Anybody remember their BIOS settings for Opteron 165 in CFX3200?

L

LordTacodip

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Sep 22, 2008
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The title says it all, I'm currently trying to squeeze as much performance as I can out of my older rig before I have to completely upgrade to AM2 and DDR2.

My rig:

OCZ GameXstream 600W Powersupply
DFI CFX3200 DR/G
Opteron 165 @ stock frequency with stock heatsink/fan
Visiontek 512 MB HD4850
OCZ Platinum 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit @ stock timings (2-3-2-5)

I've tried every setting layout over at the OCZTechnology forums to no avail; I wouldn't even be able to make my computer POST. I've tried everything only to completely end up with EPIC PHAIL.

I've heard these Opterons can get almost as high to 2.7 ghz or even higher, but all I'm looking for is BIOS settings for my Opteron 165 to atleast get 2.4 ghz, higher can be better, but if for some reason it can't go any higher, it's fine. Heck. If I could figure out how to get this thing up to 2.0 ghz I'll be happy.

I really hope somebody out there remembers how they set up their BIOS settings to help me out.

Thanks for everything,
LTD
 
HT link, HT multi, LDT, whatever they decided to name it on your board goes to 3
Turn the CoolN'Quet Off (will make things unstable)
Set the memory divider down a couple notches and go for gold. That is all there is to it. Some memory dividers don't work right on some boards so that may take some trial and error.
Also try to keep the temps under 60*C. They hate being that high. Mine didn't like being over 50*C when it was running on the ragged edge.

My X2 3800 was good for 10x270 with 1.5 to 1.55 vcore (varied by board) with the memory at 270 also. That varies heavily by setup and luck though. You lack the 10 multi so your FSB would have to be higher to hit 2.7. Just pray your board can go that high (Assuming your chip can).
 
Thanks Jakal! I really appreciate the help; does any other people have other suggestions as well? I'll try everything the moment I get home tonight.
 
set memory driver strength to 30 or 45% under memory settings. also, this chipset does not necessarily need a lot of voltage to get it going. my main rig is running the NB at 1.2V HT at 1.4v while runing the FSB at 290 using 3x for HTT link and 166 mem divider.
 
Okay, Memory Driver Strength is at 30% or 45%, Northbridge at 1.4 V, FSB is at 290 while the HTT link is at 3x and the memory driver is at 166.

What should I put my memory timings at? Keep them stock timings? And keep the voltage of my Opteron 165 at stock voltage?

Hmmm, everything looks good. I keep trying everyone's suggestions, but all I get is a repeating C1 error a lot.

Thanks for everything guys!
 
start lower with the FSB at possibly 250. Also, you may need to bump your NB voltage to 1.3 and no at first you can slack your memory timings a bit and work on tightening them up as you go. you have to keep in mind that at almost 300 FSB your memory is pushing 250-260 (DDR500). 2.5-3-3-9 might be a good starting point. as far as cpu voltage, mine is able to run at 1.45V all the way up to 2.8 so you may want to give a slight boost, entirely up to you.
 
Okay: FSB should start at 250 with timings of 2.5-3-3-9, Northbridge voltage should be at 1.3 volts, Memory driver at 30-45% (which one should I start with?), and memory divider should be at 166, and 1.45 Volts on processor.

What should my LDT/FSB Frequency and CPU/FSB Frequency set at?
 
the tough thing is every board and chip is different and I can only give you what has worked for me. eclipse on here has a great, and long, overclock process that you can follow and get some great advice on getting exactly what you need. the drive strength has diffferent effects on different boards but generally helps when you start clocking higher speeds. Also, when your FSB is at 250 with a 166 memory divider take note of the speed your memory is running at. 9x250 would give you right around 2.4 for a cpu speed which should be easy with your chip assuming you have a good one.
 
You will need 133 memory divider at 290 FSB unless you have some really wicked ram, As the other guy said 166 would be DDR480 (Do Divider x FSB / 200 to figure up ram speed). Ram should be something you tweak secondary though so go with 133 while you are tweaking, Then you ram will be bellow stock speeds (and our of the equation) until you pass 300FSB. That way you can focus on the chip without having to wonder if the ram is causing the issue.

Leave the LDT/FSB thingy at 3. Having it too low doesnt cost you any performance and 3 will allow you to go up to 333FSB before you have to worry about it causing instability again. CPU/FSB, is that the multipler? you want to leave that at 9 if it is though you can use it to narrow down an instability. For instance if you arent sure if it the CPU causing the instability or if its the motherboard / ram etc... you can lower that number to slow your chip down and rule it out or prove that it is the culprit. I do wish they would come up with a common naming scheme for bios items!


Also be careful when you do start farting around with the RAM since when it is instable it can screw up your windows install and force you to do a repair install!!!! Ive done that so many times it makes me sick. A bootable disk with Memtest on it is the way to go if you want to avoid that.
 
Alright, thanks for everything guys; I really wish I could use this information right away, but my Motherboard long has had this C1 error problem.

Whenever I try to change anything (CPU or RAM related) in the BIOS, my PC will restart and start this looping C1 error process. It'd my motherboard's code would flash C1, beep, restart, C1 again, etc.

I heard somewhere these DFI CFX3200 boards are really picky...I'm seriously thinking about asking around if someone would trade their 2 stick of RAM for 2x 1GB sticks of this OCZ platinum RAM.

This one problem is killing me. I figured out that if I get a repeating C1 error, I'd just turn off the powersupply via the back of it and hold down the Power button on my chassis for a loooong time.

Has anyone ever encountered this problem?

PS. Forgot to include that the stepping of my Opteron 165 is a LCBQE, which people have had plenty of overclocking success with. Except me.

Thank you!
 
Are you taking control of the ram timings or leaving them on auto? Some boards will automatically tighten the timings when you drop the memory divider. If you then up the FSB it can be too much for the tight timings. Have to set them all manually to something like 3-4-4- with 2t and pretty much just loosen everything up, just for while you are finding the bounds of your cpu.
 
Scratch what I said. I removed the North and Southbridge heatsink/fan and wiped off that crusty old thermal paste and applied some fresh AS5; I'm currently at x9 and x3 with 300 FSB; so I'm happily at 2.7

But about my RAM, I was able to boot with a divider of 166 and timings of 2.5-3-3-9; what should my next step in RAM be?

Thanks!
 
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