So it's time to make my machine feel new again!

[faxon]

The stock cooler on my athlon 4k+ just died, and i decided to replace it with an OCZ Vendetta 2. this thing is running amazingly cooler, with a good thin layer of thermal paste (credit card trick). i built the system 2 years ago, at a time when i wasnt focusing so much on the finer points of how all the hardware works, and more on what hardware was good for a super stable stock build, so i didnt learn the ins and outs of how to mess with the clock speeds of my hardware at the time, and most of my knowledge on overclocking is centered around intel's current hardware. does anyone have a link to a good guide on overclocking one of these CPUs?


system specs: Athlon 64 San Diego 4000+, eVga nforce4 Slix16, 2x1mb Super Talent DDR400 cas 2-3-3-6, Sapphire Radeon 2900PRO 1GBDDR4, Coolermaster 750 Watt PSU, 2x DVDRW drives, 3x SATA2 Barracudas, 2x 7200 RPM PATA HDD that can be removed with the relocation of data partitoins via partition magic.

on another note, i could also use an in debth guide on how to alter memory timings in this type of bios. the board i had in this system before i replaced it came with a bios where to overclock the ram you simply increased the speed (which is the same), and to tighten the timings you simply set them to what you wanted them to be. on this board though the ram timings lists it in all its technical glory, and i havent yet come across a good good guide yet which explains the meanings of everything.

also, if need be it will be an extreme hassle to replace my NB cooler, because it is currently sitting under the tail end of my f***ing video card :disgust:

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

It'll be hard clocking with 400Mhz memory... if you open your timings and keep getting crashes or no boots, then i'd guess that might be holding you back. I had a 4x512mb 2.2.2.5 OCZs and I couldn't clock them very high.

 

[o1die]

If your board permits it, set your cpu fsb to 240 and memory at 166. This will run your memory at 200 while overclocking.

 

[imported_Woody]

The board will permit that and the memory will not be the limiting factor.

A simple forum search will yield lost treasures:

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...+64+overclocking+guide

 

[faxon]

woot thanks guys, will tell you how it turns out when im done

 

[faxon]

well, here it is. i couldnt get my rig to post at all whenever i increased the CPU multiplier, no matter what i did, and ended up flashing the bios about 4 times. after much tinkering with voltage and ram latency here is my end result. im going to let memtest86 run on it overnight before trying to tighten the latency any more. this is all with the stock bios the board came with, im probably gonna flash that and see if i cant get it stable at 2.8ghz

http://img157.imageshack.us/im...885/myoverclocknb1.gif

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

congrats!

 

[faxon]

yea my rig is running not much behind where it would be if i had an FX-57 in it

 

[Marty502]

Nice overclock man!

However, I'd keep an eye on mom-n-pop hardware stores and E-bay for a cheap used X2 socket 939. I did the upgrade a few months ago (Had a A64 3000+ 2.5 Ghz before) and the difference is dramatic. With a bit of luck, who knows?

 

[faxon]

im not gonna bother tbh. im crunched for cash as it is waiting on the new doublesight 26 inch panel, and i want to put the rest of the money i get this year away for a nehalem system with possibly a larrabee GPU if they turn out to be as good as people are saying they will be. most of the gaming i do is on games which run just fine with this rig the way it is now anyway. i only OCed it because it was starting to feel its age, and i managed to take a bit of the edge off of it, which should be enough to last me through till next year unless i get one of the newest and best games.

also, have you looked at the price on 939 CPUs athlon x2s reicently? those things cost a fortune still. the best deal i have found on an FX-55 for example is $800, and from a site named deals r us of all things

http://www.pricegrabber.com/us...4826193&lot_id=2802444

and what i got for OEM and retail box athlon 64 and 64 x2 CPUs in total

http://computers.pricegrabber....er/popup5%5B%5D=20:278

http://computers.pricegrabber....er/popup3%5B%5D=12:278


can anyone recommend a better site to search for this kind of stuff? so far pricegrabber has done great for most things, but 939 cpus are just horrible

 

[Somniferum]

Originally posted by: faxon
im not gonna bother tbh. im crunched for cash as it is waiting on the new doublesight 26 inch panel, and i want to put the rest of the money i get this year away for a nehalem system with possibly a larrabee GPU if they turn out to be as good as people are saying they will be. most of the gaming i do is on games which run just fine with this rig the way it is now anyway. i only OCed it because it was starting to feel its age, and i managed to take a bit of the edge off of it, which should be enough to last me through till next year unless i get one of the newest and best games.

also, have you looked at the price on 939 CPUs athlon x2s reicently? those things cost a fortune still. the best deal i have found on an FX-55 for example is $800, and from a site named deals r us of all things

http://www.pricegrabber.com/us...4826193&lot_id=2802444

and what i got for OEM and retail box athlon 64 and 64 x2 CPUs in total

http://computers.pricegrabber....er/popup5%5B%5D=20:278

http://computers.pricegrabber....er/popup3%5B%5D=12:278


can anyone recommend a better site to search for this kind of stuff? so far pricegrabber has done great for most things, but 939 cpus are just horrible

Wow. I paid about $100 for my 939 x2, and I was a bit sad when they dropped to $60 or so a few months later. Supply and demand, I guess.

 

[uclaLabrat]

Originally posted by: o1die
If your board permits it, set your cpu fsb to 240 and memory at 166. This will run your memory at 200 while overclocking.

That's what I did on my 3700+, it's been at 2.8G stable for about 2 years now.

 

[Net]

what is your temp on full load? i'm going to oc my sandiego 4000+ too