Legit Reviews

So i've finally decided to OC it a bit with software overclocker ('setFSB')...since I'm not going to have enough cash for new parts for a new rig til late summer.

I'm using 'Core Temp,' Prime95,' 'CPU-Z'..and 'GPU-Z' (opened for some reason) to have things monitored.

So far it's stable at 2402 Mhz (209.10 x 11.5).

Core Temp with Prime 95 running
Core #0: 43C Low:42C High:44C Load: 100%
Core #1: 49C Low: 45C High:51C Load: 100%

Does that look okay?

My core voltage is 1.312V.
What's a safe voltage? I'm seeing some 1.5V around the web, but I'm not sure.

Temperature seems okay...i think.
What's a good temperature in your guys' opinion?

Refresh my memory for me, what is the default vCore for an Athlon X2?

The last AMD OCing experience I have is my Opteron 170 which is sitting outside in the garage waiting for my nephew to make all A's on his report card.

Are you using the stock heatsink and fan?
Some tips:
A) Keep your HTT (HyperTransporT) speeds under 1000. I've seen some boards handle up to 1200 but there is little to no benefit to keeping it that fast. When you start to overclock from 200Mhz turn the HTT down to 4X.
B) You can usually get a few more MHz out of the CPU by changing the Command Rate on your RAM from 1T to 2T.
C) If you are using the default HSF do not supply more than 0.2V over stock to the CPU. People who are running high vCore's either have good aftermarket cooling or they don't care about destroying the CPU.
D) Keep your RAM as close to stock speeds as you can (i.e. run a divider in the BIOS).
E) Ditch the OS program and poke around in the BIOS, you'll learn more that way too.

This isn't AMD specific but it should help you get pointed in the right direction.
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1804

Major_A wrote:Refresh my memory for me, what is the default vCore for an Athlon X2?

The last AMD OCing experience I have is my Opteron 170 which is sitting outside in the garage waiting for my nephew to make all A's on his report card.

Are you using the stock heatsink and fan?
Some tips:
A) Keep your HTT (HyperTransporT) speeds under 1000. I've seen some boards handle up to 1200 but there is little to no benefit to keeping it that fast. When you start to overclock from 200Mhz turn the HTT down to 4X.
B) You can usually get a few more MHz out of the CPU by changing the Command Rate on your RAM from 1T to 2T.
C) If you are using the default HSF do not supply more than 0.2V over stock to the CPU. People who are running high vCore's either have good aftermarket cooling or they don't care about destroying the CPU.
D) Keep your RAM as close to stock speeds as you can (i.e. run a divider in the BIOS).
E) Ditch the OS program and poke around in the BIOS, you'll learn more that way too.

This isn't AMD specific but it should help you get pointed in the right direction.
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1804

Yeah it's the stock heatsink. I might consider in getting another heatsink...found some thermaltake tower heatsinks at local stores so..
I have a AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Brishane (my sig)
---Before i say anymore: this is my craptacular OEM PC so I can't really change anything in the BIOS. ---
A) My HT is at 1045 Mhz.
B) OEM mobo
C)Stock voltage is around 1.29v, and it's at around 1.312v the CPU is at 2404 Mhz. I think i can add another 0.1v before it goes over the 0.2v
C) RAM is just over 800Mhz by a very small amount; My RAm are suppose to run at 800Mhz anways (my sig).
E) BIOS is really a no go...

If it's an OEM PC, then you're pretty much SoL because your HTT needs to be kept under 1000 in order to get good overclocking performance. Basically, you're limited by the fact that you can't change anything in the BIOS. I think you should just leave it running at stock speeds.

geokilla wrote:If it's an OEM PC, then you're pretty much SoL because your HTT needs to be kept under 1000 in order to get good overclocking performance. Basically, you're limited by the fact that you can't change anything in the BIOS. I think you should just leave it running at stock speeds.

What affect does having the HT Link above 1000 mhz cause?
I've read around the web and some say AM2's can go up to atleast 1250mhz...

BTW: my memory IS on 2T, not 1T.

It really screws with system stability. Turn the HTT link down to 4x your RAM divider to 667 and shoot for 250MHz. I know tons of stock X2's that will hit this on stock voltage fine. If you can't access the HTT link in the BIOS then I wouldn't recommend going over 220MHz. You'll see stability issues at that point.

Ok so I've got it to 2507 mhz and I'm running Prime 95 blend test...seems good so far.

(11.5 x 218 ) = 2507
HT Link is obviously higher than 1000 Mhz. It's at 1090.
Core Voltage: 1.3v
DRAM fequency: 418 mhz

Temperatures:
Core #1 Low: 38*c High: 45
Core #2 Low: 42*c High: 53

You still haven't said, is this an OEM PC that you've upgraded or does it have a "real" motherboard in it?

EDIT
Nevermind, just noticed you did say this. Keep playing with the OC, it won't hurt anything. You can't change something that can really screw the hardware up (voltage). If you are software OCing the worst that will happen is the PC restarts and you have to reenter settings.

I just installed win7 on my old pc for the kids with the Athlon 64 X2 4400+ It has been overclocked to 2.5 for a very long time, I was shocked to see the performance deference between vista and win 7 on this older hardware

snow

Heh, I'm actually thinking about doing the same thing with my old Athlon 64 3000+ with a watercooling loop as practice for when I watercool my actual computer. Just gotta get a case for it and make sure the waterblock I decide on is compatible with the socket.

So I've continued to push and see how far this 4400+ CPU can go. I've got it to 2702.8 Mhz (11.5 x 235)..HT Link's at 1175.3Mhz. My RAM is at 450.5Mhz.
Core voltage: 1.312v (seems to be the max)

I'm running Prime95 blend test...lets hope it stable

If it's able to stay at a 2.7GHz it would pretty be a 5200+ 65W Brishane

*Fingers corssed*

EDIT: damn, unstable at 2.7Ghz. turned it down to 2662 mhz (11.5 x 231) and it's pretty good so far...