Overclocking the AMD A64 4200+ AM2 Processor

[Apoptosis]

Overclocking the AMD A64 4200+ AM2 Processor

The AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ "Windsor" Socket AM2 processor has become an attractive processor for those looking to get an X2 dual-core processor for roughly $185. Before last months drastic price cuts this processor ran over $330! Today Legit Reviews takes a look at the 4200+ AM2 processor, which is a CPU that doesn't get much time in the hot seat, yet is one of the most purchased processors in AMD's desktop arsenal.

The AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ AM2 processor comes set to run at 1.35 Volts and to go higher than 2.76GHz we need to increase the voltage running to the processor. To do this we just need to go to the system voltage menu in the BIOS and increase the voltage from 'auto' to whatever Voltage you like. The BIOS cautions going over 1.65V and that's not a concern as we just bumped it up to...

Article Title: Overclocking the AMD A64 4200+ AM2 Processor
Part 1: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/373/1/
Part 2: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/374/1/

[HONkUS]

on my Asus m2ne nforce 570 board I couldnt get my X2 4200 over 2.4ghz @ 1.55 volts but I never tried lowering the HT multiplier, ill have to try that when I get home.

[Apoptosis]

I know it sounds silly, but try just 1.45V on the core and lower the HT multiplier to 4...

What heatsink cooler are you running?

[HONkUS]

im running a danger den TDX, double heater core and mag II LE pump lol

[Apoptosis]

hum... Not a cooling issue...

[Apoptosis]

Under water cooling I was able to get 70MHz more out of the processor, but it's still not 100% stable.

Here it is running Super Pi at 3070MHz at 1.6Vcore!


At default clocks of 2.2GHz the same test takes over 38 seconds to complete, so the drop to 27 seconds is impressive. I'm not sure what is going on with the stability as it only crashes on the X3 Demo and in the middle of 3DMark2006. All other benchmarking.. Sandra, Doom 3, Super Pi, Far Cry, Quake 4 and Comanche 4 testing can run at 3070MHz with no issues.

[AMD_G@y]

Overclocking the AMD A64 4200+ AM2 Processor

The AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ "Windsor" Socket AM2 processor has become an attractive processor for those looking to get an X2 dual-core processor for roughly $185. Before last months drastic price cuts this processor ran over $330! Today Legit Reviews takes a look at the 4200+ AM2 processor, which is a CPU that doesn't get much time in the hot seat, yet is one of the most purchased processors in AMD's desktop arsenal.

The AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ AM2 processor comes set to run at 1.35 Volts and to go higher than 2.76GHz we need to increase the voltage running to the processor. To do this we just need to go to the system voltage menu in the BIOS and increase the voltage from 'auto' to whatever Voltage you like. The BIOS cautions going over 1.65V and that's not a concern as we just bumped it up to...

Article Title: Overclocking the AMD A64 4200+ AM2 Processor
Article URL: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/373/1/

nice article EXCEPT the conclusion is a bit misleading ..

" You can pick up the 4200+ AMD for $184 and the Foxconn 590SLI motherboard for $180 - making this a $365 combo. Compare that to the Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Allendale which retails for $299 plus the cost of a decent i975X motherboard which start at $229.99 and they go up from there making an Intel combo at least $529. "

Yes an AMD 4200+ can be had for $184 .. and the FoxConn 590SLI for $180, HOWEVER they forget to mention the additional $55-$65 for the Zalman NPS9500Cu and in addition the compare a "value" SLI motherboard (comeon we ALL know foxconn is NOT known for their enthusiast support !!) to an higher end Intel 975X built motherboard.. Howabout comparing apples to apples and not to banna cream pie !!! NewEgg lists the Foxconn 975X (Intel equivilant) for $169.99 and the E6300 Allendale for $229.00 Retail .. which by nearly all reports they reaching upwards of 3.0Ghz on STOCK cooling.. not a $60 additional cost !!

So its more like

AMD 4200+ @ $184 + FoxConn 590SLI @ $180 + Zalman @ $55 (avg) = $420
VS
Intel E6300 @ $229 + FoxConn 975X @ $169 + Zalman @ $55 (avg) = $480

In the End both are great deals, AMD being the least costly while Intel being ahead in performance slightly.. Overall I'd say it's an either or ..

[Apoptosis]

nice article EXCEPT the conclusion is a bit misleading ..

" You can pick up the 4200+ AMD for $184 and the Foxconn 590SLI motherboard for $180 - making this a $365 combo. Compare that to the Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Allendale which retails for $299 plus the cost of a decent i975X motherboard which start at $229.99 and they go up from there making an Intel combo at least $529. "

Yes an AMD 4200+ can be had for $184 .. and the FoxConn 590SLI for $180, HOWEVER they forget to mention the additional $55-$65 for the Zalman NPS9500Cu and in addition the compare a "value" SLI motherboard (comeon we ALL know foxconn is NOT known for their enthusiast support !!) to an higher end Intel 975X built motherboard.. Howabout comparing apples to apples and not to banna cream pie !!! NewEgg lists the Foxconn 975X (Intel equivilant) for $169.99 and the E6300 Allendale for $229.00 Retail .. which by nearly all reports they reaching upwards of 3.0Ghz on STOCK cooling.. not a $60 additional cost !!

So its more like

AMD 4200+ @ $184 + FoxConn 590SLI @ $180 + Zalman @ $55 (avg) = $420
VS
Intel E6300 @ $229 + FoxConn 975X @ $169 + Zalman @ $55 (avg) = $480

In the End both are great deals, AMD being the least costly while Intel being ahead in performance slightly.. Overall I'd say it's an either or ..

If you're going to do that then why not price the AMD 3800+ with it's $151 price tag... Then it's a true apples to apples bottom end dual-core look...

AMD 3800+ @ $151 + FoxConn 590SLI @ $180 + Zalman @ $55 (avg) = $386
VS
Intel E6300 @ $229 + FoxConn 975X @ $169 + Zalman @ $55 (avg) = $480

I also picked the Foxconn AM2 board because it's based off the reference nvidia design and is a very nice board for the AM2 series of processors. I'm sorry, but the Foxconn AM2 board is not value... it's based off the nvidia 590SLI chipset, which is the enthusiast version and the BIOS was done by NVIDIA themselves. It was the first motherboard to support EPP and has one of the most solid designs out there.

I find it funny that you compare it to the FoxConn 975X motherboard on the Intel side as many of those don't even support conroe... (AA version does not support Conroe only AB does) so who knows what you'll get when you order that board.

And in all honesty I'm not on either camp... I like AMD and Intel both so I'm not trying to make one look better than the other. Looking at your name AMD_G@Y I can see you are clearly in the Intel camp

[Apoptosis]

I just looked at newegg and they are selling the Foxconn 975X7AA-8EKRS2H motherboard for $169.99 after rebate and it DOES NOT support conroe.

Only the Foxconn 975X7AB-8EKRS2H motherboard does....

So you're pricing isn't right.

[ikjadoon]

Damn, very nice. On a 9500 that is pretty darn good! What was the memory at? Any dividers? Timings at stock? I would love to get that memory, but it ain't cheap! I think you should factor in the memory because the memory you used is over $469! Now I will disregard this comment if a divider was put on or some timings or loosened to something that kept it around 800Mhz and at least on CAS4 because DDR2-800Mhz CAS3 is not cheap, CAS4 is resonable, CAS5 is good. If the memory was used in an environment where it resembled some cheaper memory, sure, but...

Even though I'm somewhat biased in favor of AMD, doesn't Core 2 Duo run just as fast with DDR2-667Mhz, which is a good bit cheaper than the Corsair DDR2-800Mhz at 3-4-3-9? The high price of the memory offsets any savings gained...

Otherwise, very nice OC. I look forward to the water results..

~Ibrahim~

[Apoptosis]

if you look up 4 or 5 posts you can see the super pi results on water and what memory timings I was running. I was running 4-4-4-12 2T for all of the testing, which is something you can hit on memory that doesn't cost an arm and a leg!

[ikjadoon]

Got it. I think I missed it off on the side. Sorry!

Then that is, without a doubt, very good overclocking. Legit Reviews certainly lives up to the hype I've been hearing!

511Mhz sounds about right, a little higher than I expected, but nonetheless not without reach with some midrange DDR2-800Mhz.

~Ibrahim~

[l0velY]

I am sorry to point out the obvious, but I don't feel that you can say that machine is comfortable, much less stable at 3Ghz; without dual priming for no less than 8hrs. Just because it runs 1 instance of SuperPi, or an instance of PC/3D mark without crashing; is not indicative of across the board stability. I can get into windows at 3Ghz and even dual SuperPi, but it will fail MISERABLY if I attempt to prime it, dual or otherwise. Also, what divider are your running at? What mem timings are you using? I just don't want people to get the wrong impression about what that CPU can really do. On another note, thanks for showing the stepping code because that will ultimately determine how much headroom their is for the CPU to be overclocked to and it looks like this one has some potential but again, only a savvy user could identify this and make an informed purchase choice based on that; not the enthusiast un-savvy(YMMV). Thanks for the review, but IMHO I find it to be slightly misleading.

my 2c

[Apoptosis]

Part two has been posted: http://legitreviews.com/article/374/1/

I never said the CPU has 100% stable and I'm not trying to mislead anyone. I just thought it would be fun to get a processor and overclock it on air and water to see what it can do. Part two talks about the stability in the conclusion, so hopefully this will clear things up.

In Part 1 on page 4 I said:

With a solid 800MHz overclock on our processor we seem to have a winner on our hands. At 3.0GHz the processor flies, but we did encounter some stability issues when running gaming benchmarks.

I'm not trying to mislead anyone.

[l0velY]

Part two has been posted: http://legitreviews.com/article/374/1/

I never said the CPU has 100% stable and I'm not trying to mislead anyone. I just thought it would be fun to get a processor and overclock it on air and water to see what it can do. Part two talks about the stability in the conclusion, so hopefully this will clear things up.

In Part 1 on page 4 I said:

With a solid 800MHz overclock on our processor we seem to have a winner on our hands. At 3.0GHz the processor flies, but we did encounter some stability issues when running gaming benchmarks.

I'm not trying to mislead anyone.

Personally, I don't get the impression that you are trying to mislead and if my previous comment sounded like that I apologize. All the same, in part 2 of your review I am only seeing single PI scores and reference to what might be a single session of Prime95(I would suggest SP2004 Orthos beta for future stability reference(s) as it handles both cores in 1 gui as opposed to the semi-cumbersome process of running 2 gui's and manually identifiying their affinity While a single session of P95 might hold stable at 2.9, a dual session may not. Also while a single session of PI may yield 28 odd secs(fairly impressive)a dual core session will not, but it won't be far away so oh well I think that its really cool that your site provides this info, and I say again, I am not posting this comment to bash your efforts, I in fact applaud them. I just think, for the reader to get a better understanding of the big picture they should also be introduced to the conventions used to determine maximum OC'ability/stability and whether or not that will provide that level of performance they are looking for; be it a hardcore, volt-modding enthusiast or discerning customer with no interest in performance pushing whatsoever. The article was well written and I am sure you have already generated interest in the production week/stepping of that CPU regardless of how much info was posted.
(I love these emo-cons here)

Thanks for taking the time to reply and expand on the earlier review that was posted.

Thanks,
h

[HONkUS]

Whoohoo by lowering the HT to 4x I can stably get 2.8ghz out of my x2 4200 on an asus m2ne nforce 570 board. Thanks Apop!

[Apoptosis]

Great job HONkUS! Dose it start becoming unstable at 2.8GHz? Moving from 2.4GHz to 2.8GHz is a pretty big boost to performance. You should see a ~15% gaming performance inprovement! Be sure to check the temps to make sure they aren't getting too warm. If you are starting to hit a wall it might be the memory settings... you could lower the memory divider if you wanted to try for more.

[AMD_G@y]

nice article EXCEPT the conclusion is a bit misleading ..

" You can pick up the 4200+ AMD for $184 and the Foxconn 590SLI motherboard for $180 - making this a $365 combo. Compare that to the Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Allendale which retails for $299 plus the cost of a decent i975X motherboard which start at $229.99 and they go up from there making an Intel combo at least $529. "

Yes an AMD 4200+ can be had for $184 .. and the FoxConn 590SLI for $180, HOWEVER they forget to mention the additional $55-$65 for the Zalman NPS9500Cu and in addition the compare a "value" SLI motherboard (comeon we ALL know foxconn is NOT known for their enthusiast support !!) to an higher end Intel 975X built motherboard.. Howabout comparing apples to apples and not to banna cream pie !!! NewEgg lists the Foxconn 975X (Intel equivilant) for $169.99 and the E6300 Allendale for $229.00 Retail .. which by nearly all reports they reaching upwards of 3.0Ghz on STOCK cooling.. not a $60 additional cost !!

So its more like

AMD 4200+ @ $184 + FoxConn 590SLI @ $180 + Zalman @ $55 (avg) = $420
VS
Intel E6300 @ $229 + FoxConn 975X @ $169 + Zalman @ $55 (avg) = $480

In the End both are great deals, AMD being the least costly while Intel being ahead in performance slightly.. Overall I'd say it's an either or ..

If you're going to do that then why not price the AMD 3800+ with it's $151 price tag... Then it's a true apples to apples bottom end dual-core look...

AMD 3800+ @ $151 + FoxConn 590SLI @ $180 + Zalman @ $55 (avg) = $386
VS
Intel E6300 @ $229 + FoxConn 975X @ $169 + Zalman @ $55 (avg) = $480

I also picked the Foxconn AM2 board because it's based off the reference nvidia design and is a very nice board for the AM2 series of processors. I'm sorry, but the Foxconn AM2 board is not value... it's based off the nvidia 590SLI chipset, which is the enthusiast version and the BIOS was done by NVIDIA themselves. It was the first motherboard to support EPP and has one of the most solid designs out there.

I find it funny that you compare it to the FoxConn 975X motherboard on the Intel side as many of those don't even support conroe... (AA version does not support Conroe only AB does) so who knows what you'll get when you order that board.

And in all honesty I'm not on either camp... I like AMD and Intel both so I'm not trying to make one look better than the other. Looking at your name AMD_G@Y I can see you are clearly in the Intel camp

My point being that concluding a value based motherboard and processor AND a $55+ heatsink which is NEEDED to reach such clocks is hardly that much a better buy when picking an equivilant INTEL based motherboard.. yes Intel brand motherboards typically are more expensive (975 running upwards of 299.99). One could just as easily picked an Asus AM2 Crosshair ($249.99) with an 4200+ vs say a C2D E6400 with a MSI P965 Neo-F (96.99) and declare Intel far better in price and performance.. HOWEVER doing so would be just as misrepresenative of either product.

LOL, and as far as the name goes,. AMD_G@y .. yeah that must really mean Im from the Intel camp, being that this is my 9th year sraight of using AMD ONLY PCs,.. from the venerable AMD K5 all the way to my 3800+ Compaq media center, AMD 64 equipped HP notebook (from which I am responding.. ) and my main PC, an Opty 165 @ 2.45Ghz (1.35V) -H20 ..

It's rather obvious that the reviewer's decision to use AMD represents his (or her) product favorability and their respective conclusion.. does that mean AMD s any less competitive ? Or make Intel the better choice ? No and NO ..

I'm just annoyed by soo many reviewers skewing their articles or adding some sort of slant to a review simply due to who's logo is on the box. Just because Intel finally delivered a decent product to challenge AMD (who has been on a constant rampage since the K7 introduction) doesn't make AMD a poor choice,.. thats why competition is a good thing. For far too long Intel was able to charge what they wanted because there was no real challenge to their supremacy, then comes along AMD and the following price wars. Now we have much more affordable PCs with higher performance to dollar ratios than ever before, just that the roles have been reversed.

[AMD_G@y]

I just looked at newegg and they are selling the Foxconn 975X7AA-8EKRS2H motherboard for $169.99 after rebate and it DOES NOT support conroe.

Only the Foxconn 975X7AB-8EKRS2H motherboard does....

So you're pricing isn't right.

actually it's now 159.99 (199.99 - 10.00 instant and $30 MIR) ;p

as noted previously, your conclusion imo is still a bit slanted when you compared a value based Foxconn and no mention of the required $50-60 extra for cooling to a very new (and albeit expensive) CPU and undetermined motherboard. As far as the 975X7AA vs 975X7AB, by most all acounts the AB will be priced just above the 975X7AA due to the inclusion of their digital PWM technology. however until then your bias will remain duely noted for future reference.

[HONkUS]

Great job HONkUS! Dose it start becoming unstable at 2.8GHz? Moving from 2.4GHz to 2.8GHz is a pretty big boost to performance.

nope its stable as a rock, with temps just hovering a hair below [email protected] vcore, In the past I was able to get my temps to drop 8 degrees celcius by replacing my radaiator fans with ice packs so im gonna do the frankenstein thing and experiment tonight. As much as id like to hit 3ghz heat is quickly becoming an issue and my mobo is anything but an enthusiast board and while my Patriot DDR2 667mhz ram is good for Oc'ing its definately not great. So we will see where the ice packs get me