Pros and cons of overclocking NB and HT link

[full_out]

I have my FX-4100 overclocked to 4.7ghz and my NB and HT link at 2100mhz. What benifit would I see if I overclocked my NB and or HT link more? And do you have to overclock them to the same values at the same time? I've never got a straight answer on what these do, or if they are worth overclocking.
Thanks!

 

[Fred558]

I'm no expert, so I can't tell you all the pros and cons. But it handles comminucation between CPU and RAM among other things.

I noticed an increase in my memory performance in geekbench when overclocking HT Link and NB. So there was a general better performance.

I have read that CPU frequency still has the biggest impact on speed though.

 

[full_out]

Thanks for the info. Anyone else have some more in depth information? I've never really got a clear answer.

 

[nforce4max]

You can squeeze a little extra bandwidth for the rest of the system for the pci-e, usb, and importantly the sata raid controller but usually just makes the system unstable so most don't bother with it no more than they have to. 2.1ghz is good enough and any higher you might be pushing your luck.

 

[full_out]

So last night I figured I'd push my luck with the NB and HT link. I bumped my NB up from 2100mhz to 2310ish by bumping up the NB multiplier up one. Loaded into windows and the display and the sound was stuttering. So I went back in into BIOS and put back.
Then I tried the HT link, bumped it up from 2100mhz to 2310ish by bumping up the HT link multipier one. Loaded into windows and played some games for about 4 hours, nice and stable.
Question, what is the trick to bumping up the NB??? The HT link seems to overclock nice, but any time I start pushing the NB the system acts weird. Is there anything else I have to tweak to make the NB more stable? With a relatively small overclock I wouldn't think more voltage would be needed...

 

[lowjack989]

I keep my NB at 2800 MHz, and the HT at 2600 MHz...I have seen as much as a 7 FPS increase in Heaven benchmark as well as furmark...The HT doesn't increase performace I just keep it up there to eliminate any chance of a bottleneck...The NB on the other hand has shown a decent amount of performance increse when you already have a stable system...BTW... All boards are not created equal and the NB can cause instability for some people...Voltage is the key to stability...I keep mine at 1.2v for both the NB and HT voltage

 

[full_out]

Is there a trick to NB overclocking? It seems so finicky. Does it require voltage boost to push it at all? Is there any little details I should know about making it stable? Should I lower my RAM back to stock speeds to make the NB overclock more successful?

 

[full_out]

Oh I didn't notice the voltage comment. 1.2v eh... I will have to try that.

 

[lowjack989]

The RAM speed will not affect the NB OC....NB OCing can be tricky for some...The chipset is really sensitive to voltage increases 1.2v is a good base setting when OCing...NEVER exceed 1.3v it causes for some serious heating issues of the NB and 1.35v will cook it {maybe not instantly but quicky none the less}

 

[full_out]

Sweet, finally some usable NB overclocking advice 😀 I've been trying for months to get some actual guidelines to overclocking that bad boy. I just gave up for a while. But ya, I will try tonight and let you know what I get.
Thanks bud!

 

[grahamie]

if you have the cooling id recommend overclocking both n/b and h/t im running both overclocked and i have noticed a difference. when i compare my prime 95 benchmarks scores to everyone else’s there is a big difference my scores make up the top 13 scores for a 1090t and there a people running faster cpu speeds. the major difference is my n/b @ 3130 and h/t 2889 but i have a water cooled motherboard block so i can run these overclocks. ...... cooling is key

Here are my prime 95 benchmark scores
[img=http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/1714/prime95benchmark.th.png]

 

[full_out]

When I overclock my NB passed 2100hm, with or without a voltage boost it will boot to windows but sound stutters and the performance is really choppy. I just don't get it. Does that sound like overheating?

 

[lowjack989]

Sounds like a chipset issue not neccesarily an overheat issue...but a stability issue with that board

 

[full_out]

So you're saying I'm screwed for overclocking? Or need to update drivers or something?

 

[lowjack989]

What MOBO are you using?

 

[full_out]

Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3

 

[lowjack989]

That board should get on up there with the NB/HT have you tried 1.21v@2600 MHz?....Nice board !!!

 

[full_out]

I tried 2310mhz at 1.2v. Got the same stuttering 🙁

 

[lowjack989]

Are you using onboard video or a dedicated card?

 

[full_out]

My System:
CPU: FX-4100 OC'd to 4.7
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3
RAM: Vengeance 2X4gb DDR1600, OC'd to 1680mhz
Video card: VisionTek 6970
PSU: Antec High Current Pro 850W
Air cooling, All temps well under 50C across the board. Only temp higher than 50C is the video card, which runs 65C under full load

 

[lowjack989]

You could try voltage variation, i.e. 1.15v,1.25v, maybe 1.27v...Get the latest drivers also it might help the video stutter out...Currently CCC v12.2

 

[full_out]

I'm always current on the video drivers, I'm quite anal about my video drivers lol. I'll see if I can find updated drivers on my board. I'll try the voltage variation. Weird situation though. I bought the good board so I didn't have any issues. The NB is the only thing that has given me a hard time so far.

 

[lowjack989]

Yeah it sux when you get the good board and it turns out to be a bad clocker

 

[full_out]

Ya no kidding. I'll try screwing with it some more

 

[Wisecracker]

Drop your HT Link multiplier to keep the rating in the 2000MHz range. There is no real benefit in running the HT Link out of spec.

For each 10% you increase the IMC/NB, memory bandwidth is increased 3-4% and latency is reduced 3-4%. This can make a significant difference in gaming and memory-intensive applications.

Your motherboard has the Gigabyte Dual-BIOS. You must update the backup BIOS to same revision as the main BIOS .

The issue with the original revision of your motherboard is the lack of LLC. This may result in some tricky volt swings. To minimize this be sure to disable Turbo and the Core CPB (or set to 1:1).