StarDestroyer.Net BBS

First off, my system:
AMD 4200+ X2
DFI N4F-DR SLI motherboard
2 GB of Corsair XMS RAM
PC Power and Cooling 510watt PSU

Now, all of these parts are supposed to be great at overclocking, which is one of the reasons I got them. But, so far, I can't get the FSB stable any anything over 205mhz. I've tried upping the voltage, turning on the case fans to high to help cool it. Nothing. It absolutely refuses to go over 205mhz. I've tried everything I can think of, basically. The weird thing is, it's totally stable at 205mhz, but at 206, it BSODs a few minutes into Prime95, and at 207, it refuses to boot into windows. So, why won't it go higher? All temps at 205mhz and stock are great, rarely getting over 44c even under the Prime95 Inplace FFT torture test.

Have you tried decreasing the HTT multiplier?

Uraniun235 wrote:Have you tried decreasing the HTT multiplier?

Hmm, no. It's set at 'auto' right now. I thought it was best if you just left it where it was?

Somethings you might want to try...

Increasing voltage to your RAM and CPU. You probably are already aware of this, but too much could damage your computer. You might have to adjust your RAM's timing. With only a 5 mhz increase, your HT should still be ok... You might want to adjust your FSB:RAM frequency ratios - I know the limiting factor on my computer was the memory controller, so I had to adjust that to push my FSB higher.

Exonerate wrote:Somethings you might want to try...

Increasing voltage to your RAM and CPU. You probably are already aware of this, but too much could damage your computer. You might have to adjust your RAM's timing. With only a 5 mhz increase, your HT should still be ok... You might want to adjust your FSB:RAM frequency ratios - I know the limiting factor on my computer was the memory controller, so I had to adjust that to push my FSB higher.

The voltage for the CPU goes up to about 1.50. What voltage level is considered 'dangerous' for protracted use?
Also, it sounds like I'll have to do some more research on DFI overclocking, there are a TON of options in the BIOS.
EDIT: Meant the voltage goes up to a max of 1.50.

The HTT rarely performs much above 1Ghz..

at 206FSB your HTT is going 5*206 = 1030Mhz.

WARNING: follow this advice AT YOUR OWN RISK. Over clocking is the quickest way to kill brand new kit =P

That said: The best way to go about over clocking is to test each major system (HTT, CPU, MEM) independently, so you can isolate each, and not, for instance, have your memory flaking out and think it's your cpu, etc..

Finding max HTT (the annoying part DONT DO THIS IF YOU DON”T KNOW HOW TO RESET YOUR CMOS):
You've probably found your limit for the HTT (205 * 5 = 1030Mhz). However, it'd be best to set your memory divider down as low as possible: (set it to 100Mhz=DDR200), and your cpu fairly low (set the multiplier down a couple of notches. (Default is 11, go to at least . Then, bump up the FSB 1mhz at a time until your machine fails to boot, and reset the CMOS. Then, you'll know your max HTT speed (speed just before the machine first failed. E.G. if your machine boots fine at FSB=210Mhz, but fails to boot at 211Mhz FSB, then your max HTT speed is 210*5 = 1050Mhz (or even a bit lower to be on the safe side).

Finding max CPU:

First, set MEM to DDR200, and HTT real low (make sure during this test your HTT never goes above the speed found above)

Now, start bumping up your FSB about 5Mhz at a time. Go into windows and run prime95 for about 5 minutes (since you have a dual core, run TWO instances of prime95, and set each instance to run on a separate core by setting the Affinity under Advanced -> Affinity). Do this until prime95 fails in that five minutes. Your max speed is the last speed at which prime95 ran well. At this point it's best to run prime95 for about 12 hours to really make sure your processor can run at that speed.

Finding Max Mem (the interesting part):

Set MEM to DDR400, HTT multiplier real low, and CPU multiplier real low. Then, you guessed it!, start upping the fsb until your memory fails under memtest86+. This tells you your max memory speed (=FSB speed).

Making it all work together:

Now that you know the max value for each component, you can design an over clocking scheme. Basically, you want to have it so your memory and HTT run as close to their max speed found above as possible without going over, while maximizing your cpu speed. Essentially, you take the fsb speed you got while finding the max cpu speed, then set the HTT and mem multipliers to values that keep those components at max spec or below. The interesting part is memory, In your BIOS, you'll have a setting to change either the DDR rate or the actual speed of your memory. Stock is 200Mhz = DDR400. The way the “divider” works is this: normal setting is 200Mhz, if you want to decrease your memory speed, you go down from there (first step is probably 166mhz). Now, the way the memory speed works out is this: Stock is 200Mhz, you've set it to 166 = 83%. if your FSB speed is 220Mhz, then your memory speed is 220*.83 = 182.6Mhz. Comprende?

I have a somewhat similar machine to yours:

Abit AN8-Ultra
X2 4200+
OCZ Platinum Memory

I found my max settings as follows:
HTT: 1050mhz
CPU: 2585Mhz
Mem: 215Mhz (DDR430)

So, here's how I have my machine set:
FSB = 235Mhz
CPU Multiplier 11 (=2585mhz)
HTT multiplier 4 (=940mhz)
Mem 166Mhz (= 195Mhz = DDR390)


Now, in the above I don't mention an important part of over clocking: upping your voltages. Upping your voltages generally lets your components run faster. For instance, to get my CPU to 2585Mhz I had to up the core voltage on the CPU. You can pretty easily fry your machine (upping the voltages makes your temps skyrocket) if you set your voltages wrong, so I make no recommendation. Other braver souls may though =)

Good luck, and I hope this is coherent =).
Miles Teg