anyone overclocked opteron HE chips?

[borg22]

has anyone overclocked opteron 246HE or similar chips?
any tips or feedback much appreciated.

CHASSIS: LIAN LI G50A
CHASSIS COOLING: 2X 120MM FAN
MOTHERBOARD: TYAN TIGER K8WE
MEMORY: 2 GB CRUCIAL (2X 1024 MB) DDR 400 ECC
CPU: 2X AMD OPTERON 246HE
CPU COOLING: KOOLANCE EXOS 2 W/ APOGEE WATERBLOCKS & CHIPSET BLOCK
GPU: LEADTEK EXTREME 7800GTX
HDD1: 150GB WD RAPTOR
HDD2: 2X SEAGATE BARRACUDA 7200.8 400GB
PSU: ENERMAX LIBERTY 620W

 

[Dr_House]

Being as how all HE processors are on Socket 940, and since Socket 940 requires Registered RAM (not ECC, though good luck finding Non-ECC + Buffered RAM), overclocking w/o good RAM is almost impossible to keep a stable overclock, especially from 2.0GHz starting point.

You could obviously set a RAM divider and overclock from there, but since I can't recall seeing a motherboard of Dual Socket 940 that offers overclocking the system clock, that means you must use ClockGen or nTune, and Software Overclocking has to be done at every boot.

I wouldn't recommend overclocking any Opteron 64 CPU in Dual Socket 940, unless that is a Server or Workstation that is Crunching 24/7.

I've been pretty negative, so let me give some happy thoughts:

If you were to overclock it, you would get some pretty tremendous overclocks, likely of 2.6GHz and beyond while maintaing power levels below that of even next-generation processors (including Conroe/Woodcrest/K8L/K10) and have excellent performance. This could no doubt be done, as ClockGen and other utilities allow the changing of CPU voltage (though my experience with Opteron 64's has required little to no need in voltage change even on 50% overclocks).

 

[borg22]

Being as how all HE processors are on Socket 940, and since Socket 940 requires Registered RAM (not ECC, though good luck finding Non-ECC + Buffered RAM), overclocking w/o good RAM is almost impossible to keep a stable overclock, especially from 2.0GHz starting point.

You could obviously set a RAM divider and overclock from there, but since I can't recall seeing a motherboard of Dual Socket 940 that offers overclocking the system clock, that means you must use ClockGen or nTune, and Software Overclocking has to be done at every boot.

I wouldn't recommend overclocking any Opteron 64 CPU in Dual Socket 940, unless that is a Server or Workstation that is Crunching 24/7.

I've been pretty negative, so let me give some happy thoughts:

If you were to overclock it, you would get some pretty tremendous overclocks, likely of 2.6GHz and beyond while maintaing power levels below that of even next-generation processors (including Conroe/Woodcrest/K8L/K10) and have excellent performance. This could no doubt be done, as ClockGen and other utilities allow the changing of CPU voltage (though my experience with Opteron 64's has required little to no need in voltage change even on 50% overclocks).

I'm not particularly familiar with DP systems and this will be the first I'll have built.
could you expand on the difference between ECC and Registered please...
Reason i ask is the MB specs list a requirement for DDR 400 REG-ECC and the reviews of the motherboard also listed DDR 400 REG-ECC.......
From what i can tell, this appears to be the correct memory!!??
According to reviews, this board has a number of overclocking features and performed well except in memory related benchmarks however there was mention of this being corrected in future BIOS releases....

http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=tigerk8we&page=1&cookie%5Ftest=1

 

[Dr_House]

ECC Memory is Error-Correcting, it adds an extra bit of parity to every 8-bits of data, it's unlike 8B/10B, where that adds 1 bit of parity to the bottom 5-bits and 1 bit to the top 3-bits, but that'll just confuse you, sorry lol.

Registered (also called Buffered, though it's a little OxyMoron labeled) Memory is where there is basically another Memory Controller on the Chips and that is what the Memory Controller sees. On a typical system, the Memory Controller will be able to handle directly to each physical RAM chip, but on Registered RAM, all it sees is that chip (the "Buffer") and that chip decides what to do with the data. I said it's OxyMoron labeled because it actually slows down speed, because it adds an extra clock cycle to CAS (if you have 3-4-4-8 timed RAM, you really have 4-4-4-8 ) and I would assume 1 for RAS as well (3-4-4-8 to 4-4-4-9).

The Tiger K8WE is the toned-down Thunder K8WE, and the Thunder can be 5-15% faster, and up to 40% or more faster in SLI vs. SLI in Tiger. I would get the Thunder K8WE w/ 4 Sticks of RAM (buy 2 now and put them in Dual Channel on CPU1) and Corsair PC3200 1GB Module Memory that is ECC+Registered.

 

[borg22]

ECC Memory is Error-Correcting, it adds an extra bit of parity to every 8-bits of data, it's unlike 8B/10B, where that adds 1 bit of parity to the bottom 5-bits and 1 bit to the top 3-bits, but that'll just confuse you, sorry lol.

Registered (also called Buffered, though it's a little OxyMoron labeled) Memory is where there is basically another Memory Controller on the Chips and that is what the Memory Controller sees. On a typical system, the Memory Controller will be able to handle directly to each physical RAM chip, but on Registered RAM, all it sees is that chip (the "Buffer") and that chip decides what to do with the data. I said it's OxyMoron labeled because it actually slows down speed, because it adds an extra clock cycle to CAS (if you have 3-4-4-8 timed RAM, you really have 4-4-4-8 ) and I would assume 1 for RAS as well (3-4-4-8 to 4-4-4-9).

Ok, thanks for the explanation; that clarifies somewhat although i'd be lying if i said i grasped the idea completely!!

I've added a link to the memory I've just ordered, If this is the wrong stuff I'll attempt to send it back but could you provide any links to UK retailers selling the correct stuff?
help appreciated!!!

http://www.vadim.co.uk/Components/Memory/DDR+ECC-REG/1024Mb+DDR+400MHz+REG-ECC+PSD1G400ER+%28Patriot%29

The Tiger K8WE is the toned-down Thunder K8WE, and the Thunder can be 5-15% faster, and up to 40% or more faster in SLI vs. SLI in Tiger. I would get the Thunder K8WE w/ 4 Sticks of RAM (buy 2 now and put them in Dual Channel on CPU1) and Corsair PC3200 1GB Module Memory that is ECC+Registered.

 

[borg22]

ECC Memory is Error-Correcting, it adds an extra bit of parity to every 8-bits of data, it's unlike 8B/10B, where that adds 1 bit of parity to the bottom 5-bits and 1 bit to the top 3-bits, but that'll just confuse you, sorry lol.

Registered (also called Buffered, though it's a little OxyMoron labeled) Memory is where there is basically another Memory Controller on the Chips and that is what the Memory Controller sees. On a typical system, the Memory Controller will be able to handle directly to each physical RAM chip, but on Registered RAM, all it sees is that chip (the "Buffer") and that chip decides what to do with the data. I said it's OxyMoron labeled because it actually slows down speed, because it adds an extra clock cycle to CAS (if you have 3-4-4-8 timed RAM, you really have 4-4-4-8 ) and I would assume 1 for RAS as well (3-4-4-8 to 4-4-4-9).

The Tiger K8WE is the toned-down Thunder K8WE, and the Thunder can be 5-15% faster, and up to 40% or more faster in SLI vs. SLI in Tiger. I would get the Thunder K8WE w/ 4 Sticks of RAM (buy 2 now and put them in Dual Channel on CPU1) and Corsair PC3200 1GB Module Memory that is ECC+Registered.

Ok, thanks for the explanation; that clarifies somewhat although i'd be lying if i said i grasped the idea completely!!

I've added a link to the memory I've just ordered, If this is the wrong stuff I'll attempt to send it back but could you provide any links to UK retailers selling the correct stuff?
help appreciated!!!

http://www.vadim.co.uk/Components/Memory/DDR+ECC-REG/1024Mb+DDR+400MHz...G-ECC+P

The Tiger K8WE is the toned-down Thunder K8WE, and the Thunder can be 5-15% faster, and up to 40% or more faster in SLI vs. SLI in Tiger. I would get the Thunder K8WE w/ 4 Sticks of RAM (buy 2 now and put them in Dual Channel on CPU1) and Corsair PC3200 1GB Module Memory that is ECC+Registered.

 

[Dr_House]

http://www.vadim.co.uk/Components/Memory/DDR+ECC-REG/1024Mb+DDR+400MHz+REG-ECC+CM72SD1024RLP-400+%28Corsair%29

Is the good RAM to get, I would also suggest purchases Heat Spreaders (heatsinks) for your RAM Modules so they run cooler and don't heat up the system any bit unnecessarily.