Overclocking my Athlon x2 5000+ BE

[wayliff]

Hi guys,

I am new to overclocking and have been playing with me setup for a few weeks now. I just wanted to share my experience with whomever is interested.

Specs:
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-MA770-DS3 AM2+ (BIOS Rev. F6)
CPU: AMD Athlon x2 5000+ BE 2.6GHZ Brisbane 65nm Rev.BH-G2
CPU Cooler: XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (Passed about 6.5 hours of Memtest86)
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W
HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB
Video: Connect3D x800xl 256MB
OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit SP1

Ok - yes the video card is not the latest but that is what I have at the moment.

For reference the normal voltage on the CPU is 1.325. The default CPU multiplier is automatically set to 13.

Here is a list of my attempts of overclocking the CPU by either changing the multiplier and/or the voltage.

Voltage---Multiplier--Clock---Idle-----Load------Prime95:--Small FFT--Large FFT--Blend
1.325-----14--------- 2.8------36.5C--49.5C-----------------OK----------OK----------n/a
1.325-----15----------3.0------36.5C--50C-------------------OK----------OK----------OK
1.325-----15.5--------3.1------36.5C--51C-------------------FAIL--------FAIL---------n/a
1.35------15.5--------3.1------37C-----52C-------------------OK----------OK----------FAIL
1.35------16----------3.2-------n/a-----n/a-------------------FAIL--------FAIL---------n/a
1.375-----15.5-------3.1-------n/a------n/a------------------FAIL---------FAIL--------n/a
1.375-----16---------3.2-------n/a------n/a------------------FAIL---------FAIL--------n/a
1.40-------16---------3.2-------n/a-----55C?-----------------FAIL--------FAIL---------n/a
1.425-----16----------3.2------39C-----58C-------------------OK---------FAIL---------n/a

Once I reached voltage of 1.425, I did not feel comfortable pushing the cpu farther.
I want to note that the Small FFT and Large FFT tests were 30 mins each just for initial testing. The blend test was 4 - 5 hours.
So far I have been able to clock it to 3.0GHZ without voltage changes and it is stable based on Prime95+. The Temps i think are just fine.
I also want to mention that the blend test on the fourth attempt failed at the beginning right away but I tried again and it went for about 4 hours without errors and but then it happened.

Based on my observation only one of the cores has failed on all the failed tests, the other seems like it would have been able to continue the test but no point if both are not fine.

So ideally I would like to push my CPU to 3.2GHZ. What do you think can be done to get there?
I am fine with it staying at 3.0GHZ, i am happy with that. But I just want to see what kind of tweaking would be necessary to achieve more...if possible.

Thanks

 

[wayliff]

Oh - the results are a bit hard to read. Anyway to post a spreadsheet?
Also I want to add that the memory passed about 5 passes of Memtest86 it took about 7 hours. I believe.

 

[kb3edk]

Originally posted by: wayliff

So ideally I would like to push my CPU to 3.2GHZ. What do you think can be done to get there?
I am fine with it staying at 3.0GHZ, i am happy with that. But I just want to see what kind of tweaking would be necessary to achieve more...if possible.

To get to 3.2 GHz, try tweaking the bus a little.

I'm running my 5000+ BE at a 15x multi and 210 MHz HTT bus, which works out to 3.15 GHz. I've only bumped the volts up to 1.4. It's been running stable like this since the day I got it in April. Temps are 37C idle, 58C under load.

I've had it up to 3.2 stable by taking HTT up to 215 MHz and cranking volts to 1.45 but it runs way too hot there (67C)... I like to be in the 50s since my CPU cooler is mediocre, I'm using the stock AMD 4 pipe HSF from my old Opteron 170.

One odd thing about the 15x multi is that it automatically puts a divider on your RAM timings to begin with, so you can crank HTT up to 220 MHz or thereabouts without having to make any manual timing adjustments yourself. Maybe it makes me less of a "leet" OCer but I HATE messing with timings

Good luck,

 

[wayliff]

thanks - i will check out

 

[Elstupido]

I got my 5000BE with an Asus M2AVM up to 3.1gz with a voltage of 1.4. Ran Prime95 just fine, but the temps were a bit high for my liking, but well within spec. Backed it down to 3.0 and it is running perfectly. I have an Arctic freezer pro64 as a cooler. I think I could probably get it to run 3.2 with more volts, but really didn't want to push the temps up too far.

3.0 on this machine is just right, for me anyway.

 

[Marty502]

Sounds cool. Wish I had a late-gen X2 to try and squeeze a bit.

 

[perdomot]

This cpu temps me a lot at $75. I was originally considering this cpu when it was about $90 before choosing an X3 Phenom 8650. If the Phenoms didn't have such a good advantage per core on athlon chips, I'd still get it today.

 

[Sylvanas]

You are going to want to have to Google a few X2 overclocking guides to get a full perspective on what to tweak for best results. In short, the speed the memory runs at is related to the CPU multiplier so you want to make sure you are running an adequate memory voltage (most memory is under guarantee at 2.0-2.1v) an adequate NB voltage and Vcore. As far as temps are concerned, you shouldn't really worry until it starts going to 90c+ under load- CPU's are designed for such temperatures. I would say start off memory @ 2.1v and Vcore @ 1.4. Raise multiplier to 14, HTT still at 200mhz which gives you 800mhz memory. Seems like you know what you are doing with stress testing so keep it up, 1.45v should be fine (My 5000+ BE did 1.42v 16x200= 3.2ghz fine).

 

[wayliff]

thanks for all the feedback...