Overclocking 90nm 3000 AMD64

[sh1ft3d]

This community has helped tremendously thus far, of which I am greatly appreciative, but have another question concerning overclocking. Please look at my wishlist, planning on making a purchase close to what's listed and looking for advice:

http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=1110062

Specifically, with the process and HSF/Fan combo, what should I be able to expect in terms of overclocking? Any suggestions of part changes to satisfy a more effective overclock environment is greatly appreciated.

On another note, I have a question concerning the overclock guide. Although there is definitely useful information contained within the AMD64 overclock guide, it says that you will need PC3700 or beter RAM for an effective overclock. This confuses me because socket 754 and 939 motherboards are only compatible with up to PC3200 RAM, correct? Maybe I misinterpreted somewhere along the lines, but clarification on that would also be greatly appreciated. I apologize for the longevity, and thanks much in advance. =)

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by sh1ft3d on 11/27/04 03:15 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Robc1880]

the reason you want higher RAM is because it gives you head room to go above 200fsb on the processor, which most of the A64's can easily do. I would suggest you look into the MSI K8N Neo2 Plat. or the gigabyte nforce3 ultra mobo. The nforce outperforms the via chipsets in most test. If you can wait a couple weeks, I would wait for the nforce4 boards to be released.

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[sh1ft3d]

That's what I'm confused on is that the nForce3 Ultra supports up to DDR400, which is PC3200, right? Which would mean that PC3700 wouldn't work? Here's link to K8 Neo2 Plat w/nForce3 Ultra:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-128-254&depa=1

Here's a link to PC3700 memory which runs at DDR466 (which wouldn't be supported, right?):
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-220-008&depa=0

 

[Robc1880]

The PC3700 can clock lower the the 3200 speeds. It is better to use the 3700 because if you decide to go above the 200fsb then you have that headroom. It's always a good thing to have a higher speed ram, even if you don't run it at full speed. Does that make sense now?

Xaser 3 case with 420W TT PSU
AXP2500 w\SLK900a + TT a1214 fan(11*200 at 1.85v)
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NF7-S v2.0
PDP DDR400 1GB(2-3-2-5)2.6v
Lite-On SOHW-832S
WD 80GB 8mb buffer caviar edition.

 

[sh1ft3d]

That does, thanks... basically downclocking PC3700 is what it boils to.

 

[Ned_Flanders]

The reason is says it supports 'up to' PC3200 / DDR400 is that that is the max speed DDR was officially made to operate at.

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[Crashman]

To begin with, PC3700 doesn't run at DDR466. PC3200 doesn't run at DDR400. They don't run at any speed on their own, they run at whatever speed the board tells them to.

Memory has no fixed speed. Bigger still, PC3700 is PC3200. And now that I've confused you, let me straighten it out:

Most PC3500 is simply PC3200 that was retested and confirmed stable at a higher speed. In other words, PC3500 is usually just really GOOD PC3200. The same thing applies to PC3700 and PC4000 for the most part, except that in this case companies are more likely to have choosen special "better" parts.

So these numbers you see are nothing more than the highest stable speed the memory is garunteed to run.

If I told you a Corvette had a top speed of 184MPH, would you say "I can't drive that in town, the speed limit is only 25MPH! I'll crash into something at 184MPH!". No, you'd just assume "I can always back off the throttle". The same goes for memory.

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[dd_viper]

bravo crash, even a 2nd grader could have understood that. great post

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[Crashman]

It was one of my lucid moments, I try not to let them come too often :tongue:

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[apesoccer]

I'm not sure if you got everything you wanted out of those messages. So, instead, i'm going to start out like you don't know anything about overclocking (not that i know that much). First you oc in the bios or on the mobo(for mainly older models), oc'n with software based ocing programs is asking for you to crash your system (in my opinion; other people are welcome to voice they disopinion; sorry i think that was a bushism...; moving on).

You have to understand that when you change the cpu speed, you're changing the ram speed too. That's why when you're not oc'ed you're using all of 3200 rated ram, because you're running at 800 fsb or whatever it is (i think thats 200x4...somebody help me here, i don't know much about how the new athlon 64 based memory system works). So if you oc a 64 bit 3000+, by 1mhz you get 200mhz + 1mhz * 4 = 804 which would be above the rated 3200 ram, and so forth with larger 1mhz increases (or however many mhz your particular board allows for). Now, while 4mhz (1*4) may actually still run on 3200 ram, it's usually better to get higher-end proven ram like 3500 3700 4000 etc.

ps-1*4 would be the lowest possible increase, it can probably be increased as much as 150*4 or something (not that the computer would be able to run at that speed).
pss-anybody who sees i don't know what i'm talking about, or can clairify better, plz cut in!

 

[CaPtAiN_InSaNo]

the part about the Nforce outperforming the via chipsets is not true at all. LOL, look at the tomshwarare review onthe SIS, VIA and Nfoce chipsets for 939, VIA is ahead in mosts tests. In current tests with new drivers they are so close nobody will call a decisive winner, with the K8T800 Pro and the Nforce 3 Ultra you get PCI/AGP lock on both. Anandtech did a board roundup for 939, the Asus A8V (rev2.00) oced to 289mhz while the highest oc was 290mhz on a MSI Nfroce 3 board, so if you call the Nforce a winner because of 1 mhz oc your on drugs or something. In all the tests the boards are within 5 fps, about half the VIA leads by a few fps and the other half Nforce leads by a few. There are acouple of exceptions, Halo the Nfroce is 20 fps ahead, and then in another test the Via was 20 fps ahead(can't remember what test it was). But in all of the new games, HL2, D3 etc.. they are virtually in a dead heat. I personally prefer Nvidia over Via, but what you said is not true. Also the Chipset now longer has as much impact on performace becase the memory controller is on the CPU, that is why Via, which has usually be SLOWER IN THE PAST is now as fast at the almighty Nvidia.

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[fishmahn]

The main reason you want an nVidia over a VIA is that not all via mobos have a working AGP/PCI lock, but virtually all nForce mobos do.

I agree with the rest of your post though.

I for one, am satisfied with my Via mobo - it was cheap and it works. (but I'm into cheap)

Mike.

 

[CaPtAiN_InSaNo]

Lol. I understand that, even companies such as Asus which ususally is the first to come up with something new had trouble getting the lock to work. But if you know what you are doing you will have not problems. An example would be the Asus A8V's. The original production board Rev. 1.02 did NOT have a working AGP/PIC lockout on it, but Asus figured out that it would really hurt their sales if they didn't fix it so they came out with A8V Deluxe Rev. 2.00 which has a working AGP/PCI lockout and some other refinements, it won the Hardocp editors choice and the Anandtech Silver award. So if you get Via, just do a bit of research and check on the lockout feature to make sure you can oc.

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