On older motherboards, the PCI and AGP bus are also influenced by the FSB. Most, if not all, newer motherboards have the expansion buses locked to their original values.

 

[xvi]

that"s cool But what if the highest it can go is 10x(which is the default for my Core 2 Duo E4400)?

That means your CPU multiplier is locked. Almost all of today's processors have a locked multiplier. This makes it harder for a dishonest company to take a slower processor and advertise and sell it as a faster processor (since the only difference between some processors is simply the CPU multiplier).

You will have to rely on raising your Front Side Bus (FSB) from the default 200 FSB to something higher. If you'd like, you can try starting with 210 FSB (for a very simple 5% overclock). If your computer does not boot, you will need to find the reset jumper and/or remove the BIOS battery from your computer.
You might need to consult your motherboard's manual for the location and proper operation of the BIOS Reset Jumper (and/or BIOS battery) as well as how to properly change your FSB.