The Condensed Athlon64 Overclocking Guide

tsuehpsyde

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Oct 22, 2004
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First and foremost, I am not responsible for any damages done to your equipment by following this guide. By reading this guide, you assume all liability for your actions, and understand that overclocking can decrease the lifespan of equipment, can void the warrenty on your computer's components, and could potentionally destroy components. Now, that aside....

I've noticed a recent spike in new forum members, all asking the same question: "How do I overclock my Athlon64?" Now, there is already a sticky that explains this, but the problem anymore is people have forgotten how to read, or just don't have time (myself being more on the time-restricted side). Going from overclocking anything to an Athlon64 is a bit of a jump, so I'm going to try to streamline the process as much as possible. This guide assumes you know at least a little bit about OCing to get the job done. But, if you're new to overclocking, this is still a good start.

Step #1:
Find out how fast your memory can go


Most people don't realise this, but this is the key to your overclocking success. In order to find this, you will have to slow down your CPU, so we are completly sure your CPU isn't what's causing any problems. To do this, drop your multiplier down 2 spots from wherever it is stock. Some might argue you only need to drop your multiplier down one spot, which will more than likely work just as well, but 2 spots assures the CPU is not being pushed too far. Also, if you can set your PCI/AGP in the bios, set 33/66, respectively. With an MSI board, go ahead and set the AGP to 67 to activate the lock. Find your HTT multiplier (should have options from 2x up to 5x (socket 754 only has up to 4x max I believe)), and make sure it's at 4x. Also, disable Cool 'N Quiet if it's enabled....for some reason, it causes strange abnormalities when overclocking. Keep the FSB in the bios @ 200MHz and boot into windows.

With MSI, you can use CoreCell's auto overclock feature and let it raise the memory speed until windows locks up (open up corecell, press the left red arrow so a menu pops up, click on FSB, then press auto and let it go). Make sure you are loading your machine while doing so, as it gives you a better idea. If you do not have an MSI board, use whatever comes with your motherboard that can do about the same function. If you are unaware if you have that, go ahead and get ClockGen. Find which one matches your chipset, and download. Tell it to get the values, and simply slide the memory bar over 5MHz at a time until you get a lockup (each 5MHz, make sure to apply the new clocks). Reboot your computer on lock-up, and download Memtest86. Download the newest version and either burn it to CD if you don't have a floppy drive, or copy it to a floppy (get the "Pre-Compiled Memtest86 installable from Windows and DOS"). Reboot again, and go into the bios.

Take the last memory speed before it crashed (say it crashed at 230MHz, but ran fine at 225MHz in clockgen, then use 225...MSI CoreCell or something similar would give you a more specific #, such as 227 for example would run fine, but 228 crashed) and set that # (or a little lower if you're unsure) into your BIOS for FSB. Leave the mutliplier alone. Now, reboot and insert either the CD or floppy and memtest should boot. Let it run one pass (all tests, takes about 20 mins or so for one pass), and see if you get any errors. Errors would be BIG UGLY RED LINES across the bottom. If you get any, or it locks up for any reason, reboot, and lower your FSB in the bios by one or two MHz. If you get through the first pass with no errors, feel free to add 1 MHz incriments and repeat the test until you find errors or issues like lockups. You have officially found the ceiling of your memory when you have no errors.

Step #2:
Find out how fast your processor can go


Now comes the fun part. Reboot back into the bios, set your multilplier back up to where it should be, and put your FSB at 205FSB. Reboot, and see if everything works fine (gaming is a great way to find this out). If after about 20 mins it's completely stable, go for it again, adding more FSB (try 5MHz at a time) until you get a BSOD on windows load, it locks up, or you reach the ceiling of your memory. Check your motherboard on how to clear your BIOS settings so you can boot your computer back up (usually a jumper you have to move) in the event your computer refuses to start. Also, keep a close eye on your CPU temps. Alot of people dog motherboards' built-in sensors, but they are better than nothing. Don't let your load temps go over 60C. If they do, drop your MHz in the FSB down until it goes lower. Once you find a speed that doesn't exceed 60C in temp under load (try using rthdribl so you get your videocard warmed up too), reboot your computer back to memtest, and let it run overnight. If you have no errors, then you're done! Pretty simple, eh? ;) Also remember, load your graphics card while trying to find your temps. I recommend rthdribl (google it). Your videocard warms up, and therefore your case warms up, so therefore once again, your CPU temps go up higher. On the stock cooler I would load at 55C with SuperPI or something to that nature, but rthdribl would load me up to 59C....noticable difference. And that's about it. Just remember, the lower the CPU is rated at (3000+ versus 3500+), the more headroom it has for overclocking (as in you can ADD more MHz, not get more....the 3200+ runs @ 2.0GHz stock, while the 3500+ runs 2.2GHz...they both can probably hit 2.4GHz no problem, but that's 400MHz headroom on the 3200+ and only 200MHz on the 3500+, see the difference?). Also remember, overclocking is different for EACH piece of hardware, so NO RESULTS ARE GUARENTEED.

Memory Timings (mainly for TCCD memory)

I'm not an expert on timings, so please correct me if I messed anything up...still learning alot into this, so vision-impared leading the blind on this one.

This is mainly for those of you who bought this magical "TCCD" memory that overclocks really well. Perhaps you've tried overclocking it before to less than ideal overclocks (what the hell, 205MHz? this is CRAP). The thing with TCCD is, it SPD's to 200MHz @ 2-2-2-5. Confused yet? Hold on, I'm going to try and explain. SPD is what the company who made your memory (Corsair, Kingston, OCZ, etc.) says it should run at running default speed. TCCD chips are fast, so they can run the lowest timings A64's chipsets let you specifiy, which is 2-2-2-5 (more on those #'s in a second). Now, each of those numbers stands for clock cycles (like same clock's your adding to in order to OVERclock, which make up your GHz on your CPU). Basically, you can't just reach into the memory whenever you want, you have to wait until it's ready for you, and that's where timings come into play. Now, the lower the #'s, the more demanding you are on the memory, so you lose the ability to overclock. The timings USUALLY stand for CAS-CAS to RAS-RAS-tRAS (sometimes there's in a different order, but the biggest # is always tRAS, while the lowest is always CAS). Now, I've read and understand what they mean, but trust me, it's REALLY confusing. Just get used to their names, since you'll hear people talking about them....read into them if you're curious.

So now you realise (or I hope anyway) that TCCD doesn't come out of the box, ready to overclock. Now you need to loosen the timings...but all those #'s, all those possibilities to change stuff, how's one to choose?!?!? I'll try to help. Here's the order I PERSONALLY have come up with that, once you bring the # up, has the most impact on bringing up your overclock, assuming the order is CAS-CAS to RAS-RAS-tRAS

4-2-3-1

Where #1 is the first you'd loosen up, then #2, then #3, then #4, and you may have to loosen say 2 and 3 2x before you loosen #4 once. Confusing yes, so I'll give you a cheat-sheet that works for my memory, and should work for most TCCD.

PC3200 (400MHz) 2-2-2-5-1T 2.6-2.7v
PC3500 (436MHz) 2-3-3-6-1T 2.6-2.7v
PC3700 (466MHz) 2-3-3-6-1T 2.7-2.8v
PC4000 (500MHz) 2.5-3-3-7-1T 2.75-2.85v
PC4200 (533MHz) 3-4-4-8-1T 2.85-2.95v

I recommend for a first-time overclocker, to go with the 2nd to last one, 2.5-3-3-7. To change these timings, go under DRAM settings in your BIOS wherever that is (it's the top-most option on MSI board's in the Cell Menu). Alot of people will tell you to give memory more voltage to help overclocks with TCCD and non-TCCD, but I personally think this is from a BH5-era mentality....My memory personally gets less stable with more power, and seems very happy @ 2.7v, including 500MHz where it says I should have at least 2.75v.

Memory Dividers

Sometimes, when on a budget, you get memory that can't exactly overclock the best. In this event, you can set a divider so the memory runs slower than the FSB you set. You can tell the CPU you're running the FSB as 240MHz, but your memory only runs at 200MHz. In order to set a divider, go into your BIOS, and you can specify for memory's speed. The options should be:

100MHz
133MHz
166MHz
200MHz
Auto

You may not always see 100MHz, but at least the other 4 should be there. By default, it'll more than likely be on Auto. Now you may be thinking "Wait a minute, my memory is 400MHz!" Well these are the actual clocks of your memory, and since it's DDR (Double Data Rate) It's 2x the speed listed here, a.k.a. 200MHz. By default, it should be set at Auto. Don't worry about the 200MHz settings, auto does that by itself. You'll be using 100, 133, and 166 for dividers. The dividers give you the following results...

100MHz = 1:2 (memory runs 1/2 the speed you set the FSB as, so 400Mhz FSB = 200MHz memory)
133MHz = 2:3 (memory runs 2/3rd the speed you set the FSB as, so 300MHz FSB = 200MHz memory)
166MHz = 5:6 (memory runs 5/6th the speed you set the FSB as, so 240MHz FSB = 200MHz memory)

So, if your memory's ceiling is limiting your overclock, and you can use a divider to get the CPU running faster...the only problem is, this doesn't always give better performance, because the CPU can't access the memory at all times, so sometimes it has to wait on the memory. The speeds I listed with the dividers are NOT the speeds you have to or should run, they just show you how high you have to go to reach the memory's stock setting. You can use any FSB with any divider...but use the smallest divider possible if you must use one (like 5:6). Also, you can loosen memory timings to enhance your memory's ceiling.

Check Overclock Stabability

Now you (hopefully) have an overclock that runs inside Windows no problem. Well, because it runs in windows, that means everything is working correctly, right? WRONG. Windows allows for errors (games too) without crashing, but remember that your CPU is just a big calculator, and with wrong math coming out, alot of the stuff you do will come out borked. Stuff like Folding will give inaccurate results, and not help anyone. Also, encoding things will give strange results. Install and run Prime95. Click 'Options', then 'Torture Test...'. Click the button that says Small FFT's (checks ur CPU only, since that's what you overclocked and memtest checks ur memory anyway). Press start, and pray :D If you get an error mentioning rounding to .5 or .4 and should have been the other, than your memory is "probably" too high, and you need to slow it down. If you get a message that's like "was expecting 89248932480932480324 but got 8329483284290348093248" (NOTE THOSE ARE NOT REAL #'S, JUST MADE THEM UP ;)), then your CPU "probably" needs more voltage. Note that adding more voltage on stock cooling I DO NOT recommend personally. Adding voltage brings ur tempature up noticeably, even if you are still running the same MHz on ur CPU. For a new-comer, I recommend just lowering your overclock until you get no errors for 12 Hours of Prime95 (just set it before you go to sleep).

Adjusting Voltages

I DO NOT RECOMMEND EXTRA VOLTAGE ON STOCK COOLING

Okay, alot of people have asked about this, so it's going in. When you run your CPU past spec, it requires more power to do the job you tell it. You can adjust voltages in Windows using a 3rd party program like clockgen or CoreCenter, or in the BIOS. I recommend adjusting inside windows, then finalizing in the BIOS. The main thing to keep in mind is, adding voltages substancially brings up your CPU's temp. Now, say you've found an overclock that runs in Windows, but won't Prime....this is where voltage will (more than likely) fix the problem. Try bumping the CPU .05v up from the stock voltage, and try running Prime95's Small FFT test again. Fail again? Try another .05v. As long as your CPU stays below 60C you should be alright...also, I wouldn't recommend going .1v over stock voltage on stock cooling (mainly for winnie users since they run cooler and use less voltage) if you're really feeling lucky. On water-cooling, or really good air cooling, .25v is the absolute highest I'd go. Also be aware, that you want to check your CPU's actual voltage it's getting, since some board's voltage (like mine) droop once you really start taxing it. 1.8v for me = 1.73v true used voltage. 1.75v = 1.7v, and so on...just be careful with voltages, you really start tossing dice once you start messing with those. Also, some memory likes higher voltages to get better overclocks....some becomes less stable. This is more of a "trial and error" kind of thing, and I personally don't see any problems with running memory @ 2.85v, but my memory personally gets unstable....most memory you'll have will SPD @ 2.6v, maybe 2.7...try a .1v bump and see if it helps. If not, it's pretty likely no matter what else you try you probably won't get any better results, voltage wise.





And that's about it. Any questions/problems, feel free to reply. ;) I don't mind answering questions, I'll do my best to help. Also, instead of using HTT, I just say FSB because essentially it runs almost the same, and makes it 10x less menacing and 10x more simple for those new to overclocking....especially since the BIOS refers to HTT as FSB. If you want more past this, read read read read read....there are tons of articles and stickies worth looking into, but this one should help the overclocking spirit in you.

Big thanks to cornelious0_0 for helping me with overclocking and giving me the spirit to start (even though he wasn't directly trying to make me, but was glad to help whenever I asked a question), who's now out of the overclocking game (for now). Also, HeavyH20, James Earl Ray, and all the guys around here who make my setup feel slow.
 
Glad to help guys. Just noticed alot of people needing help, and remembered what I was trying to figure out back when I started a few months back. Did you have that overclock in your sig before ohgod?
 
No I used your "guide" along with some other people's comments in a post I made.
 
So you're running 250 for your FSB on that 2800+? Is that on a divider or 1:1?
 
thats a pretty good condensed guide, add some info on fsb:mem dividers and you definately deserve a sticky ^^
 
Okay, added. I went ahead and did the divison myself from 200 into the rated speeds to find the dividers, but what I find is alot of people refer to 166MHz as the 4:5 Divider...so they get 250FSB on 200MHz memory....but if you use that equation, you only get 160MHz, whereas 5:6 is 165 or 166MHz.....I'm gonna leave my divider equation as-is, unless someone else can explain why I'm wrong.
 
Great guide! I'll know where to start when I want to begin my overclocking adventures. Thanks.

Would you be able to add in some precautions to your guide? Like what the warning temps. are for your CPU and GPU, the maximum voltages for your cpu and ram (without any boosters). Thanks.
 
Well, I'm not trying to get things too complicated...because there are alot of guides that explain alot of the ins and outs of OCing. I did specify a max temps for the CPU above (60C) but GPU overclocking really isn't connected to this guide much at all....plus that varies from card to card.

As far as voltages, some memory does well with more voltage, some doesn't (like mine). I also said you can bump the CPU to 1.55 if you want, depending on your temps. Increasing the voltage ups your temps, and like I said, you can hit close to 60C on stock voltage using the stock cooler (well I did anyway). I can add stuff if it's simple and helpful, but I'm trying to keep this from getting too complicated and then just becomes 'another thread on OC'. This is more the first stepping stone into your world ovf Athlon64 overclocking if you're new to it :)
 
not a bad guide. maybe it'll get tacked on with the guides Uberl33tjarad and i wrote.
 
All Athlon64's are unlocked down, meaning you can drop your multiplier. The FX series is completly unlocked, meaning you can go up or down. If you get an A64 that can't go down, then you might want to return it :p
 
Glad to help. Added Prime95 section to check ur OC for stabability...shoulda done that earlier, but I hadn't incorporated it myself til just recently.
 
ok, so the number it autos at (i have msi and corecell) before it crashes is the number you put in the fsb in the bios before you run memtest86. ok.

but is that the limit i can get to w/ the processor w/o using dividers?

think i worded it wierd, but.......... yeah, i guess.

something else that confused me was "make sure you are loading your maching while doing auto", well, something to that effect
i should be runnin something in the backround while it's auto detecting?

another question. when i'm testing the cpu, what do i do w/ the pci/agp and htt multiplier settings?
i know to put the multiplier back to its orignal state, but you didnt say if you needed to put the other settings back too. do i leave the htt multiplier at 4x? agp at 67?

and what is this about jumpers?
i thought if i increased my fsb by 5 (from its last increment) and it failed, i could just turn off my pc, and go into the bios and put it at the previous increment. what is this about jumpers and what not?

sorry for being a n00b and asking so many questions, i just invested too much money for an oversized paper clip.

edit* one last question, which torture test do i run? there are a few to choose from

second edit* also, what about voltages? you didnt post anything about that
 
And to think I was going to post an annoying thread regarding something like this, it should be sticked! :D
 
Ouch, that's a long one....let me break this down and see what I can do....

ralfyboy said:
ok, so the number it autos at (i have msi and corecell) before it crashes is the number you put in the fsb in the bios before you run memtest86. ok.

but is that the limit i can get to w/ the processor w/o using dividers?

Yes, whatever the last # it gets before crashing is PROBABLY the highest the memory will go with a 1:1 divider....but you might/probably will have to drop the speed a few MHz before memtest says the memory is error free. You can use dividers to get higher speed with ur CPU, but I personally recommend against it because it kind of hurts performance...but that's all personal opinion/choice.

ralfyboy said:
something else that confused me was "make sure you are loading your maching while doing auto", well, something to that effect
i should be runnin something in the backround while it's auto detecting?

Yes, have something such as SuperPI running in the backround to "load", or get the CPU running at 100%.


ralfyboy said:
another question. when i'm testing the cpu, what do i do w/ the pci/agp and htt multiplier settings?
i know to put the multiplier back to its orignal state, but you didnt say if you needed to put the other settings back too. do i leave the htt multiplier at 4x? agp at 67?
You leave the HTT at 4x (unless you get over 250MHz FSB, which is highely unlikely...if you hit 250MHz and need to go higher, you go down to 3x), leave the PCI/AGP lock in place. Anytime you run the FSB over 200MHz you want your HTT to be less than 1000, and your PCI/AGP to stay locked....since everything goes up when you overclock.

ralfyboy said:
and what is this about jumpers?
i thought if i increased my fsb by 5 (from its last increment) and it failed, i could just turn off my pc, and go into the bios and put it at the previous increment. what is this about jumpers and what not?
Somewhere on your motherboard, there's a jumper (they are those things on your harddrives/CDROM's that set master/slave, etc, but these are on your motherboard) that clears your CMOS (BIOS) to default settings in the event you set something your board/memory/cpu/combination of something doesn't like, and won't post (a.k.a. your screen stays black and no matter how long you leave your PSU unplgged it won't come back on). Sometimes you need to unplug your board and remove the battery, sometimes there's a jumper....read your manual for your motherboard and it'll tell you (my board uses a jumper).

ralfyboy said:
sorry for being a n00b and asking so many questions, i just invested too much money for an oversized paper clip.
everyone starts somewhere, so don't feel bad....I also agree about not wanting to break shit, but it's paper WEIGHT, not clip son :p cmon now.

ralfyboy said:
edit* one last question, which torture test do i run? there are a few to choose from
Use the top torture test, called Small FFT's....tests your CPU only for stability.

ralfyboy said:
second edit* also, what about voltages? you didnt post anything about that
This guide is mainly about overclocking a stock system, to get your feet wet....if you're using stock cooling, I'd recommend against raising voltages because. But basically, if you get an error that's like Got sum 324324324324324324.32, was expecting 324324324324324222.01, (fictional #) then you probably need more voltage. Bump your voltage up .5v at a time until it stops complaining, or just lower the overclock...

I DO NOT, repeat, DO NOT RECOMMEND YOU INCREASE VOLTAGE ON STOCK HEATSINK.

Also, turn off Cool 'N Quiet in the BIOS....I'm not sure if I mentioned that in my first post, and I'm going to add it if I diddn't, but CnQ does some weird stuff when you're overclocking...just click the word "Core Center" on the top, and a menu pops up that let's you specify fan speed....just slide that to 8/8, then click okay, and you're set.
 
ah damn. on the day i decide to OC, core center decides to act like a little bitch. says cannot detect hardware and is incompatible w/ motherboard. looks like i gotta flash bios.

grr......

thanx! as soon as this core center problem is gone, will OC and let you in on the results!
 
Mine used to do that, for some strange reason....either way, to fix it (or at least how I did) was remove it from your start up folder (start, all programs, startup, CoreCenter) then, after ur computer is fully booted up start the program....dunno why it would do that, but since I've changed tons of parts around it stopped doing it, thankfully...but of course I don't have anything start-up with windows so maybe it still would heh. Best of luck, and be careful OC'ing ;)
 
wow! thanx! didnt have to flash anything! :p

ok, gonna try oc'ing right now. LET'S DO IT!!!!!!!
 
Remember, slowly but surely :p Always have patience when overclocking...that way you don't end up with a paperweight (or paperclip in some cases).
 
How does this setup look? It is completely stable w/ 22 hours Prime95 and 12 hrs Memtest.

Asus A8V rev 2.0 bois 1010.xx beta
Athlon 64 3000+ (939) @ 267x9=2403 (1.50 v) :D
Stock cooling, Max Temp at Load - 44C
PQI Turbo PC3200 Dual Ch. 1024mb (2x512) @ CPU/11 = 218.5 MHz (2.5 3 3 7)
HTT @ 4x = 1068.02 ( 3x not stable, no boot)
AGP/PCI Locked @ 33/66 MHz


Should I be concerned w/ HTL 1068 ?? :confused:

Thanks
 
OMG! i cant even get memtest86 to load up! how do you run memtest again? :D

done it before, but it's acting up now...
 
Damn, you got that overclock with my guide? Impressive :) And if it primes stable for that long as well as memtest im proud I helped someone get that good of an OC...must be a winchester core ;)
 
haha. i got memtest workin now. i'm an idiot! haha

anyway, right now, i just did a quick overclock. nothing special. runnin at 210x11 for 2310

gonna run prime95 tonight. i know it is a REALLY LOW overclock, but it's because i had to do some stuff, and really didnt have too much time. plus, it is awesome that i actually overclocked! something i had never done before. so i'm happy.

just 2 concerns. i dont know what you mean by "lock" the agp at 67? and i cant find the pci option? you said 33/66... only see the 66
i just put that option at 67
also, my memory got up to 240, so i WAS gonna try memtest at 240 and see if it was stable. my computer wouldnt even turn on w/ that. i said to myself, if it crashed at 240, maybe i should lower it and see if that would help. so i lowered it to 235.
(if you're wondering how i got to the bios, i dont know. the pc just decided to turn on)
anyway, the computer still wouldnt turn on right. it was real slow, and when it did turn on, it gave me a warning sign telling me to lower my OC. that's when i had to go, so i went real low w/ 210.

i'll try highering that tomorrow. thanx!
 
Well I'm glad to see you've taken the plunge. Just remember to keep an eye on your temps, but on stock voltages if you prime stable, you probably won't hit 60C load, but that depends alot on case temps. Just keep an eye on that.

I personally run my computer stock day-to-day, because the difference between my maximum Primeable speeds and stock are negligable at best. Plus, I can't really afford to go replacing anything, I've already swapped out more parts than I wanted to ;) The second reason I've decided stock 24/7 and maximum speed for benching is because I installed this new PSU, my OCZ PowerStream, and I lost my top case-fan. At first I thought, no real big deal...I have a 120mm in the back, 2x80mm in the front, and 80mm in the side....plus the two 80mm fans in the PSU (one sucking air from the case into the PSU, and one blowing the air out). Well, the issue is, the XP-120 does a tremendous job at cooling my CPU down....but in turn blows that hot air into my case.....alot of it. As well, my 6800 Ultra has a really big, good cooler....but also blows air around in the case. So the tempature differerence between stock speeds and stuff overclocked is anywhere from 10-20F in the case....probably more around the 15Fish area. So if my room is 70F, my comp would hit 105F.....whereas stock, it would be like 90F. Pretty noticeable difference. Plus this is my day-to-day computer, and with a clawhammer on a socket 754, hitting any real impressive benches is highly unlikely :p Oh well, running stock is the sacrifice you make for only having one computer to benchmark/do daily activities on....when dual-cores or something new and great and fast comes out, I might turn around and build a new computer specifically for benching, but that remains to be seen....ahhh benchmarking, you addictive beast you.
 
good read man, im kinda new to amd overclocking (im using intel), but im saving this thread for when i get my winny :cool:
 
Haha, that update makes it almost a complete first timers OC guide for the A64, IMO :D

good info, and thanks for the stealth shout-out (205Mhz :p)
 
OK. So I got my memory all worked out, and was able to run @ DDR533 for a while, with [email protected].

So I began working on my FSB...I got up to 250 using CoreCenter, and apparently that's as far as it lets you push the FSB, so I bumped it up in the BIOS to 260.

Prime95 torture test Small FFTs fails when I start it up using 260Mhz FSB, even though memtest worked fine @267Mhz FSB!

It's the rounding was 0.5, expected less than 0.4 error.

So I set the memory divider to 166, which clocked the memory down to 212Mhz and I kept my FSB at 260Mhz...

Prime95 still fails when I start the torture test! So what gives? I've tried messing with the vdimm but nothing seemed to help...


EDIT.....

I forgot about HT Frequency!!! I'm gonna lower it to 3 and see if that helps!

edit2...

Nope, ddn't work :( Am I stuck@ 250 fsb? :confused:
 
Yeah, you need your HT @ 3x if you go over 250MHz....and I'm not sure why you're hitting a roadblock. Just know that when I first got this memory, within a few days I was like "Okay, time to see what this memory can do!" so I loosened my timings to 3-4-4-8 1T like you did, and I was stuck @ 240MHz-ish....250 was out of the question. I was like "wtf, it's MADE for 533MHz at this speed (266MHz)". Okay....so I dropped my memory to 2.5-3-3-7 and same roadblock. I personally thought my motherboard was holding me back, or maybe the HT was getting to damn close. Well I messed around for awhile to no results, so I went to sleep assuming my TCCD diddn't "roxor the boxors". Fast foward two or so weeks....I get up some gumption for some reason or another, and try again....and I get up to 250MHz on the memory no problem using 2.5-3-3-7 but I dropped my HT to 3x (I might try again with the HT at 4x to see if that was the cause or not). I diddn't try over 250MHz yet, because I have no real use for it at the moment. If you just recently got ur memory let it run for a few more days and try again. I've read other people saying the ceiling on their TCCD went up more and more each day, which I thought was BS until mine needed 'broken in' so to speak

And in your sig, you're technically running "oc'd to DDR500" ;)
 
foh yeah, youy're right about my sig :eek: hahaha

Well after spending a couple more hours trying various things in the BIOS, I gave up and kicked off the small fft torture test and went to bed...Woke up a couple hours later and checked on it, and it failed @ 250x9 a bit over 20min into the test.

So I figured what the hell, I'll TRY bumping up my vcore a tiny little bit....I'm still on stock cooling (yea yea), but my temp in MBM is still below 60C under 100% load ...MBM5 says my highest has been 57, and it's averaging around 55.

Vcore is 1.550 + 5.0% in BIOS, and cpu-z says ~1.536 or so....it ran without errors for about 5-6 hours on that setting and now with 260x9, HT=3 it's not erroring out (yet).

So it looks like it was Vcore that was stopping me?

I'm going to order a XP-90 with a Tornado today so it looks like that may

What is the max I want to raise Vcore on the Winchesters? I'm gonna search around and see what people say but I figured I might as well ask while I'm posting :p

thanks again for the help...
 
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