OCing: X2 3600+, evga 8800, and RAM

[reggie_da_man]

actually no, and certainly not if he has it set at a ratio other than 1:1, which would be a pretty odd (and uneccesary) thing to do on an am2 system. the cpu and ram are semi-connected (ie the ram speed will increase as the ext clock increases), but the ratio (divider) can be adjusted individualy.
ram frequency on the evga 590 (and all other am2 boards as far as i know) is dependent upon the speed (ddr2 400/533/667/800) he has selected, and also the cpu multiplier.
if your cpu is running at a cpu/5 ratio (ddr2 800) @ 2375mhz, your ram will be running at 475mhz, your cpu multiplier will be 9.5, and your external cpu clock (fsb if you will) is 250mhz. if you increase your ext clock to 275mhz, that will raise your cpu clock to 2612mhz, and your ram will then be running at 522mhz. 2612/5, get it? in no way is it as easy as "your cpu speed goes up 5mhz, so does your ram", unless you are running a 1:1 ratio. which is dumb if you have an am2 system and ddr2 800 ram, because you aint gonna get your cpu's external clock to 400mhz, therefore you will never realize your ram's full potential at 1:1.

Ok well I've been away from computers for a while, and haven't really even looked at new technology in the last like 4-6 months so I'm a bit off. So if I understand what your saying is you drop the ram speed to be 1:1 with the fsb then you can overclock the CPU and keep ram timmings tight without having to worry about the ram crapping out on you because it's already rated for 800mhz right? I'm still living in the past with my 939 system...still love it though

 

[jfenwick]

Ha! I got between your double posts.

ok, system runs at 280 but crashed orthos. "possible hardware failure" was on one of the cores.

 

[reggie_da_man]

What's your voltage at?

 

[jfenwick]

1.152-1.16

 

[Nagasama]

whaaaaaaaaa? that cant be right.
dude are you resetting your cmos jumper every time you BSOD?
reggie, by the way:
yes you are right kinda sorta. you dont really have to be at a 1:1 ratio to keep ddr2 800 from crapping out, cos it is pretty much impossible (lol) that you will hit 400mhz on an amd. but, yes, if you wanted to run super tight timings, 1:1 would be the best way to do so.

 

[jfenwick]

my bad, I took that number from CPU-z

BIOS says 1.27

[edit]anyways, time for me to bail for the night, is an early morning for work tomorrow and am at a stand still right now...what should be my next step tomorrow?

Thanks guys for the help...i'd be done and settled at 2.3ghz if it wasnt for your help with the RAM, looking forward to getting even higher tomorrow, want to crack 10k on 3d mark. If you could leave a few tips for me to try tomorrow i'd appreciate it.[/edit]

 

[Nagasama]

up the voltage now for the cpu to like 1.35 (in bios)

 

[jfenwick]

ok, at 1.375 we're stable at 296mhz for a total of 2.8 ghz....highest temp I get in BIOS is 29 Celcius. Keep going on the voltage? If so, how high should I be going?

Question: If the only place to get an accurate core temp read is in BIOS then how do you get an accurate temp for the CPU under a full load? how much of a cool down is there between quitting the program and the reboot?

 

[Nagasama]

you really cant get an accurate load temp. about the only way to come close is to get the idle temp in bios, then start it up and check the temp utility. figure out the difference, ie if the utility says 37* c at idle, but its running at 29 in bios, there is a 6* difference.
then put it under a load and subtract 6* from what the utility says. it really isnt extremely accurate, but will give you a general temp.
you shouldnt up the voltage past about 1.5 with air cooling. you will probably max your cpu overclock at about 1.45ish. you ca raise it higher, but hte perfromance trade off will not be worth the temps. once you go above 1.4v, its gonna start gettin pretty hot.

 

[jfenwick]

sounds like a plan....once i get that sorted out I move to the RAM correct? How does that work oh wise one

[edit] unless you have some more tricks up your sleeve for the CPU OC I think I'll be just short of 3GHz...am testing 2.9 now at 1.45V

Temps: 50 celcius at load (best guess with your aforementioned formula)[/edit]