Athlon 64 In-depth Overclocking Guide 193
jmke writes "Everything you ever wanted to know about Athlon 64 overclocking, and then some. If you are confused about HTT, LDT, memory dividers and relationship between these settings, then read on. This in-depth overclocking guide will show you how to get the maximum from your brand new Athlon 64 system"
Re:Seriously though (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Seriously though (Score:3, Informative)
The really funny thing is that people doing "professional work" are doing so with pure blind trust in the manufacturer. Very, very few "professionals" bother with the most basic of QA. They just open the box, plug it in, and run, based on pure blind faith.
I've worked with various computer companies, being involved with the bring-up of a wide variety of hardware, from workstations, servers, storage arrays, and what have you. The practices in this industry are generally quite sloppy. The engineering is typically rushed, the QA is rushed (and usually done by people who really don't know what real QA is). It's all about getting the systems out the door quickly, with as low cost as possible.
Unless you've run memtest86 on your system for a while, you really don't know if the RAM you're using has some bad spots, do you? If it does, well, that means your calculations are now suspect as well.
But no, it's easier to stick your head in the sand, and ignore that possibility.
If you really are depending on the results from your box, you should start with the basics, at the least. Memtest86 ought to be run on every new box you get. And you should go through a burn-in cycle. Plus put a load on your system for a while, just to make certain that the thermal cooling in the case, and the room, are indeed adequate. This is just the basics, IMO. You'd be surprised at how many bad systems I catch with just that; including systems that are in a production environment.
I can guarantee you that I can put together an overclocked system which is more solid than most (if not all) machines put out by OEMs. But that's because I know how to spec the parts, and QA them before I put them into production. Yes, it's extra work. But I've noticed that I have a lot fewer problems with my systems than other people do, and this saves me time over the long run.
So please spare me the snobbery; it's just a mask for ignorance.
Re:OMG. What kind of....Money does it take? (Score:3, Informative)
Motherboards for both come at a range of prices, but tend to be in the standard $80-120 range. 754 ones may tend to be slightly less, but not significantly.
Opteron processors and early Athlon 64 FX processors (which were basically rebranded Opterons) run on Socket 940 and require ECC RAM; this is natural as they're targetted at the server market. No other Athlon 64 processors carry this requirement.
Basically, if you're looking to get a half-way decent AMD computer nowadays, there's no real reason not to get a Socket 939 processor with a PCIe motherboard; it's faster, more future-proof, and doesn't really cost any more.
why so many people so ignorant towards OC (Score:1, Informative)
if U don't know these procedures, don't EVER talk about overclocking, or undervolting, or anything.
So many peope talking out of their ***... (Score:1, Informative)
Last week, I bought an A64 3000+ with Venice core and a Neo 4 Platinum motherboard. A 3000+ runs stock at 1.8GHz. I bought this core with the very purpose of overclocking it. And well, it did damn well. This CPU is now running @ 2.65GHz, without upping the core voltage, without dangerously high temperatures. Actually, I will be buying a better cooler one of these days to keep it cooler that it runs now, and possible to run @ 2.8GHz.
Why, you ask? Well, why do people buy an A64 4000+ ? I can use it for games, for compiles, etc. And don't be telling me that there is no measurable difference between my processor @ 1.8GHz, and now @ 2.65GHz. It is blazing fast, as fast as when I would have spent 500 or something for a 4000+.
Oh, and you can throw whatever stability test you want at it. It is rock stable.
And why would it reduce the lifetime of my CPU drastically? My now retired 1700+ has ran its entire life @ 2GHz (up from 1.466GHz), and it will live on in my girlfriends PC.
Also, what do you think is the difference between a 3800+ @ 2.4GHz and an overclocked 3000+ @ 2.4GHz? That's right, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. All the current A64's do 2.4GHz anyway, so speedbinning is virtually non-existant, the processors are the same.
The higher HTT? Oh come on. And everything (PCI-E, PCI, whatever) is running at standard speeds, even with an overclocked system (well, except for the CPU ofcourse, and the HTT).
Talk all you want, but it is VERY clear that loads of people here don't have any clue as to what they're talking about.
Re:OMG. What kind of.... (Score:4, Informative)
Actually you're wrong.
Generally all of the chips in a single speed series come right off of the exact same assembly line, and each one is then tested for individual speed tolerances. This produces an erratic supply of lower speed tolerance chips. As the manufacturing process on a particular line ages it also tends to work out all of the bugs and the supply of low quality chips falls off. The market still demands a variety of price points to attract the maximum of low end buyers *and* to maximize profits from high end buyers. Therefore they ROUNTINELY grab "higher speed" chips to fill orders at the cheaper price points.
The longer a line has been out the more likely a mid or low end labeled chip is fully capable of handling the top rated speed, or even above.
Also they use fairly generous safety margins. Their CPUs get included in countless different mother boards with unpredictable variations and quirks. The voltage may be a little high or low, timings may vary, signal quality may vary, and most importantly different temperatures and cooling capabilites. Also they are supplying probably a hundred billion CPU-hours, they don't want to get a bad rep if even an insanely rare multiple-failure happens to hit a critical customer on a critical system. They use pretty generous safety margins.
Now if you're tuning a specific set of hardware with particular voltages and particular timings, and especially if you have a better than typical cooling system, then you can exactly tune the speed of the CPU. You don't need a huge saftey margin to cover huge uncertainties because there are no uncertainties. You can push the speed and maybe even the voltage a touch if you keep the CPU comfortably cool.
Also an overclocker is probably willing to accept actually running into a once-in-1000-hours system reset if it means he can get that much more speed out of it. That's not something you want to have happen on a mission critical business server, but it is an excellent tradeoff if it gets you 1000 hours of smoother gameplay.
Disclaimer: I have never actually overclocked myself (I've only tweeked BIOS timings), but I am about to buy a new computer and I am probably going to get a motherboard with enhanced overclocking capabilites. For just a few extra dollars and with a bit of serious geek-knowledge and and some (enjoyable) tuning and testing my system I can probably get a decent speed boost.
Not a bad tradeoff at all. Few 'hobby' activities provide such a direct tangible benefit. Even hardcore automotive 'horsepower overclockers' only see a benefit in rare race-type conditions and no benefit at all in day-to-day driving.
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