- Jul 10, 2006
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A.) The Specs
1.) AMD 64 X2 4400 (2x 2,200 / 1MB, running at stock)
2.) 2x1GB Corsair CMX1024-3200C2 / 2.75V (potentially 2-3-3-6 capable though at stock)
3.) eVGA nForce 4 SLI x16
4.) eVGA e-GeForce 7900 GT KO (500 / 750 (base), same remaining specs as 7900 GTX)
5.) 2X ST3120813AS (Seagate 120 GB / Sata3 / 8MB / 7200 RPM (NTFS).
B.) What I want to do...
I would like to overclock modestly as I'm on a strict budget. I do NOT like the limited and does nothing options in the bios however after getting completely screwed over by Asus the Abit and ECS alternatives for a socket 939 nForce 4 SLI 16X chipset I went with eVGA. I was sorely disapointed that Gigabyte went lame and went after to soon to die AMD/DDR2 market as DDR3 will be introduced not too long from now anyway.
I have not updated the bios which eVGA failed to provide an in-Windows updater. The software is also VERY lacking. I've also failed to get Raid 1 working with two EXACT same model hard drives. The Asus board I started with would only run Raid 1 IF USB was disabled. The two replacements were used boards that had sperm stains on it for all I know! Never buying Asus EVER again!
Anyway in the past I've overclocked via the FSB. However I can't because the BIOS might as well be an OC dud so I upped only the CPU's voltage by the absolute smallest increment I could and saw absolutely no gain on the clock (aren't I supposed to see the frequency increase from the 2,200 stock on voltage alone?) So is there a utility I can use to adjust my nForce 4 16X chipsets FSB and/or voltage?
My next question is in regards to FSB / Voltage combo OC. My 3500 on my Gigabyte board (best AGP board ever (939)) easily OCed an extra 200 MHz but wouldn't go any higher. I assume this is because I would need to give it a little more voltage though I never really had the extra cash in my account in case something went aloof! So to exceed the FSB OC limit of about 200 MHz on that 3500 would I need to increase the CPU voltage? Also I know that it locks the ratio with the memory but I'm VERY uneager to increase the voltage on the memory and have no clue if I should. I'd REALLY like to see references to the manufacturers about these specific OC tweaks as I'm not going to say add 5V to my memory just because someone says I should. ;-)
Also I have ram with potentially awesome timings, how can adjust the timings and HOW THE HECK do I even understand what the timings are? How do I convert 2-3-3-6 in to which is what and what to set to which? I have yet to find a tutorial in near-English! I have once tested the RAM with 2.5 CLS though I have not adjusted the other timings. Lastly will changing the timings potentially damage anything such as reckless voltage adjustments to the CPU/Motherboard/Memory?
With my setup I get between 25-35 FPS in Oblivion outside at 1024x768 with everything maxed (AA, min-to-mod shadows).
Also the decisions on my hardware were based on the same specs as the 7900 GTX (upgrade from an ATI AIW 9700Pro for four years (ug) with only slower clock speeds anyway. The CPU I got specifically for the dual-core and the extra cache that helps with CPU-intensive tasks (such as compiling web statistics). The Raid 1 is because it takes me about four hours for me to tune XP and install my tools and other software (I test several dozen versions of browsers, running Linux on VM, cutting our crap services and VM, tons of other crap I turn off). Anyway thanks for your replies!
1.) AMD 64 X2 4400 (2x 2,200 / 1MB, running at stock)
2.) 2x1GB Corsair CMX1024-3200C2 / 2.75V (potentially 2-3-3-6 capable though at stock)
3.) eVGA nForce 4 SLI x16
4.) eVGA e-GeForce 7900 GT KO (500 / 750 (base), same remaining specs as 7900 GTX)
5.) 2X ST3120813AS (Seagate 120 GB / Sata3 / 8MB / 7200 RPM (NTFS).
B.) What I want to do...
I would like to overclock modestly as I'm on a strict budget. I do NOT like the limited and does nothing options in the bios however after getting completely screwed over by Asus the Abit and ECS alternatives for a socket 939 nForce 4 SLI 16X chipset I went with eVGA. I was sorely disapointed that Gigabyte went lame and went after to soon to die AMD/DDR2 market as DDR3 will be introduced not too long from now anyway.
I have not updated the bios which eVGA failed to provide an in-Windows updater. The software is also VERY lacking. I've also failed to get Raid 1 working with two EXACT same model hard drives. The Asus board I started with would only run Raid 1 IF USB was disabled. The two replacements were used boards that had sperm stains on it for all I know! Never buying Asus EVER again!
Anyway in the past I've overclocked via the FSB. However I can't because the BIOS might as well be an OC dud so I upped only the CPU's voltage by the absolute smallest increment I could and saw absolutely no gain on the clock (aren't I supposed to see the frequency increase from the 2,200 stock on voltage alone?) So is there a utility I can use to adjust my nForce 4 16X chipsets FSB and/or voltage?
My next question is in regards to FSB / Voltage combo OC. My 3500 on my Gigabyte board (best AGP board ever (939)) easily OCed an extra 200 MHz but wouldn't go any higher. I assume this is because I would need to give it a little more voltage though I never really had the extra cash in my account in case something went aloof! So to exceed the FSB OC limit of about 200 MHz on that 3500 would I need to increase the CPU voltage? Also I know that it locks the ratio with the memory but I'm VERY uneager to increase the voltage on the memory and have no clue if I should. I'd REALLY like to see references to the manufacturers about these specific OC tweaks as I'm not going to say add 5V to my memory just because someone says I should. ;-)
Also I have ram with potentially awesome timings, how can adjust the timings and HOW THE HECK do I even understand what the timings are? How do I convert 2-3-3-6 in to which is what and what to set to which? I have yet to find a tutorial in near-English! I have once tested the RAM with 2.5 CLS though I have not adjusted the other timings. Lastly will changing the timings potentially damage anything such as reckless voltage adjustments to the CPU/Motherboard/Memory?
With my setup I get between 25-35 FPS in Oblivion outside at 1024x768 with everything maxed (AA, min-to-mod shadows).
Also the decisions on my hardware were based on the same specs as the 7900 GTX (upgrade from an ATI AIW 9700Pro for four years (ug) with only slower clock speeds anyway. The CPU I got specifically for the dual-core and the extra cache that helps with CPU-intensive tasks (such as compiling web statistics). The Raid 1 is because it takes me about four hours for me to tune XP and install my tools and other software (I test several dozen versions of browsers, running Linux on VM, cutting our crap services and VM, tons of other crap I turn off). Anyway thanks for your replies!
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