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Overclocking San Diego

J

jermaink

n00b
Joined
Feb 16, 2005
Messages
22
I've never done overclocking before, and I've got a couple of questions.

Besides the locked multiplyer, what is the difference, say, between overclocking a 3700+ and a FX-57. I think that obviously, the FX-57 would be binned for better quality parts, but how much of a differnce does this make.

Also, why do people use lower CPU multiplyers when they're overclocking. Wouldn't you rather have a setup of 11x255 (2.805) v something like 10x280? Is it that stability becomes a problem at higher multiplyers? (and if so, why).

Feel free to rant if you want.
 
Don't have much of an opinion on the high-end processors, but lower multipliers are usually chosen because it corresponds to a higher HTT. The higher the HTT, the higher the RAM speed (usually) and the better your system performs in...well, pretty much everything. Computers love memory bandwidth.
 
<rant> i hate getting up this early in the morning to go swim in the cold </rant>

read the a64 oc sticky ;)
it also explains partially why people lower the divider (ram that can do the speed 1:1 with a lower divider, basically)
 
Ah k, I'll have a look.

But don't computers love higher CPU clock speeds (esp. with an Athlon 64) more than memory bandwidth?
 
Jupp but when U are CPU limited at 2400 its better to be at 9*260 then 10*240...
 
jermaink said:
But don't computers love higher CPU clock speeds (esp. with an Athlon 64) more than memory bandwidth?
Click to expand...
*cough*

i haven't finished my part yet.. but this should demonstrate that memory speed is basically worthless for a64's
 
So am I right to think that the only reason you would run say 10x250 over 11x250, is that you don't have the cooling to keep the CPU cool?
 
jermaink said:
So am I right to think that the only reason you would run say 10x250 over 11x250, is that you don't have the cooling to keep the CPU cool?
Click to expand...

You wouldn't run 10x250 vs 11x250. You would run 10x275 vs 11x250 and the only reason you would do that is to overclock your memory higher if its capable of running it. Memory bandwidth will have a small impact on performance so its always good to push each component to its limits to get the best performance but CPU speed is the only thing that really matters.
 
burningrave101 said:
You would run 10x275 vs 11x250 and the only reason you would do that is to overclock your memory higher if its capable of running it. Memory bandwidth will have a small impact on performance so its always good to push each component to its limits to get the best performance but CPU speed is the only thing that really matters.
Click to expand...
yup, this is true. if you can, you might as well, but it's not worth upgrading ram to something that cost more than $100 per gb if you don't already own it.

and for my testing, i used 250x11 and 229x12 to keep cpu speed constant (within 4mhz at least :p)
 
(cf)Eclipse said:
yup, this is true. if you can, you might as well, but it's not worth upgrading ram to something that cost more than $100 per gb if you don't already own it.

and for my testing, i used 250x11 and 229x12 to keep cpu speed constant (within 4mhz at least :p)
Click to expand...

I dont know about $100 per GB. Your pretty limited on choices in that price range. About the only good options are the TwinMOS Speed Premium and OCZ Value VX and the results can be more hit and miss with both of those. I'd prefer spending around $150 for a little higher quality like OCZ Gold or G.Skill GH. The OCZ Gold is warrantied up to around 3.2V and the G.Skill is 2.9V or higher.
 
that's my point though, it doesn't matter if it's hit or miss.. as it won't effect performance unless you're benching.
also, crucial value ram falls into that price range (for the 512mb stick)
 
But I mean you would run 11x250 vs 12*250 and 11*275 v 10*275 because you would not be able to keep the CPU cool?

I plan to use Mushkin Redline XP4000, which can get up to DDR540 with a San Diego 3700+ (11x multiplier). So you would think it better to go for 10x270 rather than 11x245 if I was aiming for 2.7 Ghz.

Edit: The reason for using Mushkin Redline RAM is that I'm in Australia, and Monarchcomputers is one of the few US retailers which ships to Aus. And the Mushkin is $191 there, and it beat the Gold VX4000 purely cause it cost $235 there.
 
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