Advice please on my overclock.

[bezzy3004]

I have been experiencing a problem where decreasing the resolution doesnt improve my framerates. After much discusion on the forums we think it comes down to my Cpu being the weak link so i have overclocked it and seem to have got a conclusion which i would like your opinions please.

Asus m3a-h/hdmi board
Athlon 64 x2 5000+ 2.6ghz
ocz 2gb ddr2 5300 667mhz memmory
HD 4870 512mb gddr5 Graphics running overclocked 790/1100
Windows xp 32
15" crt monitor.@ 60hz
850w psu

At stock 2.6ghz Crysis Benchmark ran 1280x1024=36.48fps
1024x768=36.52fps
At 2.997Ghz Crysis Benchmark ran 1280x1024=42.20fps
At 2.997Ghz Crysis Benchmark ran 1024x768=42.15fps (lower res and fps worse?)

Amd overdrive Benchmark 2.6ghz 6830
Amd Overdrive benchmark 2.997ghz 7921

as you can see the extra 400mhz has improved framerate over stock setting but reduce the res at any given cpu speed it stays the same. What could be causing this?

Please could you advise if this is a healthy overclock never done it before and i used amd Overdrive manually adjusted.

Cpu 2.996Ghz @1.3750v
HT Clock 230mhz HT link1153mhz
PCie Speed 110mhz from 99mhz
Max Cpu temp with Amd Overdrive stability test 11mins was 49 degrees idling 33 degrees with stock heatsink and fan + 3 case fans.
System seems stable so far not tried any games yet.

 

[boogah]

in gaming CPU schedule and loads up the information for the graphic cards to execute and render. So if the CPU is running fast enough it can load more frames for the GPU to do it's thing. Notice the FPS diff with the CPU at 2.6 and 2.997. So for your machine the GPU is doing it's thing but the CPU is too slow to fetch the info... so that's y ur CPU is the bottle neck of the system.

What people meant is you need a better CPU ^___~

 

[bezzy3004]

I see its taken a lot of discusion on this problem and you have summed it up in a few words that makes a lot of sense although people have said they are getting better performance in crysis with a less powerfull system!! Thanks anyway.

 

[WhiteLotus]

Couldn't be put better Boogah.

Another thing though - GHZ for GHZ, Intel tends to perform better.

 

[WarEagleAU]

Intel tends to oc better, I dont know about perform better. However, Intel will net you better scores and fps just because they in truth are the shit right now. I have an AMD 5000+ BE and am happy with it and get killer FPS in most games I play (havent tried crysis, but if I got 30 I wouldnt bitch about it) with my hd3870.

 

[iamajunky]

gawd will people stop putting down this cpu. This is a hell of a cpu i could do 3.25ghz 100% stable on air with thermaltake big typhoon and never broke 50c. you could easily do 3.0ghz i tried for 3.4ghz but i needed water for the northbridge and cpu. and no it runs crysis just fine. The thing you have to worry about is the card bottle necking but is ran two bfg 8800gts 512 oc 700/1100 with the same specs you had with pc6400 and m2n32 sli deluxe. but i personally would stick with 3.0ghz you don't even really have to mess with voltages at 3.0ghz, hope you have better cooling than stock

 

[r9]

CPU bottleneck or no CPU bottleneck that should not be happening.
More GPU power = more FPS, maybe if the CPU is slow, 50% increase in GPU power won`t result in 50% FPS increase as it would on some QUAD power but FPS is going to rise.
Lets say that you GPU overclocked can render 60 fps in Crysis and CPU can serve only 42 if that is the case than if you replace your 4870 with 3x280gtx than you should not gain FPS because you CPU can serve only 42 FPS that is not how things work.
Another thing if CPU max serving theory is true CPU=42 GPU-oced=60 than if you downclock your GPU by 15% GPUdownclocked=52fps because GPUdownclocked=52fps > CPU=42 your ingame FPS should stay 42 that can`t be.
You see my point if you dont downclock your GPU and bench (you maybe will be the first on this forum to downclock but you will see my point).
I would say that you should try with drivers Vsync or maybe clean windows installation.

 

[WhiteLotus]

Please could you advise if this is a healthy overclock never done it before and i used amd Overdrive manually adjusted.

For the actual overclocking bit most people tend to go into BIOS and set the levels there.

Think the best way to do it is to continually raise the Multiplier until it no longer posts, then go back to stock.

Then raise CPU until it doesn't POST. Then find the middle ground for both.

Remember to stress the Over clock using Orthos for a good ten hours or so when you think you have a good level. An unstable over clock can cause havoc.

 

[iamajunky]

i didn't type "the cpu" after my statement lol

 

[r9]

And 4870 with 15" crt and your card is screaming "what the hell" maybe is trying not to burn your monitor

 

[iamajunky]

+1
i do all my overclocking through bios to me it tends to be the safer way to do it

 

[WhiteLotus]

And if you set the levels too high and your computer doesn't post, turn off everything and open your case up. Remove the CMOS battery and wait for a bit, then stick it back in and it should work. This process pretty much sets the BIOS back to stock.

The CMOS battery is round about 3cm in diameter for me. If in doubt check your manual.

 

[bezzy3004]

The cpu setings are greyed out in bios though i am suposed to be able to adjust according to manual.

 

[iamajunky]

new to the oc world are you?

 

[bezzy3004]

CPU bottleneck or no CPU bottleneck that should not be happening.
More GPU power = more FPS, maybe if the CPU is slow, 50% increase in GPU power won`t result in 50% FPS increase as it would on some QUAD power but FPS is going to rise.
Lets say that you GPU overclocked can render 60 fps in Crysis and CPU can serve only 42 if that is the case than if you replace your 4870 with 3x280gtx than you should not gain FPS because you CPU can serve only 42 FPS that is not how things work.
Another thing if CPU max serving theory is true CPU=42 GPU-oced=60 than if you downclock your GPU by 15% GPUdownclocked=52fps because GPUdownclocked=52fps > CPU=42 your ingame FPS should stay 42 that can`t be.
You see my point if you dont downclock your GPU and bench (you maybe will be the first on this forum to downclock but you will see my point).
I would say that you should try with drivers Vsync or maybe clean windows installation.

How do you explain the increase in cpu speed increases fps but change res not much happens?

 

[WhiteLotus]

The cpu setings are greyed out in bios though i am suposed to be able to adjust according to manual.

somewhere there will be the option of changing the parameters.

usually it sets on to AUTO - you can guess what that is
AI - computer can increase your GHZ by a percentage
MANUAL - this is where you have the fun

just set it to manual and play away

 

[bezzy3004]

new to the oc world are you?

Yes i dont want extreme performance as i cant afford to repplace cpu im happy with 3.0ghz just need to sort the fps issue.

 

[r9]

I`m not shure that he is changing the resolution 15" crt and 1280x1024,
native for 15" is 800x600 for 17" is 1024x768 at 1280x1024 on 17" it will be blured at 15" it will explode.

 

[bezzy3004]

I`m not shure that he is changing the resolution 15" crt and 1280x1024,
native for 15" is 800x600 for 17" is 1024x768 at 1280x1024 on 17" it will be blured at 15" it will explode.

I have tried various resolutions via desktop and through ati ccc my monitor reports it works best at 1024x768 @60hz so its not that.

 

[r9]

And I cant explain but it is not bottleneck it is not working like that. I think that is software problem. Vsync can result in strange behavior. Vsync is used for controling the fps on GPU so it wont produce frame tearing by reducing FPS at times when FPS and refresh rate owerlaped..

 

[r9]

If you were messing with CCC riva tuner or similar software look for Vsync and if it is on disable it.

 

[bezzy3004]

And I cant explain but it is not bottleneck it is not working like that. I think that is software problem. Vsync can result in strange behavior. Vsync is used for controling the fps on GPU so it wont produce frame tearing by reducing FPS at times when FPS and refresh rate owerlaped..

There is no v sync option in my ccc or desktop display cant find it but i turned it off in crysis didnt solve the problem.

 

[r9]

and what is fps at 800x600 is it 42 as with 1024 and 1280

 

[bezzy3004]

Yes about the same someone said that those small resolutions are cpu dependant meaning i would need much higher res in order for the gpu to take the load does that make sense.

 

[boogah]

like i said before.. FPS only comes with higher CPU speed. if the CPU can't send the data fast enough to the GPU the GPU can't run it it's full maximum speed no matter how much you overclock the GPU. I thought i was pretty clear on that logic. ^___~