Winchester 3000+ OC results

[stnick80]

First of all, I would like to say "hi" to everyone as this is my first post. I have read alot of posts here but have never registered.

I just recently built an AMD 64 system and I would like to share my results. Here is the components I used.

Lian Li PC-65b Case
Thermaltake 420W power supply
AMD 64 3000+ Winchester
Thermalright XP-90 arctic silver5
Sunon 92mm Fan
MSI K8N neo2 Platinum
OCZ EL Platinum Rev. 2 2x512mb
2 x Western Digital 10k Raptors (No raid)
MSI Nvidia 6600 GT 570MHz/1140MHz

Okay when I first got it put together the damn thing wouldn't boot. I got continous long beeps which hinted at a memory problem. I took one stick of 512mb out and boom it worked. It also worked if the memory was in bank 1 and 3 or bank 2 and 4. LOL. It refused to work in banks 1/2 simultaneously and banks 3/4 simultaneously. I decided to only use one stick for now and go ahead and load up XP pro. It worked though I ran into another problem. I had a bad floppy drive. I couldn't do my Raid because windows needed a damn floppy. Oh well it was just for bragging rights anyway. ;P So I got everything loaded up and immediately after I loaded the MSI drivers and utilities. I used the autoupdate to flash the BIOS from revision 1.0 to revision 1.4 and then powered down and installed the 2 sticks in Dimm 1/2 and it worked no problem. What a relief. Its good to know that your board isn't bad after how long I've been waiting to build this PC.

I didn't want to push my system to the max so I didn't go hardcore and raise any voltages. I tried it for a second but found my system worked flawlessly at the overclock I originally wanted so I left them stock.

Here is my setup.

285 X 9 2565MHz
LDT = 3
Divider = 166
Vcore = stock
Vram = stock
Ram = 2.5,3,3,10

I raised the HTT from 200 in 10 MHz increments until I found where it stopped being stable at which was between 285 and 290 MHz. I found that around 230MHz the only way it would go any higher and be stable was to utilize the 166 divider. I wish I could have stayed at 1:1 but oh well, no real performance degradation. I am happy with the results and I think I will leave them for now.

I did try 290MHz and 300MHz and they booted into windows fine but they could not pass Prime95.

I ran Prime95 for 9 hours 36 minutes at 285 X 9 with no errors. I have also played a ton of CS:S on it with no problems.

I love it. This thing hauls!

I have screen captures but no way to post them. I will email them to someone if somebody wants to host them.

Just wanted to share results for any of you thinking about getting a similar set up.

 

[stnick80]

oops sorry forgot something. My idle temp at 285 X 9 is 39-40C and under load is 55-56C.

 

[thegimp03]

not bad, congrats.

 

[Jeff7181]

Awesome... where did you get your motherboard and CPU? Did you write down the stepping? I'm interested cause that Neo2 Platinum/3000+ combo on ZZF is looking very attractive for $300.

Free image hosting up to 1 MB.

 

[Grimmy311]

I am actually at the same results with the GA-K8SN-939 board. Its running great.

AMD64 (939) 3000+ 9x285 2565MHz (1.525v)
Stock HSF
Gigabyte GA-K8NS-939 Pro
Antec ProView1000
(2x512) SuperTalent 3200 3-3-3-7
GeForce FX5700 Ultra
2x60 GB Maxtor HDD - Raid 0

 

[stnick80]

I got my motherboard from Newegg.com about 6 months or more ago when they were really hard to come by. I just got my processer from Newegg.com about a week ago for around 150.00 I think. I love the combo. I could go higher on the OC but there is really no need. However 2700MHz does sound rather sexy. I think that a 765MHz overclock is pretty good and a 900MHz is outstanding. =D

 

[stnick80]

oh and sorry no stepping. I didn't think to write it down. I will never know now unless it breaks, cause I am not taking the HS off. LOL. It should be a fairly new processor though. It was an OEM from Newegg.

 

[94vert50]

Nice OC. I'm at 280x9 right now and I've still got room. I have cpu voltage set at 1.4 +0%vid in the bios, which reads about 1.41 in cpuz. Try bumping your voltage up to get it stable above 285. You could put the multiplier down to 8 and max out the fsb until you get errors in p95. Then raise the multiplier from there. For example, I know I was stable at 300x8. Congrats and good luck.

 

[Hulk]

Hi. I'm going to build and AMD system similar to yours, my first AMD build.

What fan are you using? What connections do you have to make so that the fan is temperature controlled? I'm not looking for a giant overclock, I'd like to hopefully take a 3000+ Winchester to 2.2Ghz or so and have a quiet system.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[gobucks]

if you're just looking for a 400MHz overclock, just about anything will do. I am using corsair value ram, stock heatsink/fan (with arctic silver 5, though) and a Vantec 120mm rear case fan for some quiet, powerful cooling. Pretty much every 90nm AMD chip could be sold as a 3800+ if AMD had the demand for them, but since they don't, they just bin them down. Anything under 2.4GHz is pretty much child's play to achieve, the only thing limiting might be the memory or memory dividers (i'm currently stuck cause i'm running a 5/6 divider, and my next step down is a 2/3 divider, and i don't want a 50% overclock just to get back to stock speeds). Oh, and if you want a quiet system, i'd recommend a Zalman 7700-AlCu or 7000-AlCu CPU cooler, they are both really quiet and cool really well, and some 120mm Vantec Stealth fans, they move a lot of air for how quiet they are. And as long as your memory dividers have lots of options, i wouldn't bother paying an extra $100 for premium overclocking memory. In a budget system, there just isn't a point, when you can just run a divider for little performance penalty and get the exact same overclock. I would, however, recommend a PCIe motherboard. The price premiums aren't that high, and the PCIe 6600GTs are actually a bit cheaper than AGP, so the costs pretty much offset. I've heard the new DFI NF4 Ultra board is great, and it's only like $140-150 on pricegrabber.

 

[stnick80]

I'm using a Sunon 92mm on my processor. It is not the most quiet but it certainly is no vantec tornado. I find my systems noise to perfectly tolerable even under load. My raptors can make some noise though it is more weird sounding than annoyingly loud. I didn't set my fan up to be temperature controlled and honestly I really dont care. I think my Sunon 92mm runs around 3000rpms and in 30dB range. As for case fans, I use the 4 stock case fans that came with the Lian Li PC-65B case. They are not loud at all and they keep my case nice and cool. You have alot of choices out there and everyone may recommend something different. Like gobucks said if 2.2Ghz is all you are looking for, just about anything will do. Though I suspect that eventually you will want to take it higher, especially how easy it is. To be perfectly honest 2.5GHz is a good stopping point that can be achieved fairly easily.

Also, like gobucks said you may want to consider a Nforce4 chipset/Mobo solution as it will make use of PCIe and SLI. The cost differance isn't that much and it will be a bit more futureproof I think. I bought my mobo about 6 months ago otherwise I would have went for the Nforce4 solution. It all depends on what you can afford as well. Only you know your own budget.

If it were me I would probably go with

DFI NF4 Ultra or SLI Lanparty or MSI NF4 ultra or SLI
Thermalright xp-90 or xp-120 (cause they are cool!) 92mm panaflo or sunon
OCZ EL platinum rev.2 PC3200 2x512 or G.Skill DDR550 or 600 (Samsung TCCD)
PCIe 6600GT (i dont need a 6800GT or ultra)

The cost difference between an Nforce4 ultra and Nforce4 SLI board is around 40.00-60.00. Is it worth it? Only you can determine that. The DFI NF4 is definately a good compromise.

I believe your memory is critical if you decide to go with a higher overclock later. The possibility is high because OCing is addictive. If not you will not need the extreme memory that I listed. Some value PC3200 will do fine.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[Hulk]

Hey guys thanks a lot for the into. This will be my first AMD build and it's great to have the experience of "guys you have been there." It'll save me a lot of time and frustration.

How would you go about setting up the CPU fan to be temperature controlled? I'm sure as you said I won't need to, I'm just curious.

My current system has two sticks of Corsair PC3200 Value Ram. I'll probably fool around with that a bit before looking into something better.

Thanks again.

 

[stnick80]

Hulk,

That RAM will work just fine. Remember you have the dividers to play with if you don't have super high quality RAM. You won't see much of a performance loss. Check and see how fast that memory will run once you get your setup and try to keep it at those speed utilizing the dividers. Its probably gonna cap somewhere between 200-220MHz. So you will probably need the 166 divider for a decent overclock and the 133 if you decide to alot higher. Once again, good luck! Enjoy.

 

[stnick80]

Got some new results out my setup as well! I had to increase the juice but it performs solid.

Last night I messed around with my combo some more to see if I could get anything else out of it.

I wanted 2700Mhz 9 x 300. I couldn't get it stable though even with the vcore raised to 1.6v. It would boot into windows fine and even would run SuperPI fine (1M =32s) but if you restarted it would always lose all your video settings. For some reason or another it would cause windows to boot in a crappy resolution. I think 400 x 600 4 bit. It looked like safe mode.

I also tried 2655Mhz 9 x 295. Same deal. Neither setting wanted to run Prime95 very
long either at 1.6v

I was successful though in increasing my overclock to 2610MHz 9 x 290. It runs Prime95, SuperPI (1M=32s), and also aquamark just fine.

The settings are

HTT = 290
HT = 3x
Multiplier = 9x
Divider = 166
Vcore = 1.60
Vdimm = 2.85
Ram settings = 2.5-3-3-7 1T
Idle Temp = 38-40C
Load Temp = 55-57C

I think that may be about the most Im going to get out of it. I don't think an increase in Vcore is going to help anymore. I really dont want to go above 1.6v anyway.

2610MHz out of a 1800MHz processor isn't too shabby I suppose. =D

 

[overst33r]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Awesome... where did you get your motherboard and CPU? Did you write down the stepping? I'm interested cause that Neo2 Platinum/3000+ combo on ZZF is looking very attractive for $300.

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you can do better than that...try newegg or search pricewatch.

 

[Markfw]

Feel lucky I have the same motherboard and chip, and stock hsf (not the problem) and the best I get is 2344 ! (293x8) or 2340 (260x9 1:1)

 

[Duvie]

Are you using corecenter for those temps you are reporting...try speedfan and everest and see what you get...I usually get 3-4c lower...

Funny thing is I am surprised how high your temps are with the XP-90...my lowly TT is doing 50c load (speedfan) and 53c load corecenter at 9x290...all with a 80mm fan running low 3400 rpm speed....

 

[stnick80]

Duvie,

yeah im using corecenter for the temps. My Vcore is a bit higher than yours at 1.60v though that shouldnt make much ofa difference. Maybe my AS5 needs to set? I dunno. The temps dont bother me. I tried switching my CPUs fan direction to see if temps would get lower and cant really tell a difference. Right now I have it set up as an exhaust fan. I original had it set up as an intake fan. I'm using a Sunon 3400rpm 92mm. oh yeah, my powersupply sucks ass maybe that has something to do with it. Sometimes my 12v rail underload dips down to 11.20 eek and my 3.3v rail is always at like 3.09. 5v is always money. I'll investigate it more.

 

[Markfw]

Get an Antec true power 480. That will cure the PSU problems forever

 

[stnick80]

Actually not a big fan of antec PSUs. They have also been known to cause problems on mobo i think. I think Im gonna go for the OCZ powerstream 520w.

 

[420LoBoB]

how do you change the 1:1 ratio in the bios for the neo2 plat i've looked everyware!! i cant get passed 2625 with my 3500 my ram is crappy stuff tho.. no name brand but i got it to 290 at max.. its DDR333.. but i think i could hit a higher speed if i could find the ratio setting in the bios? any words on that?

 

[stnick80]

it actually doesnt say anything about a ratio. Under the cell menu, under the Dram configuration, you can set it to either 200 1:1, 166 5:6, 133 and 100. Your ram is probably your limiting factor though you mave have reached your systems peak. You should definately try setting your divider to 166 or 133 to get higher. You really need some PC3200 though, any kind would be better than DDR333.

 

[stnick80]

and your ram is already way overclocked if you are using the 200MHz divider. =D What is your HTT and multiplier? 238 or 239x11?

 

[420LoBoB]

for the best results i used 288x8.5 - 2448Hhz and i put my HT down to 3 this was my best porformance area! iv got the highest scores on my machine with that, im trying to sell my old computer i had a xp 2000 with the asus a7v333 cupple of ears ago! and buy some new ram with it thx for explaining the divider!

 

[stnick80]

I cant believe your ram is running 288! You probably already are not at 1:1. Use a divider 166 or 133 and try to do 285X9. Its obvious that your not having any problems with HTT if you can do 288. 285x9 will have greater performance. The reason why 288X8.5 was better for you was because of the high HTT(FSB) but CPU speed > all! 285x9 will be 2565Mhz. First try it with the 166 divider which i doubt will work. Then try the 133.