So I just got one of these and a nice x1900xt to replace my Abit AV8 and x800 pro. I'm using an opteron 146 and 2 gigs of geil value ram.

All installed with minimal fuss and time spent messing about.

So now I'm trying to get my head around the overclocking, and its not as straight forward as I was hoping. I have my pcie locks set to 100,my multiplier set to 10, ldt multiplier down to 3 and tried my cpu frequency at various different figures and I can hardly get it into windows, let alone stable

I had it in windows at 2400 mhz with no voltage adjustments but then it crashed, I've tried puting the memory on a divider but its making seemingly no difference. Temps are nice and low so thats ruled out as a problem too.

When I had this proc in my av8 it used to do 2800 mhz (the boardw as a limiting factor) with a memory divider and minimal voltage bumps.

So can anyone please help me out?

When in doubt..raise the voltages...lol

Probably running into a problem with not enough NB or LDT voltage, the default settings are fine for the stock 200FSB, but not much beyond that.

Try this..

LDT to 4x for up to 250FSB, LDT to 3x for up to 333FSB

The PCIE settings should be fine in auto, it will self adjust, but you can leave them at 100 if you desire, just not neccesary.

CPU voltage should be fine at stock for up to around 2.4-2.6GHZ, but will require around 1.45v for 2.8GHZ and 1.55-1.6v for 3.0GHZ, as always...your milage may vary, it depends on your CPU.

LDT voltage should be one or two notches above default, I had mine maxed out without issues, but make sure you have good case cooling.

North Bridge voltage is probably your main culprit...I would bet you might not have to mess with anything else to get 2.4GHZ stable!
The default 1.6v is fairly tame, and won't get very far...I believe I used 1.7v for 240-250FSB, and 1.8v for up to around 300FSB...anything beyond that may require 1.9v (It's been a while..is that even an option?)

I will say the stock NB cooler is not particularly fantastic with higher voltages, adding AS-5 will help a bit, and make sure you have GREAT airflow around it...and also to the PWM (Power Circuit)

You will probably be fine with the value ram at 2.7-2.8v, and maybe 230-240FSB with stock or near stock timings...but beyond that it would be hard to say...so use a big ram divider initially and find out the max CPU speed first, then bump up the divider to a smaller ratio until it becomes unstable (Or won't boot) then back it down a notch.

Oh and the stock multiplier of the 146 is 10, so setting it manually to this won't help, nor will it hurt...again it's one of the setttings you could leave in auto just like the PCIE, and be just fine.

Are you running your RAM on a divider. If your trying to run your RAM 1:1 with the FSB you might have a problem.

Quote: Originally Posted by z0mbi3 I had it in windows at 2400 mhz with no voltage adjustments but then it crashed, I've tried puting the memory on a divider but its making seemingly no difference.

He has gone both ways...lol

Quote: Originally Posted by $SOLID$ Necro He has gone both ways...lol

Shhhh.

Anyway sorry for not getting back sooner. Been stability testing through prime95 while sleeping for the last few nights / mornings. Also I had to reinstall windows twice 'cause of a virus (own fault tbh).

Turns out I have to have the memory on a very low divider (

Anyway I can go up to 3 ghz on my Opteron at 1.525 volts compared to 2.9 ghz at 1.45 volts. I think 1.525 is the sweet spot though, having opened up some room for higher clocks on the core. I did try 3.2 ghz but the memory crapped out.

Nice thing is my temps have been very good under load the whole time.

Here are a few tips:

When I first get a new board and/or CPU/Ram, I drop the multiplier low, and then use a big memory divider, and then tweek the board to max out the FSB (NB and LDT Voltages, LDT, etc)

Then I raise the divider back to 1 to 1, loosen the ram timings, set the ram to 2.8v, and then max that out.

Finally, I put the multiplier back to stock, use a big ram divider, and then raise CPU volts to the most I think I can get away with, and maintain a 48-50c load temp (Sometimes I have to adjust it up or down) and then max out CPU speed.

You can do them in any order you choose, whatever you find easiest to do.

Once I know the limits of these 3 parameters, then I go for the best combination that lets the memory peak at 1 to1, or with the smallest ram divider I can get away with.

I will use Super pi 1MB to "Fine tune" the ram settings and ratios, sometimes tight timings and larger divider is faster than loose timings and a small or no divider, or may require something in between..it just depends on the system.

Remember with CPU's, the biggest gains (OC wise) will be at stock or near stock voltages, you may get a 400-600MHZ gain at stock volts, 800MHZ gain with just .1 or .2v above stock, but getting the last few 50-100MHZ mhz often requires a massive spike in voltage, sometimes .3 or .4 above stock..and then you run into temperature issues!

CPU and voltage scaling or not linear!