Is AMD X2 5600+ just a bad overclocker?

[shahyan]

So I have an AMD X2 5600+ processor paired with my Abit NF-M2 nView motherboard. I have air cooling; I am using Zalman's CNPS9500 AM2 heatsink/fan and artic silver 5.

For some reason, this CPU just won't overclock more than 200 MHz. The farthest I can go is 3.0 GHz stable from 2.8 GHz stock. I can't lower the multiplier less than 12.5 or it doesn't boot -- tried different voltages as well. Currently running at 3.0 GHz using 214 (clock speed) x 14 (multiplier) at 1.4 volts.

I have tried using different coolers and cases too. Haven't tried a different motherboard though. The temperature stays around 45 degrees.

Has anyone else been able to overclock a 5600+? If so, let me know what motherboard you are using please, and what settings?

 

[myocardia]

Well, you aren't going to go much higher than ~3.1 Ghz, no matter which motherboard you use. My guess would be the motherboard, though.

 

[Extelleron]

90nm Windsor reaches its limit at around 3.0GHz. The max you are going to get out of an X2 5600+ is around 3.1GHz or 3.2GHz on good air cooling. Some chips are better than others but overall 3.0GHz is not too far away from average.

 

[richardrds]

3.0G to 3.2G is about tops for an X2 on air cooling. Good news is that you can buy a $70 X2 3600+ brisbane core and have just as good a chance getting it to 3.0-3.2Ghz as the more expensive AMD X2 cpu's.

Moral of the story is if you are going to OC, buy the lowest speed core (least expensive) CPU in the core family and they will probably get to at least 90% performance of the highest speed processor (most expensive), even when that more expensive cpu is also OCed, assuming you have a decent OCing mobo that can push a high enough clock speed for the lower multiplier on the cheaper cpu.

My next upgrade will either be a C2D E4300/1.8G Allendale core ($113) or an X2 3600+/1.9G Brisbane core ($70), and i plan to OC either one to at least 3.0Ghz.

I am just waiting for real performance benchmark numbers to get released on the AMD Barcelona (Quad core server K10) before i decide to jump ship and go over to the dark side (Intel). Hopefully Barcelona will give a good showing and then i will go the X2 3600+ route which i can then upgrade to an Agena or Kuma core down the road.

The Agena (Quad core desktop K10) and Kuma (Dual core desktop K10) will also be able to run on the same AM2 mobo as the current Brisbane/Windsor desktop CPU's, even though they are designed as AM2+ CPU's and will also work with the new AM2+ mobo's.

 

[Conky]

What did you expect? To be able to overclock like someone with a C2D?

 

[shahyan]

I didn't expect to OC like C2D. I in fact have an E6400 that I have OCed to 3.0 GHz from 2.14 GHz. With AMD, I had overclocked my X2 3800+ to over 2.8 GHz too. So I was hoping that the 5600+ would be somewhere in the 3.5GHz range. But I guess I didn't do my homework.

 

[christopherzombie]

I have an X2 5600+. I just upgraded from an X2 4000+ I kept oced @ 2.66ghz (10*266) on an Asus AN932X-SLI. But now I'm using an Asus M2N32-SLI with 2Gb of Corsair CL5. I'm planning to screw around with overclocking this weekend. I'd really like to hit 3.2ghz, but I doubt I will. My new CL5 RAM will hold me back. My old G.Skill CL4 6400 (RIP) would do 1066mhz (pc8500) without any issues, except dying after 9 months... In fact, the OCed X2 4000+ is just as fast in most if not all benchmarks. The new CPU is just alot more stable.

Anyone need an X2 4000+ 2Mb cache and an Abit AN9-32X mobo?

 

[dyetube]

I've got my 5600+ overclocked to 3.15 Ghz and that is on a stock HSF! I really have'nt done any strong overclocking, I just used the built in ai boost that asus has in their bios. It's really kind of a gimicky thing but I thought I'd try it and see. It took my cpu to 3.1 so I decided to do a manual overclock yesterday morning and set it at 3.15 ghz. I've have been very stable! I took it up a little more but my temps were at like 56 and I don't want them that high so I'm going to overclock more when I get my aftermarket HSF this weekend. It will keep my cpu cooler!

 

[A554SS1N]

Heh, dyetube, you should edit your sig - it says 2.15Ghz

 

[dyetube]

 

[dyetube]

lol, (hit's self upside the head!) Thanks for catching that!

 

[VoodooGod]

The one concern I have about overclocking the lower speed models is that don't they usually have significantly less L2 cache also? Will that make a big performance difference even if they're clocked to the same speed? What types of applications utilize the L2 cache the most?

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: VoodooGod
The one concern I have about overclocking the lower speed models is that don't they usually have significantly less L2 cache also? Will that make a big performance difference even if they're clocked to the same speed? What types of applications utilize the L2 cache the most?

The 5600 that they're talking about isn't one of the slower models-- it runs at 2.8 Ghz (stock speed), and has 1MB of L2 cache per core. The types of applications that utilize the extra L2 cache the most is benchmarks. A few other apps, like video and photo editing, can make use of the extra cache, but most don't. Also, welcome to anandtech.

edit: And yeah, in the average app, having double the L2 cache (1 MB per core) equates to having ~75-100 extra Mhz of processor speed.

 

[VoodooGod]

Thanks for the welcome! I appreciate the info on the L2 cache. To be more specific though, I am talking about the reference to the X2 3600+ earlier. Will the 3600 perform about the same as the 5600 when clocked to the same speed? At least in typical applications?

 

[myocardia]

That all really depends on the application you're using. On average, you'd have to overclock the 3600 to 75-100 Mhz higher, for them to perform identically. I really doubt you'd notice the difference, though, in real life usage.