AM2 Overclocking n00B having issues

[DrJaymez]

Well, I bought this AM2 setup. Figured I would get a good mobo, RAM, and PS, and worry about the CPU and graphics in the future (not a huge gamer).

ASUS M2N-E
AMD
Corsair XMS2 2 GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 Dual Channel Kit
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Orleans 2000MHz HT Socket AM2 Processor
MSI NX6200TC-TD64-ES (POS for $32)
Antec TruepowerII TPII-550

So I am at 2 Ghz, 1.475 V, 250 Mhz CPU freq, 8X multiplier, HT set to 4X

I locked the PCI-E in at 100 Mhz, and disabled "PEG Link", the PCI-express "overclocking" feature in the BIOS

DRAM Config, I just set it to DDR2 800 and left everything else on Auto.

The problem is only multipliers from 5-9 are available to me in increments of 1, and when I increase my FSB at all from 250, it seems to just use 9x as the multiplier, no matter what I tell it to do. I am surmising this because when I go into CMOS after my failed boot to fix settings, it will tell me my CPU speed was like 2700 or 3000, which this little 1.8 Ghz chip is not going to do. Anybody else having this problem? Am I retarded? Is it the BIOS? I am running the latest one (203?) off the ASUS site.

Is AMD calculating that supposed 2000 Mhz HT frequency as 1000 Mhz on the up and downstroke of the CPU cycle? I can only choose 1x-5x HT, so I just assume this is the case.

Edit: This thing is a nice boost from my 1700+ Socket A!

 

[imported_SLIM]

Few thoughts... have you tried changing FSB with N-tune in windows to see if 250+ is problem once booted (assuming that ASUS is an nvidia chipset)? Why not just leave the multi at 9x and work up from 225 FSB? If you're trying to find the fsb limit maybe try a lower multiplier? Maybe more volts to the chipset might help?

All of that is conjecture since I haven't played with the AM2 stuff yet. Hope some of it help though.

 

[DrJaymez]

Good thought. The Asus OC utility drops a deuce on me every time I try to use it (hard-lock). Let me look for N-tune. Hope it works in Vista.

 

[DrJaymez]

For anybody who is curious, ntune does not work in Vista.

I took my CPU down to 200 Mhz x 9, (default) and then used the included utility to increase FSB slowly, and it hard locked at about 215 or so. Makes me wonder about memory multipliers and whatnot.

So I set it to 222 (~2,000) inthe BIOS, and now I am at 222x9 with no trouble. Trying ntune with x64 now. Wish me luck with that.

 

[BobDaMenkey]

You might want to throw a divider on there, if AM2 has them. Because increasing the FSB would also increase the speed of the RAM, which could be what's giving you such a headache.

 

[Furen]

You definitely need a memory divider. Running at "DDR2 800" actually runs your ram at a 5 divider, which equals around DDR2 720 at stock and around DDR2 800 at 2GHz (2000/5 = 400 = DDR2 800), anything after that is extra clock speed that your ram may not be able to handle at stock vDIMM. Also, I dont think you need to change any of the PCI-E options at all, sometimes setting your PCI-E clock to a specific clock actually unlocks the damn thing, and Auto usually works just fine.

 

[DrJaymez]

Thanks. Well, it sounds like I need to try a divider. I'll let you guys know tonight!

 

[DrJaymez]

So, I can't properly select a divider, so I just set the memory to DDR2 400 and adjusted the PCI-E setting to Auto.

Set the multiplier to 9. Slowly increased the FSB by increments of 4 from 222. It is known stable at 250*8=2,000. Basically I had to slowly increase the voltage to get the next increase in Mhz.
230x9@1.475=POST
234x9@1.50=POST
238x9@1.525=POST
242x9@1.55=POST
246x9@1.5625=POST, boots Vista, runs CPU Burn-in with error checking ~10 min so far
250x9@1.5625=NO POST
NO More voltage options in the BIOS

Idles at 32 C, LOADS at 51C without running the video card.

Does anybody know what the option to augment the Vcore by 50 mV does? Turning it on didn't help me get 250x9.

I think I am at the limit on my chip, ~23% OC. Not bad. Now to bring the memory back up to speed.

Thanks guys!

 

[Furen]

That's a pretty bad overclock, though I suppose you could have gotten a crummy chip. Most of the K8s I've worked with (including X2s) can do around 2.4GHz on stock voltage, and yours is requiring a significant overvolt to even hit 2.1GHz... Have you tried leaving the Vcore at stock and raising up your clock speed using that? I suppose you could lower your HT multi a bit but I doubt that the problem since you're not over 250HTT.

 

[DrJaymez]

So, It pooped out when I cranked the memory seting up to "PC800". Works great at "PC667". Backed off to 244x9 to ensure stability (although no crashes at 246x9)..

I never win the overclocking lottery

I will try going with stock voltage and slowly going up on the FSB now that I know my previous issues were limited by the memory. I am not very optimistic though. The chip seems to be running reasonably cool, so I doubt voltage and heat at default were barriers.

 

[Amaroque]

I've noticed that AMD historically has poor overclocks whenever they introduce a new core. Usually the as production ramps up, they overclock much better.

I bought an A64 Winchester rite when they came out, and I could only get a 100MHz overclock out of it... AMD just doesn't have the manufacturing muscle that Intel does. :brokenheart:

 

[Furen]

Yes, there usually is a drop in clocks when AMD introduces a new core revision. Lots of Rev Gs are doing 3GHz or close to it, though...

 

[Skott]

Yeah, something definetly wrong there. That chip should do 2.4 easily even on stock hsf cooling. It could be the mobo just isnt up to the task or possibly a weak chip. I've seen reviews of the AM2 chips OCing to 2.6 and better so we know the capability is there in the AM2 line. Havent seen a OC review of the M2N-E mobo though. Reviews of them are kinda scarce altogether. The SLI version is getting more attention right now.

 

[DrJaymez]

Yeah, but it isn't really a "new" core...

 

[Amaroque]

Originally posted by: DrJaymez
Yeah, but it isn't really a "new" core...

All AM2's are a spankin' new core, with a new memory controller. They are not a whole new micro architecture though.

 

[DrMrLordX]

I dunno about all new AMD cores being crappy overclockers. I got an early Palermo core (Sempron 2800+) that OCed from 1.6 ghz to 2.4 ghz.

 

[oRdchaos]

My AM2 3000+ on a Foxconn Nforce 590 SLI board with G.Skill 6400-PHU2 2x1GB memory:

9x300 (2.7), HTT Multiplier 4X. CPU voltage set to 1.425 (CPU-Z reports 1.30?)
Memory at 2.2V, running CPU/6 (ddr 667), at 900mhz, 4-4-4-12, 2T

All I had to do to get it stable was change the HTT multiplier to 4X, bump up the RAM voltage, set the RAM multiplier, and force it to 2T command rate.

 

[Furen]

Oh yeah, try 2T command rate, haha. AMD's DDR2 mem controller isnt very good at doing 1T CMD rate at high memory clocks (and you're very close to DDR2 800)

 

[rahzel]

hi,

i just bought an am2 system for someone i know, and i too was having no luck at all overclocking with this board. i couldnt even boot at anything above 2.2ghz... i got him a 3200+ with this board, and ocz pc25400 ddr2667 memory.

i decided to flash the BIOS to the latest 0203, and i am now able to boot at 2.4ghz (havent tried anything higher yet).

anyway, if you havent already, try updating the BIOS.

now i have a question myself... im a complete noob when it comes to am2 systems. i know quite a bit about how 939 systems work, but specifically i dont know how DDR2 clock speeds work, and how they sync with the processor.

as ive already said, i have DDR2667 memory. id like to overclock to around 2.5ghz. so i raised the HTT to 250, dropped the HTT mult. to 4x, but i am unsure of what memory divider to use. how do you know what your memory is running at? for example, if i raise my HTT to 250, will it raise my memory by 50?

 

[Skott]

From the few threads (official reviews seem to be nonexistant) I have seen about this mobo it seems it has alot of problems. I was considering this mobo in a build for my daughter because she doesnt need SLI but I think I'm going to avoid this mobo altogether. Too many negative posts about it so far. Its extremely picky about RAM for one thing and it doesnt OC that well from what I been reading so far from those that have gotten it. Seems to be okay at default settings though if you use the certain RAM modules.

 

[rahzel]

well, so far, after the BIOS flash, everything seems OK.

im currently stress priming at 2.5ghz, stock voltage, and instead of running my ram at DDR667, i lowered it to DDR5xx (forget the exact number, but the next lower setting from DDR667). i checked CPU-Z, and my memory frequency is running at 312.5.

i also heard some bad things about this board, actually the entire nforce 570 line, and that it cant properly run DDR667 memory and up. is my memory running at what its supposed to?

 

[DrJaymez]

Command rate was already at 2T
BIOS already updated.

As far as HTT goes, as I understand it, you want the HTT times the multiplier to be as close to 1000 as possible. The memory, I believe, is independent of that.

I have been pleased with the stability of the board, but the BIOS could have a bit more tweaker friendly setup for my taste.

I have not gone back down to stock voltage and tried again. Messing around with osx86...

 

[rahzel]

yeah, the HTT portion seems to be similar to its 939 counterpart. its the memory that im confused about.

you say the memory is independent from the HTT, meaning if you raise the HTT, the memory frequency stays the same? if so, i dont think so... i had my HTT at 240, and my memory frequency was at 300, according to CPU-Z. i then raised my HTT to 250, and it went up to 312.5.

 

[betasub]

The setting in BIOS shows the memory speed assuming default CPU/HTT speed (e.g. for A64 3000+ 1800/200). I'm not sure what the full range of BIOS memory speed settings you have available, but BIOS will probably include at least DDR2 400, 533, 667, 800.

Strictly speaking, the memory speed is not derived directly from your HTT, but from an integer divider of your full CPU speed. AFAIK it works the same way as for Skt754/939, & CPU-z correctly shows DDR memory speeds. For default 1.8GHz:
DDR2 400 runs at 1800/9 = 200MHz (400)
DDR2 533 runs at 1800/7 = 258MHz (516)
DDR2 667 runs at 1800/6 = 300MHz (600)
DDR2 800 runs at 1800/5 = 360MHz (720)

The same dividers should apply when you overclock, so for 9*250 = 2.25GHz:
DDR2 400 runs at 2250/9 = 250MHz (500)
DDR2 533 runs at 2250/7 = 322MHz (644)
DDR2 667 runs at 2250/6 = 375MHz (750)
DDR2 800 runs at 2250/5 = 450MHz (900)

As you are using DDR2 800, you should be able to safely use the 667 BIOS setting (800 setting would be a serious overclock of your RAM). If you are going to push beyond CPU OC of 2250MHz, then the 533 setting is going to come into play.

 

[rahzel]

thank you very much betasub. thats exactly the info i was looking for.