The Condensed Athlon64 Overclocking Guide

Not entirely sure to be honest. I don't own socket 939 so I've just read into it a little...but you want to be careful with voltages on the winnie's since they are a smaller process, and therefore with everything crammed in together there's a better chance of blowing something out :eek: But I think you really have to try to do that. Also I read that winnie's have some kind of voltage leak, where after you bump the voltage past a certain point, it doesn't do you any good....like it disappears or something. Once again, not entirely sure since I don't have a winnie....I made this guide based on socket 754 but it works for 939 as well.

Isn't the winnie's stock voltage 1.4v? socket754's is 1.5v. Meh, I better start reading some more to figure it out since everyone is buying winnie's and I can only do so much guessing/remembering what I read awhile ago.

*off to read*

Edit: Watch out, tornado's are LOUD.

Edit2: Seems Winchester's 3000+ and 3200+ are 1.5v stock...and 3500+ is 1.4v. Now what sense does that make? :p
 
Stock Vcore on my Neo2 Plat was around 1.4, yea...

I errored out of Primr95 @ 260x9, 1.53v, HT=3 so I'm back to the stable 250...I'll just leave it here until I get my new HSF in

And boy do I know the Tornados are loud! My last machine was a 2500+ with an AX-7 & 80mm Tornado :D No fan controller either :eek: :eek:
 
Now it's time to overclock that videocard and bench that system, see how it compares :) I personally like Aquamark3 (www.aquamark3.com) and you can see the top10 ppl in this forum in Corn's ***Official [H]ard ARC Challenge*** in the stickies. I don't have nearly enough snuff to hit the 10top tho, sadly. I just ran a bench in 3dmark05 since everyone knows 3dmark, and asks what that is before anything else.
 
Sticky this.

I read all the current stickys.. then came across this from word of mouth in this thread
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1027206720#post1027206720

You can see my reaction.

This needs to go up for A64 users.. and take down the others, or consolidate another so we have some Pentium OC information.

They are honestly useless to me in comparison.

This one is quick, down and dirty while telling you what you need to know much more concisely.

PROPS to the OP.
 
Yeah, I'm glad it's helped you guys out. I also got a mention on VR-Zone's website, which I thought was pretty cool.

http://www.vr-zone.com/?t=5

VR-Zone said:
tsuehpsyde, a HardOCP Forum member has written a condensed and simple to understand guide for overclocking your Athlon 64 in this thread. Good read for those new at overclocking Athlon 64s.

:D
 
I plan on building an overclocking/gaming rig with the following hardware:

* VNF3-250
* 2800+

I need some decent TCCD memory for around $150. Any suggestions?
 
The cheapest TCCD you can get that still runs really good is the Patriot Memory, which is what I have. Just make sure you get the one with XBL

Single 512MB Stick $115.56 + $4.33 Fed-Ex (In Stock)
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-220-036&depa=0

Dual 512MB Sticks $232.20 + $4.33 Fed-Ex (In Stock)
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-220-033&depa=0

Newegg finally picked up on the Patriot memory and raised the price, go figure. It's still good stuff. But they're out of the gig set (what I got) at the moment. OCZ Platinum Rev. 2 (i believe) has TCCD, and G-Skill's high speed memory is TCCD.

Some linkage to a thread at XS which listed TCCD:
http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=43659

Edit: 10 mins later, the dual-channel kit came back in stock, go figure.
 
I've got this bookmarked now but think it would be useful as a sticky for other newcomers to the CPU overclocking scene.

I can get less than an extra 15Mhz out of my RAM without fiddling on with the voltages which I'm not feeling up to experimenting with just yet. I might just have to invest in some better stuff...

Additionally I found my Doom 3 benchmarks had plummeted to 42fps at 1024x768! What a tit I felt when I realised I'd set my multiplier to x4. Running at 800Mhz fair brought back memories of the bad old days.
 
Yeah, ValueRAM from Kingston isn't exactly noted for extreme overdclocks :D But I did get mine up to 223MHz error-free, so it wasn't too bad for cheap-o PC3200, but I think the stock timings of 3-3-3-8 help on that area.

Also, on voltages, I've noticed that in an extremely unstable clock on my memory where it fails @ 1 minute in prime, I added .1v to 2.8v and it was stable for 6 mins, but still ended up failing. Like I said in the manual, voltages are trial and error, unlike CPU's where voltage always helps. Just remember that too much voltage to your memory can fry your CPU's memory controller since it's embedded. But in order to do that, you'd have to use OCZ's Ram Booster, or some [H]ard voltmod-age....available voltages by default are probably not going to be able to do that much damage. All the chips I've seen fried so far were 3.6v, much higher than the highest stock on most boards of 2.85v.
 
It's good to know about voltage and the memory controller. I've got some OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev 2 on its way and it takes up to 2.9v under the warranty. Sounds like I'll be pretty safe if I bump it right up to the max.


With an incoming XP-120 and 125CFM YS-Tech fan (40db :( ) I should be ready to see how far I can push it.
 
I havn't burnt anything up, but I've read about people frying Athlona64's using either a voltmod or RamBooster, so I figured it was worth noting....but you really have to try to mess that up :p
 
Is it true that if you lower your V-link that you can o/c higher somehow? I have some Corsair TwinX pc3200(2x512mb kit) platimum edition ram and the stock timings on it are 3-3-3-8 and i can get my fsb up to 245mhz but it crashes @ 250. Is that good? I''ve managed to get my 3200+ winnie to go up to 2400mhz and rock solid stable. Should i try and loosen the timmings, lower my HTT and try for more? Right now @ 2400mhz ive never seen it go higher than 46C on full load and i've tried SuperPi, Prime95, CPU Burn-in, and rthbribl. Could you explain what the heck HTT is, im having trouble figuring out what it does and how it works. thanks.
 
Your HTT (that's the multiplier) should be set at 4x, and if you reach 250 or higher you should drop it to 3x, as yout HTT should never go above 1000. 245MHz on your memory's stock timings 1:1 is very nice indeed, assuming it's 3-3-3-8 timings are SPD @ DDR400. But I thought Platinum Editions came with lower timings? Either way, looks good...just get to the highest clock you can before it crashes, and run memtest overnight to make sure the memory like your overclock, then the next night run Prime95's Small FFT's to make sure your CPU likes the overclock as well. If you get past both, I'd say you're set to go.
 
i could use dividers and leave my memory @ 245mhz. but lets say i can get my fsb to run @ 260mhz or higher, should i lower my HT? or leave it @ 4x since my mem is still running @ 245?
 
Memory dividers don't affect the HT speed, so you should probably lower your HT mult. to 3.
 
Hello, I have read your post and am currently working on testing my system for stability (Prime95). I have a Giga-byte K8NS Ultra with nForce 3 250 chipset that has something called "T2". It's currently enabled, is this ok to do or should I disable it? I have not messed with it but was wondering about it.

Also, I have been trying to find some program that will allow me to monitor my temps from windows. I have run Everest, MBM5 and a couple of other programs and they all show my CPU temp as 2 degrees Celcius. Have you heard about this at all?

Finally, I am still confused about messing with the memory timings.

I am currently running my mem at 2.5-4-3-8. Do I need to go into my BIOS and change the 8 first, test, then change the 3, test, then chage the 4 etc.?

Any help you can give me will be appreciated.

Thanks,

MidniteOwlLV
 
Well, been messing with this thing for the past 18 hours and here's wher I ended up at:

http://members.cox.net/midniteowl/2416

Current Clock Speed: 2416MHz
Current HTT: 268.5
Current Mem: 219.7MHz Divider set at 166 2.0-3-3-7
Voltages: CPU-1.65, Mem-2.82,
Temps: 49c and holding under full load (Prime95)
Cooling: Stock Heatsink and a whole bunch of Case Fans (5)!!! :eek:

I just started testing it for stability and had to bring the overclock down from 270MHz to 268MHz because I ran into the ".5 and .4" error. While I'm Writing this it's already gone through it's second test and I passed with no errors *crosses fingers :D *. I know that you don't recomend raising voltages, but I had to do it cause I know it's my Memory that's keeping me from going further with this overclock. I don't think that I need to raise my CPU voltage but I just wanted to be safe with this setting. Hopefully it holds *Crosses Toes :D *.

You have helped me immensely and I am very gratefull.

Thank you very much,

MidniteOwlLV
 
Well I'm glad I was able to help ya out ;)

Just to clarify the HTT multiplier (the HTT part that has like 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, and even possibly half multi's in there) you take your FSB (which is also called HT, but FSB we say for the sake of keeping it straight) and MULTIPLY it by the HTT....and you want to keep it under 1000. Stock you have 200MHz FSB and a 5x HTT....so that's 1000MHz....drop it to 4x if you're going to overclock....hit 250MHz for ur FSB? drop to 3x if you wanna go any higher....then after that you gotta hit 333MHz to need to drop the Multi to 2x.

As far as your T2 setting, I'm assuming that's actually 2T....which is a memory timing setting....between 2T and 1T, you want 1T....much faster for your memory.

Hope that cleared it up for some people....sorry I havn't been as active as I usually am to help out, been working alot and setting up a website/server group.
 
:eek: *wants that FSB* lol

I want to upgrade my CPU/Motherboard so bad, but I'm holding back until dual-cores are out, because if I don't I know I'll be sad.

Oh, and this manual was added to the sticky, so no real need to update ;) Of course, none of the new members ever read stickies....I think they believe reading a stickie may cause cancer.
 
tsuehpsyde said:
:eek: *wants that FSB* lol

I want to upgrade my CPU/Motherboard so bad, but I'm holding back until dual-cores are out, because if I don't I know I'll be sad.

Oh, and this manual was added to the sticky, so no real need to update ;) Of course, none of the new members ever read stickies....I think they believe reading a stickie may cause cancer.
I haven't read any way to get around it, but my board's default limit is 456HT. I can do 456x5, but it goes to show that FSB/HT don't mean much when you're ram isn't 1:1. My ram only does 310mhz 2.5-3-3-8 1T on 2.7v, so I do a divider to something around 3/4 of 456. My mem does 8000MB/s in sandra no prob. As you can see here, 564HT is possible.

Btw, AMD has openly announced that dual-core will not replace the A64-FX series as the high-end processors. Intel is really pushing for dual-core (concerned about Cell technology?), however the speed they showed off was only 3.2ghz or something; not impressive, and is said to run games slower than a single 3.2ghz. On the good side, if you still want them for increased productivity, AMDs motherboards should be compatible with dual-core procs. The Venice core, which has been shown to do 3ghz on air, was said to have compatibility errors, but a simple BIOS flash can fix that. Intel, however, will be releasing some 95x or whatever chipsets to support dual-core.

If you're looking to play games at the max, hold off on the processor. The G70 and R520 support not only fp32 and PS3.0, but support WFG, which is Longhorn's integration of the next best thing since DirectX. The jump from DX9 to WFG 1.0 will be as drastic as the jump from DX4 to DX7. Keep in mind that the Unreal 3 engine will support Pixel Shader 2.0b/3.0, x64-64, multi-thread capabilities, and WFG 1.0. What we've seen of the Unreal 3 engine so far is merely the max of DX9, wait until you see the engine using WFG 1.0!;)
 
Hmm, still a dual-core venice @ 3GHz on air sounds nice, seeing as how it's SSoI like the FX series, without the cost (I hope). I'm aiming for something on good air-cooling or good water-cooling (if I get brave enough). The system I have now isn't bad at all, it's more CPU-bound than anything on a single-channel memory clawhammer, that stretches to pull 2.5GHz on a bench. And clock-for-clock, the winnie's beat out claws, let alone the venice.

Seems to me a dual-core venice would be > FX-55 if you could get it to comperable speeds. But, if that's not the case I'll just go FX-55 or whatever the newest make is. But, I'm holding out for the next big jump (R520, WFG, that stuff) before I upgrade.....upgrading now for me is kind of a tweener position and I probably wouldn't be too excited. I just built this thing back in August, so it's only 6 months old, with the GPU being ~4 months old.

Now G70, wth is that? :p Is that nVidia's offering? Because I've heard nothing but R520 this and R520 that. I may personally try out ATi next round because of the fact that ATi owns in benchmarks, and my next machine is probably going to be built specifically for benching, or at the very least with benchmarking in mind as it's second use. I also am dying to see what my memory can do, the Patriot TCCD w/ XBL. My current board starts bitching after 240MHz, and it doesn't matter what multiplier I use on the CPU, what HT multi is set, or what timings I use on the memory. Oh well, I'll just (try to) save my money and build my next rig once all the new tech washes out and we see where the chips fall.
 
tsuehpsyde said:
Hmm, still a dual-core venice @ 3GHz on air sounds nice, seeing as how it's SSoI like the FX series,
Venice isn't dual-core, Toledo is.

33275A-0_roadmap.gif
 
Oops, got them mixed up. Sorry :p And why does that roadmap say SOI for everything, when the FX already have the SSOI, which is supposed to be on all the new cores?
 
I have been reading alot of guides and tips on OC'ing and seem to understand your guide well enough to give it a whirl.
System;
amd64 32+
GA-K8NS Pro MB. http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Motherboard/Products/Products_GA-K8NS Pro.htm
2x512 of PC4000 2.5-3-3-7 http://www.buffalotech.com/products/product-firestix.php
Antec 550W Power Supply, Model "TRUE550" -
2x80GB. Seagate Satas(raid0)
PNY6800 not OC'd
Thermaltake Venus7+ Cpu heatsink&fan
4x80mm Zalman ZM-F1 case fans
Arctic Cooling NV Silencer

Started out with finding what speed my memory would run at with no changes.
used NV clockgen to test speeds. 227.18MHz was limit. decided on 225.00MHz as good for memtest86 session no errors
went into bios set;
multi raised to 11
HTT to 205MHz
AGP locked at 66
CPU Vcore normal(1.500V)
Started increasing HTT at 5MHz increments and rebooted and ran some tests
got to 218MHz Sissandra read it at 2.4GHz and shortly after that BSOD! ended up stable and running well at
Multi 11
HTT 216
AGP 66
Cpu Vcore norma(1.500V)
Ran Memtest86,SuperPI and Prime95 torture test
Sissandra reading it at 2.38GHz.

well am I on the right path? Had a goal of 2.4GHz. So close any suggestions on how to get to the 2.4GHz mark
as you can see I have some real strong air cooling capabilities.
Thank's
Catkicker
 
Well, once you get BSOD, that means it's erroring out. You need to up your voltage to probably get to 2.4GHz (maybe try 1.55v or 1.6v). Be sure to try out Prime95 to see if your CPU is actually stable. Just because you're in windows doesn't mean it's perfectly accurate. But since you have a good heatsink, I say add it some voltage. 1.6v should get it there, but try 1.55v first....never use more voltage than neccessary, brings extra heat for no reason.
 
Well 2.4GHz and prime95 running. Well first off I set my mem speed to auto in the bios
then started back up to the 2.4GHZ goal it would boot but BSOD when I tried any tests increased Vcore to 1.55V reboot same increase to 1.6V
ran SuperPi 34m 51s [32] SuperPi sse2 33m 40s [32]
running prime 95 torture test will let you know in about another 3 hours.

temps looking good :)
 
tsuehpsyde said:
:eek: *wants that FSB* lol
.I think they believe reading a stickie may cause cancer.

thats the leading cause of death to people that overclock according to the heath department.
 
lol, well not so much overclockers as "new" overclockers ;)

And I think I've decided to wait for R520/G70 and FX-57 to decide what I'm going to do....there's rumor a new core might come out for socket 754 and in that event I might sell my claw (or keep it as a backup and rape the new CPU :D) and get the Turion chip that will be based on the Venice core....if it comes out that is.

We'll have to see....and dang, I thought this thread just kinda sunk into the depths of the forums? :p Glad to see a resurrection.
 
my memory maxes out @ 247mhz 3-3-3-5, wich gives my 3200+(939 winnie) a speed of 2470mhz. but my cpu can handle 2550mhz with stock voltage (i havent tested much with higher voltage). would using a ram divider and bringning up my cpu to 2550mhz give me worst performance than leaving my memory @ 1:1 and cpu @ 2470mhz?
 
Best way to find out is to try it and see what happens. Sometimes clock speed makes up for the divider.
 
ok, herre is a question for you A64 oc'ers out there.

im begging to suspect you sometimes need more voltage just to make hte mem controller work stably. lemme explain:

before i got my super duper ram, i ran 250x10 for 2.5ghz on my 3200+, but since i had regualr performance ram i hadd to run that mem on a divider, the 166, resulting in a mem frequency of 208 (@ like 2-3-3-10). anyways, all that was stable by using 1.375 x 5% VID which is about 1.44 me thinks.

stable as a rock. 24 hr passing everything. then i got my new bh5 memory. now im on a neo2 plat so i couldnt push much voltage yet so i put it in , dropped the timings to 2-3-2-10 @ 2.85v (board max) and off course it was faster. anyways, i purchased a ddr booster, this is where it got interesting:

dropped the booster in, wanted to just pump the volts and get going. im pretty sure i put the booster in correctly and the voltage showed up right (in bios @ 2.6 to get the 2-2-2 timing) and then set the booster to like 3.4v and the divider back to 200. man that shit would boot and all but have probs, so im like, OOOHHHHKK lets do it properly.

dropped htt back to 210. runnin fine somewhat, basically i figure this is a burn in. do that a few days, now i bumped the htt to 220. and prime95 blend test will alwasy stop within the first 5 hours.

so here is what im asking: is it now that im running 1:1, even tho my 2.5ghz was stable before, i am now going to have to push more volts to the cpu just to get it to run 1:1 and make the mem controller stable? and note well, this is not even at 250htt where i was before, this is at 220.

sigh, what is happenin!
 
(cf)Eclipse said:
rolio, i've suspected that a few times myself, but it seems that it always comes down to some obscure timing

and by obscure you mean one of the memory timings not included in the main 4? or supn else? :O
 
well i think i got it. the memory must be getting too hot, 3.4 is too much for the ram in the way its setup on this board/in my system. first of all dual channel has the ram in the slots right next to each other so essentially, the heatspreaders touch each other. though my xp90 hangs over top, i dont think the airflow get get on enough surface area since they are packed in tight.

anyhoo, did a bunch of tests for just ram alone from this guide and eclipse's and that pretty much tipped me off that the lack of cooling was doing it. backed it down to 3v (which i cant boot @ 250 anyhoo) and decided it would be fine in the meantime to run at a divider. i guess the next step is to figure out what my best balance of speed up to 3v is. i think i should be able to get up to at least 220 right?

so now the cpu is at 260x10 with the ram at about 217


cant believe the heat got me. after all this choosing of this ram and the ddr booster. oh well.
 
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