Need help with my first overclock

[Jorge89]

This is my first overclock and I've already read a bunch of FAQs and guides, my system is composed of:

Athlon 64 x2 3800+ Windsor (cooled by Corsair A50, heat is not an issue)
ASRock N68C-S UCC
1x2GB Kingston DDR2 KVR667D2/26R

I think those are all the components that matter in this overclock since I left everything else like PCIe untouched. AMD Cool and Quiet is off so that's not whats causing stability issues here, Windows 7 64 bit has run error free so far but the system always freezes when I run 3DMark06 (CPU test) and prime95.

I know my system isn't 100% stable yet but my motherboard has 2 DDR2 slots and 2 DDR3, so I have one empty DDR2, I also have a stick of DDR2 RAM that came with my old Inspiron 531 that is out of comission, I think the brand is ProMOS but its different than my Kingston 2GB stick, it has 1GB but it is the same in speed (PC2-5300, 667MHz) could I put this and have my system be stable even though I'm overclocking running single channel?

 

[saint19]

What temps do you get? What error do you get?

 

[Jorge89]

At 100% load I don't know because prime95 freezes the computer after a couple seconds but under 70-80% load of flash 10.1 in browser I get 39C on the hottest sensor.
I don't know how to read .dmp files or how to upload them but I'll copy what BlueScreenView Shows me.

020211-17421-01.dmp
2/2/2011 1:43:29 AM
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
0x00000050
fffff880`4d192fbe
00000000`00000008
fffff880`4d192fbe
00000000`00000005
ntoskrnl.exe
ntoskrnl.exe+80640
NT Kernel & System
Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
Microsoft Corporation
6.1.7601.17514 (win7sp1_rtm.101119-1850)
x64
C:\Windows\Minidump\020211-17421-01.dmp
2
15
7601
274,192

 

[Jorge89]

I just ran prime95 on the first setting which uses less memory and it actually lasted about 6 minutes before the pc rebooted, I'm assuming the reason it crashes when I use the 3rd option is because my RAM is overclocked too high but even using low amounts of memory made it eventually crash giving me a different error:
020211-17343-01.dmp
2/2/2011 2:42:39 PM
SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
0x1000007e
ffffffff`c0000005
fffff880`050b7163
fffff880`03bc09e8
fffff880`03bc0240
atikmdag.sys
atikmdag.sys+2f1f72
x64
C:\Windows\Minidump\020211-17343-01.dmp
2
15
7601
274,192

 

[saint19]

Set all to stock and test the rig, if you get the same problem look for a borrow RAM and test the rig with that RAM.

 

[Jorge89]

I tested this set up before overclocking with both benchamarks, it passed prime95 for 1 hour without any problems. Is there a way to find out what the crashes/freezes are related to?

 

[saint19]

1 hour isn't enough, do it for 2 hours or more. I think that is the RAM.

 

[Jorge89]

I lowered the clock down to 2.5GHz by changing to 250 bus with 1000 HT link and the ram is at 313MHz with the 2GB stick with the 1GB stick working is single channel, so far it's been stable but I'm going to leave prime95 overnight to be sure. My voltages are set to 1.425 vcore and 1.87v ram. I'm also thinking it might be my ram because any time it goes over 333MHz Windows won't boot up.

 

[d1rtyju1c3]

From what I can see in the cpuz pics is that your memory was running at 466x2=932 since it is 667 memory it probably wont run at that, so I think you are ok on the CPU but you need to turn your memory down to as close to 333x2=666(7) and your OC should be stable.

 

[Jorge89]

I'm not very familiar with memory speeds but I'm running them in single channel, not dual channel, wouldn't that make them run without doubling the speed? I'm probably wrong and the memory runs at double the speed even in single channel but that's what I thought.
I ran prime95 overnight with my current cpu speed of 2.5GHz and memory is at 313MHz 4-4-4-12 single channel for 9.5 hours with 0 errors and 0 warnings, I left HWMonitor on as well to check my temepratures and the highest reading recorded was 45C on the hotter core and 35C on the other core.
I was hopping to reach 2.8GHz but I'm happy with 2.5GHz thanks for all the help.

 

[d1rtyju1c3]

It doesnt matter if they are in dual or single channel the speed will be the same.

You said you are running the ram at 313 it is actually double that so it is running at 626MHz. Your memory is suppose to run at 667MHz which is 333 doubled.

That being said if you look at your first post at the second pic where it says DRAM frequency 466.4MHz. That means your memory is actually running at 933MHz, which is higher then the RAM is rated at (667), so you need to do 1 of 3 things lower the ram to 333 or as close as you can, raise the latencies, slightly raise the voltage, or a combination of the last 2, but I dont think you will be able to run the memory that high. I think you will be fine at 2.798GHz or higher if you keep the memory around 333=(667MHz)

 

[Jorge89]

Thanks for the explanation on RAM frequencies. I have added the 1GB stick of RAM I had sitting around and even though its rated at the same speed its limiting the overclock even more, I can only go up to 2.5GHz but I'd rather have 3GB instead of 2GB so I can live with that, specially now that I know its the RAM limiting my system.

If I raise the Bus speed by even 1MHz one of the cores will always get an error in prime95 after a few minutes but the other core can run for hours without an error, I don't fully understand that but I imagine since there's only one core working instead of 2 the RAM is just fine, I hope some one can shed some light on that.

 

[d1rtyju1c3]

I have a buddy with the same CPU and he has hit 2.7GHz, it wasnt prime stable but it was ok in everyday use and gaming. He decided to leave it at 2.5GHz as it was prime stable and he felt more comfortable with it like that. Those CPU's arent huge overclockers so I would say you have hit the limit on your CPU. Glad I could help and Im sorry you werent able to hit your goal.