Overclock amd athlon 64 x2 3800???

[rion121]

Hey I dug out my old desktop pc and was wanting to screw around with it and try making it faster. Read a bit about overclocking and was wondering what everyone thought.

Here is the Rigs Specs:

Amd Athlon 64 X2 3800 2.0ghz 2x 512 L2 cache 2000 mhz system bus
nvidia geforce 6100 (has pci express slot)
250 gig HD been swiped back to factory
1 gig DDR dual channel Ram

Any help would be great. Like I said I'm new to this tpe of stuff so a good guide on overclocking would be great.

 

[JefferyD90]

Best thing to do is do a clean install of Windows. If you can do a install of Windows 7, it will help bring the dual core out... If you wanted to overclock it, 2.4 on air and 2.6 liquid is going to be your limits, but I dont see any reason to, it should be able to do any of your normal everyday task.

 

[rion121]

I don't have windows 7 but I installed XP on it. would 2.4 be worth overclocking it or better just leaving it stock?

 

[JefferyD90]

Not really worth overclocking. Windows 7 makes MUCH better use of dual cores, if your not using XP Pro then your not using 2 cores anyways. XP was not made with dual cores in mind, it was actually via a patch that dual cores even operate. If you do not have a copy of Windows 7 download the RC of Windows 8, http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/release-preview Then when it comes out this October, buy it. I would add a total of 4 GB of RAM and a small video card like a AMD 6450, and That is about as much as I would spend on this system. Anything else and you might as well start a whole new build.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3233705&sku=P56-7000 x4 59.96

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=365400&sku=A271-6450 41.99

Total $101.95

 

[rion121]

Alright thanks. Ill look up the windows 8. Ive already checked around for more ram and considering ordering some. Not wanting to spend a alot really as I just ordered everything for the new rig. Comes in monday woot. Only reason I started messing around with my old desktop is my laptop runs great but its physical condition is pretty fried lol. Had to have something to get me thru the day and wondered what the hell maybe I can update the old pc and make it a decent browser pc.

 

[JefferyD90]

Another thing, using a 64bit OS will really help pep it up too.

 

[tsnor]

2nd Opinion. XP is just fine for overclocking. I assume you are overclocking as a hobby, not because you are running a specific workload that needs more performance. I would not buy a copy on Win7 at this point unless you really need it. You can get the win8 preview (timelock) for free from microsoft if you want to play. win8 is a $40 upgrade over XP or Win7 so the win7 money is wasted.

If this is a prebuilt PC (ex. HP, Dell, Gateway,etc) then you cannot overclock using the BIOS. There are a number of overclocking programs (SETFSB for one) but they are harder to use.

Most overclocking guides assume you have BIOS controls on voltage and bus timings. If you google "overclock 3800+ faq" you'll see a bunch of guides. If you have a prebuilt dell, etc, you cannot use those guides without swapping in a new/used motherboard which doesn't make economic sense for an amd 3800+. A complete new PC that runs faster is $200 or so refurb.

If this is a homebuilt PC or built by a small gaming friendly company then the BIOS will have the controls that allow you to overclock. MAKE SURE you understand the max safe voltage and frequency. Make sure you monitor your temps. An extreme OC can fry a CPU instantly. Typically people inch up to the max before the system hangs and then take it down a few notches. Some of those systems permantely fail over the next few months. By seeing the voltage those people used a "SAFE" voltage range is declared. Make sure you read many overclocking guides on how much MAX voltage to put into each of your MB component before you start.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=1077 Quick and dirty A64 clocking guide people seem to be getting 2.6Ghz on stock voltage.

 

[tsnor]

Another thing, using a 64bit OS will really help pep it up too.

Actually a 64-bit OS is somewhat slower than a 32-bit OS if you only have 2-3GB or memory. the reason is pointers take 8 bytes instead of 4 bytes so you fill up the L1 cache faster. On mainframes this effect is measures at about 5-7%. Java (which uses a lot of pointers) actually implemented Pointer Compression to offset some of the penalty. One eample: https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/mydeveloperworks/blogs/738b7897-cd38-4f24-9f05-48dd69116837/entry/improved_performance_for_websphere_64_bit_deployments_with_compressed_pointers_technology2?lang=en "The same Java application running on a 64 bit Java Runtime may have 70% more footprint as compared to running on a 32 bit Runtime. 64 bit applications also perform slower as more data is manipulated and cache performance is reduced. (As data is larger, processor cache is less effective). 64 bit applications can be upto 20% slower."

Net 64-bit Required if you want to address more than appro 3.4GB of memory. If you have less than that sticking to 32-bit is not a bad thing.

 

[tsnor]

Hey I dug out my old desktop pc and was wanting to screw around with it and try making it faster. Read a bit about overclocking and was wondering what everyone thought.

Here is the Rigs Specs:

Amd Athlon 64 X2 3800 2.0ghz 2x 512 L2 cache 2000 mhz system bus
nvidia geforce 6100 (has pci express slot)
250 gig HD been swiped back to factory
1 gig DDR dual channel Ram

Any help would be great. Like I said I'm new to this tpe of stuff so a good guide on overclocking would be great.

What are you trying to do? Game? Then CPU OC is not what you need, memory and graphics are.

You need 2GB more memory (lot so cheap for DDR) and a real video card. Video cards use more power, so first step is to figure out how much power your existing power supply delivers. It's on yellow sticker on the side of the PSU. You can usually read it if you open the side of the case. Assuming you have a 250W or larger power supply then a 50W card like the $110 HD7750 is very strong. If you want to go cheaper then step down to a $65 HD6670 like this one. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102988

Note the HD 6450 linked in a previous append is really a home theater card and not well suited to gaming. Compared to HD6670 http://www.hwcompare.com/10822/radeon-hd-6450-oem-vs-radeon-hd-6670-oem-1gb/

Note the memory linked in the previous append is DDR2 but your specs were for DDR not DDR2 memory. 2GB DDR is about $50.

If your power supply is less than 250w post, nothing good will work.

 

[JefferyD90]

Actually a 64-bit OS is somewhat slower than a 32-bit OS if you only have 2-3GB or memory. the reason is pointers take 8 bytes instead of 4 bytes so you fill up the L1 cache faster. On mainframes this effect is measures at about 5-7%. Java (which uses a lot of pointers) actually implemented Pointer Compression to offset some of the penalty. One eample: https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/mydeveloperworks/blogs/738b7897-cd38-4f24-9f05-48dd69116837/entry/improved_performance_for_websphere_64_bit_deployments_with_compressed_pointers_technology2?lang=en "The same Java application running on a 64 bit Java Runtime may have 70% more footprint as compared to running on a 32 bit Runtime. 64 bit applications also perform slower as more data is manipulated and cache performance is reduced. (As data is larger, processor cache is less effective). 64 bit applications can be upto 20% slower."

Net 64-bit Required if you want to address more than appro 3.4GB of memory. If you have less than that sticking to 32-bit is not a bad thing.

This is true, but remember that I sudjested upgrading to 4GB of RAM... and another thing is overall responsiveness of the PC would increase regardless, its just if other applications do.

 

[rion121]

Ya i just bought a new pc for gaming so this one will mostly be for web browsing etc. Ill probably add a little ram just cause it seems like a cheap upgrade but besides that I was mostly wondering about overclocking as a hobby but it is a pre built pc so I think thats out of the question. Might grab that video card to just incase I do some light games online or spomething

 

[michel1980]

Hi there, i am new to this forum.
And i use it always as a reference for my own experiments.

My daughter had a 2006 (!) Hp pavilion in her room which (after we gave her a brand new laptop) took downstairs.
I was wondering what i could do with it, and i will show you what i did. FOR LOW COST, and yes it's even "game" worthy again.

Mind you, i am not a die hard tweaker, or computer guru like most here so here goes.

Original system

Cpu: AMD Athlon64 dual processor, 5000+ (actually is was surprised, these were state of the art in those years)
Memory: DDR2 3 gigabyte (which was needless to say very skinny)
GPU/vidcard: 128mb (!!) ATI not sure what model did not bother looking at it.
Harddrive:
Power supply: 250watt (so skinny here)

Now i noticed one thing here, my motherboard is as HP does just a minimal board. So overclocking is out of the question, to be honest i am not all into it anyways. I rather buy a better cpu. So after some research i found out that this motherboard does support up to a AMD Athlon64 dual processor, 6000+ (89watt). I checked amazon, for this cpu and not all to bad for a 69 dollars you can get it! Still i refused to spend that money, as i found out, it's not a huge leap forward speed wise. So i left it as it is.

First thing i did was go to amazon, i found a good card, Nvidea Geforce 8400GS this is a 1gigabyte PCI express card for yes 34 dollars NEW.
I also managed to get a old computer of the internet (broken down HP pavilion look for those worth it) quad core, the cpu was broken, motherboard too, but had still good parts on them.

I managed to salvage 4x2gig samsung ddr2 modules, the 450watt power supply and a 750gig hard drive. And a blue ray player and dvd writer. I bought that system for 50 dollars total (!!). I know luck has to do with it too, but there lots of second hand resources you can use to upgrade your computer be patient.

Thus far, this system has been costing me 80 dollars to really upgrade! I think for this money it's really been worth it
The only thing i will do is get this horrible os (VISTA ) of the computer and use 7 or 8 😀
I have about 2 terrabyte on hard disk in the computer, one it had, one i salvaged from the other pavilion and a 1 terrabyte external we had here.

CPU Arch : 1 CPU - 2 Cores - 2 Threads
CPU PSN : AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+
CPU EXT : MMX(+), 3DNow!(+), SSE (1, 2, 3), x86-64, AMD-V
CPUID : F.B.1 / Extended : F.6B
CPU Cache : L1 : 2 x 64 / 2 x 64 KB - L2 : 2 x 512 KB
Core : Brisbane (65 nm) / Stepping : BH-G1
Freq : 2611.44 MHz (200.88 * 13)
MB Brand : ECS
MB Model : Nettle2
NB : NVIDIA MCP61 rev A3
SB : NVIDIA MCP61 rev A2
GPU Type : NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS
DirectX Version : 11.0
RAM : 8192 MB DDR2 Dual Channel
RAM Speed : 373.1 MHz (Unknown) @ 6-6-6-18
Slot 1 : 2048MB (6400)
Slot 1 Manufacturer : Samsung
Slot 2 : 2048MB (6400)
Slot 2 Manufacturer : Samsung
Slot 3 : 2048MB (6400)
Slot 3 Manufacturer : Samsung
Slot 4 : 2048MB (6400)
Slot 4 Manufacturer : Samsung