First time overclocker, got some questions...

O

Orr

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 8, 2006
Messages
478
Ok, so form my BIOS I upped the HTT by 5Mhz from 200 to 205 just to test the waters.

Voltage is at about 1.35V and I left my DRAM settings on auto. Is this ok? When do you need to start upping the voltage? Also if I keep increasing the HTT, is ok to leave the DRAM settings on auto or should I set them myself?
 
Hmm, so I upped the HTT again to 210Mhz and when I run Prime95, I get the error "FATAL ERROR rounding was 0.49..., expected less than 0.4" followed by hardware failure detected.

Whats happened here?
 
Hmm and now after lowering the HTT back down to 205Mhz, Prime seems to be testing ok.

Anyone shed some light into this? Do I need to up the voltage?
 
supergeek said:
If you are new to OC'n then i would recommend very strongly that you read the following thread http://i4memory.com/showthread.php?t=327, if u still have questions after that of course just post again or PM me.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, just a quick question though, is what I've done so far in terms of overclocking acceptable and safe? IE upping the HTT while leaving the core voltage at stock and the DRAM setting on auto?
 
Of course if haven't read that thread then my advice would be first backup u're important stuff - caus this can corupt your windows install, then go Bios> set FSB bus freqs: 230, LDT/FSB freqs ratio: x3, CPU freqs ratio: x11 (default for 4400), CPU voltage (Vcore or sometimes know as CPU VID): raise by 0.5v - to about 1.85v, also raise LDT voltage by 0.5v - then go DRAM config at the top of your screen usually, where u should see settings similar to CAS Latency(CL) = 2.5, RAS to CAS(Trcd) = 3, Min RAS# Active time(Tras) = 7, Row Precharge Time(Trp) = 3 (i.e. timings are 2.5-3-7-3) - now if your memory is good enough u should be able to bring that down too 2-2-5-2, also make sure CPC = Enabled (i.e. 1T command rate for best bandwidth and performance). With that done set DRAM freqs set: to 230 (DRAM/FSB: 5/06) - this gives a ratio of 5:6 which means if your FSB is at 230MHz your ram will be at about 190MHz, this allows u to raise the FSB higher without causing your ram to become unstable as easy, which also means u can achieve tighter timings, now also raise vdimm by 0.5v.

All of this should give u an OC of 2.53GHz per core @ 1.85v - and remember if u find it a bit unstable try raising Vcore by another 0.5v.

Edit: Yes, it is quite safe to have upped the HTT a little bit. Also remember u can up the FSB to 250 (2.75GHz) and right up to 290 (3.1GHz :eek: ), just do so in 5-10MHz increases and remember to up voltages as required, and most of all make sure u got good cooling.
 
supergeek said:
Of course if haven't read that thread then my advice would be first backup u're important stuff - caus this can corupt your windows install, then go Bios> set FSB bus freqs: 230, LDT/FSB freqs ratio: x3, CPU freqs ratio: x11 (default for 4400), CPU voltage (Vcore or sometimes know as CPU VID): raise by 0.5v - to about 1.85v, also raise LDT voltage by 0.5v - then go DRAM config at the top of your screen usually, where u should see settings similar to CAS Latency(CL) = 2.5, RAS to CAS(Trcd) = 3, Min RAS# Active time(Tras) = 7, Row Precharge Time(Trp) = 3 (i.e. timings are 2.5-3-7-3) - now if your memory is good enough u should be able to bring that down too 2-2-5-2, also make sure CPC = Enabled (i.e. 1T command rate for best bandwidth and performance). With that done set DRAM freqs set: to 230 (DRAM/FSB: 5/06) - this gives a ratio of 5:6 which means if your FSB is at 230MHz your ram will be at about 190MHz, this allows u to raise the FSB higher without causing your ram to become unstable as easy, which also means u can achieve tighter timings, now also raise vdimm by 0.5v.

All of this should give u an OC of 2.53GHz per core @ 1.85v - and remember if u find it a bit unstable try raising Vcore by another 0.5v.

Edit: Yes, it is quite safe to have upped the HTT a little bit. Also remember u can up the FSB to 250 (2.75GHz) and right up to 290 (3.1GHz :eek: ), just do so in 5-10MHz increases and remember to up voltages as required, and most of all make sure u got good cooling.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that :) . How long can I keep leaving the DRAM settings on auto while still increasing the HTT? Is there a limit to which you can safely do this until?
 
Just one thing about the DRAM freqs set: it will read 190 (DRAM/FSB: 5/06) in your case, not 230 as i had stated as i had explained, now about what u just asked - because the default ratio is 1:1 then usually u will find there comes a point where the RAM can no longer operate because it can not handle working at the same speed of the FSB, and the system will most likely not boot (in which u would have to clear the CMOS, and start over again).

Edit: You can though overcome this issue by buying ram that is rated at 500MHz for example, so that way u could have a 250MHz FSB, without having to mess with the ram.
 
supergeek said:
Just one thing about the DRAM freqs set: it will read 190 (DRAM/FSB: 5/06) in your case, not 230 as i had stated as i had explained, now about what u just asked - because the default ratio is 1:1 then usually u will find there comes a point where the RAM can no longer operate because it can not handle working at the same speed of the FSB, and the system will most likely not boot (in which u would have to clear the CMOS, and start over again).

Edit: You can though overcome this issue by buying ram that is rated at 500MHz for example, so that way u could have a 250MHz FSB, without having to mess with the ram.
Click to expand...

And I suppose that point at which the RAM fails to respond is different in each case?

Is there a general limit at which PC3200 RAM will reach at 1:1? Sorry for all the questions its just that reading some of the threads about Oc'ing can be a little daunting with the sheer amount of information.
 
Well it kind of depends on the quality of the ram u purchased, however from experiance i would say it can be anywhere from fsb 210mhz (i.e. 420mhz ram) to fsb 230mhz (460mhz ram).

Edit: Don't worry about asking too many questions, thats the whole point of this place - keep asking, i know how u feel - i was just as annoyed trying to understand everything, when i first started OC'n a couple of years back.
 
Hmm, had HTT at 210 for a while and the machine restarted by itself, this was with DRAM on auto, will try manually changing some of these settings.
 
i'm currently having my 1st try at overclockin I've been following the instructions from this webby.

props eclipse

so far got my A8N32 SLI to 300fsb that seemed to be stable, crapped out at 305 but thats ok want to run my RAM 1:1 so wont be goin that high. 260 outa the ram would be nice and hopefully with a CPU multi of 10. Currently @ 2500 for the cpu and rising!
 
worked up to 2700mhz over the space of an hour, stock voltage cpu sat at 45 degrees with p95 running. Thinkin that I may be able to get 2.8 outa this baby.
 
not sure what the error means but if all your doing is str8 upping the fsb then it cud be ram/cpu/mobo so suggest u look at link i posted and do it in stages then when u get the error again you'll know what hardware has failed and act accordingly.

GL!
 
right i just got to 2.8 and left it for a while and got the same error you got but with different values so that was my CPU.

cpu temp maxxed at 46 degrees so think that it will handle a bit more voltage.....
 
Thanks for the link Ron. I followed those instructions except for step 3, the RAM oc'ing since I did't have time.

This is what I have so far:

X2 4400 @ 2423Mhz with x11 multi.
HTT of 220Mhz and DRAM clock at 166Mhz, stock timings (2, 2, 4, 7).
Voltage 1.4V
Running Prime95 atm at 50C load.

How is this so far, is everything ok? Any suggestions on pushing it more? I had the DRAM clock at 200Mhz, cpu multi x11 and HTT at 220 then 215 but machine wouldn't boot into windows. This was at 1.35V.

Where can I go from here?
 
what did you get out of your cpu with clockgen?

so far with stock voltage i got to 2.8 but prime crapped out after about 30mins. I have upped the voltage by 1 step got it back up to 2.8 and prime has been happy for about an hour.
 
Using clockgen:

Board went up to 285Mhz HTT with room to go further,
CPU HTT of 221Mhz before I got an error in Prime. This was at stock voltage of 1.35v. I didn't up it until later to 1.4v when trying to break 2300Mhz with an HTT of 220.

Edited: Should I reduce the cpu multi and raise the HTT?

Just stopped Prime as I'm going to change the settings a bit, it ran for 59mins fine.
 
Left is priming on the mixed test last night and it ran for 9+ hours until I turned it off this morning. Load temps went to about 50C max.
 
Well I upped the vcore a step like I mentioned before left it running prime @ 2800 overnight got a hardware error after 3 hours so will try again when i get back from work with a higher vcore again.

be careful which test you're using as 1 stresses ram more than CPU/L2 i think. I'm using small ftt? i think.

I think 50 degrees is the most I want to see on my cpu.

9 hours sounds gd but ppl suggest 24hrs
 
well after moving the voltage up 2 steps on the cpu it failed again when it hit the 1 hour mark :(

now on the 3rd step up. CPUZ read 1.450v and ASUS Probe shows 1.49v

Am I being too optimistic goin for 2.8 from my 2.4 4000? Temp just running P95 is at 48degrees so getting near my limit of 50...

maybe I'll have to go for 11x250 or lower
 
well only lasted 30mins before failing this time grrrr.

trying for 2750 at the same voltage
 
It was running the mixed torture test, I had prime run the small ftt test earlier and it was fine and ran for over 2 hours before i stopped it to restart.

Upped it to 225 HTT so cpu is at 2478Mhz but when I tried to run prime on the second core it gave the error I got in the first post. However on the first core it seems to be running ok.

This is still with ram clocks at 166Mhz 2,2,4,7.
 
So far I have check to find the highest FSB that motherboard can take and the CPU. For overclocking the RAM, what is the best/easiest way to do it because this seems to be the trickiest to me.
 
3 hours and countin...

longest its made yet I'm begining to get optimistic!

2.75 @ 47 degrees, not too bad on air I think.

*crosses fingers and goes to bed*
 
Ok so my first forray into OC'ing has presented these results so far.

Clockgen found max HTT the board could handle was 285+ and the max HTT the cpu could take was 221 @ 1.35v, haven't tested with clockgen on higher voltages but have it running at 1.4v atm.

So down to the results:

CPU clock 2473Mhz
CPU multi 11x
HTT clock 225Mhz
RAM clock 166Mhz @ 177Mhz at 2,2,4,7
HTT frequency x3
Voltage 1.4v

How is this so far? What should I do now? Where should I go from here?
 
I've still got to get my ram sorted so other than using a divider to get as close to your rams stock speed I'm not sure.

My plan is to start at DDR400 and some fairly tight timings and work my way up.

If CPU stays stable @ 2750 then I can do either 11x250 which is stock for the ram or 12x230 with hopefully tighter timings than the stock 3 4 3 8.

either way this is a couple of days work.
 
Yeah - so far you've done well there Orr, i would think raising vcore by another 0.5v and setting HTT to 235 (2.58GHz core), and also don't forget to make sure u raise LDT voltage by 0.5v (if u haven't already) to maintain chipset stability as you increase the HTT.

Edit: One more thing in case you forgot - remember to disable C&Q (Cool 'n Quiet) function in the Bios - in order to prevent any unstableness, due to the fact when it drops vcore, this can damage your cpus memory controller.
 
CnQ has been disabled for a while now, ever since I had problems with the USB controller on my NF4 mobo.

Great thanks supergeek, I'll give those suggestions a try after work.
 
well mine made it to 12hours @ 2750 which I'm pretty pleased with.

I'll begin with the RAM when I get back from work.
 
ok story so far...

wanted to try for 229x12 and see if I could get the timings tighter.

tryed cas2 but wouldnt boot upped voltage to 2.8 with no change. Tryed 2.5 which happily booted. So i tryed 2.5 3 3 8 which did a cpl of passes of memtest fine. tryed 2.5 3 3 7 i got errors so I chnged back runnin memtest for 15 passes no prob.

I'd done all of this with the cpu dialled right back. So now I'm running memtest with following settings

cpu @ 229x12 1.4625v 2748mhz

ram @ DDR458 2.5 3 3 8 1T 2.8v

gonna give it about an hour then boot to windows for some benching then prime95/rthdribl overnight, although i gotta catch a pissin tram at 5:45 in the mornin :mad:
 
supergeek said:
Yeah - so far you've done well there Orr, i would think raising vcore by another 0.5v and setting HTT to 235 (2.58GHz core), and also don't forget to make sure u raise LDT voltage by 0.5v (if u haven't already) to maintain chipset stability as you increase the HTT.

Edit: One more thing in case you forgot - remember to disable C&Q (Cool 'n Quiet) function in the Bios - in order to prevent any unstableness, due to the fact when it drops vcore, this can damage your cpus memory controller.
Click to expand...

LDT voltage, is that the equivalent to Hyper Transport Voltage in my Abit BIOS? It's currently set to 1.2V.
 
Yeah, sorry i'm so used to using DFI boards that i kind of forget - so yes LDT = Hyper Transport (and 1.20v is default voltage).
 
Ok so I upped the LDT voltage by 0.05v so its at 1.25v.

HTT is still at 225 and core voltage is at 1.4v.

About the ram settings, FSB is 166 so divider of 5:6, timings of 2,2,4,7. So should I try and up the HTT or should I reduce the cpu multi? Also should I tweak the RAM settings, if so how?
 
Hmm, so I thought I'd try not using a divider so after setting the RAM to DDR400, with a cpu multi of x11 I can't push the HTT past 215. This is at a cpu voltage of 1.4v and an LDT voltage of 1.25v. I've also upped the vdimm to 2.65v.

Does this mean the limit of my mem is about 215 or so? What if I change the latencies? Suggetions?
 
I would say leave the rest of the system as set with 5:6 for the ram, and just focus on upping the HTT/FSB as far as it can go in amounts 5-10MHz, or if u want u can consider lowering the cpu multi and raising HTT even higher - just remember if possible at the first sign of unstableness, before decreasing settings always try raising voltages first.
 
Ok so I raised the vdimm to 2.7v and the core voltage to 1.45v and its stable at 215HTT which it wouldn't do before when the cpu multi was 11 and no divider was used.
 
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