macgamesrule
New member
Introduction:
The following summarizes some of the results of overclocking my system. The objective in this case was simple:
determine how high I could overclock my CPU and RAM on the stock AMD heatsink and fan. I set a few restrictions to be on
the safe side, as this was my first experience with overclocking. The restrictions were as follows:
1). Keep the voltages fairly low. Max voltages should be CPU 1.5V, RAM 2.8V, Chipset 1.6V.
2.) Keep the temps fairly low as well. Max CPU temp 52C, max Chipset 55C. For reference, max at stock were 41C for the
CPU and 49C for the Chipset.
Now for a bit of information about my system, the settings used, maximum overclock achieved, and results:
(following format based on DFI-Street.com's Overclocking Database, which I shall submit my system for entry to
when I have my final results)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
DFI LANPARTY nF4 Ultra-D, 6/23/05 BIOS
AMD Athlon64 3200+ Venice, revision E3
GSkill Extreme F1-4000USU2-2GBHZ 2x1GB PC4000 (UCCC)
XFX PVT70GUDF7 Geforce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail, 450/1050MHz, 84.21 drivers
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 SATA NCQ 3Gb/s ST3160812AS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB cache Hard Drive - OEM
ASUS E616 Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive
NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model ND-3550A - Retail
OCZ PowerStream SLI OCZ520ADJSLI ATX 520W Power Supply
Thermaltake Tsunami VA3000BWA Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail, 2x120mm 1x90mm
Creative SoundBlaster Audigy2 ZS Gamer LE
*
*
*
*
==========
Genie BIOS Settings:
FSB Bus Frequency - 255
LDT/FSB Frequency Ratio - 4
CPU/FSB Frequency Ratio - 10
PCI eXpress Frequency - 100Mhz
CPU VID StartUp Value - 1.450v
CPU VID Control - 1.450v
CPU VID Special Control - Above VID * 104%
LDT Voltage Control - 1.30v
Chip Set Voltage Control - 1.60v
DRAM Voltage Control - 2.70v
DRAM Configuration Settings:
DRAM Frequency Set - 200=RAM/FSB:1/01
Command Per Clock (CPC) - Enable
CAS Latency Control (Tcl) - 3.0
RAS# to CAS# delay (Trcd) - 04 Bus Clocks
Min RAS# active time (Tras) - 08 Bus Clocks
Row precharge time (Trp) - 04 Bus Clocks
Row Cycle time (Trc) - 13 Bus Clocks
Row refresh cyc time (Trfc) - 15 Bus Clocks
Row to Row delay (Trrd) - 02 Bus Clocks
Write recovery time (Twr) - 02 Bus Clocks
Write to Read delay (Twtr) - 02 Bus Clocks
Read to Write delay (Trwt) - 02 Bus Clocks
Refresh Period (Tref) - 3072 Cycles
Write CAS Latency (Twcl) - 01 Bus Clocks
DRAM Bank Interleave - Enabled
DQS Skew Control - Increase
DQS Skew Value - 63
DRAM Drive Strength - Level 5
DRAM Data Drive Strength - Level 3
Max Async Latency - 9.0 Nano Seconds
DRAM Response Time - Normal
Read Preamble Time - 5.0 Nano Seconds
IdleCycle Limit - 256 Cycles
Dynamic Counter - Disable
R/W Queue Bypass - 16 x
Bypass Max - 07 x
32 Byte Granularity - Disable(4 Bursts)
==========
CPU-Z 1.33.1 + 3dMark 05+ SuperPi:
CPU-Z 1.33.1 + 3dMark 06+ Everest 2.20:
==========
short description:
255x10 @ 2550Mhz, 1.450v + 104% Vcore
3-4-4-8 @ 255MHz, 2.7v Vdimm
------------------------------------------------------------------
Results:
The maximum recorded CPU temp was 48C, and maximum Chipset temp 52C.
The theoretical overclock from 2000MHz to 2550MHz is 27.5%. The following chart shows the
"real world" results.
*CSS settings: 1280x1024, 4xAA 8xAF, all details max
*Halo settings: 1280x1024, 8xAF, all details max
As you can see, most of these are in the 20% range. A marked improvement over stock speed,
but not quite the expected 27.5%. The more graphics intensive ones (3dmark and games) are
most heavily dependent on the graphics card, and therefore are expected to have somewhat
less improvement than the pure CPU/RAM tests. But hey, 20% is still 20%, and it didn't cost a dime.
Other Notes:
One issue I came across with my RAM is that it would not even POST with the Read Preamble Time
set higher than 5.0ns. I have been using an Excel spreadsheet which contains the BIOS settings for
about 20 GSkill HZ users for reference, and a lot of them had the setting at 6.0ns. My first experience
with quirky RAM...
Coming Soon (appoximately Thursday):
My overclocking results with XP-90! :yumyum: :worship:
The following summarizes some of the results of overclocking my system. The objective in this case was simple:
determine how high I could overclock my CPU and RAM on the stock AMD heatsink and fan. I set a few restrictions to be on
the safe side, as this was my first experience with overclocking. The restrictions were as follows:
1). Keep the voltages fairly low. Max voltages should be CPU 1.5V, RAM 2.8V, Chipset 1.6V.
2.) Keep the temps fairly low as well. Max CPU temp 52C, max Chipset 55C. For reference, max at stock were 41C for the
CPU and 49C for the Chipset.
Now for a bit of information about my system, the settings used, maximum overclock achieved, and results:
(following format based on DFI-Street.com's Overclocking Database, which I shall submit my system for entry to
when I have my final results)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
DFI LANPARTY nF4 Ultra-D, 6/23/05 BIOS
AMD Athlon64 3200+ Venice, revision E3
GSkill Extreme F1-4000USU2-2GBHZ 2x1GB PC4000 (UCCC)
XFX PVT70GUDF7 Geforce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail, 450/1050MHz, 84.21 drivers
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 SATA NCQ 3Gb/s ST3160812AS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB cache Hard Drive - OEM
ASUS E616 Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive
NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model ND-3550A - Retail
OCZ PowerStream SLI OCZ520ADJSLI ATX 520W Power Supply
Thermaltake Tsunami VA3000BWA Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail, 2x120mm 1x90mm
Creative SoundBlaster Audigy2 ZS Gamer LE
*
*
*
*
==========
Genie BIOS Settings:
FSB Bus Frequency - 255
LDT/FSB Frequency Ratio - 4
CPU/FSB Frequency Ratio - 10
PCI eXpress Frequency - 100Mhz
CPU VID StartUp Value - 1.450v
CPU VID Control - 1.450v
CPU VID Special Control - Above VID * 104%
LDT Voltage Control - 1.30v
Chip Set Voltage Control - 1.60v
DRAM Voltage Control - 2.70v
DRAM Configuration Settings:
DRAM Frequency Set - 200=RAM/FSB:1/01
Command Per Clock (CPC) - Enable
CAS Latency Control (Tcl) - 3.0
RAS# to CAS# delay (Trcd) - 04 Bus Clocks
Min RAS# active time (Tras) - 08 Bus Clocks
Row precharge time (Trp) - 04 Bus Clocks
Row Cycle time (Trc) - 13 Bus Clocks
Row refresh cyc time (Trfc) - 15 Bus Clocks
Row to Row delay (Trrd) - 02 Bus Clocks
Write recovery time (Twr) - 02 Bus Clocks
Write to Read delay (Twtr) - 02 Bus Clocks
Read to Write delay (Trwt) - 02 Bus Clocks
Refresh Period (Tref) - 3072 Cycles
Write CAS Latency (Twcl) - 01 Bus Clocks
DRAM Bank Interleave - Enabled
DQS Skew Control - Increase
DQS Skew Value - 63
DRAM Drive Strength - Level 5
DRAM Data Drive Strength - Level 3
Max Async Latency - 9.0 Nano Seconds
DRAM Response Time - Normal
Read Preamble Time - 5.0 Nano Seconds
IdleCycle Limit - 256 Cycles
Dynamic Counter - Disable
R/W Queue Bypass - 16 x
Bypass Max - 07 x
32 Byte Granularity - Disable(4 Bursts)
==========
CPU-Z 1.33.1 + 3dMark 05+ SuperPi:

CPU-Z 1.33.1 + 3dMark 06+ Everest 2.20:

==========
short description:
255x10 @ 2550Mhz, 1.450v + 104% Vcore
3-4-4-8 @ 255MHz, 2.7v Vdimm
------------------------------------------------------------------
Results:
The maximum recorded CPU temp was 48C, and maximum Chipset temp 52C.
The theoretical overclock from 2000MHz to 2550MHz is 27.5%. The following chart shows the
"real world" results.

*CSS settings: 1280x1024, 4xAA 8xAF, all details max
*Halo settings: 1280x1024, 8xAF, all details max
As you can see, most of these are in the 20% range. A marked improvement over stock speed,
but not quite the expected 27.5%. The more graphics intensive ones (3dmark and games) are
most heavily dependent on the graphics card, and therefore are expected to have somewhat
less improvement than the pure CPU/RAM tests. But hey, 20% is still 20%, and it didn't cost a dime.

Other Notes:
One issue I came across with my RAM is that it would not even POST with the Read Preamble Time
set higher than 5.0ns. I have been using an Excel spreadsheet which contains the BIOS settings for
about 20 GSkill HZ users for reference, and a lot of them had the setting at 6.0ns. My first experience
with quirky RAM...

Coming Soon (appoximately Thursday):
My overclocking results with XP-90! :yumyum: :worship: