A64 3000+ Nforce3 Crap Overclock, Suggestions/Help Please!

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Soldur

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 22, 2004
Messages
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I just installed my new AMD A64 3000+ (NewCastle CG Revision) on a Chaintech
VNF3-250 (NForce3) motherboard with 512 Meg CL2.5 DDR3200 Corsair Value Select Memory. I'm new to oc'ing CPUs so I don't know all that much about it, but I have been oc'ing videocards for a couple of years with good success.

I go into the bios and change the CPU Frequency to 210 mhz (CPU @ 2100mhz) and it works perfect, I move it up to 215 (CPU @ 2150) and I get random crashes while benchmarking. Most ppl with the same setup seem to be getting the CPU overclocks of 2200mhz-2400mhz.

It seems like moving up the CPU frequency also moves up my memory frequency, which I believe is causing my problem. I know it's not the best overclocking memory and most ppl are only able to run it @ 210mhz, but it's what I have and I won't have the money to buy better RAM for a while.

I've read about people running the processor at 250mhz, but keeping the RAM at 200mhz or 210mhz through some sort of multiplier/ratio, but I've been looking around for an hour now and can't find anything mentioning how to do this.

Any suggestions on what I can do to get a higher overclock??
 
You need to bump your cpu and vdimm voltages. I also bump agp and chipset.

Also, set your htt (i think that is what it is, cant recall and I am on on my work rig nowso I cant look ;)) to 3x

Your multipier is locked, you can only change your FSB.

Your mem will hold you back though.
 
I'm wondering if the Athlon 64 doesn't like Corsair PC3200 sticks. I can turn down the memory ratio, and nothing helps.
 
OK, I'm going to ask a n00b question.

What is the memory ratio and how do you change it?
 
Soldur said:
OK, I'm going to ask a n00b question.

What is the memory ratio and how do you change it?
Click to expand...
The memory's ratio is the HTT (formerly known as FSB) multiplied by this fraction to get your memory speed. For instance:

200 MHz HTT @ 1:1 = 200
200 MHz HTT @ 5:6 = 166
200 MHz HTT @ 2:3 = 133

This lets you get higher HTT speeds when your memory can't cut it. So 240 HTT = 200 MHz memory @ 5:6.
 
Sweet, Thanks for the information! This sounds like something I need to try and see what I can get.

How or where do you specify this ratio? I don't remember seeing anything in the bios referring to this.
 
i just finished putting together a seemingly identical setup today. athlon 64 3000+, chaintech nforce3, except i have two of the corsair 512 chips. i can't seem to get above 2200MHz (although i didn't try anything between 220 and 230). i didn't mess with voltage, and i am unsure of how to mess with the multiplier.
 
I"ve got a crap chip too. It will do 2.2 at .25 more volts, but one step above that i need 1.6v. ( ram is running 5:6 divider it is a non issue)

I also think my vnf3-250 is miss reporting temps.

I'm pretty sure I"ll need 1.7v to get 2.4 ghz and I don't like that idea.

i'm fine now w/ 2.15ghz and 1.45v (rock solid 5 hours of prime and hours of gaming).

Well now that i think about it it's not so crappy but i was still expecting better.
 
ive got the exact same cpu/mobo, running it at 240htt, 1.65v, 42C idle with stock cooling.

crappy generic pc2700 too, 2.5-3-3-7. i'm satisfied.
 
iZero said:
The memory's ratio is the HTT (formerly known as FSB) multiplied by this fraction to get your memory speed. For instance:

200 MHz HTT @ 1:1 = 200
200 MHz HTT @ 5:6 = 166
200 MHz HTT @ 2:3 = 133

This lets you get higher HTT speeds when your memory can't cut it. So 240 HTT = 200 MHz memory @ 5:6.
Click to expand...

I thought it was like that too, but that's incorrect. It's a lot more complicated than that. Memory speeds on the Athlon 64 are calculated with these formulas:

mem divider = ceil(CPU Multi * 200/200 or 200/166 or 200/133 or 200/100)
mem freq = CPU Freq / mem divider

Thanks to CodeRed at XS.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?postid=505796#post505796
 
aldamon said:
I thought it was like that too, but that's incorrect. It's a lot more complicated than that. Memory speeds on the Athlon 64 are calculated with these formulas:

mem divider = ceil(CPU Multi * 200/200 or 200/166 or 200/133 or 200/100)
mem freq = CPU Freq / mem divider

Thanks to CodeRed at XS.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?postid=505796#post505796
Click to expand...
I think that's just a round-about way of saying the same thing.
 
Thanks for the help everyone!

I was able to get it stable @ 240htt with 5:6 memory ratio @ 1.6 volts. I did notice that whenever I played Doom 3, Cod, or UT2004 my power supply would buzz and whined. So just to be on the safe side I turned it back down to stock until my ThermalTake PurePower 420 gets here. :cool:
 
iZero said:
I think that's just a round-about way of saying the same thing.
Click to expand...

No, it's not. Sorry. The "166/200" BIOS setting will give you a different memory divider depending on the CPU multiplier. At 2400 Mhz:

10x:

mem divider = (10 * 200/166) x ceil = 12
mem freq = 2400 / 12 = 200

9x

mem divider = (9 x 200/166) x ceil = 11
mem freq = 2400 / 11 = 218.18

Try it. You'll see. I couldn't figure out what was going on in CPU-Z until I found that formula. The real-world memory speeds weren't matching what my BIOS was saying on POST.
 
aldamon said:
No, it's not. Sorry. The "166/200" BIOS setting will give you a different memory divider depending on the CPU multiplier. At 2400 Mhz:

10x:

mem divider = (10 * 200/166) x ceil = 12
mem freq = 2400 / 12 = 200

9x

mem divider = (9 x 200/166) x ceil = 11
mem freq = 2400 / 11 = 218.18

Try it. You'll see. I couldn't figure out what was going on in CPU-Z until I found that formula. The real-world memory speeds weren't matching what my BIOS was saying on POST.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I will give that a shot later today. I could have sworn the POST was showing lower memory speeds. In any case, even dropping my setting to 133, I wasn't able to get the thing to POST at higher HTTs.
 
Nope, didn't work. I set it to 240 HTT, 166 mem, and 10x multi. That should have run my memory at 200 MHz. It didn't work. Upping the voltage made no difference. Either I have a chip that can't run 2.4 GHz, or my Epox can't handle 240 HTT.
 
What was your voltage set to? You may not have a processor that can oc that much. With my co stepping anything over 2.4Ghz is a blessing.

What speed is stable with your processor? Is it new? RMA and get another one.
 
funbun said:
What was your voltage set to? You may not have a processor that can oc that much. With my co stepping anything over 2.4Ghz is a blessing.

What speed is stable with your processor? Is it new? RMA and get another one.
Click to expand...
I have a Newcastle. I would think it should go above 2.4 GHz from what I've seen.
 
funbun said:
What was your voltage set to? You may not have a processor that can oc that much. With my co stepping anything over 2.4Ghz is a blessing.

What speed is stable with your processor? Is it new? RMA and get another one.
Click to expand...
I can up the voltage as high as the board supports and it does nothing.

EDIT: Oh well, I can't delete as this was supposed to be an edit of my last message. So I'll just leave this here.
 
iZero said:
I can up the voltage as high as the board supports and it does nothing.

EDIT: Oh well, I can't delete as this was supposed to be an edit of my last message. So I'll just leave this here.
Click to expand...

iZero, I'm having the same problems but with the Epox 8KDA3J. My CG Clawhammer is supposed to be a beast, but like you, I can't get my chip stable at an acceptable speed. I can't even get 2.3 GHz stable. We both have a gig of RAM too, which reportedly can cause problems. My chip is limited to 10x on the multi, so it's basically driving me crazy. I can't drop the HTT below 200 to eliminate it as a variable because I don't have a high enough multi to compensate. Basically, if I drop my chip down to 220 x 10 and suddenly it's Prime stable, is it because the mobo was crapping out at 230 - 240 or is it because my CPU is suddenly happy? So many variables. I hate guessing games. 10x is a real pain. Part of me wants to say the hell with it and get a 3700+, but the other part of me says to wait for the DFI Socket 754 board and see what it can do with my chip.
 
iZero said:
Nope, didn't work. I set it to 240 HTT, 166 mem, and 10x multi. That should have run my memory at 200 MHz. It didn't work. Upping the voltage made no difference. Either I have a chip that can't run 2.4 GHz, or my Epox can't handle 240 HTT.
Click to expand...

what are your ram timings at?

try relaxing them a bit, that was the solution to my problem.. i couldn't seem to get over 210htt stable, but after dropping them down to 2.5-3-3-7, im at 240htt and stable as i could ever hope for..

edit: at 1.65v, default voltage on ram. probably 2.6v.
 
iZero said:
I have a Newcastle. I would think it should go above 2.4 GHz from what I've seen.
Click to expand...

i've got a newcastle also, and i can hit 2.5 easily at 1.7v (250htt), but my cpu runs a bit too hot for me at that voltage, especially just with stock cooling. it hit 47C idle in the bios and was still rising, and I said that was enough, dropped it back down to 240htt and 1.65v, and now i'm running at 42C idle.
 
I'm running a Clawhammer @ 1.7v. 2.42Ghz stable. Idle 38C on water cooling. Vdimm 2.8v My timings are 2.5, 3, 3, 11. This timing allowed me to get an extra 10Mhz from 2.41 to 2.42Ghz. I think you got a crap chip. I'd RMA or sell it on ebay and get another one.
 
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