Broke down & ordered some new PC equipment too

[Shade]

Finally got tired of the new PC games either not running or not running

very well. Had a Athlon XP 2800+ & ATI 9600XT video card. My

current motherboard doesn't have PCI express, so I ended up replacing

almost everything. Here's what I picked up :

Asus A8N-E motherboard

Athlon 64 3200+ (Venice core)

Thermalright XP-120 heatsink (mounting on a Panaflo 120mm fan)

Antec truepower 2.0 550W power supply (2 fan model)

eVGA 256mb 7800GT video card

Pioneer 16x dvd burner (replacing my old 4x)

Re-using my case (Antec BQE), Lite-on 52x cd burner, and 2 Corsair XMS 512mb DDR400 memory sticks.

Should be here Friday. Hopefully I won't have to upgrade much for a

while. Pretty excited about actually being able to use AA & AF and

keep a decent framerate for once.

[wheelman]

Congrats Shade if you like to watch dvd's on your pc you will probally trip out with your new card. Yours is better than my 6600gt and it's incredible for movies. Sounds like your gonna have one sweet setup.

[Shade]

Thanks. The PC is actually my DVD player for my HT. Have it hooked up

to a Samsung DLP via DVI, using TheaterTek for the dvd player &

FFDshow for resizing. Looking forward to trying it out tomorrow.

[meuge]

Very nice choice of components. Make sure not to forget to the the free Call Of Duty 2 with the eVGA card.

P.S. Venice 3200+ should easily be able to do 25% more, as in 2.5GHz (from 2.0 stock) at 1.4-1.45V...

If you're lucky, and you can do 2.5GHz on stock, you're likely to be able to get to 2.8.

I don't know how much experience you have with overclocking, but even

if you haven't done it, you should, since it's free performance and not

dangerous, as long as you follow directions. If you haven't done it or

need help, let me know.

[Shade]

Been building my own PCs for a long time now, but this is the first

time I've tried out overclocking. Right now I've got it at 2.2ghz with

2-3-3-7 1T memory timings. I'd like to get it up to 2.4 - 2.6, but have

been having trouble getting over 2.2. Been reading a lot of guides

online, trying learn a bit more. This one looks pretty helpfull,

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=28&threadid=1497607&enterthread=y

, just haven't had the time to go through all the steps yet. I'd

appreciate any info you'd be willing to throw my way.

On a side note, I first set this up with 2 Panaflo 120mm 86cfm fans

(cpu heatsink & exhaust). The PC sounded like a wind tunnel. Temps

were great, in the low 30c range. Way too loud for the living room

though. Replaced them with some Antec tri-cools. Temps are in the high

30c to low 40c range now, but it's a lot quieter. Now I just need an

NVSilencer for the video card.

[wheelman]

I overclocked mine a little, but it wasn't stable enough, and I didn't like the fan noise. I actually dissconnected one, and kept it stock because the noise was driving me nutz. ( That had everything to do with the type of case fans I had though. I'm gonna have to look into more expensive ones, Or a bigger one. My Doctor told me to get one BIG fan. It's quieter. Go figure). Now my power supply fan is making a grinding noise when I first turn it on ( very common i'm told). You could always go water cooled. Overclock the the beatlejuice out of it. I bet they ain't cheap. .

[meuge]

Been building my own PCs for a long time now, but this is the first

time I've tried out overclocking. Right now I've got it at 2.2ghz with

2-3-3-7 1T memory timings. I'd like to get it up to 2.4 - 2.6, but have

been having trouble getting over 2.2. Been reading a lot of guides

online, trying learn a bit more. This one looks pretty helpfull,

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=28&threadid=1497607&enterthread=y

, just haven't had the time to go through all the steps yet. I'd

appreciate any info you'd be willing to throw my way.

On a side note, I first set this up with 2 Panaflo 120mm 86cfm fans

(cpu heatsink & exhaust). The PC sounded like a wind tunnel. Temps

were great, in the low 30c range. Way too loud for the living room

though. Replaced them with some Antec tri-cools. Temps are in the high

30c to low 40c range now, but it's a lot quieter. Now I just need an

NVSilencer for the video card.

Here's a comprehensive AMD64 Overclocking guide, that is short and easy to use:

CLICK ME

As far as the 120mm Panaflos, they are not meant to be used at full

speed, but rather with a fan controller. You can also physically alter

their voltage by moving the wires in the 4-pin connectors. Normally, I

get Panaflo fans, but of the L1A variety, not the M1A or H1A - the

quietest, slowest kind... and they are usually virtually inaudible.

Your temperatures are excellent, and you shouldn't worry about it. Just

follow the steps in the guide and you should easily and safely be able

to get to 2.5GHz or so.

[Shade]

Meuge, thanks for the guide. I spent the better part of this evening

playing around with the PC. Here's where I'm at right now :

CPU : 2.56 ghz, 1.4v

Mem : 2-3-3-7 1T timings, 5:6 memory divider putting the DDR at 425mhz

HT : 1024

Turned out the memory was the problem going past 2.2ghz. It kept having

issues past an FSB of 220. I got it to 225 by increasing the voltage to

2.75v. Was a bit leary of increasing the voltage, so I backed it back

down to 220 @ 2.6v.

I'm planning to run a stress test on it overnight to see how it holds

up. While this is around the speed I was hoping for, it's tempting to

go a bit further as I'm still at stock voltages. From what I've read,

1.5 - 1.55v on the CPU & 2.8 - 2.9v on the memory is supposed to be

fairly safe. Is this about right?

If the extra voltage is fairly safe, I might be able to try for 2.6 -

2.7 ghz and barely keep the 5:6 mem divider. Let me know what you

think.

[Shade]

Wheelman : what size fans are you using. 120mm fans can be pretty

quiet. These Antec tri-cools are pretty decent at low speed. Also

there's a 120mm made by Nexus thats supposedly only 20db. It moves

about as much air as the Antec's on low (cfm in the high 30s)

I pretty much screwed up with the Panaflo's. Didn't realize that there were versions other than the L1A.

[meuge]

Meuge, thanks for the guide. I spent the better part of this evening

playing around with the PC. Here's where I'm at right now :

CPU : 2.56 ghz, 1.4v

Mem : 2-3-3-7 1T timings, 5:6 memory divider putting the DDR at 425mhz

HT : 1024

Turned out the memory was the problem going past 2.2ghz. It kept having

issues past an FSB of 220. I got it to 225 by increasing the voltage to

2.75v. Was a bit leary of increasing the voltage, so I backed it back

down to 220 @ 2.6v.

Don't worry about volting the memory. Up to 2.9V should be fine, over

that - it would need heatspreaders... but below that, the air from the

XP-120 will cool them just fine.

I'm planning to run a stress test on it overnight to see how it holds

up. While this is around the speed I was hoping for, it's tempting to

go a bit further as I'm still at stock voltages. From what I've read,

1.5 - 1.55v on the CPU & 2.8 - 2.9v on the memory is supposed to be

fairly safe. Is this about right?

1.55V CPU is about the highest I would go, and you're right on the memory.

If the extra voltage is fairly safe, I might be able to try for 2.6 -

2.7 ghz and barely keep the 5:6 mem divider. Let me know what you

think.

Drop the HTT divider to 3X, then drop memory to 3/4 or even 2/3, and

use Clockgen to see how far you can get, while still being able to

finish 1M test on SuperPi. When you freeze, just up your CPU voltage,

restart, and see how much higher you can do. Once you're at 1.5V, and

you crash, go back into the BIOS, drop the bus frequency 2-3Hz, and

you're good to go.

Use the Prime95 Torture test overnight to test stability. (I prefer Sandra burn-in though)

[Shade]

Thanks Meuge, I'll let you know how far I can get.

My overnight test with the Prime95 torture test went fine at 2.56ghz.

Full load temps peaked around 54c on the CPU & 42c for the system.

This was with the fans on low, only pushing around 39cfm. The higher

settings can push 56 - 79cfm, but they get louder. Not nearly as loud

as the Panaflo's I had in there, but still a bit louder than I care

for. I know if I increase the CPU voltage I'm going to have to turn

these fans up.

Hopefully I can reach 2.7 with this chip. Unfortunatley I think that

I'll have to settle on 2.5 -2.6 to keep the temps & noise level in

check. Either way, it'll be fun []

One thing I'm wondering is what an overclocked CPU's performance

compares to in the Athlon 64 line. The 3800+ runs at 2.4ghz, and I'm

already past that. And the FX's have twice the L2 cache, so theres no

direct comparison there. Just kinda curious as there's something

satisfying about making a $150 CPU run faster than a $280 CPU.

[meuge]

Thanks Meuge, I'll let you know how far I can get.

My overnight test with the Prime95 torture test went fine at 2.56ghz.

Full load temps peaked around 54c on the CPU & 42c for the system.

This was with the fans on low, only pushing around 39cfm. The higher

settings can push 56 - 79cfm, but they get louder. Not nearly as loud

as the Panaflo's I had in there, but still a bit louder than I care

for. I know if I increase the CPU voltage I'm going to have to turn

these fans up.

Hopefully I can reach 2.7 with this chip. Unfortunatley I think that

I'll have to settle on 2.5 -2.6 to keep the temps & noise level in

check. Either way, it'll be fun []

One thing I'm wondering is what an overclocked CPU's performance

compares to in the Athlon 64 line. The 3800+ runs at 2.4ghz, and I'm

already past that. And the FX's have twice the L2 cache, so theres no

direct comparison there. Just kinda curious as there's something

satisfying about making a $150 CPU run faster than a $280 CPU.

The reason why I am saying that you should drop the HTT and memory

multipliers (as well as memory timings) is because you want to find the

max overclock of your CPU without having the rest of the variables get

in the way. Once you find the max stable clock, then you can go back

and set the HTT such that HTT multiplier * Bus speed is less or equal

to 1000MHz. Then you play with the memory timings and bandwidth. I,

personally, prefer tighter timings with lower bandwidth. This

combination will always win, unless loose timings allow you to run

1:1 with the CPU, which I guarantee that your memory cannot do

already. Try to get the timings as close to 2-2-5-2 1T as possible,

regardless of the frequency.

[wheelman]

Wheelman : what size fans are you using. 120mm fans can be pretty quiet. These Antec tri-cools are pretty decent at low speed. Also there's a 120mm made by Nexus thats supposedly only 20db. It moves about as much air as the Antec's on low (cfm in the high 30s)

I pretty much screwed up with the Panaflo's. Didn't realize that there were versions other than the L1A.

Two stock 80mm fans from an Asus case. Ones now disconnected. I cant'' think of the fan I got on my cpu. It looks like is has a spider web design on it. It looked real cool when I was using my gaming case. It's an aftermarket fan. Maybe I ought to try some of that artic cooling.

[Shade]

Yeah, I was dropping the HTT and mem when I was seeing how far the CPU

would go. I just wasn't sure about increasing the voltage. Never went

past 1.425 volts, so I couldn't get past 2.6ghz. I'll try this again later

in the week with higher CPU voltage and see where it gets me. I'm just

concerned about higher voltages bringing up the temps. If 2.7 ghz &

higher voltage brings high temps to where I have to put the panaflos

back in there, I just settle at a slightly slower clock.

My memory is rated at 2-3-3-6 1T, and I had brought it up to 2-3-3-7 1T

once I started to bring the speeds up. Can the memory be run at lower

timings than what they're rated for?

[Shade]

Two stock 80mm fans from an Asus case.

Ones now disconnected. I cant'' think of the fan I got on my cpu. It

looks like is has a spider web design on it. It looked real cool when I

was using my gaming case. It's an aftermarket fan. Maybe I

ought to try some of that artic cooling.

80mm fans can be pretty loud. I'm not really sure what 80mm fans are

available. You could always mod your case to use a 120mm fan for the

exhaust.

Check out heatsinkfactory.com. Lots of fans and heatsinks to choose

from. You might be able to find a quieter 80mm. Another good site is

http://www.silentpcreview.com/ . Lots of info quiet fans & fanless

approaches.

[meuge]

Yeah, I was dropping the HTT and mem when I was seeing how far the CPU

would go. I just wasn't sure about increasing the voltage. Never went

past 1.425 volts, so I couldn't get past 2.6ghz. I'll try this again later

in the week with higher CPU voltage and see where it gets me. I'm just

concerned about higher voltages bringing up the temps. If 2.7 ghz &

higher voltage brings high temps to where I have to put the panaflos

back in there, I just settle at a slightly slower clock.

My memory is rated at 2-3-3-6 1T, and I had brought it up to 2-3-3-7 1T

once I started to bring the speeds up. Can the memory be run at lower

timings than what they're rated for?

Yes, the memory, just like the CPU, can be underclocked with no adverse consequences.

As far as your cooling, the XP-120 should really be able to take care

of ANY overclock, with almost any voltage. I doubt your load temps will

go past 55C regardless of what you do.

Actually, I am thinking that you might not have seated it correctly, or

didn't use the right amount of thermal compound... or perhaps it's a

bad thermal compound. My friend has his Venice 3800+ at 2.5GHz at 1.5V,

and his load temperatures don't break 50C. He's only using an XP-90

though... with an 80mm fan. So the fact that that much larger XP-120,

with a fan that blows significantly more air, is not doing the job,

makes me think that perhaps something isn't totally right with the

mounting.

I tried 1.5V as well, with 2 cores, and my temperatures still didn't break 55C at full load.

Also, see what the temperature in your case is - do you have fans

blowing in as well as out? Depending on your cooling bias (intake vs.

outflow), you may want to reverse the fan on the XP-120 to suck the air

out of the heatsink, rather than blow onto it.

That being said, you might very well have hit the wall at 256MHz.

Actually, that's roughly where my friend's CPU stops OCing well. If you

notice, as you're raising the voltage, that more volts are not allowing

your CPU to go higher, then just stick to 250MHz, since you've hit a

dead end. That's still a very respectable 25% overclock.

[wheelman]

Cool stuff Shade I will have to check it out more. I was actually reading on the one site how to underclock. I want to overclock, but interesting to read regardless. Some interesting reads in there for sure. Damn Meuge your an overclocking guru.

[meuge]

Cool stuff Shade I will have to check it out

more. I was actually reading on the one site how to underclock. I want

to overclock, but interesting to read regardless. Some interesting

reads in there for sure. Damn Meuge your an overclocking guru.

Thanks. I did have the fastest Pentium4/Geforce3 (below 2.5GHz) system

in the world. I had my P4 1.6A overclocked to 2.48GHz (55% overclock),

and my Ti200 overclocked over 20% on both memory and GPU. Took me over

3 months to get there, but I did get the top spot in the category on

3DMark2001.

[Shade]

I figured the cpu temps were just do to the fans being on the low

setting, only pushing 39cfm. One is on the XP-120 and the other is on

the exhaust, which is right next to the cooler. I also have a 120mm fan

for intake, just a basic Antec fan that came with the case. Low cfm,

but it's quiet & is keeping the 3 hard drives cool. I didn't think

the system temp was too bad at 42c under full load. The CPU temp

at load was 12c above that (54c).

Not sure about the brand of thermal compound, it's just branded as thermalright. Came with the XP-120.

The fan on the cooler is setup to pull air off the heatsink. I figured

it would make more sense with the exhaust fan right next to it. I'll

try flipping it & see how the temps respond.

EDIT : Just tryed flipping the fan to blow air on the heatsink. Checked

the temps before and after again as it's a fair bit cooler in the

apartment today. With the fan pulling air off the heatsink I was

getting cpu/system temps of 50/38c at full load. With the fan blowing

air on the heatsink temps went up to 51/41c.

[Shade]

.