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 Basic guide - Overclocking a 939/AM2, As per request. Did it long time ago....

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TSkmarc
post Feb 3 2008, 08:20 AM, updated 17y ago

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Basic overclock guide for 939/AM2 - Overclocking (OC) in windows!!
Dual & Single-core!

Old guide : Done in May 2007

Some forumers requested me to write a guide for AMD CPUs. Actually, I have done this quite some time ago. Just that it was buried in "Fundamentals of overclock" post #108 doh.gif. This guide is quite old so if there are any mistakes or recommendations, please inform me through pm.

Facts about this guide:
---For beginners (not meant for serious overclockers)
---One of MANY methods to OC (by no means the best way)
---No need multiple reboots (OC done in windows)
---If something goes wrong, just reboot computer and all settings will be as normal
---OC for CPU only (no RAM OC, maybe another guide?? whistling.gif )
---OC at your own risk (It is WELL-KNOWN that OC can damage your computer)

Example rig:
3800+ X2 939 (Multiplier 10x, HTT multiplier 5x, FSB 200, vcore 1.35v)

Things to ensure before OC
1) Your SATA harddisk is connected to a locked SATA port
----- e.g. for K8N Neo2, SATA 1 & 2 ports are unlocked. Have to connect to SATA 3/4. If not, you'll get corrupted windows!!!
2) You have a good CPU cooler (not stock cooler!)
3) A good PSU
3) Know how to reset bios

Things to do in bios
1) Lock your AGP to 67 Mhz (PCI-E need locking at 100Mhz)
(need confirmation!)
2) Disable all the following:
--- Cool & Quiet
--- Spread spectrum
--- Any auto-overclocking features
3) Use a ram divider (instead of 200Mhz, select 133Mhz or lower)
4) Set the HTT to 3x (HTT x FSB should never be more than 1000 Mhz)

Settings at default
1) FSB at 200 Mhz (will be increased in windows)
2) Multiplier at 10x
3) Vcore at 1.35v

Software that you need (It's better to google the latest version)
1) CPU-Z Click here
2) Orthos (for stress dual-core CPUs) Click here
3) Clockgen Click here
4) Core temp Click here

OC in windows (This is where the fun begins!!!)
1) Run CPU-Z, ensure
-----core speed is 2000 Mhz
-----voltage (vcore) around 1.35v
-----HT link <1000 Mhz (should be at 600Mhz)
-----Memory frequency <200Mhz (should be at 133Mhz)

2) Run Core Temp
-----Check TCaseMax (for 3800+ it is 67'c)(That's the maximum core temperature!)
-----Important : Not recommended to reach near this temp during OC

3) Run Clockgen (this is where the OC starts!!!)
-----Select "Clocks", then "Get values"
-----HTT should come out at 200Mhz
-----DO NOT touch the AGP settings!!!
-----Increase HTT to 205 Mhz
-----Click "Set values" - current CPU speed should be 2050 Mhz

4) Once CPU speed increased, run Orthos (make sure it is set to "Small FFTs - stress CPU")
-----if no error after 15 min, stop orthos
-----increase HTT by 5 Mhz (to 210 Mhz (CPU speed to 2100 Mhz))
-----rerun orthos for another 15 minutes

Note : No need to reboot yet!

5) Repeat steps 4 until Orthos fails (has error). Once error occurs:
-----Reduce HTT by 5 Mhz
-----Run Orthos, if no failure, stress CPU for 6-12 hours (for "rock stable" CPUs, recommended to stress for at least 24 hours)
-----If Orthos still failed during prolonged stressing, reduce another 5 Mhz and rerun orthos

6) Once CPU stable, this is roughly your max CPU OC (note down the HTT frequency)
-----e.g. Max CPU OC : HTT 250 (250 x 10 = 2500 Mhz)
-----reboot
-----set HTT to 250 in bios
-----reboot and see whether you can boot into windows
-----if can, run some benchmarking programs to make sure everything is stable e.g. 3DMark
-----if cannot boot into windows, then the OC is not stable, reduce HTT by 5 Mhz & reboot, if possible, then run benchmarking programs

Important : Always keep an eye on core temperature when OC!!!

Regarding CPU Vcore
For X2, Vcore can usually be kept at stock
If need more OC, can increase Vcore but not recommended to increase more than 0.05-0.10v (unless you have good coolers and you are a hardcore overclocker!)

Example
-----For 3800+ X2, can usually keep at stock Vcore 1.35v
-----If want more OC, can increase Vcore to 1.40-1.45v

Returning other parameters to near normal
RAM - your RAMs may be running at a lower speed
-----if your HTT is at 230, then you have OC you HTT up by 30 (230-200=30)
-----your RAMs will be running at 163Mhz (Original 133Mhz + 30 = 163 Mhz)
-----So, the RAMs are not running at the stock speed of 200Mhz
-----In this case, you can change the RAM divider in BIOS to 166Mhz
-----So, 166+30 = 196Mhz (which is closer to 200Mhz)

Note : If your RAMs can run at 230 Mhz, then you can set the RAM divider to 1:1 (200 Mhz)

HTT - HTT may be running at lower speed
-----if your HTT is 230, then your mobo is running at 230 x 3 (multiplier) = 690Mhz
-----you can change the HTT multiplier to 4x
-----So, your HTT will be running at 230 x 4 = 960 Mhz (which is closer to 1000 Mhz)

Single-core 939 - Differences in OC
Basically the same, except that you need to use Stress Prime 2004 instead of Orthos
----Stress Prime 2004 is the single-core version (both created by the same author)
----Download here

Update : The new prime95 v25.5 can stress 1, 2 or 4 cores....

AM2/DDR2 - Differences in OC
Overclocking AM2 CPU is also basically the same.
Just that AM2 uses DDR2.
For DDR2, you need to see your rated DDR2-RAM and reduce it a step or two (Just like when you reduce your DDR400 from 200 Mhz to 133Mhz)

Rated DDR2----------Reduce to (in bios)
DDR2-800-------------667 @ 533 Mhz
DDR2-667-------------533 @ 400 Mhz

Basically, you don't want to overclock your RAMs above the rated value (unless you know your RAMs can be overclocked!)

Example
If HTT is 230 Mhz, the DDR2-800 (which was dropped down to 667 Mhz) will be running at 727Mhz (667 x 30 x 2), which is still below 800Mhz.

Remember : This thread is about overclocking the CPU. NOT the RAMs.

Fine-tuning your OC (If you really want to squeeze ever MHz out of your CPU!!!)
Once CPU stable, you can squeeze more Mhz by increasing you HTT by 1 Mhz interval instead of 5 Mhz.
e.g. HTT 240 Mhz --> 241 Mhz --> 242 Mhz
After each increase, orthos until stable
This way, you'll know your max CPU speed to the last 1 Mhz!!!

Fine-tuning your OC (whether to OC from windows or BIOS)
Coming soon!

This post has been edited by kmarc: Feb 7 2008, 02:44 PM

 

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