Overclocking an A64 3200+

[Carnecerro]

I read through the A64 overclocking guide and picked up some good tips. Thanks. However I was wondering if anyone knew which Via based boards did lock the AGP/PCI buses. I am looking at the Asus K8V, Abit K8-Max3, and the MSI K8T800. Any ideas or opinions?

 

[chaotictech]

well the abit kv8 max doesnt have a lock, i own one and wish i didnt,lol, i dont think the asus does either, and im not sure about the msi, there are no via boards with working locks to my knowledge, nforce boards are sopposed to have it but since i dont have you i cant say for sure

If you ever stop learning, YOU'ER DEAD!!

 

[speeduk]

The msi via mobos are suppost to have agp lock but i don't think mine does. But my 9700pro is fine @ 216mhz fsb so maybe there is a lock....

<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=7584476" target="_new"> My rig </A>

 

[Carnecerro]

Actually, it's not an AGP lock I am concerned with. I have a 9800 XT and I think it will have a boost to the AGP bus. I have an Audigy 2 and SB cards are known not to perform well with tweaks to the PCI bus. Should I take a look at a Nforce3 board?

 

[speeduk]

No A64 boards out at the moment have a locked pci bus. Wait a few weeks or so for the nforce 3 250 motherboards and they should have such a feature.

The big surprise here is that none of the current chipsets for Athlon 64 have a working PCI lock, whether they claim one or not. This was a complete surprise and our first inclination was to throw out the results, since speeds on the Athlon 64 are derived in a very different way with Hypertransport. However, oscilloscope results and tests elsewhere pretty much support our findings. There does not appear to be a working PCI lock on any current chipsets for Athlon 64. Certainly, this contributes to the poorer overclocking that we have seen on A64 inasmuch as on-board component frequencies and AGP bus are related to PCI bus.

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/chipsets/showdoc.html?i=1968" target="_new">http://www.anandtech.com/chipsets/showdoc.html?i=1968</A>

<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=7584476" target="_new"> My rig </A>

 

[Carnecerro]

I just wanted to thank Speeduk and Chaotictech for their help. I went with the Abit K8V-Max3 board from Newegg last night. I saw the article that you mentioned Speeduk and thought I would go ahead and get the ABit now and if the "250" Nforce boards are that much better I will buy one of those later.

 

[scottchen]

Speedy, I'm thinking about a new Athlon64 system, what would your recommend for motherboard?

-Intel PIV 2.6C @ 3.276G -Asus P4P800 -OCZ Copper 4x256 4000EL memory @ 252mhz 2.5-3-4-6 -XFX 5900 128meg 570/1040 -SB audigy -2x120G Seagate 7200.7 S-ATA150 hdd -450 Enermax PSU

 

[Johanthegnarler]

I say wait for pci express scottchen. By then you'll have a real good variety of boards to choose for the 64, possible price drops and new video cards to nuke.

<A HREF="http://arc.aquamark3.com/arc/arc_view.php?run=745781941" target="_new">http://arc.aquamark3.com/arc/arc_view.php?run=745781941</A>
43k mark. 85 dollars went a long way.

 

[speeduk]

For overclocking the shuttle nf3 150 mobo is good. For a bit of clocking but best performance/stability my msi mobo runs stable @ 214mhz fsb. Upto you mate.

<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=7584476" target="_new"> My rig </A>

 

[speeduk]

Pci-ex won't be here for socket 754 until august at the earliest its rumoured. Same goes for a 754 board with pci lock. Either wait 6 months or buy now.

<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=7584476" target="_new"> My rig </A>

 

[speeduk]

Actually;

Nvidia's partners might have some boards ready for CeBIT so the real availability of these boards seams to be April.

<A HREF="http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=14396" target="_new">http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=14396</A>

<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=7584476" target="_new"> My rig </A>

 

[scottchen]

The problem is, my dad took my system, so I have to buy something.

-Intel PIV 2.6C @ 3.276G -Asus P4P800 -OCZ Copper 4x256 4000EL memory @ 252mhz 2.5-3-4-6 -XFX 5900 128meg 570/1040 -SB audigy -2x120G Seagate 7200.7 S-ATA150 hdd -450 Enermax PSU

 

[scottchen]

speeduk tell me what do you think of this
AMD Athlon 3000+
2x512 PC3500 OCZ basic series ram
BBA 9800pro
2x120G Seagate SATA HDD

For motherboard, i've just read a review on the Asus K8V-DLX, review is from <A HREF="http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1532&page=5" target="_new">pcstats</A> according to them, their K8V-DLX hit 237FSB without changing memory divider, and they're using 9700pro, without AGP lock.

I have another question, does SATA drives really hate PCI clock anything above 33?

-Intel PIV 2.6C @ 3.276G -Asus P4P800 -OCZ Copper 4x256 4000EL memory @ 252mhz 2.5-3-4-6 -XFX 5900 128meg 570/1040 -SB audigy -2x120G Seagate 7200.7 S-ATA150 hdd -450 Enermax PSU

 

[scottchen]

Speedy, and I refuse to use stock heatsink, since you say A64's are fairly cool, then i'll stick with aircooling. I'll go with the SLK948U with a 92mm Panaflo low fan.

-Intel PIV 2.6C @ 3.276G -Asus P4P800 -OCZ Copper 4x256 4000EL memory @ 252mhz 2.5-3-4-6 -XFX 5900 128meg 570/1040 -SB audigy -2x120G Seagate 7200.7 S-ATA150 hdd -450 Enermax PSU

 

[scottchen]

Speedy help out! Come on!

-Intel PIV 2.6C @ 3.276G -Asus P4P800 -OCZ Copper 4x256 4000EL memory @ 252mhz 2.5-3-4-6 -XFX 5900 128meg 570/1040 -SB audigy -2x120G Seagate 7200.7 S-ATA150 hdd -450 Enermax PSU