Atom 330 ION

[lmartinefc]

Hi,

I am looking to overclock this to 2.0Ghz (the inbuilt AsROck tune program does this but in windows...i want to do it properly from the BIOS)

Failing this, I would like to get at least 1.86Ghz (think thats with a 156Mhz per multi)

How can I overclock this beast with an A330ION ASROCK board?

I was told they are underclocked to keep consumption low etc but it in a desktop unit so no worries there.

Will put a bigger fan on

The ION chipset steal 512mb from the RAM. At present I only have 2 gb RAM but will be upgrading to 4gb DDR3 next week. Already plays COD WOW etc.

Help!

 

[simon12]

According to ASRock you can overclock it, from reading others experience 2GHz should be achievable but not much more. You just need to increase the CPU frequency (and voltage if you can).

 

[lmartinefc]

Yes but what settings? Max voltage, acceptable temp ranges etc??

Loads of help for my Q6600 etc but not much for atom 330 (as nobody normally bothers)

Thanks

 

[simon12]

I am not sure anyone knows as its a chip designed for netbooks and only made it into desktops because its cheap. You can see intel technical data at http://download.intel.com/design/processor/datashts/320528.pdf if this helps. But basically you are still trying to overclock to get the performance of a seriously dated desktop CPU.

 

[chefjw]

The second tab in your bios should say OC Tweaker. If you click that you can select Load Optimized CPU OC Setting. And choose anywhere from 1600-2100mhz. Choose one save and reboot and your done.

 

[lmartinefc]

thanks chefjw.

they say it was shipped underclocked for battery performance. cant see how 1.86Ghz (or maybe 2.0) can be a bad thing with desktop cooling. The mini itx has three fans in it.

At current voltage, under load, doesnt reach anything above 60 degress. Maximum is set to 125 degrees for this chip so lots of room to move

I changed it using ASRock overclock in windows, then re-ran the vista eperience index. Still came out at 3.3 even after clocking it to 2.0Ghz so i know its not a true overclock. ill go into BIOS that way and see if i get better results.

 

[lmartinefc]

thanks for that. very very easy to do. there are presets...but all they appear to do is enter the right frequency for you...when you could just type it manually? or am i missing something

I chose manual, and only changed the frequency to 155Mhz (from 133Mhz) with everything else on auto

Started it up...now reporting 1.86Ghz (same as the new Z540 speed) and windows vista now reporting it as 3.5...good move up from 3.3

Strapped it all to 4gb DDR3 dual channel, and a Samsung spinpoint (along with a Seagate 7200rpm boot drive)

Can play COD as pretty good quality (dont attack this comment, it is of course relative)

Am i missing something with the BIOS settings though? Was a bit 'too' easy...and the presets only appear to set the mhz for you, nothing else?

 

[lmartinefc]

also wanted to know RAM ratios. Using DDR3 dual channel. Multi is 12, running 2 cores (4 threads) and 155mhz per multi. What would the mhz need to be to run 1:1 with DDR3 1066Mhz

Can you show the calculation for this. Will go across to hardwaresecrets and have a read up

 

[lmartinefc]

anyone?

 

[mardon5]

i have the Zotac Mag running the Intel Atom 330 @ 1.60GHz.
Code name "Diamondville"
3072 MBytes DDR2 pc2-5200 (333 MHz)
Kingston 64GB SSDNOW V Series serial ATA hard drive.
Double booting into Windows 7 64 bit / Ubuntu 10.06 LTX
All from NewEgg, The Zotac Mag easaly pealed open starting on the bottom with my finger nails for the ram and hard drive update. The Bios is easily accessed for CL adjustments, and NorthBridge/MCP79 Chipset voltage configurations. Which all work fine for me in 'auto, default'.

Its one of my favorite toys right now and i have a few. The SSD makes the Zotac seam five time faster than stock. The added ram is helps HULU run smooth.
Shuts down in abut 5 sec. Window 7 64 bit starts up through the double boot in about 40 sec. Downloads and installing software is some the fastest I've seen.