Overclocking Gigabyte K8NF-9

[rv8abuilder]

I decided I didn't want to wait any longer for a Nforce4 Ultra so I pulled the trigger on the K8NF-9 Nforce vanilla when Newegg had them. I have my system up and running now, and I realize this board may not be the best overclocker, but I want to see what I can actually squeeze out of it. Here is my setup:

A64 3000+ Winchester
K8NF-9 Mobo
2x512 Corsair XMS PC3200 (Twin-X 1024-3200C2PT)
EVGA 6600GT PCI-X
2x80GB Western Digital Caviar (SATA running RAID 0)
LiteOn 16X DVD combo Drive
Thermaltake 420W PSU
Thermaltake Venus12 HSF
Lian-Li PC60

Running at stock 1.8GHz and RAM timings set at 2-3-3-6 I got 7924 on 3DMark03

Then, I tried some overclocking - I moved RAM timings to 2.5-3-3-6. Upped CPU voltage to 1.45 (reads 1.47). Upped DDR Voltage +0.1 (reads 2.72). There is a BIOS setting for the HTT multiplier that goes from 1X to 5X, however, it sounds like this chipset does not support 5X, so I have tried running 4X and 3X. The highest clock I seem to be able to run and still boot is about 230 (230*9 = 2070MHz). This is with HTT at 4X. This gave me a 3DMark03 of 8045. System seems stable - I have not run a long Prime95 though. I have tried higher clocks with HTT set at 3X but it won't boot. Anyone have any suggestions for futher tweaking?

 

[zervun]

I just got the board also and would like some clarification on this ~

Got a chaintech on the way and am unsure if I should use this or the chaintech

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

The NF-9 has its HTT multiplier locked at x4. That's the major difference between the vanillas and the Ultras.

The Chaintech VNF4 is an Ultra, so its HTT multiplier is unlocked, which means you should have no problem overclocking. Keep it.

 

[zervun]

Coming from an Intel overclocker anyone have a link that could explain how the HTT affects an overclock?

I'm unsure of how it fits in the equation multiplierxfsb = speed on the intels how does this work with HTT thrown in?

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

If you have an Ultra or better, the HTT stock will be set at 200x5 = 1000 MHz. The vanilla has a locked 200x4 = 800 MHz.

If you want to overclock your CPU to 2.5 GHz for example on a 3200+, you would need to set the "FSB" to 250 and the CPU multi to x10. Then your HTT multi needs to be lowered to keep the HTT speed around or under 1000 MHz, otherwise your system will become unstable. 250x5 = 1250 MHz HTT = unstable. 250x4 = 1000 MHz HTT, okay.

In the case of the OP, he would have to lower his HTT multi to x3 in order to o/c and be stable. 250x3 = 750 MHz HTT < 800 Mhz rated HTT. Since he can't do that, as his HTT multi is locked at x4, he can't get too far. At 230x4, his HTT is running at 920 Mhz, and that's obviously the board's limit.

 

[Kubla Khan]

Hmmm...I seem to be having much better luck with mine. I'm running a 3000+ Winchester at 2347 right now and it's been Prime95 stable for 27 hours and counting. I've also had it run Prime95 for an hour at 2400, until I rebooted, added a drive, and turned down the clock speed because I was installing a bunch of programs. Been at 2347 ever since.

I overclocked using the BIOS FSB setting. I put it up to 260, and set the RAM voltage and the HTT voltage at +.2.

Here's what CPU-Z says:
Core Speed: 2347.4
Multiplier: x 9.0
HTT: 260.8
Memory Frequency: 213.4 (Mushkin Basic DDR3200)
FSB : DRAM ratio: CPU/11.0
CAS: 2.5
RAS to CAS: 3
RAS: 3
Tras: 10
Trc: 10

Here's what nTune says:
Hypertransport Link: 1043.269
Memory Bus: 432.956
CPU Speed: 2347.354


Like I said, it's working great. I doubt that it would go too much higher though.

 

[rv8abuilder]

Ok - It definetly wasn't liking the FSB/DRAM ratio of 9 that I originally still had. I changed to your identical settings and I was able to boot with FSB set at 260 in BIOS using the FSB/DRAM ratio of 11. CPU-Z confirmed my numbers being identical to yours. However, it failed Prime95 after 51 minutes
I'm trying it with FSB set to 244 now.

 

[jgiants]

Btw people have mentioned elsewhere who bought this board that the HT multi is NOT locked and can go lower than 4x.

 

[rv8abuilder]

In my experimenting, it seems as though HTT is not locked at 4X. When I cranked up FSB to 280 with mem clock set at 133 and HTT at 4x my system would not boot. However, when I lowered HTT to 3X it booted and ran 3DMark03 fine, however, I failed Prime95 after a little over an hour. This was with Vcore upped to 1.475. So I'm still trying to find a decent overclock that is Prime95 stable.

Here are some of my results so far:

Identical settings to Kubla Kahn - failed prime95 after 51 minutes

FSB = 244 (2.2Ghz CPU), Mem 166 (202 Memclock), HTT 4X, Vdram +0.1, 2.5-3-3-10 1T - Failed Prime95 after 9 hours, Max CPU temp reached 34C

FSB = 280 (2520Mhz CPU), Mem 133(180 Memclock), HTT 3X, Vdram +0.1, 2.5-3-3-10 1T, Vcore 1.475 - Failed Prime95 after 1 hour, Max CPU temp reached 39C

 

[Demo24]

locked as in you cant go to 5x. like the AMD chips locked upwards but not down