New To Overclocking

[GuitarFreak1857]

hey dudes, i just upgraded to an AMD Opteron 165 cpu over christmas. and i've been procrastinating to start overclocking and i've been messing around with it lately. are there any things that i should know? any programs you guys recommend? i downloaded: Smartguardian, CPU-Z, Super-Pi, Prime95 and OCCT. are there any other good ones out there? i've got a DFI Lanparty UT nf4 ultra-d mobo. just a few questions:

1) Should i overclock the RAM? how do i do that?
2) Should i raise the Voltage to the CPU?

~thanks

[Solarfall]

give us more information of your settings. sreenie or something.
ok programs core temp is very good, allso you really should download A64info it has a very helpful calculator feature.
what comes to overclocking i recomend that you try how high you can go with stock volts and then gradually ingreace volts.

1) yes. try the calculator in A64info
1)yes but do it gradually

allso whould be nice to know what kind of cooling you have

[GuitarFreak1857]

I'm running a DFI Lanparty Ut Nf4 Ultra-d with 2GB of OCZ platinum

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a241/GuitarFreak1857/Screen.jpg

[andyOCZ]

The old DFI-Street Support fourm has become DIY-Street.com and still has all the old tutorial material up to help you DFI guys. They should have settings posted in the Overclocking Database. Just find your CPU type and look for the OCZ Platinum Kit you have.

Here's a link: http://www.diy-street.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=28

[NGPlease]

Definately download Coretemp to monitor temps. It's THE most accurate temp reading program for Athlon 64 processors and Core 2 Duos.

OCCT and Orthos is what I use stress test.

[GuitarFreak1857]

is it true that the HT speed has to be less than or equal to 1000MHz? and when i test these settings that people have in the database, should i gradually overclock it there or should i just put my bus speed up?

[andyOCZ]

You need to stay at or under 1000mhz on HT as you have read. You can just plug the values in and go, just remember that while booting if get a black screen, just reboot and hold the insert key down right away. That will often allow you to get into the BIOS to reset your settings. Worse case is that you have to manually reset the BIOS and start over.

[GuitarFreak1857]

what's the most simple way of overclocking my ram without messing with every setting? or is there no other way. because i'm not sure what to set each setting to

[[XC] 4X4N]

Are you using the stock cooler for the 165? You should be able to get to 2.5-2.7 pretty easily. Put you ram on the 133 divider and boot up at stock. Use clockgen here (http://www.cpuid.com/clockgen.php) to bring up you fsb about 5 at a time. Run a quick test (maybe 8m super-pi) then raise it some more. Repeat until it fails. Then you'll need to up the vcore, but if you have stock cooling, the temps go up pretty fast on these opty's. Read the guides, it will help. I have a similar set-up as you on one of my rigs. I can give you some bios setting to get started.

[GuitarFreak1857]

ok cool, but everyone i've talked to says that overclocking from the BIOS is the best, but are you saying i should use clockgen just until i find the maximum freq of my CPU, and then overclock from the BIOS? once it failes, is that the max freq of my CPU? btw i have a zalman CNPS9500 sitting near me that i can put on if my temps get too high. yeah i'm using stock right now.

[[XC] 4X4N]

Yes, use clockgen to get an idea of your max, then set in bios. Quicker and easier than rebooting. Find your max at stock volts, then up them a little at a time and watch your temps. I run a 170 opty at 2.8ghz, 1.375 + 110% vcore, cooling with a big typhoon, just to give you an example.

[GuitarFreak1857]

when should i raise the voltage to the CPU?

[[XC] 4X4N]

When you can't pass whatever stress test you are using. Just get started and see how far you can go at stock first. Make sure you keep your ram on the 133 divider. I probably wont be back on until tomorrow. You can pm me with any other questions you have.

[andyOCZ]

GuitarFreak, do you really play guitar? I'm a blues guitarist myself.

I think trying to learn this way may take you allot longer than if you read some decent guides. Here's on I highly recommend. eva2000 is knowlegeable guy and a great overclocker as well.

i4memory AMD64 Overclocking Guide (http://i4memory.com/showthread.php?t=327)

[GuitarFreak1857]

GuitarFreak, do you really play guitar? I'm a blues guitarist myself.

I think trying to learn this way may take you allot longer than if you read some decent guides. Here's on I highly recommend. eva2000 is knowlegeable guy and a great overclocker as well.

i4memory AMD64 Overclocking Guide (http://i4memory.com/showthread.php?t=327)

yeah of course i play :D i have a schecter. i've been reading guides, and i think it's better when people help me rather then looking through guides.

[andyOCZ]

yeah of course i play :D i have a schecter. i've been reading guides, and i think it's better when people help me rather then looking through guides.

You must have learned to play guitar by ear like I did, because I don't have the patience to read those guides much either. Some of us just learn better by doing.

I have a couple of Andersons and a whole bunch cool vintage and re-issue stuff as well.

[GuitarFreak1857]

alright, i put my FSB at 240 on clockgen, clicked apply and my computer screen went black and my computer rerstarted. i had the RAM at 133MHz like you suggested. what should i do? up the vcore?

[[XC] 4X4N]

Wow, I would have expected it to go farther than that on stock volts. I would try 1.35 + 110% That's a little under 1.5v. See how far you can go with that. Which bios are you using?

[GuitarFreak1857]

idk....how do i check? but last night, i thought the problem was that my HT multiplyer was at 5 and not 3. so i lowered it to 3 (with the ram at 133MHz), and tried to run SuperPi 8M test, and halfway through it froze and my speakers let out a high pitched sound.

[biohead]

you can check your BIOS version at the mainboard-tab in CPU-Z.

[GuitarFreak1857]

Version: 6.00 PG
Date: 04/06/2006

[[XC] 4X4N]

That's the latest bios, should be ok for you. I use the bigtoe version of that bios, but I'm not sure where you can get it now. Did you raise your vcore?

[andyOCZ]

I you head over to ww.DIY-Street.com they should be able to hook you up with the best BIOS. Just ask what's the best these days and they should be able to help.

[GuitarFreak1857]

no i havent raised my vcore yet, i had to ship out my powersupply back to OCZ yesterday. it's a long story, i'll have the new one by monday/tuesday. i'll check out DYI-Street and see what they have for me

[gnaishes]

i m new here.. sori for hoping in ur thread..
i m really really new to AMD OC'ing..
i need to noe wut the main diff in oc'ing an intel system with an AMD system..
is there a guide out there..

[GuitarFreak1857]

alright i got my powersupply back. so, i'm going to go into my BIOS and set these settings:

HT multiplier : 3
Memory: ok, should i set the timings to 3-4-4-8? or just put the memory on a 133 divider?
Vcore: 1.35 + 110%

[andyOCZ]

You can try both ways. You would be better off using the lower 133 divider for now, just to be sure your CPU is stable before before trying to OC your memory.

Have fun!

[GuitarFreak1857]

yeah i applied all of those settings, and went to hit apply on clockgen with a 220 FSB, and i got blue screen. :(

[p0tter]

704BTA ftw (best overall bios imo)

What is the stepping on the 165 ?

OCZ guys is he running UCCC ? If so, throw it on 3-4-4-8 and hit 250-260 w/ the 6:5 and your set.




Dont overclock in windows, used the intergrated MEMTEST to find out how high your memory will go.. thats memory

Then lower your cpu mult and put your memory on a huge divider and find your max FSB/HTT.. thats your max FSB/HTT

try and find a sweet spot between the two.



This is a MUST READ

http://www.diy-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20823

[GuitarFreak1857]

what vcore should i use? my temps have been pretty hot lately. the cores are running at like 37°C idle...

[andyOCZ]

You want to make small bumps in the Vcore, but only if you need it. You will need very good cooling to allow overclocking and higher voltages, as both will raise your temps. Get your cooling straight first.

Read the link in the last post. Having all of it in front of you in a guide is MUCH better than getting bits of info here. :)

[GuitarFreak1857]

do i have good stepping? (see sig)

[Lenny_Nero]

From what I understand the stepping you have is ok to good but there will be many people that know better than me.

I am also new to DFI and A64 overclocking, but have been reading up on everything I can get my hands on (I like to read up on things first to get all the points of view) and from what I have see and understand you are much better off to do everything from the BIOS.

It will take longer but you will get a better understanding of what is going on and what you need to do.
I have sort of settled on the find the limits way of doing things where you turn down other stuff (via dividers) and see just how far something will go.

I am doing this with my CPU right now, I have my memory on a 1 to 4 div, I am doing this with some OCZ DDR PC-3200 Platinum EL stuff that I got, because I know that my G.Skill can do 260~270 so I thought if I learn on the harder stuff it should be easier on the other and also if I screw it up... With the memory like this I can see just how far the CPU can go without anything else holding it back. Then do the same with the memory and work from there slowly pushing things up.

I have been running just a few short tests to see how stable things are with the lower settings but more and more time as I get higher up, I let memtest 86+ run last night with everything just short of 2.6 GHz and had no errors after 8+ hours.

I have read that the LDT on DFI boards can just be left on auto and will reset itself to what is needed but I have put it onto 3x just in case

There are loads of guides I will let you find them its not that hard, but what I have found difficult is something that really tells me what all of the DFI BIOS settings are for, things like 'DQS Skew value and control' all the memory settings past the first 4, as all I have found just repeats what the BIOS says which does not really help.

I am also leaving the power settings alone for the time being I did not want to play with upping the volts just yet, so I will have something left for later :)