2700+ A7N8X-E. When to increase memory voltage..

[dobbz]

I think I've gotten my system near where it should be. I'm still tryin to learn, but I've gotten this 2700+ from 2175 at 166 bus to 2400, 200 on Volcano7+ cooling.

After running at 2100MHz at 1.700v for about a week, asstable as I can figure, I put it up to 2400, leaving the voltage to start. Prime would run about thirty seconds before blue screen and memory dump. At 1.750, 1.775, 1.825 I'd get a long string of warnings, then halt. Now at 1.850 it'll run around 45 minutes and give a miscalculation error then halt, and the proc will be about 51c. Seems like its becoming less unstable as I increase the voltage, but I know almost nothing about Prime's behavior so whatever. Anyway, now I'm at max vcore and wondering about memory settings and voltages, which I have not yet touched. specs below, thanks.

I'll try folding@home and SETI sometime too.

(a separate Q: I think I've got the fastsest tbred right? are 2800+ and up all Bartons? I was wondering what AMD's rating/model name would be on a 2400MHz tbred.)

 

[Drisler]

Seems like its becoming less unstable as I increase the voltage, but I know almost nothing about Prime's behavior so whatever

No it's doing the exact opposite. It is becoming more stable as you increase the voltage. Since you have now ran out of Vcore, you need to lower the CPU Mhz to get it to run stably without Prime errors.

Since you are only at 200mhz fsb. Your current memory settings are fine.

a separate Q: I think I've got the fastsest tbred right? are 2800+ and up all Bartons? I was wondering what AMD's rating/model name would be on a 2400MHz tbred.)

No..you don't have the fastest Tbred. AMD had a limited release 2800+ Tbred that ran at over 2200Mhz.

A 2400Mhz tbred would probably be a 3200+..

 

[dobbz]

Ok, sweet.

Been reading tons of threads. For now I'll assume vcore strengthens total cpu speed, and memory voltage/timings strengthen bus speed.

So my plan now is this (right?): Lower my multi from 12 til I can get more outta Prime, then start raising the bus from 200. But do I strengthen the higher bus first by raising memory voltage, or by lowering timings (which is something I don't know a thing about yet)?.

 

[alexoprice]

Ive got the same setup (a7n8x with a 2700), the highest oc ive gotten so far was 2470 mhz (190 x 13), ive been tryin to get a stable oc with a higher fsb and a comparable speed but have not been able to yet (only been ocin for 2 weeks), anyway at 190 by 13 i had to increase my ddr voltage to 2.7, and my v-core is maxed out. when tryin at fsb greater than 205, i usually have to have my ddr-voltage at 2.8 (maxed), still messin with it and tryin new stuff so dont know if im even doin it right, just thought id share my experiences.

 

[dobbz]

what kinda memory you got? i got some Corsair 3200 Low Latency over xmas, and im sure its helping this OC quite a bit.

cuz right now im at 2400 218x11.0 max vcore with 2.7v to the mem, on 2-2-2-5 timings, and the stick is rated 2-3-2-5. i can run complete tests in 3dmark01se and 03 over and over, and my games are great. only thing is Prime95 craps out pretty quickly and everytime i boot the corny 'speech POST' reporting tells me my "system has failed due to CPU overclocking" (heh).

and what about your cooling? even though i was planning on ordering a nice Thermalright heatsink, i got impatient took a trip down to some wannabe x-treme gear retailer and got a Thermaltake Volcano7 for 25 bux, and some Antac silver compound. i've read each are fairly decent, and yeh, my temps dropped about 18 degrees C at default speeds initially. continuing with this OC, theyre comin back up again, but im told i should be satisfied with 55-60 under load and i still have some room there.

this is actually kinda fun. especially cause ive been messin with computers for about ten years, im A+ certified and this is the first machine i've actually owned. ill prolly break somethin unless some more ppl help me out soon, but thats awrite i guess.

 

[alexoprice]

my memory isnt the best i hear, i didnt know much when i was first buildin the computer...fast though - PNY pc-3500 so theres no way ill max out the speed on those, right now i only have 512 in single channel mode, pretty soon ill get another stick and get a nice performance boost with dual channel runnin...anyway my cooling is a swiftech water coolin kit from fry's electronics, i never reach temps over 50c even on full load at speeds that are way unstable. i got my computer to 2500 with 200 x 12.5 and everything runs great except for prime 95. wonderin how "stable" it acutally needs to be cuase everyhting runs fine but prime 95 says no after 2 mins. so for now im running at 190 x 13. wanna try to get above 2400 with a fsb of at least 215 but im still workin on it, only been overclocking for 2 weeks so im still a newbie. but still have .1 volts to go on the ddr so maybe we can go higher. let me know if you get any higher. and what temps are you runnin at with air cooling? i just got asuse probe to work beofre i was usin mbm5 but that was doin weierd stuff too. good to fninally hear what someone else with the same setup is doin. everyone around here has those 2500 bartons.

 

[dobbz]

depending on the heating in the house its 38-43 idle and at load it stops at about 50 or 51, with the fan on high and the case open on both sides. its sposed to move 49CFM at that speed.

i dont know any details on water kits, but id bet any kind should be keepin yer system a lot cooler than mine on air. and about all i can suggest is that you play with the memory timings or get some real solid RAM.

forgot to tell you, i can run Pime95 overnight and all day at 218x11 with my memory at 3-4-3-7, but the proc runs hotter and my 3dmark01 score is near identical to 218x10.5 with 2-2-2-5 anyway. so for now ill assuming 2400 is as fast as itll go, but im gonna keep it one step down.