Overclocking new 3200+ system

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ajvessey

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Jun 13, 2005
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I'm putting together a new system, and wanted to know what you guys thought about OCing it. I've got:

CPU: Athlon 64 3200+ Venice
Mobo: Epox Nforce 4 Ultra
RAM: Mushkin 1GB. This isn't value ram, but I'm not sure how it ranks up for overclocking.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146190
Gpu: HIS Radeon x800xl 256.

I'm going to be using the comp mainly for gaming, as well as random internet and college guy stuff... would OCing even be worth it?

I've heard alot about how good the mobo and CPU are for OCing, so what would be a reasonable target to aim for with a stock cooler and good airflow (3 fans + intake tube over CPU).

Also, can I easily OC this by just changing the settings in the bios? To my knowledge it's a 2000 mhz, probably set at 10x200.. can I just bump it to 11/12x200 and be good to go? Or would higher than 2.4ghz be attainable without upgrading the cooling?

Thanks!
 
The multipliers are unlocked only going down so it will be more like 9 X 250 (This is just an example)

<font color=red>It's impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious<font color=red>
 
OCing will be worth it only for the gaming part, and that just to add a few more FPS. The standard stuff you probably won't notice the difference between 2.0ghz and 2.4ghz. But it's fun to do, and that's the important part. :smile:

Probably hit 2.4 on that CPU easily. It may do better, its luck of the draw. Dont' know how that RAM OCs but even if it doesn't OC well, you can run the RAM on a divider (set to 166 then overclock the fsb from there) and still get 99% (-ish) of the speed improvement.

Nope, multiplier is locked upwards on A64's. (though you OC by changing settings in the BIOS, that setting doesn't change on that CPU) Read the A64 overclocking sticky at the top of this section.

Mike.

<font color=blue>Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside the dog its too dark to read.
-- Groucho Marx</font color=blue>
 
So to obtain a workable FSB should I use the clockgen program he lists up there? Can I just up it to like 220 or 240x10, or do you have to lower the multiplier in order to up the FSB? Sorry, I'm a total newb :)
 
Hmmm, I should have read it before I said read it. It's less informative than I'd thought 🙁

Read the other Athlon OC guide - a lot of it is applicable.

Basically start slow - Loosen the timings on your RAM (3-4-4-8), lock your PCI-E and PCI busses at 100/33 resp. (and IDE/SATA if possible), set the HTT mult to 4 (I've also heard it called LDT or something like that), and bump the fsb by a few points - say 5, to 205mhz. Leave the multiplier alone for now.

Now run some benchmarks or system stressors (Prime95 is a good stress-tester) to make sure its stable and check your temps.

If all looks good, bump it 5 more mhz. and test again.

Repeat until you get unstable. Bump vCore by 1 notch (whatever the smallest increment is) and test again. If its stable, start bumping the fsb again. I think vCore can go to about 1.6volts on stock cooling (but YMMV).

If a couple bumps of vCore doesn't make it stable at a particular speed, and you haven't reached your target MHZ (FSB x 10 for that CPU), lower your RAM divider and continue climbing.

After it first starts to get unstable, then you have to start figuring out what's causing the unstable - temps, voltage, RAM, HTT, etc. That's where the 'fun' starts... (both sarcastically and seriously)

After you've hit your target, or can't go any further, then you can start tightening ram timings to bring the ram performance up.

Mike.

<font color=blue>Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside the dog its too dark to read.
-- Groucho Marx</font color=blue>
 
So the only power I need to worry about upping is the Vcore while OCing the CPU? Can I leave the VDIMM alone unless I want to OC the RAM too?

Speaking of RAM, is the process similar? Just lower the timings, test stability, up the power and repeat until you hit the limit?
 
Usually just vCore. Sometimes the chipset may need a bump, and you have to watch those temps too. Unless you're extreem OCing, just make sure it has adequate airflow over it and it should be ok.

Correct on the RAM. Once you find your fsb limit, start lowering the RAM timings, one thing at a time and find its limit. I don't know what that ram can take for voltage, but usually 2.8 is safe. Maybe it'll take more, but I'll leave that part for the ones who know memory better than I do (i.e. almost anyone else lol).

Oh, if you go over about 250fsb, you'll want to lower the HTT to 3. HTT is rated at 1000mhz, so fsb x HTT should stay there or below - no point in OCing that in most cases because its not a bottleneck, even at 3x.

Mike.

<font color=blue>Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside the dog its too dark to read.
-- Groucho Marx</font color=blue>
 
The 3200+ venice will make it to 2.6 easily. Most get around 2.7 (me). Some are lucky to get 2.8 on air. One guy got 3.4 with phase change.

s signature has been formatted to fit your scr
 
Is that 2.6/2.7 on the stock cooler? If so, I'm even more impressed with the Venice cores.

Mike.

<font color=blue>Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside the dog its too dark to read.
-- Groucho Marx</font color=blue>
 
2.4 is what I told the guy ( he asked w/ stock cooler).

Thanks, that further confirms what I've been hearing.

Mike.

<font color=blue>Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside the dog its too dark to read.
-- Groucho Marx</font color=blue>
 
2667 MHz on stock cooling @ 1.55V and 48 C full load.

Running slightly faster now with 46C full load at 1.55V with an XP-90 (just wanted it nice and quiet.

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