Ok guys, a continuation of sorts from my last thread (I was more concerned with what to buy in that one, this is focused only on what I can do, or perhaps I should say SHOULD do.)
My system:
Asus A8n-sli
3800+ X2 (socket 939, Manchester core) Air cooled by TT Big Typhoon
7900gt oc (570/700)
1gb (two sticks) Value ram, un-matched (different brands even) PC3200
Linksys PCI wireless card (it's the blah blah blah "N" one with the funky antena)

It's been a long journey to get my clock from 2.6ghz (for whatever reason an easy oc, multi at 10, Htt at 4, at 1.36v for the core. It ran stable on stock air, never got above 55c) to my current 2.7ghz.
I'm still woefully new at this, so I'd appreciate any input on what I've done, right, wrong, or backwards.
The first time I tried to hit 2.7 I dropped my Ram speeds to 200mhz (running value crap PC3200) upped my voltage to 1.38, and upped my clock to 270. Got a bried BSOD or somesuch screen and an instant reboot. (Note, Bios posted, got the windows loading splash, then bsod and reboot) I figured my voltage was too low, upped to 1.4v, which got me to login at which point I got a "Windows has expirenced an error" pop-up, and the chance to tell microcrap my troubles with an error report. Then it rebooted. I changed my Ram from 1t to 2t, same result.
Time to rethink it, so I upped my ram to 266mhz, dropped my HT to 3x, dropped my multi to 9x, upped clock to 300mhz. Kept voltage at 1.4v. Nearly the same result, windows error then crash. I wondered if my voltage to the core was too much (Temps were still at 44c at time of windows booting) so I dropped to 1.36. Never got into windows, BSOD type crash again.
Tried lowering my Ram to 200mhz again, no result.
Manually set PCI to 33.33mhz
Upped the voltage to 1.41v, and got into windows with error, though reboot took longer (~10min)
Upped the Voltage to 1.42v, Voila, no Windows error, ran OCCT test and passed (temps at load stayed around 52c)
Upped ram speed to 266mhz (now running at 400mhz actual, according to CPUZ)
I'm now stable and error free at 2.7ghz Idle temp is 41c, load jumps to 52-53c (AS5 was applied tonight, not that it should matter much)

So... did I do this right? What have I done wrong? What can I do to hit 2.8?

More voltage to the CPU is what your going to need.

Try 280x10 with 1.5~1.6v, the less voltage the better, my older X-2 needed 1.65, and was only stable under chilled water

Drop that mem divider as low as you can go for testing..then raise it up after you find the stable spot till it fails occt or wont boot, then back down a notch.

Your ram should be able to handle 2.7-2.8v, that should get you above 400FSB

Don't forget NB and LDT voltages might need some bumping too! (On my DFi I just set them to the max, I dont know what your board has option wise)

Your CPU temps are allready at the max I like to see, so you may not get too much farther.

Temps are gonna be a problem if you don't get some better cooling...also keep an eye on your PWM (The power cuircuit for the motherboard) temps..they get toasty with a X-2 since they realy pull the amps.

Volts is the key.

Well another update, I ditched the cheap ram and bought a stick of corsair XMS Pro. Also, I don't know if I knocked something putting in my ram, but I just noticed that my CPU is idling at 32c HUUUUGGEE drop from last night, I may be able to bump this bad boy even further.

Quote: Originally Posted by capt_cope Well another update, I ditched the cheap ram and bought a stick of corsair XMS Pro. Also, I don't know if I knocked something putting in my ram, but I just noticed that my CPU is idling at 32c HUUUUGGEE drop from last night, I may be able to bump this bad boy even further.

32 degrees is good, but you need to push it more...

I know this is the same speed, but I'm pretty psyched, with my XMS DDR400 I can hit 2.7 with a multi of 10, and a ram divider of 12. Going for more by the time you read this, I'll keep you guys posted. (On a side note My Enermax EG565p took a dump on me today, one of the lines just died. And this is exactly why I payed the extra ten dollars to buy it (and most everything else in my box) locally: I called up Paul, the manager of the store, explained the circumstances, and had a fresh replacement in the time it took me to drive to the store, no paperwork, no RMA, no shipping.)


I went for more... I GOT MORE!!!!
Man this is a milestone for me, 2.8ghz!!! I had to drop my ram timings a bit (3/4/4/8 @ 468mhz) and up my cpu voltage to 2.45 (ram is up to 2.85) but my temps are still manageable (idle around 40, but it's hot in my appt. no AC ) Gotta go stability test it now.


Aww poo it has errors does manage to run superPi without trouble still only at 34sec. I think I'll run all my programs and see if any have troubles.

Ok, dropped down to 2.75 and OCCT says... She's stable. temps are only 1c higher than those at 2.6, so I think I've found my new daily driving speed.

Overclocking=Digital Crack

Now, I know you said she passes OCCT, but that only loads one core, did you have another program running such as Folding@home or Prime 95?

Glad to hear the new ram is realy working out for ya!

Don't forget to post your Pi times and other scores in the links below

http://forums.pcapex.com/results/

Ahh never thought to run a second program, and running OCCT again confirms what you mentioned: both cores are used, but only to 60%. I'll run prime95 and OCCT at the same time (can't get either program to run dual instances) I'll see if my sisandra bench looks any better while I'm at it.


***Edit***
It allways makes me happy to see my $150 processor beats a $640 one. The lack of L2 Cache is it's only setback, but even at that it's minor (in my eyes) I couldn't be happier with this processor, what an unbeliveable deal!

(And yes I'm still running air, decent air, but plain, cheap, reliable air (TT Big Typhoon) )


Maaan overclocking is better than crack, got my ram timings back to 2.5, 3, 3, 8 (@ 460mhz) This XMS stuff is just insane, my buffalo craptola ram couldn't handle anything but the loosest of lose timings, and it maxed at 430mhz! I had no idea until this wonderful site how much ram means to an overclock!

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Ok guys I need some advice: I'm stable as a rock at 2.75 ghz, when I hit 2.8 I get errors on CPU-0 in Prime 95 (in 0 min. at 1.475v and at 3 min. at 1.5v) CPU-1 can go all day long with no errors. Unfortunately my Mobo maxes out at 1.5 volts to the CPU, I don't have any more room to push it. What else can I do?

Congrats on the kick ass OC!

Unfortunately without more voltage you are going to have a hard time getting any further...as it is you are nearing the top of what your CPU can probably go as is (My 3800 X-2 tops out around the same speed)

In order to increase clock speed, you need 2 things...more voltage and better cooling.

Better cooling (Lowering case temps, ambient temps, etc) might get you that last bump.

A few quick things to check to make sure it's not voltage limited is your LDT (Set it at 3x) and you might possibly be bumping up against the limits of your motherboard and/or ram.

To isolate the motherboard from the CPU, drop the Multiplier from the stock 10x down to 9x and use the same 280FSB you need for 2.8GHZ. (You also might want to try 285x9 just to make sure you have room to grow in the future)

To isolate the RAM from the CPU, drop the memory divider from 1 to1 down to a lower setting (3/4 or whatever equivalent ratio you bios has)

If none of that helps, than you have probably reached the limits of your CPU and current cooling.

Ok I'm still a complete fool, so you'll have to explain the LDT thing to me. If you mean the HT I've allready set it at 2x just to be sure my FSB stays under 1000 ( I *think* my board is rated to 1600 on the FSB, but everyone says UNDER 1000! so Under 1000 I keep it. I dropped my Multi to 9 and bumped my FSB to 312. I also dropped my ram to 266 (cpu\15) so it's now running at 402mhz as opposed to my last OC where it ran at 460mhz (closer to 465mhz when I bumped my HTT to 280.) My voltage is allready maxed (as mentioned before) and my temps are... eh... I'm going to take off the BT and lap the base, maybe take off the IHS see where I can get it. My load temps are hovering at 54c (I know that's pretty shabby, but I am on air running at 1.5 volts, so I'll consider it okish. If lapping and removing the IHS can't get me under 50c load I'll drop my OC back to 2.7 or 2.75. I've allready upgraded my Big Typhoon with a Silverstone 121, I couldn't find any fans that put out more cfm than it, and noise doesn't bother me much.) as I'm writing this Prime95 has been running for about 20 Min. and I'm at 2.815ghz, so we shall see, maybe it was the ram.

Oh man oh man oh man! I just turned my computer back on after lapping the Big Typhoon and removing the IHS... Can you say HOLY ****ING ****?! I can, and that's about all I've been saying for the past 10 min. as I have been running Prime95. Both cores loaded at 100% and my temp is holding at..... 44c that's over a 10c drop for a couple hours worth of elbow grease and Cope snuff. my idle is waaaaaaay down, 31c. I'm going for 2.8 again (I turned my oc back to my last known stable at reboot, just to make sure everything was kosher) I'll let you all know how it goes. Time to make a nice X2 IHS keychain!



***Ok baby 2815mhz and prime has made it further than ever (past 2785mhz, my last semi-stable OC) Temps have risen to 47c again, but so far... so good. I'll keep you posted wether or not you're actually reading this.

*** Argh Prime95 found an error in cpu-0 again. looks like I'm stuck under 2.8 on this board. Oh well I'm testing it out at 2.79 now, I think I'll be able to settle for that... Ah who am I kidding now I want a REAL overclocking board, like a lanparty UT.

Way to go Bro!

Thats realy killer for air cooling...lapping can realy help the Big Typhoon..the finish is pretty sad out of the box eh?

How about posting some screenshots?


Now run some Super Pi, 3DMARK and/or PCMARK tests and post your scores in the HWBOT results threads!

Here is my 3800 X-2 , I have it downclocked a bit ATM (Warm room) but it will bench in the 2.8-2.9GHZ range depending on ambient temps.

Grab some utilites and benchies from the link below.

http://forums.pcapex.com/other_oc_ha...ollection.html

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Here's a brief compilation, if you have any specific ones you'd like to see let me know.

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Super Pi 1MB test, Sandra Memory bandwidth, AMD 64 Tweaker, and CBID.



You can get those and many others in my "Ultimate Links" collection in the link below.
http://forums.pcapex.com/other_oc_ha...ollection.html

You North bridge temp is 63 degrees, you can try to turn down the voltage some..1.7v should be enough for up to around 300FSB.

Your Video card temps are showing 40 (Ambient) and 48 (Core) that, along with your high NB temps tells me you don't have enough aiflow in your case.

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It's very true I don't have enough airflow, ever since I added my second 7900 airflow has just died, I've been slowly working up the nerve to cut into my nice window panel to add a 120 mm (right over the video cards) and add a nice mesh covered hole over the BT. My only problem with this Praetorian is that it comes standard with 80mm fans everywhere, with no room to add any 120mm.


How did you get your memory to have such a huge bandwith? Mine is horible compared to that, in the 3000 range. I'll work on getting those benchies up and running after my school stuff today.

Ok it's been a while, but the it's the friday night of my first week of school (yes it sucks, only took the first day to figure that out) and what do you know... I finaly hit 2.8 stable. Yes STABLE! I just finished running two instances of prime95 for a little over an hour (I'm impatient) with 0 errors. Here's a screenie with some apps, you'll notice that the reference processor on the top (first red/blue line) for sisandra is an fx-62, I finally benched higher than it! Temps are staying the same, I left my memory divider the same, I'm shocked, my xms is now kicking 468mhz @ 2.5/3/2/7 !!! 33 seconds for 1m superPi.

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Kewl!

Glad to see you got such good results, did you solve the coling issues? What were the load temps?

That Super Pii version you have is older, the new one will show the "Tenths"

http://forums.pcapex.com/other_oc_ha...ollection.html

It can be found in that link, along with the new CPUZ (1.36) and other handy tools.

Have you run the Memory bandwidth tests? how about 3DMARK or PCMARK yet?

I don't have a screenie, but I did download and run 3dmark06 last night, ended up with just under 9000, but I didn't make a screenie, I'll go download the new stuff and run some memory benches.

Congrats on what you have done so far capt_cope!
This does, however, give creedance to a theory of mine about the differences between Socket 939 and AM2.
I have read all over that there isn't much difference between the two for performance and/or clock speeds.... and I still don't believe much of it.
With a single core AM2 3800 I was EASILY able to get 2.95 from my current rig, and that is with very minimal tweaking (HTT set at 2 being the main part). With more attention payed to it I am sure my current hardware is capable of greater than 3.0GHz, but I am waiting on some even better RAM now that should make a world of difference, along with a better air cooler I just received yesterday for review so keep you eyes open in the coming days/weeks for more results.