Abit AV8 Overclocking

[superkdogg]

After doing some heavy research today everywhere that I could find anything, I may know why the results that people get vary so wildly. It appears that the AGP/PCI lock fails at some point.

My own situation backs that up. I could hardly break 270 FSB yesterday, but I'm currently typing this @ 9x295 (2655@ 1.55vCore) and haven't found where the real hard ceiling is yet.

What worked for me was to set the ratio to 8:2:1 in bios instead of locked @ 66. Prior to this, I got hard lockups or reboots instantly if I set FSB above 275 in uGuru or a no post if in bios. Works like a charm so far. BTW, next thing I'm looking @ will be fixing the AGP @ 74 (might be available for a reason and that's what I'm running right now) lowering the multi and seeing how far the board will go.

Anybody else with this board and a Winnie want to try to corroborate (SP?) what I'm doing? Please do if the bug itches you like it did me.

 

[superkdogg]

EDIT: Typed Sandra when I meant Seti@home (below)

Edit #2: Board maintained stability at this oc with vCore dialed back to 1.475.

[sarcasm] Damn- this board sucks and so do Winchester cores! All I can get is 2700 MHz(300x9) @ 1.575 vCore on stock cooling with a Fortron 350W PSU putting out a whopping 16A. I wish I would have given up yesterday! Damn! [/scarcasm].

Unfortunately, I have no good CPU benchmarks as they seem to all cost money and if I had any of that I wouldn't have started out with the cheapest equipment and OC'd!
Sandra scores follow-they could be higher, but I did the benchies without a fresh install and didn't shut down Seti@home, AVG Antivirus or the uGuru stuff.

SiSoftware Sandra

Benchmark Results
Dhrystone ALU : 11402MIPS
Whetstone FPU : 4231MFLOPS
Whetstone iSSE2 : 5492MFLOPS

Performance Test Status
Run ID : LODGE on Thursday, January 13, 2005 at 8:35:53 PM
NUMA Support : No
SMP Test : No
Total Test Threads : 1
SMT Test : No
Dynamic MP/MT Load Balance : No
Processor Affinity : No
Number of Runs : 64000 / 640

Processor
Model : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3000+
Speed : 2.70GHz
Model Number : 3000 (estimated)
Performance Rating : PR4050 (estimated)
Type : Standard
L2 On-board Cache : 512kB ECC Synchronous Write-Back (16-way, 64 byte line size)

Chipset 1
Model : Abit Computer Corp K8T880Pro CPU to PCI Bridge
Front Side Bus Speed : 1x 300MHz (300MHz data rate)

Chipset 2
Model : Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Athlon 64 / Opteron HyperTransport Technology Configuration
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 600MHz (1200MHz data rate)

Features
SSE2 Technology : Yes
SSE3 Technology : No
HTT - Hyper-Threading Technology : No

Performance Tips
Notice 5008 : To change benchmarks, click Options.
Notice 5004 : Synthetic benchmark. May not tally with 'real-life' performance.
Notice 5006 : Only compare the results with ones obtained using the same version!
Tip 233 : Consider using the Win64 AMD64 version of Sandra.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.

AND

SiSoftware Sandra

Benchmark Results
Integer aEMMX/aSSE : 25530it/s
Float iSSE2 : 27449it/s

Performance Test Status
Run ID : LODGE on Thursday, January 13, 2005 at 8:38:49 PM
NUMA Support : No
SMP Test : No
Total Test Threads : 1
SMT Test : No
Dynamic MP/MT Load Balance : No
Processor Affinity : No
Rendered Image Size : 640x480

Processor
Model : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3000+
Speed : 2.70GHz
Model Number : 3000 (estimated)
Performance Rating : PR4050 (estimated)
Type : Standard
L2 On-board Cache : 512kB ECC Synchronous Write-Back (16-way, 64 byte line size)

Chipset 1
Model : Abit Computer Corp K8T880Pro CPU to PCI Bridge
Front Side Bus Speed : 1x 300MHz (300MHz data rate)

Chipset 2
Model : Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Athlon 64 / Opteron HyperTransport Technology Configuration
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 600MHz (1200MHz data rate)

Features
MMX Technology : Yes
SSE Technology : Yes
SSE2 Technology : Yes
SSE3 Technology : No
EMMX - Extended MMX Technology : Yes
3DNow! Technology : Yes
Extended 3DNow! Technology : Yes
HTT - Hyper-Threading Technology : No

Performance Tips
Notice 5008 : To change benchmarks, click Options.
Notice 5004 : Synthetic benchmark. May not tally with 'real-life' performance.
Notice 5006 : Only compare the results with ones obtained using the same version!
Tip 233 : Consider using the Win64 AMD64 version of Sandra.
Warning 5407 : Optimisation Override has been engaged on this CPU.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.

 

[Quino]

mmmm, having the same issue with mine. anything higher than 260 and it is completly unstable for games (though I can run super pi no problem). i will try it out tomorrow once I get my PS and I will report. i hope it works for me since I really like this board.

 

[Pollock]

Originally posted by: Quino
mmmm, having the same issue with mine. anything higher than 260 and it is completly unstable for games (though I can run suoer oi no problem). i will try it out tomorrow once I get my PS and I will report. i hope it works for me since I really like this board.

Exact same thing with me and 255FSB. Unstable in 3D apps at 9*270 while being completely stable in Prime95, still unstable at 270*8 (and 260*8), yet fine in 3D apps at 250*9. I got frustrated with being limited at ~2290MHz so I got a Neo2 instead, and I've been perfectly fine at 270*9.

 

[Elfear]

I just tried setting the AGP/PCI slot to 8:2:1 like you suggested. It did help me to get over the 250 fsb cap (288x9), but it locked up on me when I tried 294x9 (my previous best oc but using 240x11) and I had to reset my CMOS. I sure wish they had a 9:2:1 or a 10:2:1 as that would keep my AGP/PCI speeds down a bit. You're lock must work better than mine or your video card doesn't care if AGP is at 74Mhz.

 

[res0n0xg]

i have the same board and a 3000+ but with only so so kingston pc3500 hyperX memory. im running at 267X9 stock voltage and cooling, im using the 8 : 2 : 1 divider. im going to try and see how high it'll go on stock voltage....

 

[Pollock]

Anything other than locked at 66MHz didn't work for me, but I also have a SATA hard drive. I remember some things to try were disabling fast writes, disabling AGP calibration, and changing the AGP speed to 4x. None of those worked for me, you may as well try if you're having trouble in 3D apps.

 

[res0n0xg]

still having trouble with 3dapps at 260fsb and above, OP please post some advice as you are experienced with this. it seems my video card keeps dying as VPU recover keeps being activated for some odd reason...

 

[Quino]

Well got the PS and tried the 8:2:1 divider with no luck stuck at the same htt

 

[res0n0xg]

i am having same problem still to, at around 260 and above 3dapps crash even though at almost 270 fsb prime95 will be stable as can be. i guess all we can do is email abit and ask for a bios update that can keep the damn agp locked at high fsbs..... you guys think that would be the best route here?

 

[Pollock]

I already emailed Abit around December 20th, with no response. Perhaps with more people emailing them they may be prompted to do another BIOS release? It could also be a hardware issue that can never be resolved, though. I personally just went with another motherboard, so that's another option you could try.

 

[res0n0xg]

ive already had an msi, rmad it and waiting for it to come back new. but i will not use msi in the future so my options are limited right now....

 

[Quino]

I have an Epox ready here to be tried. I am only waiting on my 24 to 20 pin adapter ( I was able to conect the 24 pin on the Abit but on the Epox I do not have space for the extra 4 pins since a cap is right next to it).

 

[superkdogg]

It does sound like my video card (9800 Pro from MSI) handles the higher AGP clock better. IIRC, this isn't usually the case. My VPU recover was coming on every other day or so @ 266 before I started messing with the lock settings, so I think it's safe to assume that your lock isn't working that great either. I recall seeing an article on AT about the locks early on.

Maybe somebody (eh, hem {MOD}, cough) could revisit this AGP/PCI lock issue @ high HTT settings since it seems to be puzzling & frustrating quite a few enthusiasts?

 

[xsilver]

hi superkdogg
I have almost the same setupl and after researching myself I have come to the same conclusions as you -- however I have only been able to get to 280fsb before the thing conks out -- I also have a 9800(np) tho and am using a SATA drive -- I also fear going any higher could mess up my hdd and corupt my XP installation -- that would be very bad

I just wanted you to clear up the exact settings and rig u have hooked up
Cooling ??

Ram - brand/speed? <-- edit -- saw your sig -- any tips to get valueselects to run 1T -- my d43's wont run 1T even at stock -- are you'rs bh5's or TCCDs??

and you have no 3d apps to test it on -- 3dmark, games etc.. my rig never hard locks when pushed too far -- only the vpu thing comes up

From what I've found the AGP/PCI lock kills itself around 255+
and to get anything higher than that you also have to set the HTT to 2X -- zebo's post shows there's no performance diff with this so I'm happy
some also say there is increased stability by giving the AGP 1.6v instead of the default 1.55v
All other settings seem to make no difference

 

[superkdogg]

My ram didn't want to run 1T at first. I gave it 2.8volts to persuade it that it should run 1T. All my chipset voltages are stock, AGP, HTT, all of them. My actual chips on my Crucial VS are older than both the BH5 and TCCD's. These sticks are from an AXP rig that I built originally almost 2 years ago. I have played VTM:Bloodlines, and NBA Live 2005 without problems, but haven't benchmarked anything. I hate putting all that junk on my rig to test stability when to me stability is generally running what I want to run without issues.

On the other hand, I know that people want to see certain indicators of a "stable" OC, and I have no problem with that. If I get some time I'll run some 3d benchies and make sure they work too.

I have the HTT multi @ 2x, fastwrites disabled, and the AGP/PCI lock fixed @ 74. Other than that, it's pretty standard and apparently pretty lucky. I also upped PCI latency to 64 although I am not sure that helped. I read it on the abit forums and threw it in to my setup figuring it couldn't hurt.

 

[res0n0xg]

this is just an update on my own progress.... i am stuck at 256 htt giving me a respectable 2300 mhz. atleast it is stable and pretty fast in everything. i have htt at 4X and just use the standard pci agp lock. once again, do you have anymore suggestions on how to get that super high htt like you have gotten, it would be really nice to get like 2.6 or 2.7 out of this chip.

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

Well, first you have to know if you're being limited by your processor or by the board; do that by lowering the CPU multi. to 8x or 7x and see how far HTT goes.

I would try for a higher FSB by doing this:

1) set FSB:AGPCI to 8:2:1; "FSB" to 267MHz.
If that doesn't work, go for 2)

2) at your known as stable 256MHz, set AGP to 74MHz and test if your card is stable. If it is start raising the "FSB".

Don't forget: when pushing for higher than 250MHz lower HTT multi to 3x or even 2x.

 

[res0n0xg]

i know im not being cpu limited because i can boot into windows at 280fsb, i just can't run a 3d application at all. it wasn't prime stable at 280 or anything but i didn't mess around with any settings either, that was at 8:2:1 ratio. i have tried that already, i was wondering if there were any settings that someone has figured out to help other than changing the pci / agp lock because that sure doesn't work for me. i lowered the htt to 2X also and that didn't change anything, i still would get vpu lock ups and that recover message after a few seconds.

i just don't understand how the OP can get 300 htt while i cannot, its the same board and bios....

 

[djdube]

I was having similar difficulties... I can't remember all the last few changes I made before I got it to work... but one of the things I did was change the PCI latency to 64 as superkdog suggests. I also had fst writes disabled... HTT set 2, fsb is set to 280... I upped the Vcore on the cpu to 1.55, memory to 2.7 and agp... 2.65 I think? it's been a few weeks. But still running at 280 fine. Haven't tried to tweak it anymore. Too busy migrating data over from my old machine and trying to get everything back to normal for my wife.

 

[res0n0xg]

i understand, but my AGP bus is the thing having problems as i am getting VPU recovers, so that has to mean that the agp bus is being overclocked despite the fact that it is supposedly "locked" right?

 

[Sim2dude]

arg... I think i need some help with overclocking. I got a AV8 and AMD Athlon 64 3000+. I have trouble getting to run over 2000Mhz! What am I suppose to set and where? From the BIOS or the software including by ABIT the OC guru. In the BIOS, I got external clock at 225/66/33Mhz, Multiplier Factor x9.0, AGP Ratio (CPU:AGPCI) Fixed 66Mhz. CPU Core 1.60, AGP 1.65, DDR SDRAM 2.65, NB 1.60, SB 2.60, HT 1.20. There there something I'm doing wrong? like setting the multiplier factor too high, using the wrong AGP ratio. I cant run at AGP ratio 8:2:1 at 225mhz and x9.0 for some reason. Also cant run at x5.0 at 250 Mhz with fixed 66mhz.

 

[xsilver]

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=28&threadid=1497607&enterthread=y

very good guide by zebo

the only thing you have to note is that the AV8 doesnt like HTT multiplier 3x, so you will have to use 2x instead.... what zebo doesnt mention is that there is NO noticable performance difference between 2X -5X
and also the av8 has some issues with certain brands of ram that are rated cas2.... it doesn't like running cas2 -- just lower the memory timings first to isolate the problem

also with the AV8 fsb above 250 is not guaranteed as the AGP lock doesnt work well after that

If you read up and know what you're doin, then 250 should be a given (2250mhz on your sys) and if you're lucky/extreme 290+ is a possibility just like superkdogg the OP
I can run 275 myself but usually only go to 250.... since on the AV8 you can change on the fly with the 3rd eye thing, its pretty cool

 

[SPOOKYSHOGUN]

You all seem knowledgeable about the AV8. I need some basic help. How do I get my 3500+ running at its 2.2Ghz speed on the AV8. I don't know much about using this BIOS. My last machine's bios was nothing like this. I hit "load optimized defaults" and now the core is running @ 1022Mhz. with a multiplier of 5.0 . FYI, the bios shows a multiplier of 11. I'm missing something here. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

***Also, sometimes when I bring up my "system" in the CP, it shows the core @2.25, while other times it shows it @2.02. Is it supposed to fluctuate?

 

[xsilver]

:laugh: you have "cool and quiet" on I think.... its AMD's new feature which will AUTOMATICALLY reduce the cpu speed according to cpu load, to save power and reduce heat
it does this by adjusting the multiplier on the fly.... that's why you're seeing the mhz all over the place

if you run a cpu intensive program while running your test (cpuz??) then you will see the true 2.2ghz clock speed
if im wrong then you seriously have the bios settings messed up :Q