want to overclock

[Abstract Hero]

True

but a starting point is really just turning up the fsb until you hit a wall and when you hit a wall you can turn up the volts or ask for help than that way maybe people can assist you better.

 

[mattk1045]

ok im diving in. Look out lol

 

[Abstract Hero]

lol hey the way it really works is do it till it doesn't work and than try again

if you want a good stress program to check for stability I suggest folding@home which you can read about and download if you click my score card in my sig

 

[RichM499]

You should increase the FSB (or NB-CPU link, or HT link, or whatever the **** it's called in your BIOS) 5mhz at a time until you reach an unstable overclock, then increase the voltage until it's stable and continue from there.

With your Athlon II (I think that's a 235e?) the max AMD recommends is 1.425v if I'm not mistaken. I took a 240 to 1.55v without any problems, and you most likely can do the same. However, this will lower the expected life of your CPU and you may need to replace it in a few years rather than a decade.

I recommend using LinX LinX - A simple Linpack interface - XtremeSystems Forums to test for stability. This will also test for heat.

I recommend using HWmonitor to check up on temperatures. CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting



If I were you I would lower your memory frequency by reducing the speed in bios 1 step. Meaning if the memory is DDR2 800, reduce it to DDR2 667. This will give you more room and should keep you from hitting a wall with your memory as the bottleneck.


I would explain more in detail but I'm sort of drunk right now. I will clean this post up later when I'm done acting like a fool

If you have any questions feel free to ask me, I'll answer as best I can.


EDIT: Once you have raised the FSB to a point where it is unstable, and your voltages aren't helping, reduce the FSB 10mhz and that will be your top stable clock plus or minus a few mhz.

P.S. Temperatures exceeding 60c for this processor are very very dangerous.


EDIT #2: Recap.

FSB is 200mhz stock on your processor. This is where you overclock. Increase it 5mhz at a time until it's unstable, then increase voltage, rinse and repeat.
Every time you increase the FSB 5mhz, run LinX for at least 30 minutes.

Voltage max for your processor is 1.425v if you plan on keeping it for a long long time. If you don't mind buying a new one in a year don't be afraid to push 1.5v through it.

Temperatures exceeding 60c are dangerous. Stop overclocking if you see this number in HWmonitor, post a screenshot, and ask for advice from there.


EDIT #3: Failure?!

If the computer refuses to post and will not power on, clear the CMOS and start over. Make sure to make a detailed log of your efforts to support yourself with numbers when you come back asking for advice. The clear CMOS jumper is located on the motherboard usually somewhere in front of the PCI slots (meaning between the PCI slots and the front of the computer)
If you can't find "CMOS Clear" then removing the battery and unplugging the computer, then pressing the power button will do the same thing.

 

[mattk1045]

RICH, awesome man thanks.

I am running a athlon II x2 215 (regor) but the max voltage is still the same @ 1.425V
I am having a problem using HW monitor to check for temps. In fact all my temp programs are wrong. The only fully trusted temp monitor is my BIOS. Im not sure why but non of them are the same or even close to what my real temps are. BIOS shows CPU at around 35c last checked. Hw monitor shows each core at 15c, unless I add both numbers then that is close. Any other program like speed fan, and core temp put my core temps at 19c.

Should I lower HT, Ram freq and NB freq by one step, before upping FSB? What about increasing NB voltage, or is that too advanced?

Also I read that max core temp was 74c. Is the 60c you are giving like the redline? 74c is like engine go booom? lol

Final question. How much when I need to increase CPU voltage do I go?

Sorry 1 more thing. This increase in FSB until unstable, that is what linx will tell me. If it says im unstable I go back into BIOS and up the Vcore? will the comp work, like windows, so I can go to shutdown and restart? or will the unstability force a crash?

Thanks again

 

[mattk1045]

BIOS screen shots to help:

cell menu

Cell menu continued

h/w monitor screen in Bios:

CPUZ screens:

 

[RichM499]

You don't need to lower anything yet. The HT Link frequency needs to be less than 1100mhz. It could probably go a bit higher stable, but I generally keep mine as close to 1000mhz as possible.
I'm not 100% on the NB Frequency. I never really did much research into it or anything. I gave my NB a voltage boost though. Make sure you have decent cooling, because those chips get hot.

The reason I said 60c is because that's my personal limit. I don't like to see ANY chip go above 60c, even if I'm overclocking the **** out of it. Many people on this forum will tell you the same thing. It's just not a good idea to run a processor at 60c 24/7. And when you're overclocking you should be looking for a 24/7 overclock. If you wanted to do a suicide run at some benchmarks that's different, but it's also much more advanced.

What are your settings? If I were you I would set the CPU voltage to 1.425 from the get-go. This is generally the sweet spot for the athlon II chips, and it will allow for a very respectable overclock.

What is your FSB at currently? If LinX says it's unstable then it's not acceptable in my opinion. However, if it's just barely unstable with LinX you can most likely get games to work just fine, with random rare crashes, or crashes in 1 particular spot in a game.

If it's unstable you get crashes, memory errors, problems with performance (yes believe it or not overclocking can cause a decrease in performance), and other weird issues. Or it could just not start all together.

If I were to guess I'd say you'll probably get around 3.6 or 3.7ghz on air @ 1.425v. You might have an exceptional chip and get 3.8, 3.9, or 4.0ghz. And you'll probably get 3.8ghz regardless, but it won't be stable.

Stability is the name of the game. If it's not stable then it's not worth using in my opinion. It causes more problems than it alleviates.

EDIT: Holy cow. DDR2 800 @ 6-6-6-18? Those timings are absolutely terrible man.
You should invest $80 in a 2x2gb kit of Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 memory. Not only will it far outperform your current memory at stock settings, but it's going to make a big difference in your ability to overclock (most likely). Make sure to reduce that memory frequency to 667 in bios, and set the timings to 6-6-6-18 to ensure some head room.

 

[mattk1045]

so after seeing the screen shots and seeing that my HT freq is 2000mhz and you saying no more than 1100, what do I do?

Does everything else look ok? Besides the weak ram? lol. This was originally a prebuilt that I have upgraded but I kept my ram and CPU. Thats why my ram sucks, and as of now im going to overclock with that weak ****. I will upgrade later but I just dumped enough money into my comp for the moment.

For the stability part I basically meant will my comp crash in the test and thats how I will know its unstable or will i get a message, and then have to restart and change things in bios?

Thanks Rich you are a HUGE help

crap just noticed something else also. My CPU freq seems to change. sometimes its 700mhz other times its at full. I heard about this before and I think its something in my BIOS that needs to be changed. do you know what this is?

 

[RichM499]

I should have payed more attention. The HT link speed is 1000mhz or 2000mhz depending on the chip and the motherboard. In your case I would keep it as close to 2000mhz as possible.

The reason your CPU frequency changes is because of AMD Cool & Quiet. Disable it in the bios for a solid reading. Cool & Quiet lowers the frequency and voltage to reduce power use when you're not really using the processor much.

 

[Abstract Hero]

Matt do yourself a favor and turn off amd cool n quiet from auto to off. That underclocks your cpu when your not under heavy processing to save power but you want more juice so its not helping you.

EDIT: I just saw Rich's post haha.