Should I lose the AMD system and go intel, or just Upgrade my mobo?

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rockstone1

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Oct 28, 2007
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I have a M3A78 Motherboard, which is nice, but it isn't really overclocking well with my Phenom II 940. Should I upgrade the motherboard, or should I just save up and get a core i9 and a new motherboard when they come out next year?
 
I think we're needing the oc settings you're running: MHz x Mulitplier, voltages, temps, memory ratio, etc.

There's no need to set HT higher than default (it's not the end of the world if you can't change the multiplier). It will be increased with the higher MHz clock accordingly.
 
940 BE is unlocked, just change the multiplier from 15x to 18x or higher. It's not the greatest way to overclock phenoms but it's simple enough to start with.

Oh and add 0.1v for every 400mhz over stock, that should keep you ok.
 
MHz x Multipler: 200 x 17

Voltages can only be coarse adjusted (+50 Mv) on the CPU. Set to +150 Mv

Temperature of CPU during idle: around 50 C or slightly above.

Memory Ratio: Default (OCZ Memory of Champions DDR2800 [it overclocks horribly though])

Am I losing performance because I can't adjust the HT speed?

 


At 3.4GHz you are doing just dandy - the CPU is not holding back the GTX260.

The M3A78 is not a super-OC'er (if it's the model I'm thinking) --- on a typical AMD mobo with a 940BE, 3.4GHz/stock volts and decent power regulation you should idle at 33-34c and at load 44-45c.

You should not have to jack the volts to get that extra 400MHz.

As long as the HT is faster than you RAM speed you are fine. You should be able to increase the IMC/NB to 2200MHz (if not 2400MHz) for a little bump in performance.




 


There have been several tests that show that adjusting the HT speed above default doesn't really affect the system's performance. I think Tony from OCZ did the tests. (I don't have links readily available... but you should be able to find something by searching.)

AND as wisecracker mentioned, adjusting the NB to 2.2Ghz or 2.4Ghz can help. (But even if you do that you don't need to adjust the HT... it can stay at default.)

On my motherboard I can increase both NB and HT. But only the NB adjustment does anything that can actually be measured.

BTW: Here are some tests showing the difference of NB speeds of 1.8Ggz (default) compared to 2.4Ghz.
(These are not graphical tests. The NB differenence will definitely be more noticeable with games and graphics applications.)

http://global.phoronix-test-suite.com/?k=profile&u=keithlm-8369-7544-1128
 
I did the SLI thing once, I wasn't very pleased with it. My system was more CPU limited anyway and the returns for the cost, hassle, and extra juice going to the card were not impressive.

You'll also need to take into consideration your power supply if you're going to SLI. Those video cards can suck a lot of power, if you want to SLI in the future you'll need a PSU with 100-150 watts of headroom or more depending on the video card.
 
Look, to adjust the HT speed on PII's over the reference one first chose the option HT link speed and set it to it's maximum (probably 2000MHz on that 940). Then, you must know that you are not overclocking HT if you just change the multiplier. You have to manually adjust the CPU frequency and then both NB and HT speeds will rise. It is also a much more effective and faster way to overclock than just adjusting the multiplier.
 
It seems you are staying with your current hardware. Which is the right thing to do. Keep playing with the overclocking settings but even if you dont have any luck your system is fine and is not worth upgrading to another board(AMD) or switching over to Intel at the moment. I dont see it being worth it in the future when the "core9" comes out either.
 
It isn't worth updating? Thats good to know. I have a question, if i were to get a better GFX card, would i see any improvement? I'm just wondering.
 
For a gaming computer upgrading the gpu will usually bring better gaming performance as long as there isnt a cpu bottleneck. Wait for the new ati cards to come out in a couple weeks and see if the improvement is worth the price for you. For now I would not change a thing hardware wise on your machine at the moment.
 
Okay, that is good to know! I feel like I'm making an excuse to spend something just for the hell of it! :)

The overclock won't go higher though. I'm seriously thinking getting a better CPU cooler than what I have! Bot to overclock- just to ensure my CPU doesn't die, I've seen videos of AMD CPUs turning into smoke although the videos were old.
 
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