Opty 144 Overclock

[Boggerslosh]

So I was reading up on how sweet an Opteron overclocks and decided to get one. Purchased an Opty 144 from Newegg along with an Asrock 939 Dual SATA2 board. I got that mobo because I have a nice ATI X800 XT PE AGP that can still handle newer games and want to hold out for a DX10 card.

I have gotten it up to 2.5GHz with a FSB of 278MHz and a multiplier of 9 but it cannot seem to go any higher and remain stable. I think my Corsair Value Select is holding me back. Do you think I could go higher if I got another set of the matched XMS 512's that are already in there? They are quite underclocked to around 139MHz (divider of 18 according to CPU-Z) even though I specify 200MHz in the BIOS. Even with a setting of 166MHz they seem to stay at 139.

I am using the stock HSF but have an idle/load of 33/41C. Also, my mobo will not let me go higher than 1.45 Volts. Forgive me - I forgot to write down the stepping as I was too excited to get my machine set up. I know that the stepping is relevant.

I have heard that it may be benificial to lower the multiplier to get the RAM running closer to spec. What are your suggestions?

Also, I was thinking of just getting a 4000+ socket 939 since the stock speed is 2.4GHz and they're cheap ($140 on Newegg) so that my RAM can run at DDR400.

 

[Boggerslosh]

FYI these are my full system specs:

AMD Opteron 144 @ 2.5GHz with stock HSF
ATI X800 XT PE AGP 8x with Arctic Cooling HSF
AsRock Dual 939 SATA2
WD 80GB ATA133
Seagate 250GB ATA133
Seagate 250GB SATA
Corsair XMS 1GB (2x512) 2-3-3-6 PC3200
Corsair Value Select 1GB (2x512) CAS 3 PC3200
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
Lian-Li PC-V1000 Silver
Antec TruepowerII 480W
Logitech Z-5500 Speakers

 

[xephus]

Since 3rd (i think) bios version for those mobos, there is a lock at 274 HTT within the bios.

But there are 'modded' bioses that have the lock removed - http://www.ocworkbench.com/2005/asrock/bios/betabios.htm

a good read: http://www.ocwforums.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=40579

 

[Boggerslosh]

Thanks so much for the links!

Very helpful!!

 

[dougie_boy]

Since 3rd (i think) bios version for those mobos, there is a lock at 274 HTT within the bios.

But there are 'modded' bioses that have the lock removed - http://www.ocworkbench.com/2005/asrock/bios/betabios.htm

a good read: http://www.ocwforums.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=40579

not just that the boards voltage options are not great. getting a stable HTT above 260 is hard enough. u get alot of Vdroop. watch for it in the heat an under strain. u can volt mod the board which would allow for a much higher FSB.