Overclocking

[tommy]

Anybody done any overclocking on a AMD 64 CPU, Any good advise besides moving the values slowly and testing for stability, where to start?

[AmericanDemon]

Heh.  Overclocking is something that I just dont see the use of.  I can see the market is there and tons of people do it.  I personally dont think the risk is worth it.  Spend a few bucks more and get the speed you want to overclock it too. 

[tommy]

I tend to agree AD, but if the user is only after a small improvment I THINK it's very safe and effective.

[AmericanDemon]

True.  I used to do PC repair and its amazing how many people try to do it....and fail.    Dont overclock your system until it has had sufficient burn in time.  Like at least 2 weeks of regular use.

[markb]

Anybody done any overclocking on a AMD 64 CPU, Any good advise besides moving the values slowly and testing for stability, where to start?

Try here as a start

http://www.ocforums.com/

There are a stack of guides on where to begin overclocking.

[ChadTower]

After buying an insufficient (budget) system for what he wanted to do, then complaining about it two years later... now he's buying a new one and wants to immediately overclock it?

I bet he complains in 18 months about the inability to overclock this one enough.

[tommy]

I got my CPU up from it's 2.2 to 2.4 all is well , i don't think anymore is worth the risk as of now with my limited experience with OC.


That wasen't the case chad, maybe you could not post on my topics if you insist on making things up.

[Sephroth57]

i assembled my brand new computer and in the same day overclocked the cpu from 3.2ghz to 3.4, and my videocard is 10% overclocked

[ChadTower]

Not sure I see the point, the speed difference is minimal and the lifespan decrease is pretty large.

[RayB]

... and next thing is they spend money on more fans (when you could just take that same money and spend it on a faster chip in the first place).

[ChadTower]

Heh, yeah... the next CPU up is $40 extra, but let's overclock and drop $90 on a liquid cooling system.

[Stingray]

Man, you guys are brutal!

-S

[tommy]

Heh, yeah... the next CPU up is $40 extra, but let's overclock and drop $90 on a liquid cooling system.

Idiot, the next chip is 100.00 more, why spend that when i can overclock it for free.

[ChadTower]

Because you're reducing its lifespan geometrically, that's why. 

[Sephroth57]

yeah from a athlon 64 3200 to a 3500 was over 100$. i spent 10$ extra on some fans and when i bought my case specificly looked for a very good airflow design and i have no problems, and the graphic speed increases are noticable in everquest 2.

as far as lifespan, AMDs are basicly made to be overclocked, hardcore computer guys have been using AMDs for years and theyre finally becoming "mainstream". but ive had an athlon 2000XP overclocked slightly for 2 years and its still fine. overclocking is fine as long as you know what youre doing and dont go overboard

[markb]

Because you're reducing its lifespan geometrically, that's why. 

Does it really matter when the chip will be obsolete in a couple of years anyhow?

Why Overclock? because it's a challenge the same way building your own cab is when you could just spend a bit more and buy a good one.

Buying is fun, however I get much more pleasure from doing something myself than paying someone to do it for me.

[ChadTower]

Does it really matter when the chip will be obsolete in a couple of years anyhow?

Being obsolete is relative to use and purpose.  This is a general purpose processor and will be viable for use for the next decade.  I have several low end pentiums in regular use in my house that many would call obsolete, but over ten years later they are still running reliably and strong.

Obsolete is not related to the fact that it is no longer the fastest, baddest processor out there.  A 3.2ghz chip will not be truly obsolete for a long, long time.

[cholin]

If you have a 3.2ghz chip though, there really isnt much reason to overclock it.  It can already run most of the stuff anyways!  Im running at 3 and it works better than I could ask for...

[SirPoonga]

Not sure I see the point, the speed difference is minimal and the lifespan decrease is pretty large.

This is like asking us why did we build a cabinet when just a desktop controller does everything you need.  Because you can!

Part of it is the fun of overclocking.  I bought a dual BP6 celeron system just for the fun of overclocking.

I have an athlon 64 3200 on an abit KV-80 with an ati 9550.  All of that was made for overclocking.  The manufacturers won't directly admit it but that is what those pieces of hardware were designed for.  I will probably overclock it in about a yeart though.

Like the 9550, it essentially is a 9600 underclocked.  You can actually flash the 9600 firmware on it and get some of the cool extras.

[markb]

But it will be obsolete for the people who overclock and as soon as the  processor isn't the baddest out there they'll sell it and move on.

Besides it makes the 2nd hand market much cheaper for the likes of us who don't want the baddest machine if they keep dumping hardware on the market all the time.

[Baker535]

Most of the time it's not worth it. Especially if you don't have high quality RAM in a dual channel set up. For most low end systems to get stability and those high clock numbers you would have to lower the RAM timing ratio down. This in turn cuts down your memory bandwith and negates a lot of the useful CPU speed increase. There is a point eventually where enough raw CPU speed gain will compensate for the fact, but by the time you reach it you are just creating tons of heat and killing tons of electricity on cooling and wasted clock cycles. This also drastically reduces the life of your components...

Using higher quality RAM for overclocking will help avoid those issues since you won't have to cut into the bandwith for a great speed gain, but if you can afford the price premium of good RAM to do a proper overclock... it seems you could afford the proper parts to create a nice, stable, efficient system anyways.

My experience comes from building and overclocking dual channel Intel systems. I'm not exactly sure if the information holds true in AMD world... can anyone confirm if what I said applies to how AMD setups operate?

-baker

Instead of overclocking for fun, my next system's goal is to make it quiet. My Mac's have been spoiling me. Now it sounds like PC computers are testing airfoils for Boeing...

[Sephroth57]

yeah forgot to mention, im running 2x512MB ram, dual channel. reads at 2GB in my system info

[SirPoonga]

Instead of overclocking for fun, my next system's goal is to make it quiet. My Mac's have been spoiling me. Now it sounds like PC computers are testing airfoils for Boeing...

That's actually my next goal.  I found that AMD's system cooling article to be correct.  My computer runs cooler with just an exhaust in the rear and no intake in the front.
that means only 4 fans in the system.  The CPU which is the expensive one ot get quiet since it is the one that needs CFM.  The video card which is small and quiet.  For the rear and the PSU fans I plan on putting Silenx fans in. 

[mrhowell]

Are you using some sort of benchmark program to see the speed increases? 

[shmokes]

Yeah...I don't recommend overclocking to someone who is not prepared for the possible negative consequences, but overclocking is fun and can be extremely cost effective.  A hardcore water cooling system, even, that costs $300 will make your CPU act like a CPU that would cost $300 and can be reused over and over again, making all your CPUs act like that.  Decreasing the life of the CPU is not really that big a concern.  More likely you will either burn it up VERY fast or it's just going to keep running forever.  Honestly, how many CPUs have you ever had die before?  Motherboards, Hard Drives, Video Cards.....all of these things go south on a regular basis, but CPUs rarely die.  I might just be forgetting one, but off the top of my head I can only think of one CPU I've ever had die and that was an Athlon XP 1800 (very hot CPU) and the plastic tab broke off that the heatsink/fan clip to, so since the fan was still spinning full-speed (and the motherboard didn't have a thermometer on it) it just kept running and the chip fried.

Anyway, why sky dive or or snowboard or ride horses?  Lots of things that are worth doing involve risk.

[Baker535]

I plan on putting Silenx fans in.

[SOAPboy]

Yeah...I don't recommend overclocking to someone who is not prepared for the possible negative consequences, but overclocking is fun and can be extremely cost effective.

[AceTKK]

Yea, my Athlon XP 2800 has been running for the last year at 3200 speeds on stock cooling.  Never had a single problem, rock stable.  I got myself $150 worth of CPU for free basically.

-Ace-

[cdbrown]

I found that overclocking my XP1800+ (1533MHz) to 1950MHz - so a 27% improvement - meant that the various Midway NBA games worked great.  No new fans were required.  I made sure to match the memory speed to the FSB.  Had to up the vcore and memory v a little.

Tips - lower the multiplier to start with and increase your FSB.  Reboot and run something like to stress it.  Keep moving it up until it won't boot to windows or is unstable - then move back down to known good FSB.  Next try to up the multi doing the same tests.  After you think it's all stable make sure to run memtest and various stress testing software for extended periods.

[tommy]

Well i fried my cpu,  kidding, whats the best memory type to use for best results(Fsb,brand,quantity)

[DrewKaree]

Dude, I already know you're not going to like this answer, because it seems to fly in the face of all the rest of your answers thus far.

Good quality ram from a well-known/respected manufacturer.  Crucial, Micron....like that.

It'll be pricier, and I'm thinking you'll wanna save money

[tommy]

Dude, I already know you're not going to like this answer, because it seems to fly in the face of all the rest of your answers thus far.

Good quality ram from a well-known/respected manufacturer.

[SOAPboy]

Well i fried my cpu,

[shmokes]

Crucial, Micron....like that.

Isn't that like telling him he should choose either a car or an automobile? 

[Sephroth57]

i highly reccomend Corsair ram, i have some higher end stuff and it works awesome