"Help" Overclocking an AMD 64 4000+ San Diego

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I do know that there is a newbie section to help with the Overclocking of an AMD chip...but come on i'm stupid! There are useful tips, but like this is a new chip and its limits are higher.

Could someone be so kind as to write me a guid on how to over clock a AMD 64 4000+ San Diego chipset.

Or if no one has done before anyhelp would be great!
 
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Need more information :rolleyes:

What mobo/RAM/hsf and case cooling do you have?

Most single core AMD processors of a certain pedigree are capable of reaching up to 3Ghz. You're 4000+ SD core is a good start but the o/c is dependant on your other hardware too.

If everything you have is capable then as a rough guide:

First look for a setting in BIOS named something like HT Multiplier and set it to 4x for the purposes of this o/c. Make sure you have a copy of cpu-z installed on your pc and a utility for monitoring temps. (Refer to these after every increase on your o/c)

4000+ is 2400Mhz (200[HTT]x12[cpu multiplier]) To achieve 3000Mhz you would need to go 250x12. This would give you a faster cpu AND a faster system bus.To get to this speed though you would need a voltage increase (vcore) on the cpu. These increases are done incrementally and, on good air cooling to a maximum of 1.6v. (Preferably no higher than 1.5v). I say incrementally as you shouldn't try for a maximum o/c on the first hit. Instead you need to raise the HTT a step of 5Mhz at a time. Test for stability each time by booting to windows and running something to stress the cpu. (Try superpi to start with). When you reach a point where you cannot boot at all, or the stress test fails you can raise the voltage one notch at a time to see if it helps. (It will) :D

Raising the HTT will also make your RAM run faster. 250 is achievable on some RAM but not all. Again we need to know what you have. RAM can be made to run above the default speed of 200 by a couple of methods. By raising the voltage (vdimm) in the same way as you do the cpu voltage to a maximum 3.0v (as a rough guide). Some RAM reacts well to a voltage increase
like this allowing you greater speed. Another way is to relax the 'timings'. The important ones being CAS Latency, Ras To Cas (Trcd), Row Precharge (Trp), Min Ras Active Time (Tras). If your RAM is rated at 2,2,2,5, for instance, then relaxed timings may be 3,3,3,7.

If your RAM is not capable of reaching 250 using a combination of relaxed timings and voltage increase you can use a divider i.e 133, 166 etc. These are all given as a ratio of 200 i.e 3/4, 4/5, 9/10 etc. So with your HTT at 250 and using a 9/10 divider your RAM would run at 214Mhz. (If you want a detailed explanation of the maths behind this i recommend you read a more detailed o/c guide). 214Mhz is far more achievable for most makes of RAM than 250 and may be a suitable setting for you. (Again depending on what you have).

Bottom line here is a cpu o/c to 3000Mhz, HTT o/c to 250 and RAM o/c to 214Mhz (DDR428).

Once you have reached this, and tested every step of the way with superpi, it will be time to REALLY test for stability. There are several utilities for this but Prime95 is one of the most common. Personally i think there is nothing better than running a game like COD2 to really stress your system to the max, but to each their own :) Remember that having a gfx card working hard inside your case will add to the heat so watch those temps!

I hope you can get a good 3000Mhz clock out of your new cpu and i wish you luck. Post some details of your hardware and let us know how you get on.
 
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- AMD Athlon 64 4000 San Diego (Socket 939)
- Asus A8N-SLi Premium nForce4 SLi Dual Channel PCI-Express Motherboard
- GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) DDR PC3200 CAS2.5 Dual Channel Kit
- 2 x GeForce 7800 GT 256MB DDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Cards (SLi)
 
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Nice kit mate. I'm sure you'll have no trouble o/clocking that. Just remember to take it slow and gradual. You may want to use that 9/10 divider as i recommended. Gig sticks are harder to clock than 512 ones and don't respond as well to voltage increases. I'm sure someone here has the same RAM and can tell you what they've achieved on it. Else Google your RAM and read the reviews.

If you're not already running the latest BIOS on your board i would recommend preparing a floppy with it on. If you can't get even close to the clock speed you would expect a BIOS update could help.

Visit here if you need more help.

Good luck :)
 
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Jamie1984 said:
Cool guide there, I have much of the same kit (except for gfx) it makes a nice change for someone to offer help rather than referring to guides. You make it all sound so much clearer.

Thanks for your kind words. I guess the old hands get tired of writing long posts for every person who wants o/c advise, myself included. But i do remember how daunting it all seemed when i first thought about o/clocking so i don't mind helping where i can. There are very good reasons for referring peeps to guides as the more established ones are very detailed and, once mastered, give the best help. They can seem a little heavy when you are new and not quite down with all the tech patter but worth trying to study.
I guess another reason, and a good one at that, is that nobody wants to see anyone else rush headlong into o'clocking and then terminally damage their hardware. At least if you've taken the time to learn and that happens it's your responibility not someone elses. Obviously there is an inherent risk in o/clocking any hardware but with the excellent guides already available the risks are minimised. Therefore i advise anyone who wants to o/clock to research as much as their brains can handle. :D
 
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hoju99 said:
I can get to 220 with my GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) DDR PC3200 with default volts

That's not bad as i assume it's with stock timings too. Gig sticks are harder to o/clock than 512s and need some finessing to get them to do what you want. Luckily there is a good range of 1GB DDR available in varying speeds so even the hardened clocker can find something to suit.

I live in hope that eventually we'll see gig sticks running 2,2,2,5 @ 290, 3.0v. My dreams are simple :D
 
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Dirk said:
That's not bad as i assume it's with stock timings too. Gig sticks are harder to o/clock than 512s and need some finessing to get them to do what you want. Luckily there is a good range of 1GB DDR available in varying speeds so even the hardened clocker can find something to suit.

I live in hope that eventually we'll see gig sticks running 2,2,2,5 @ 290, 3.0v. My dreams are simple :D

yep thats at default timings
 
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Hello dude!

To test for RAM faults people use memtest. But i doubt it's failing RAM at fault here.

Blue Screens are usually natures way of telling you that your RAM has been clocked beyond it's limit. Of course that limit is flexible :D If bumping up the vdimm hasn't then relaxing timings is the next step. If that won't help then the RAM is beyond the speed it can run at. Try to find a divider that runs the RAM at a lower speed in that situation.
 
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Dirk,

Ive just been reading your guide at the top of this thread for how you suggest to overclock your processor and I have a few questions to ask. Oh here is the spec of my machine:-

I have an Asus a8n-sli premium with a 3700+ sd core and 2x 256 Corsair Twin Xms 3200 llpt and 2x 512 Corsair Twin xms 3200xlpt.

At the moment it seems I can only get to 220 *11 any higher and experience stability issues.

The HT multiplier you mention is this the Hyper Transport frequency??

And I take it the HTT you mention is the fsb?

I'm confused by the memory divider becuase the lowest I can set this board is 200??

Stan..
 
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Stanley Cooper said:
DThe HT multiplier you mention is this the Hyper Transport frequency??

And I take it the HTT you mention is the fsb?

I'm confused by the memory divider becuase the lowest I can set this board is 200??

Hi mate.

The HT multiplier is what you use to multiply the HTT(FSB). The sum of that shouldnt go over 1000... So for instance, if you overclock the HTT by 20MHz leaving you with a 220MHz HTT and the HT multiplier is set at 5x then the sum of that is 1100(220x5), which is over the 1000 max that it should be. If this is the case then all you need to do is lower the HT multiplier to 4x as this will make the HT frequency run at 880.

The memory divider you want to use is 333.
 
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I'm not sure how the divider settings are given on your board. Some list them as figures, i.e 133, 166 etc, while others give them as a ratio, i.e 1:2, 5:6 etc. You'll soon find it in the BIOS though.

HT, as mentioned above is HTTxMulti (3x,4x,5x etc) Should total no more than 1000. Set it to 3x for now.

To find out what is limiting your o/clock you need to isolate the CPU and the RAM and clock each seperately to find the limit of each. First CPU....

To take the RAM out of the equation you will need to put it on a divider. Providing you have found the setting in BIOS set it to 1:2 (100). Now raise the HTT in increments of 5, booting into Windows each time and run superpi. Repeat until you become unstable. Now you have your max CPU speed (on stock voltage).

To find your RAM limits you need to take the CPU out of the equation. Do this by lowering the CPU Multi to 6x. Drop the HTT back to 200 and put the RAM divider back to 1:1 (200).

Now start raising the HTT as before, incrementally, and test for stability. When you get instablity you have found the max speed for your RAM. (On default voltage and Timings)

Now you should know whether it was the RAM or CPU that held you at 220. I'm thinking RAM. You can increase the speed at which it will be stable by first trying to bump up the voltage and then relaxing the timings if needed. (A combination of both usually.) This will then give you a higher limit for your RAM which will probably still be slower than the maximum HTT you found the CPU able to run at.

As the RAM can't 'keep up' you would then use a divider to bring it to heel. To keep things simple it would be best if you post back what the maximums were that you achieved doing the above. Either myself or somebody else could give you some guidance on what divider would be best for you to use.
 
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Thanks Hinders/Dirk,

Thanks the information, I take it on the dfi lan party at mentions everything as htt, instead of cpu frequency, cpu multiplier which is confusing!

I found that the memory multiplier is classed as the max memclock which has these setting:-

ddr 200, ddr 266, ddr 333, ddr 400, etc. So if I select ddr 200 then it will be running a ratio of 1:1 where as ddr 333 will be running at 3/4 and so forth.

I will have a go later on. Incidentally what speeds have been able to get using the amd cpu cooler that you got with the cpu??

Stan..
 
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