Looking for help OC'ing AMD athlon x4 640 on a Biostar n68s3+ board

[Kevin2015]

Good afternoon.

I've been playing around in the BIOS for probably a little too long so I"m looking for some help getting a stable overclock on the following.

Athlon x4 640
Biostar n68s3+
Patriot 1600ELA 4GBx2

I've tried bumping up the FSB speed just a little bit to 205 with no other changes, and I get a bad checksum.

I've tried alot of combinations of trying to lower ram to 1066 and changing some values for HT and northbridge. Any time I try to lower the ram to 1066 and also increase the FSB I will get a bad checksum.

I managed to boot to windows 3 times with a FSB of 227.
+5% voltage to core voltage (ended up being around 1.44v)
1400mhz northbridge (ended up being 1590 in cpu-z)
ram on auto (ended up being 759 DRAM freq. in cpu-z)

All 3 of those times I rebooted hoping to try to drop the ram to 1066. Each time I got a bad checksum prior to making any changes to the ram and could not use the same settings to boot on my next attempt. I assume it was working intermittently for some reason.

Now I can no longer boot to windows under any settings that I'm trying that include any increase at all on the FSB.

The BIOS seems to display all frequencies under the assumption of a 200 FSB bus, although when I did manage to boot to windows the frequencies were not the same as in the BIOS. For example the Northbridge was set to 1400 in the BIOS and showed as 1590 is CPU-z. That being said, here are some of my BIOS options that I think are relevant.

Cpu Frequency : 200
Cpu voltage: Toggle between auto and +5%
Memory clock mode: Toggle between auto/limit/manual
Memory clock mode after selecting manual/limit: Toggle 800/1066/1333/1600
Hyper Transport MCP68(SB) to K8(CPU) frequency: Toggle auto/200/400/600/800/1000

Voltage can be set for HT/NB/RAM as well.

Here are some pictures of CPU-z with stock setttings:

http://imgur.com/a/i9PPE#0

Any thoughts, suggestions or comments on how my motherboard sucks (I would agree with you) would be welcome!

 

[Darkbreeze]

To start with, you need to have a high quality power supply, not just one you think has a sufficient rated wattage as that has little to do with the quality, and an aftermarket cooling fan. What is the model number of your power supply and are you using the stock cooling fan?

 

[Kevin2015]

This is the heatsink + fan

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

The PSU I have no clue how to find out what it make/model it is. It came with the case which I bought around the time that I bought the CPU and motherboard. Maybe 3-4 years ago. I actually tried twice in the past to determine the PSU make/model (a long time ago) by researching the SKU and make/model on the case but did not come up with any results.

If it's of any significance the PSU is powering a radeon r7 260x running at around 90-100 watts under load if I'm not mistaken (can test that if necessary) through the 4 pin connector that comes off the PSU (using a 6 pin adapter to the GPU). Really don't know if that means anything, just trying to get the info out there.

Here's the case
http://www.thrift-king.com/hardware/cases-and-modding/4674d-micro-atx-tower-case-w-485watts-power-supply.html

I can see the voltages for the rails (I think that's what I'm looking at) in aida64 if that's of any use.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I'll almost guarantee that's a no name off brand PSU that is very unlikely to meet it's advertised specs much less be of a quality level you should run your GPU on much less overclock. Also, the CPU cooler you have is pretty minimal is it's capabilities but it might be ok for that Athlon. I'd keep a close eye on CPU core and package temperatures just to be safe.

The PSU however is very unlikely to be sufficient. There should be a sticker or printed/stamped spec sheet on the PSU someplace that lists the model number as well as it's rated power capablilities. I could tell you more with the model number. PSUs that come preinstalled in cases or systems are almost always of the cheapest quality since, obviously, they don't want to invest anything more than they absolutely have to in order to get the best return on their investment. There are a few higher end cases and prebuilt systems that reject the rule but for the most part, that is the sad case, no pun intended.

Here is some information to educate you on the importance of the PSU and why you don't want a cheap unit in your rig as well as a link to the PSU tier list for reference if you decide to get another PSU or if you find the model and brand of your unit and want to see where it actually sits on the list:

Tier list: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html


Don't be surprised when your cheap PSU blows up: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/low-cost-psu-pc-power-supply,2862.html


Here's what happens with a cheap PSU: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezk9OA7aKOE

 

[Kevin2015]

I could tell you more with the model number. PSUs that come preinstalled in cases or systems are almost always of the cheapest quality since, obviously, they don't want to invest anything more than they absolutely have to in order to get the best return on their investment. There are a few higher end cases and prebuilt systems that reject the rule but for the most part, that is the sad case, no pun intended.

I"ll check on teh PSU for model numbers in a few minutes.

Is it possible to OC with a low quality PSU without touching the voltages on this CPU? Or is the PSU having an impact regardless of any voltage change?

 

[Kevin2015]

There should be a sticker or printed/stamped spec sheet on the PSU someplace that lists the model number as well as it's rated power capablilities.

2 stickers on it. One is barcode with HKC11033800 on it and the other:
Orion P4-485
V-220V Current 3A Frequency 47-63 Hz
DC output:
+3.3v - 9A
+12v = 13A
-12v = 0.5A
+5v = 16A
-5v = -
+5vsb - 2A

hope that helps.

 

[Darkbreeze]

All HEC/Compucase PSUs are Tier 5 replace immediately, which that Orion model is. If you visit the Tier list link which I gave you and scroll down to Tier 5 you will see HEC Compucase Orion listed. I would recommend you replace that unit immediately and absolutely do not overclock your GPU or CPU while it's installed. I'm surprised you haven't had any issues with errors or seemingly faulty hardware up to this point but you almost certainly will if you continue using it.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Additionally, the GPU card you have calls for 19A on the +12 rail and that PSU only has 13A so even if it was a good unit it would not be sufficient for your GPU. It will work at low demand but if you ever push the card at all you will encounter issues in some form.

 

[Kevin2015]

All HEC/Compucase PSUs are Tier 5 replace immediately, which that Orion model is. If you visit the Tier list link which I gave you and scroll down to Tier 5 you will see HEC Compucase Orion listed. I would recommend you replace that unit immediately and absolutely do not overclock your GPU or CPU while it's installed. I'm surprised you haven't had any issues with errors or seemingly faulty hardware up to this point but you almost certainly will if you continue using it.

Ok thanks for your help.

In regards to the trouble I had moving the FSB in my failed attempts, is that directly related to a poor PSU? I'm mostly looking to understand why I failed in achieving any kind of OC at this point and not so much interested in making an overclock happen.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I never touch the FSB when overclocking. Multiplier and individual voltage is sufficient to obtain any overclock within what is wise to attempt. When you overclock the FSB you are changing everything, RAM, Northbridge, CPU, etc, rather than just the CPU. You should be able to manually adjust the multiplier and CPU voltage without affecting other components in the equation.

Exceptions to this are systems with locked multipliers that can only be overclocked by using the FSB or really old systems that don't have any other means of achieving an overclock, which is unlikely. Xeons and other locked CPUs should be left as is unless it is not a valued piece of hardware and you just want to play around with it to see what you can do.

 

[Kevin2015]

Exceptions to this are systems with locked multipliers that can only be overclocked by using the FSB or really old systems that don't have any other means of achieving an overclock, which is unlikely. Xeons and other locked CPUs should be left as is unless it is not a valued piece of hardware and you just want to play around with it to see what you can do.

Athlon II x4 640 has a locked multiplier. If I'm not mistaken, anything that wasn't black edition during that generation had a locked multiplier.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Exceptions to this are systems with locked multipliers that can only be overclocked by using the FSB or really old systems that don't have any other means of achieving an overclock, which is unlikely. Xeons and other locked CPUs should be left as is unless it is not a valued piece of hardware and you just want to play around with it to see what you can do.

Athlon II x4 640 has a locked multiplier. If I'm not mistaken, anything that wasn't black edition during that generation had a locked multiplier.

That'd do it.