AMD Quest for 3Ghz!

[Abdul]

Well just finished my new rig, been a couple of days now, and its fine!
First of all the components,
- AMD Opteron 146 ~ Currently at 2.7ghz STABLE! (31C min/Max 45C)
- DFI Lanparty NF4 Ultra-D
- 1024mb DDR RAM, Corasir Value and Infineon Value
- ATI x800GTO2 Full 16pipelines
- 480W Tagan TG480-U01 Quiet ATX2.0 SLi 12v

Well last couple of days i've got it to 2.7ghz, no problems on Prime95 nor Memtest86 overnights! RAM timings are set to 3-4-4-8, system doesnt boot up at 3.5...Nor 4. Just Cas latency of 2, 2.5 or 3.

Now i wanna get it to 3.0ghz if possible with some further tinkering! Boot up in Winodws at 2.8 and 2.9Ghz, but Prime95 reports errors.

Currently using 150 Divider, memory volatge at 2.8v, CPU VID at 1.5V, FSB at 270 (x10), LDT Set at Auto!

ANY pointers would be helpful! AND i would be utterly grateful!

[chrisbard]

Originally Posted by Abdul

Well just finished my new rig, been a couple of days now, and its fine!
First of all the components,
- AMD Opteron 146 ~ Currently at 2.7ghz STABLE! (31C min/Max 45C)
- DFI Lanparty NF4 Ultra-D
- 1024mb DDR RAM, Corasir Value and Infineon Value
- ATI x800GTO2 Full 16pipelines
- 480W Tagan TG480-U01 Quiet ATX2.0 SLi 12v

Well last couple of days i've got it to 2.7ghz, no problems on Prime95 nor Memtest86 overnights! RAM timings are set to 3-4-4-8, system doesnt boot up at 3.5...Nor 4. Just Cas latency of 2, 2.5 or 3.

Now i wanna get it to 3.0ghz if possible with some further tinkering! Boot up in Winodws at 2.8 and 2.9Ghz, but Prime95 reports errors.

Currently using 150 Divider, memory volatge at 2.8v, CPU VID at 1.5V, FSB at 270 (x10), LDT Set at Auto!

ANY pointers would be helpful! AND i would be utterly grateful!

Dude that's a nice rig ! Prime reporting errors not good ! However can you post a sisoft memory bench pls?

[Abdul]

Yeh Sure! Memory Bandwidth bench...

[SteveI]

At 2.8ghz, your memory is still not being pushed (running 192 @ 2.7ghz), so I would suspect the CPU as the cause for instability. What are you cooling the CPU with? 45c seems ok, but I don't have a lot of faith in temp readings.

Also, manually change LDT to 3x. Shouldn't change anything, but I don't trust auto either.

[chrisbard]

Originally Posted by SteveI

At 2.8ghz, your memory is still not being pushed (running 192 @ 2.7ghz), so I would suspect the CPU as the cause for instability. What are you cooling the CPU with? 45c seems ok, but I don't have a lot of faith in temp readings.

Also, manually change LDT to 3x. Shouldn't change anything, but I don't trust auto either.

Yeah my Sh$#% value GEIL ram when pushed go to 6100/6050 in sisoft without errors. I think Steve is right...CPU is on the edge !

[Abdul]

Bleh! I cant Decrease the Voltage any further for Vcore, if i do 2.7Ghz becomes unstable... Im using cheap Akasa Ak-862, its better then Stock AMD... So it may well be the end of the 3Ghz quest...

[skool h8r]

first off and foremost, RAM, corsair value isn't really going to be up to much (even though 2.7Ghz is good). See if you can get hold of couple of sticks of XMS 3200C2PT, that should be able to get up to about 2.8. If you can, try and increase the DIMM voltage a bit if you can as this usually does wonders. Next up, a better cooler may be in order, perhaps the EVO-120 AK-920. It's a great cooler and even with some AS5, it's still cool to the touch at the base where the CPU is! And that's on an overclocked system like mine (it only gets to about 40 degrees Celsius when it's under load, such as BF2 or FarCry and at idle, it's reporting 33 degrees Celsius, and stable, although mines an athlon64, not an opteron). What makes it even better though, is that when it's the 'correct' way round (with the heat fins towards the back of the case), is that it's at the right point for an 80mm or a 120mm fan to be located as a case fan. This makes it as close to water cooling as you can get without spending £200+. I managed to find it for about £30 including VAT, but i can't remember where. It comes with a fan controller backplate and when it's set to low, it's inaudible, when at full, you can't hear it over the bangs and crashes of the battlefield, i have it at full almost all the time, and it's not exactly quiet, but it's not too loud. It's quite an extreme cooling solution, and in both mine and your case, for an extreme system.

HTH

[Abdul]

So its either gonna have to be some new cooling gear or some better RAM sticks, dont have enough doe for both atm... Thnks anyways, i'll keep ya updated on any progress!

[Favu]

Go with the cooling. You can have your RAM as relaxed as possible with a low divider, and just see how far your CPU will go

[SteveI]

Originally Posted by Abdul

So its either gonna have to be some new cooling gear or some better RAM sticks, dont have enough doe for both atm... Thnks anyways, i'll keep ya updated on any progress!

That's WRONG. The advice regarding changing sticks of memory is incorrect. Assuming your ram is not defective, you are actually underclocking your memory at the moment. It should not be an issue. If your previous pics are still current, your memory is running at 192mhz which is actually underclocked.

Verify that information first. Keep your memory at relaxed timings. Change LDT to 3x increase CPU voltage if you dare. There is a good chance that your memory controller is not up to the task. If that is the case, it will appear that the DDR is failing... I have a venice that behaved this way. At first glance, it appears that memory was at the limit.... failing at lower vDimm. However, I confirmed that this memory could go much higher on another system... I ended up settling for 2.5ghz on that rig as a result. In your case, try the extra vcore first as an experiment. If it helps, go ahead and get a better cooler so you can run the higher vcore every day.

EDIT: assuming 3x LDT & just raising FSB, pushing the system to 2.8ghz means running your RAM at stock speeds (200mhz).

[bradmax57]

whats the stepping of your 146? 3ghz isnt guaranteed from any of them tbh I have had 5 now only 2 did 3ghz on air

[skool h8r]

as once sung by someone, and modified by me: " 'cos 2 out of 5 ain't bad ".

[Abdul]

Originally Posted by bradmax57

whats the stepping of your 146? 3ghz isnt guaranteed from any of them tbh I have had 5 now only 2 did 3ghz on air

Im not sure... Anyway i can find out?

[Abdul]

UPDATE!

Just found that system will not boot at vDimm Voltages at 2.6 nor 2.7, only 2.8v... I shouldnt need to go to 2.9 im not overclocking the memory, and stock was 2.6v. I dont know why this is as it is.

Currently at 2.8ghz, same voltages and divider, FSB at 280.

EDIT: About stepping i think its E4

[cadaveca]

you need more vdimm as higher VTT is need to push the data from the sticks back to the cpu at the increased speed and lowered memory divider. Upping vcore might help that a bit, but i do remember something about you being at the max.

A pic of your ram might help.

[Abdul]

Originally Posted by cadaveca

you need more vdimm as higher VTT is need to push the data from the sticks back to the cpu at the increased speed and lowered memory divider. Upping vcore might help that a bit, but i do remember something about you being at the max.

A pic of your ram might help.

Im currently set vCore 1.5v, only have 1.525 and 1.55v options left... Picture? Anything Specific?

[bradmax57]

Originally Posted by Abdul

Im currently set vCore 1.5v, only have 1.525 and 1.55v options left... Picture? Anything Specific?

you have the option for special FID (i think thats what its called) 103% 105% etc etc this pushes you above the 1.55max vcore

[cadaveca]

Originally Posted by Abdul

Im currently set vCore 1.5v, only have 1.525 and 1.55v options left... Picture? Anything Specific?

of the ram IC's.

[Abdul]

Originally Posted by cadaveca

of the ram IC's.

I'll see if i can get hold of a camera or sommat...

Some bad news though, well i think anyways, 2.7Ghz is not stable!

I thought i'd leave the comp switched off for one night... When i returned, same settings Windows would not boot at 2.8, nor 2.7.(When it did boot) Got Prime 95 Errors at 2.8 after 16min Running time, and 2.7 errors was after a couple of hours.

SO im thinking 2.6ghz is best for now, and im willing to increase the volatge more when i get some better cooling gear. Any recommendations, priced around 40GBP??

[cadaveca]

Tt Typhoon is the only cooler i can really recommend. i top out @ 34c @ load with 1.48v and 3ghz.