Overclocking an AMD64 3500+?

[Koudelka]

I'm going to be running an AMD64 3500+ with an ASUS® A8V Deluxe mobo, 1 gb extreme dual channel DDR pc-3200 400mhz, ATI RAdeon x800 xt pe with a 480w power supply.

My questions are these.. I want to get the best possible performance out of the processor because i do alot of hardcore gaming, so..

What can i overclock the processor to, to get the best possible performance out of it?
Is the power supply going to be enough?
How high can i overclock the processor regardless?
What kind of heatsink will i need and any info on putting them on coupled with a fan?
Will i need watercooling?

I usually have my dad overclock my processors for me because i dont know how, but i dont want him messing with my processor too much because i think he's getting rusty.. Can anyone direct me to a website or some information that will explain how to overclock? I'd like to learn how to do it myself if possible.

Sorry for asking so much, but i'd like to learn these things sometime and now seems the best time.
Thanks in advance!

 

[nycxandy]

I'm running it at 2.4GHz with the stock heatsink.

 

[Koudelka]

I've been reading up and i'm getting the gist of it all..

Now my main question is this:

What should i overclock the 3500+ to, to achieve top performance?
What heatsink should i use to do this?

Airflow in my computer should not be a problem, i have 2 intake fans on the sides, and 2 in front with an exaust fan on the back.

Any ideas?

 

[jpetermann]

You will not know what you will get it to until you try. So good luck with that. Also, I would get either the Zalman 7000A Al-Cu or the Thermalright 948u with a nice 92mm fan.

 

[byosys]

I'm just asking, but why OC a new 3500+ and X800? Togther they are a kick ass system, and personally I would only OC when you can't afford a kick ass system (hence my OC'd 2500+ Barton).

 

[homestarmy]

Yeah, you might be a hardcore gamer or whatever, but why bother overclocking what daddy bought you to get FPS rates that are higher than the refresh rate of the monitor?

 

[Shimmishim]

Originally posted by: homestarmy
Yeah, you might be a hardcore gamer or whatever, but why bother overclocking what daddy bought you to get FPS rates that are higher than the refresh rate of the monitor?

that's very true...

but when you try to play at 1600x1200 with all the eye candy....

i think i'd rather have a overclocked 3500+ with an X800 than a 9800pro especially when you play games like farcry when frame rates can drop like crazy in high action which is the difference between a jumpy and non-jumpy screen...

 

[TotalImmortal]

ok,
Your power suplys wattage is more than enuf, who is it made by? cos thats often more important than the rated wattage. Often relativly chear high wattage PS deliver very dirty current (has spikes and dips) and also can't suply the wattage to all the diffrent voltage rails, Antec ps are the best for AMD suystems as they are very 'clean' and can supply almost theire entire rated wattage to any one rail.

To get best performance out of your proc you want to get it as high as poss, simple as that, some people have got to over 2.6GHz with the 3500+ on air cooling. Each processor is unique so how far you can go will depend on your proc, how good your cooling is and your willinness to take risks with raising the voltage.

OK, for best performance you need to get the right combination of raising the FSB, memory timings and possabily running async by swisthing to pc-2700 memory setting but with oced FSB is actualy at pc-3200 setting.

To start with, find your cpus max clock:
knock the memory devider down to 2700 setting and rais the FSB (or ht or whatever your bios calls it) frequency gradualy (defult is 200MHz), testing for stability each time, repeat this until you see instability, then rase voltage until it becomes stable again. Keep repeating this till it won't go any further or you at max voltage you willing to risk. Once you found your max, you'll want to drop it by one notch and run a full stress test such as prime 95 for 24hrs to make sure it is rock stable.

Memory clocks and timings:
Inorder toget best performance you need to find the best balance for your system. Pushing the mem to higher freqs gives improved bandwidth and therefor performacnce. however, performace (esp on A64 systems) is also helped by keeping the latancys (eg 2-2-2-5) as low as poss. the example i given is the best possable ddr latancys. the last number (5) is not necessarily better, you have to experiment with that one to find what is best for your combination of ram and chipset. Again, you can increase memory voltage (vDIMM) to get more speed, at a risk. memtest86 is a good program to test memory stability.

One of the best heatisnks i seen (performance not far off watercooling) is the Hyper 6 KHC-V81 by coolmaster, you can finde it here:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Coolermaster_122.html for best performance, stick 2 fans on it, one in, one out.

in my oppinion, watercooling is not worth it unless you got mony to burn, and is not realy for the casual overclocker.

As for your graphics card, first thing to to is replace tht retail HSF with one of these: http://www.arctic-cooling.com/en/products/vga_silencer/
Then you can use one of a varity of tools to overclock it, my faverate at the moment is: http://atitool.ocfaq.com/

Best of luck and let me know how you get on.

 

[Koudelka]

Thanks for the information TotalImmortal, that helps ALOT! I'll be messing around with that for the next week or so and i'll let you know how it goes.

And homestarmy, i dont understand why you would put what you did, but my father didnt buy it. I did, my system from the mobo to speakers cost me about $3,200. I paid for it myself. thanks!

And yes Shimmishim, i'd like to overclock it because i play all my games at max resolution with highest video configurations. I'm a sucker for eye candy as well as FPS in a game.

And, if anyone plays MMORPG's.. you'd realize the amount of umph you need from a computer nowadays for the next generation of MMORPG's coming out. I just want to make sure i have enough to run to the fullest with a buttload of memory to spare.

 

[Dman877]

Originally posted by: Koudelka
I've been reading up and i'm getting the gist of it all..

Now my main question is this:

What should i overclock the 3500+ to, to achieve top performance?
What heatsink should i use to do this?

Airflow in my computer should not be a problem, i have 2 intake fans on the sides, and 2 in front with an exaust fan on the back.

Any ideas?

If you're asking that kind of question you prolly shouldn't be ocing that chip anyway... start cheap with a barton or something.

 

[TotalImmortal]

It's true, your avridge FPS will be well over what you can see during normal gameplay, however, when you running 1600x1200, AA and AF and all the 'bels ans whistels' turned up then there are quite a few games out there which will bring any computer to it's knees, just when you need it most when that huge fight with explosions gets started, next thing you know, you got 4FPS and a rocket in your skull! ... i know that feeling all to well, my comps getting a bit tiard now, and building all these beautifull A64 systems only to have to give them to my friends in killing me! I still stuck with 2500+@2.3GHz and Radeon 8500 - was good when i got it, now sadly not even qualifyes as 'mid range'

I going A64 at end of summer when i'll be able to afford it.

By the way, don't worrie about any less than helpfull comments to your questions, we were all newbees once, and you are willing to learn which is more than a few people here (mostly the ones which critisise people for asking simple questions) they are only here to show off their rigs / egos.... That said, most ppl here have a genuine intrest and will be helpfull.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: Dman877

Originally posted by: Koudelka
I've been reading up and i'm getting the gist of it all..

Now my main question is this:

What should i overclock the 3500+ to, to achieve top performance?
What heatsink should i use to do this?

Airflow in my computer should not be a problem, i have 2 intake fans on the sides, and 2 in front with an exaust fan on the back.

Any ideas?

If you're asking that kind of question you prolly shouldn't be ocing that chip anyway... start cheap with a barton or something.

Meh. Everyone has to start somewhere. Don't try and put off the n00bs.

 

[TotalImmortal]

The man who asks the Question feels a fool for a moment. He who never asks the question, remains a fool forever.

I like the sig... seems especialy applicable to computer forums, ware all to often n00bs are squashed and made to feel small. I am very glad people helped me when i started a few years ago els i'd still be being ripped of by dell and spending twices as much on underperforming hardware.

 

[DivideBYZero]

It's Confucius AFAIK

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: Koudelka
Thanks for the information TotalImmortal, that helps ALOT! I'll be messing around with that for the next week or so and i'll let you know how it goes.

And homestarmy, i dont understand why you would put what you did, but my father didnt buy it. I did, my system from the mobo to speakers cost me about $3,200. I paid for it myself. thanks!

And yes Shimmishim, i'd like to overclock it because i play all my games at max resolution with highest video configurations. I'm a sucker for eye candy as well as FPS in a game.

And, if anyone plays MMORPG's.. you'd realize the amount of umph you need from a computer nowadays for the next generation of MMORPG's coming out. I just want to make sure i have enough to run to the fullest with a buttload of memory to spare.

I sincerely hope you got Dual 19" LCDs or something...

 

[manymoons]

man i wish i could afford to buy that kinda set up, ah well knackered old puter it is for me tilli actually get around to saving up

 

[babyelf]

hey.. getting almost a same system.. but different motherboard

got my Antec TrueBlue 480W already
as well as my KHX3500 Winbond CH-5 rams
and my Antec1000AMG

planning to get the 3500+ and the DFI nforce3 Ultra-D that is due this week or next
and getting the x800pro powercolor VIVO to flash it to XT.. it really works.. apparently for the gecube and powercolor VIVO

from what i read.. get it to 220HT is already 3800+ speed.. and i think it shouldn't be too hard.. well i can't really tell.. but looking at even the 3800+ can overclock quite abit i'm not suprised..

and for TOTAL IMMORTAL.. just one question..
what do you mean by setting it at pc2700 but oc FSB is at pc3200?

 

[TotalImmortal]

setting the ram to 2700 is effectivly using a devider 2700/3200 = 0.844, if you then OC your FSB to ~237MHz then your ram will be running at 237*0.844 = 200MHz (3200). this is usefull if yur cpu will go higher, but your ram is stuck, and there is no penilty for running in this async mode unlike with Athlon XP.

 

[mato7742]

this is also why you should wait for pci/agp lock. if you really want to o/c.

 

[TotalImmortal]

pci/agp lock is already here, just make sure you get the newer mobo revision and you'll be fine!

 

[babyelf]

ic.. if i'm sure i have ram that will let me do high FSB i can just change it to 1:1 and it'll run the same speed as my HT right?

 

[TotalImmortal]

yes indeed