Overclocked CPU, underclocked HT

[snipester89]

Hi

I've managed to stabilize my Phenom X4 9600BE at 2.52Ghz (266*9.5) (1.35v) along with my DDR2 1066 at 400mhz and overclocking it with FSB to 532mhz (5-5-5-15) (2.0v). However in doing so I had to underclock the HT from 1.8ghz (stock) to 1Ghz. ECS BIOS sucks and so there is no HT multiplier, only 1.8ghz, 1ghz, 800mhz, 600mhz, 400mhz, and 200mhz. With the FSB bump my HT runs at 1.33Ghz (5x266). I've tried using 1.8ghz setting so it will run at 2.394Ghz but my system wouldn't boot. Will this underclock effect my PC performance? I know that the HT connects all of the PC components but there is also lots of bandwidth in the HT. Also, is there a program that can edit the BIOS without actually being in BIOS? If I could set the HT multiplier to 6 it would run at 1.596Ghz. I only need to have the HT run faster if it will marginally effect performance. I've tried using AMD overdrive but the HT multiplier is maxed at 5x for some reason. Any advise would be appreciated.

*EDIT* My motherboard is an ECS a780GM-a with the most recent bios update if that helps.

Thanks

 

[buzznut]

yeah, I don't think that's much of an oc board. I would have gone for a 790gx in the budget arena. In fact that's exactly what I did!

Ok so the question is does the ht speed hold you back when you've got your processor maxed out? Only way to know for sure would be to back off your reference clock and play with the multipliers. My guess is that CPU speed will trump ht speed, fine tuning ht and northbridge is generally done after finding the highest stable overclock.

I'm pretty sure you can't boot at 2.4 Ghz because the ht can't go faster than the northbridge speed. Anyway, read the primer here on toms under the overclocking section and you can find out more about the fine details. I haven't had much luck booting at 2.4 Ghz either. But my 940 BE is running at 3.4 Ghz so I'm not to worried.

 

[snipester89]

yeah, I don't think that's much of an oc board. I would have gone for a 790gx in the budget arena. In fact that's exactly what I did!

Ok so the question is does the ht speed hold you back when you've got your processor maxed out? Only way to know for sure would be to back off your reference clock and play with the multipliers. My guess is that CPU speed will trump ht speed, fine tuning ht and northbridge is generally done after finding the highest stable overclock.

I'm pretty sure you can't boot at 2.4 Ghz because the ht can't go faster than the northbridge speed. Anyway, read the primer here on toms under the overclocking section and you can find out more about the fine details. I haven't had much luck booting at 2.4 Ghz either. But my 940 BE is running at 3.4 Ghz so I'm not to worried.

When I play Far Cry 2 my CPU throttles every 10 sec or so (really annoying in large battles) I usually get about 40fps maxed out graphics but when it throttles it jumps down to about 10 for 2 sec or so. I couldn't say if its the HT or not though.

 

[buzznut]

Well, you don't seem to have your graphics card listed. It's hard to make an assumption about in game performance. I believe most titles will experience slowdown at some point. But I would say in game performance has mostly to do with 3d graphics, esp a title like Far Cry2. And Proc speed.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that in my experience I have seen more benefit from OC northbridge and HT speeds in benchmarks then in real world performance. I think a lot of AMD overclockers would agree that max Proc speed is more effective than say a faster ram speed with relaxed timings.

So if what you can accomplish with this board is just not enough for you, I recommend you save up a bit and go with a 790gx board that's more OC friendly. I know of some good ones for around $100. Or if you save about $170, you could get into a very nice FX board which would maximize OC potential.

Option B: Get a X3 BE with unlocked multi at $120. Also a lot more potential for OC.

 

[snipester89]

Well, you don't seem to have your graphics card listed. It's hard to make an assumption about in game performance. I believe most titles will experience slowdown at some point. But I would say in game performance has mostly to do with 3d graphics, esp a title like Far Cry2. And Proc speed.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that in my experience I have seen more benefit from OC northbridge and HT speeds in benchmarks then in real world performance. I think a lot of AMD overclockers would agree that max Proc speed is more effective than say a faster ram speed with relaxed timings.

So if what you can accomplish with this board is just not enough for you, I recommend you save up a bit and go with a 790gx board that's more OC friendly. I know of some good ones for around $100. Or if you save about $170, you could get into a very nice FX board which would maximize OC potential.

Option B: Get a X3 BE with unlocked multi at $120. Also a lot more potential for OC.

Ahh I forgot to list my graphics card. I have an HIS HD 4850 512mb Overclocked to 740/1200. Its very stable and I flashed the video BIOS myself using the technique in the overclocking section of the forums. I run FC2 at 1440x900 at Ultra High graphics with x2 AA. Yeah I really screwed up buying this processor. I did not do my research until after I tried to overclock it. I just saw on newegg it was a quad core with a 5 star rating from 900+ reviews and the first review said 3ghz on air, hes a liar. If I could reverse time to before I bought this processor/motherboard I would have bought the AMD Phenom II 550BE with the BIOSTAR 790GX then unlock the cores. I cant return this processor and motherboard since one of my little sisters ripped the box to shreds when I told them they could open them. I don't have the money to buy new stuff (I'm only 16) and already spent $500 for my new PC build so I'm stuck. Again, are there any programs out there that can raise/lower the HT multiplier?

Thanks

 

[megamanx00]

The HT link speed has the least effect on performance. There is generally only a significant difference when you set it below 1GHz. I wouldn't worry about it, but if you are concerned then you should do a google search as there are a few articles out there about the effects of varying HT link speeds on the Phenoms.