Need help with my Newcastle OC!!

g33zy

g33zy

Goes Down Easy
Joined
Apr 19, 2005
Messages
3,227
Basically, this NewCastle is my first overclock. I have been reading and reading and reading around in the [H] and tweaking as much as I can to try getting this to run properly.

Right now I have it running at whats in my sig 230 * 10.5 and had to bump to 1.525 to get it to run properly. I can run Prime95 but error out pretty quickly (like 20-35 mins) also I get random crashes sometimes after a few exhilerating rounds of HALO. I cannot figure this out, and that is why I am asking for help the [H]ardest Overclockers EVAR!

My goal is a stable 2.4 (not much i know) and its cooled by the Zalman.

Im still pretty lost in the whole memory deal so maybe thats my problem. I haven't changed anything on the memory except the CAS from 3 to 2.5. The memory is a 1GB stick of OCZ PerformanceSeries. Maybe I have to adjust the memory divider or the ratio's that I have seen people talking about but i'm kinda lost when it comes to that so please help!
 
A couple of quick things:

* provide more info on your system, i.e. mobo, power supply,...

* with your FSB at 230, you need to lower your HTT multiplier to 4x from 5x.

* with 230*10.5 you could very well need more vcore. I have a newcastle 3500 and need no extra voltage below 2.4GHz but lots of extra voltage above.

* 30 minutes prime without errors is not enough to garantee stability. You need to run it at least 6-12 hours.

* check your CPU temperatures, are they below 55-60C after 30 minutes prime 95 "large FFT. A zalman should be OK for this provided you have a case with decent airflow.

* you basically have zero information on the reliability of your memory at these settings. You can check those a couple of ways. Two ways are: 1) memtest86, search online for this and run for 12 hours, 2) prime "blend" test, 6-12 hours.

As a general advice, there are too many variables at play to simply do trial-and-error overclocking. If it doesn't work it's hard to know which component is the culprit. Therefore, generally the best procedure is to find out the maximum speeds of the individual components (CPU, ram, mobo) first and only then try to find the best combination that gives you maximum total system speed. At all times do you need to keep an eye on your CPU temperature using "speedfan" or the like.

If you are overclocking for the fun of it then you probably want to use 3dmark03 or 3dmark05 as a benchmark for speed, although the latter is mostly determined by your graphics card. If your objective is to have faster gameplay, then you're better off using your favorite game as a benchmark tool for frames per second since improvements in 3dmark05 do not always mean faster gameplay.

There are some excellent guides (e.g. from cfEclipse) on this forum that explain all this in details but I don't have the link here. I'm sure others will jump in soon and provide you with that link. Have fun!
 
z-zar said:
A couple of quick things:

* provide more info on your system, i.e. mobo, power supply,...

* with your FSB at 230, you need to lower your HTT multiplier to 4x from 5x.

* with 230*10.5 you could very well need more vcore. I have a newcastle 3500 and need no extra voltage below 2.4GHz but lots of extra voltage above.

* 30 minutes prime without errors is not enough to garantee stability. You need to run it at least 6-12 hours.

* check your CPU temperatures, are they below 55-60C after 30 minutes prime 95 "large FFT. A zalman should be OK for this provided you have a case with decent airflow.

* you basically have zero information on the reliability of your memory at these settings. You can check those a couple of ways. Two ways are: 1) memtest86, search online for this and run for 12 hours, 2) prime "blend" test, 6-12 hours.

As a general advice, there are too many variables at play to simply do trial-and-error overclocking. If it doesn't work it's hard to know which component is the culprit. Therefore, generally the best procedure is to find out the maximum speeds of the individual components (CPU, ram, mobo) first and only then try to find the best combination that gives you maximum total system speed. At all times do you need to keep an eye on your CPU temperature using "speedfan" or the like.

If you are overclocking for the fun of it then you probably want to use 3dmark03 or 3dmark05 as a benchmark for speed, although the latter is mostly determined by your graphics card. If your objective is to have faster gameplay, then you're better off using your favorite game as a benchmark tool for frames per second since improvements in 3dmark05 do not always mean faster gameplay.

There are some excellent guides (e.g. from cfEclipse) on this forum that explain all this in details but I don't have the link here. I'm sure others will jump in soon and provide you with that link. Have fun!
Click to expand...
Thx 4 teh help.....ok here we go

*Mobo is DFI Lanparty UT 250GB nF3, PSU is Antec TruBlue 480

*The temps usually only go to ~44 under load

*I'll try lowering the HTT mult, sounds reasonable

*I can only get vcore up one more notch, up to 1.550, stock was 1.500 i raised up to 1.525 so up again?

*I've read that 30 mins of prime95 is unstable, thats why I want to find out what I can do to get it stable

*I monitor the temps of the cpu and gpu 24-7 'cause I have dual monitors so i can see what it is when playing games and when running 3Dmark, since I mentioned 3Dmark03, im scoring like ~12,200ish and like ~6,000ish in 05 which im pretty happy with, except its at the unstable cpu clock

*I have memtest as a bios option so I can run it there but wondering, should I try it at different timings each time for 6-12 hours? or run it at stock for that time and THEN try changing it and running it again?

*I read around the forums and have been trying to determine what the top speed are individually and thought i found them but alas, 'twas unstable :(
 
well one thing for sure: you shouldnt be runnin the half stepped multi on the cpu. drop it to 10 or run it at 11

the htt multi is a big deal to make sure its no the culprit cuz yu could run it at 3x and stock and not see any difference so like me, from 200 - 250 i run the 4x multi, and from 250 up to 300 i rn the 3x multi. however, sicne you are s754, im not sure if you have a 5x defualt multi soooo i say you just drop it down 1 below where it is at now.

i say raise the ram voltage to make sure its all good there.

again with the half multi, cuz they dont really exists, half multis force OC your ram more than you planned which is why i say dont use em.

try those things first
 
I'm currently running stable 2.4GHz. @
FSB Freq. 240
LDT/FSB Freq. Ratio x3
CPU/FSB Freq. Ratio x10.0
cool&quiet diabled
CPU VID Control 1.350
CPU VID Special control 113%
mem settings on auto except for
2-3-2-5 DDR400 1T 2.8 V.
Divider 166
CPC enabled
I'm also running TicTac 4-15 bios

Temps 32 degreesC. idle 40 degressC. prime95 in place larege FFT's

I have reached 2.5GHz. stable But voltage is a bit to much for every day gaming and use

Might stop by DFI's forums and take a look at the OC'ing data base
http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/index.php?s=
 
ok so after a looong night of working on this this is whats up

Like I said the goal is 2.4 stable. So I reset the CMOS and got crackin

I was using catkicker's advice and I checked the DFI forums and used it along with eclipse's guide. In trying to find the max for my cpu these were my results (all at 3xHTT and Ram at 100 1/02)

218*11 @ 1.50 V
220*11 @ 1.525 V
223*11 @ 1.550 V

then I changed the multi and got these:

238*10 @ 1.500 V
240*10 @ 1.525 V
245*10 @ 1.550 V

none of the temps went over 50C

basically it looks like 240*10 @ 1.550 is working out the best so thats probably what im gonna use.

Then on to the RAM.....I turned the cpu mult down to 7, left the HTT at 3x, turned the RAM up to 200Mhz (1/01), and left cpu voltage at 1.550 then started memtest
tested fine overnight @ 3-3-3-8
Then tried 2-3-3-8 and when I left for work it was going strong.
What would be the next timing I should test? 2-2-3-8?

just wondering if I am doing this stuff correctly and when I find the tightest settings the RAM can run at should I be able to leave it there and put the cpu at max too?

Also I was wondering, the CPU results that I got were the points that Prime95 failed, do I have the wrong values? Should they all be backed off a few MHz?

thx for da input ppl
 
ok so lemme get this straight:

218*11 @ 1.50 V
220*11 @ 1.525 V
223*11 @ 1.550 V

then I changed the multi and got these:

238*10 @ 1.500 V
240*10 @ 1.525 V
245*10 @ 1.550 V

none of the temps went over 50C
Click to expand...

at these settings your prime FAILED? if so, i would say pump a tad bit more voltage in them. or like you said if you are now going at 240*10 @ 1.55 then that works. good voltage to be using and good settings.

as for your ram, you said you backed down the cpu multi but brought the ram back to 1:1 ratio? if so you memtested overnight your ram at 240mhz. it aint that necessary, plsu im not sure if your ram can run tight timings AND in sync with the htt aat the same time. so yea it passes at 3-3-3-8 but thats pretty loose. what im saying is hopefully if it passes when yu get home from work at 2-3-3-8, i would say stop there for now and see if you can get prime stable with the cpu multi at 10 AND the htt at 240 AND the ram sttings as is, cuz it might not at which point you have an easy fall back:
the best thing about a 240 htt is that when you use the 166 divider, it makes the ram run at stock. therefore your cpu will be 240*10 and your ram will be on the divider making it 200*2-3-3-8 which should be stable then.

jumping ahead a bit: find out what your stock spd ram settings should be (from ocz site maybe) and say if the ram stock @ 200fsb is like 2.5-4-4-8 for instance, maybe you could get it to run at 200fsb with more voltage down to 2-3-3-8 like you said. anyhoo mostly you wanna have the cas latency at 2 or 2.5 no higher aaaaaaand either 3's at most for hte rest. you cna set the trcp or whaddeva to 10.
 
also to understand about how the htt and cpu multi and mmemory dividers work on athlon64's, read this page of anand's new A64 article.
 
Just to update on the situation:

Stability HAS been achieved!!

Right now im running stable @ 240*10 @ 1.550V with the ram @ 166!

Very happy with myself I must say :)

So that is now set in stone....as for the video card oc, its just going to be a slight one since I get a wierd freeze if its clocked too high. The game doesn't crash nor is there any artifacting but it just freezes for about 10 seconds. The game is still running as usually I have an idea of a safe place to hide until it comes back. It would almost be like getting double flashed in CounterStrike, sometimes you can get away/hide sometimes you die.

Usually the card is running pretty hot @ about 80C whether its clocked at stock 350/1000 or my usual oc of 400/1150 so I don't THINK its a heat issue but I may be wrong.

All that said its running alright so i'll either keep @ stock or find a VERY VERY good cooling solution.
 
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