Brand new System- Need OC/Optimization advice

[Sting3000]

Greetings all!

I am new to the forums, and have read many posts, but I have decided to just put myself out there and explain my situation. I want to optimize my PC to include over clocking, but I don't have ANY experience in doing so. I am completely new to this sort of thing. I will happily take suggestions as to what I should look at doing. This build was the first computer that I have built (together with an informed person with experience so I did not make a huge and costly mistake). I will list the components:

AMD 3700+ San Dieago Processor:

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6819103539

2 Gigs of Cosair XMS RAM:

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6820145486

ASUS A8N-SLI Motherboard:

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6813131524

ASUS 7900 GT NVIDA Video Card:

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6814121003

Maxtor Hard Drive, 7200 RPM, 200GB

G15 Logitec Gamer Keyboard.

I have a clear side panel ATX Case that came stock w/ 5 cooling fans.

2.1 Speakers, yada, yada.

Anyway, That is hopefully all you need to know to tell me where I mgiht start. My Mobo came with "AMD Cool & Quiet". I think is is an auto overclocker, but I have not messed with it yet.

Any and all advice is welcomed and MUCH Appreciated! I love Legit Reviews (they influinced me buying the 7900 GT Video card).

Thanks in advance!

[infinitevalence]

The best place to start overclokcing is right HERE.

Welcome to the forums read through my guide and folow the steps outlined and you should be runing on an OCed system in no time. You already have some good parts for it now you just got to get brave.

[Sting3000]

Ok, so this system above is now over a year old. Let's say you have $400.00. What do you upgrade and why? I am (for some reason) having a really hard time deciding what to upgrade. I think my Ram is still good to go, but I think w/ the price cuts of AMD processors and even motherboards coming down, I can really do some decent upgrading, but I want to run it by the experts first. If I have to go to $500.00, I'm willing, but I need to be able to justify it. I like gaming, and I can tell that my system is "slowing down" a bit. Any and all feeback is MOST welcome!!!!

Thanks in advance!
Sting3000~

[werty316]

Heres a nice S939 overclocking guide that should help: http://icrontic.com/articles/overclocki ... 9_platform

[Sting3000]

Thanks, I'm going to check that out. However, should I just get another processor now that they are much cheaper?

Thoughts?

Thanks!

[werty316]

I personnally wouldn't recommend it since S939 is pretty much dead unless you can find a really cheap S939 X2 chip.

[Sting3000]

I personnally wouldn't recommend it since S939 is pretty much dead unless you can find a really cheap S939 X2 chip.

Alright, but if YOU had $400.00 w/ the configuration I have above, what would you upgrade?

Sorry to keep bugging ya!

[Zertz]

If you want to keep most of your setup, a good upgrade would be a S939 Opteron
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... Socket+939
the 165/170 are pretty good deals and they usually overclock well.

But if I was you, since your system isn't bad at all, I'd overclock that 3700 and hold onto it until you save up enough money for a full upgrade to a DDR2 platform. Intel almost gives their latest CPUs and P35, their new chipset, is very affordable as well.

This CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115030
With this mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131189

This combo is rougly 300$, so it leaves you with 100-200$ to buy whatever good DDR2 modules are on sale at the time you buy and it would leave you with a mid-range PC with quite a bit of overclocking headroom.

Also, you can use your 7900GT and HDD without a problem so you save some money there.

[Major_A]

He isn't asking for new hardware he's asking for basics to overclock. Overclocking is kind of hard because there is no exact science to it. Every computer is different. With that said there are some basic things you should keep in mind...

1. Do not use ASUS' auto overclock function. It may do the job but it also does things that you don't necessarily need. Typically when ASUS overclock is enabled the motherboard will give the CPU more voltage than it needs and relaxes the RAM timings too much.
2. Turn off Cool 'N Quiet, it shouldn't be on if you are overclocking.
3. Do not let your HTT (Hyper Transport) get over 1000. Basically the CPU is shipped with a 200Mhz FSB and the HTT at 5X. So 200X5=1000, as you overclock past 210Mhz set your HTT to X4. If you get past 250Mhz drop it again to 3X. If your HTT gets too high the system will become unstable.
4. Acclimate yourself with the reset CMOS jumper. Like I said this isn't an exact science and you'll probably need to use it a few times.

Alright with that out of the way let's start. I always find that it is easiest to find the max FSB then work around that. After you find out what you can get out of the FSB then mess with your RAM. Let's get started...

1. Boot into the BIOS and disable Cool 'N Quiet, set your HTT to 4X and set your RAM to 133Mhz.

2. Since you are starting out raise the FSB 5Mhz at a time and start Windows. From there run a stability program to ensure your computer is stable. I use OCCT to check for stability on my computers. Keep doing this until the computer will not POST (get past the BIOS) or crashes/BSOD/locks up Windows. From there go back into the BIOS and add .10 Volts to the CPU. So instead of 1.35V it would be 1.45V (I don't know the stock VCore on a San Diego so this just may be an example). After you add the voltage try to boot into Windows. If you are successful then continue the tests. Since you are using the stock heatsink that came with the CPU do not give the processor more voltage. Once you crash/BSOD/lockup with that voltage back off 2Mhz from where you where when the computer didn't work correctly. So if you were at 235Mhz back down to 233Mhz and see if the computer is stable.

3. Once you find your max FSB then you can start tweaking your RAM. RAM speed is dependent on your multiplier. Your stock multiplier is 11X. Depending where you end up with your CPU FSB your RAM can be operating at different speeds. This is why I told you to change it to 133Mhz to begin with. Tweaking the RAM is one of the more involved processes and can consume more time finding what works than finding your max FSB. After you find your max FSB raise your RAM speed to 166Mhz. Now depending what clockspeed you are at will determine what your RAM is running at. If you don't know get CPU-Z and look under the memory tab. The top number is the speed of your RAM. To test for RAM stability I use SuperPi Mod and run at least 8M tests. If you get a rounding error your RAM isn't stable. Another application I found that is sensitive to RAM is Company of Heroes. If you own the game fire up a skirmish and see if you can play an entire round. If your RAM is stable then you can start tweaking the other settings (CAS Latency, RAS to CAS, Command Rate, RAS Precharge, Cycle Time, etc...). I know this section is vague but it is really about trial and error.

4. To overclock your video card just get ATiTool and hit the Find Max Core/Find Max Memory and let it do the work.

That's pretty much it, for a little time you can get some extra FPS or time shaved off encoding for free. Here are a few guides just from searching google.
http://www.planetamd64.com/index.php?showtopic=12066
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/s ... p?t=151373
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1804

[Sting3000]

If you want to keep most of your setup, a good upgrade would be a S939 Opteron
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... Socket+939
the 165/170 are pretty good deals and they usually overclock well.

But if I was you, since your system isn't bad at all, I'd overclock that 3700 and hold onto it until you save up enough money for a full upgrade to a DDR2 platform. Intel almost gives their latest CPUs and P35, their new chipset, is very affordable as well.

This CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115030
With this mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131189

This combo is rougly 300$, so it leaves you with 100-200$ to buy whatever good DDR2 modules are on sale at the time you buy and it would leave you with a mid-range PC with quite a bit of overclocking headroom.

Also, you can use your 7900GT and HDD without a problem so you save some money there.

Thank you very much for your suggestions! I appreciate it!

[Sting3000]

Major_A,

Where do I begin? I have always wanted to try this, but did not know how. You are very kind to take so much time to explain this to me. I'm going to try this and let you know how it goes. If I REALLY screw up, I can always upgrade to the componets that Zertz recommended. Either way, (I think) I win!

Thanks so much, and I'll let you know how it goes.

[Sting3000]

One last question Major_A: Will the ATI video card guide work w/ my Nvida 7900GT? Sorry if it's a dumb question....

Thanks!

[tnynyn]

ati tools should work with nvidia cards for oc'ing. and btw, with 400$, u can just upgrade the mobo and cpu to a c2d system and throw the rest on a 8800 card or the newer ati xt cards (if you count selling ur cpu, mobo, and video card + leftover funds from upgrading) but the 7900 should be enough for gaming for now.

[Zertz]

He isn't asking for new hardware he's asking for basics to overclock.

Ok, so this system above is now over a year old. Let's say you have $400.00. What do you upgrade and why?

if I was you, since your system isn't bad at all, I'd overclock that 3700 and hold onto it until you save up enough money for a full upgrade

Yes, I did answer his question. Thank you and have a good day.

Back on topic, ATI Tool works with most video cards or you can use RivaTuner too.