How Important is PRIME95 Stability...?

Athlon64 3000, currently running at 2.2Ghz with all other settings stock.
HT is still at its 4x multiplier, Ram is at AUTO (2-3-3-7 I think) and my ram is running at 1:1 ratio.....I didn't drop it down to the 166Mhz setting. I'm running Ballistix PC-4000, half a gig on one stick.

Now, with this configuration....in fact with any configuration that isn't default, PRIME fails almost immediately as I go into torture test mode. Windows seems stable, havn't done too much gaming on it yet, but Prime fails immediately.

My Bios is newly flashed this morning, the latest for the Chaintech VNF-250. 7/29?

Tempatures aren't bad....Aida32 iis reporting 42c at bootup with a few apps loaded...running PRIME at 2.0Ghz stock and temps only went up to the mid low 50's centigrade...of course, who knows how accurate those numbers are compared to what they were.

So, why would prime fail for me immediately? Gave me a rounding error...and, if this box is basically just a gaming box, need I be worried? Is my CPU frying internally? or is it something else......

I can try pushing my system faster in the Mhz department, but I'm not sure if its worth it or if its doing any good......like so many others I'm an A64 overclocking n00b so while I'm going slow, I have no idea if what I'm doing is going to kill my system. I've got the Ram VDIMM voltage at 2.8 or 2.9 I think, and I have the CPU set at 1.6.

Any ideas on where to go with this setup?

Prime95 tests your computer's ability to basically compute numbers. If you are getting an error, it basically means your cpu is calculating incorrectly. So it is very important. Perhaps you should try a lower HT multiplier, but that doesnt seem like a very big OC to already be getting errors. Is it at ANY setting other than default, like even a 10 mhz OC?

In my opinion it's a crock of ****.

It's just not accurate.

Ran prime 2 days ago at my sig setting and crashed in 11 min..ran it again yesterday and passed for 6hr and 11 min no errros or warnings.., I closed it after that..so I think it isn't accurate...

I didn't try a simple 10mhz check, but prime runs stable at default speeds......
I rebooted with all things normal, only going from 200x10 to 210x10...so 2100Mhz total speed, and Prime errors out.

So, I guess, it doesn't take much. And I'm already pushing voltage on the chip and ram.........not sure, heat doesn't appear to be an issue.

Disappointing A64 overclock to say the least!

CordialSpam said:

Ran prime 2 days ago at my sig setting and crashed in 11 min..ran it again yesterday and passed for 6hr and 11 min no errros or warnings.., I closed it after that..so I think it isn't accurate...

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most who use prime95 go with a full 24hour run. if you can't pass that, its simply not stable. it may SEEM stable, but not as stable as a completely stock rig. at stock you should be able to run it indefinatly without errors.

whether it errors in 11mins, or 6hrs 11mins makes no difference. i've seen ppl get a rounding error after 20hours.

if you run things like folding@home, or seti, a single error like the ones found by prime can ruin a whole days work. so its best to make sure you are stable for things like that.

i suppose if all you do is game, and you don't care about the occasional lockup, then prime95 should be of no concern. i know i hate crashes myself, especially in the middle of a clan match.

the correct answer is as important as you want it to be

in the end you are the one who has to live with the system

I guess a followup is in order then: When Prime fails, but heat doesn't appear to be an issue, where are some areas to look into? I'm a little down because after all the tweaking I've done, i still can't get a stable A64 overclock with any setting other than stock....and I paid $150 bucks for really good Ram.....figuring I'd need it for my 2.0 to 2.4Ghz bump...heck I'd settle for 2.3.....but even 2.1 isn't PRIME stable....

Its disappointing

Yeah prime seems to hate my cpu as well. besides the fact I'm using an Epox board that has issues with undervolting (don't know if it's affecting me ), prime95 will crash on the max heat/power consumpation test but feels VERY stable on the blend and the small fft test (1st and 3rd choices)

Though I can get my computer to boot up at 280x8 at 3-4-4-10 2T with my ram and it's very stable except that 2nd test which just rapes my computer. So your best bet might be to try really loose timings and just lower your multiplier really low. I mean I was able to just fiddle around, jumped from 240x8 to 260x8 to 280x8 just testing things. And it posted. THough I have gotten this cpu to post at 250x10 at 1.7vcpu but only once.

Well I would just make sure you have the latest version of prime. I was using an older one and it would usually lock up not to long into it. But I updated and it seems fine. It is pretty inconsistent though like the previous poster stated. I can get 9 hours fine and others less than 1/2 hour failure. Its up to you how important prime is. But if you get BSOD's and lockups in games than you know that you need better cooling or need to underclock some.

Did you try increasing the CPU voltage?

hUMANbEATbOX said:

most who use prime95 go with a full 24hour run. if you can't pass that, its simply not stable. it may SEEM stable, but not as stable as a completely stock rig. at stock you should be able to run it indefinatly without errors.

whether it errors in 11mins, or 6hrs 11mins makes no difference. i've seen ppl get a rounding error after 20hours.

if you run things like folding@home, or seti, a single error like the ones found by prime can ruin a whole days work. so its best to make sure you are stable for things like that.

i suppose if all you do is game, and you don't care about the occasional lockup, then prime95 should be of no concern. i know i hate crashes myself, especially in the middle of a clan match.

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What use is 24hours of prime stable to anyone?

Just look 3dmark 03 like 20 times. if it doesn't crash, it's fine.

Prime sucks.

A realy good test is installing windows. I ran my chip at 1.4v for a long time and had no probs, but anything below 1.475 and windows gives an error early in the install.

Well i for one, can't even run prime95 stable at stock speeds.

However, i dont ever get any crashes or lockups in my systsem.

Sooo, i dunno.

Like any benchmark, it's merely an indicator..... it implies stability or instability.... some people will use it and find that it's accurate and others will find that they can go beyond prime stability and still have a satisfactorily functioning computer.... I guess it really depends on the individual..... I suppose if you play games on an overclocked computer and every time it crashes you wonder if its the game or the overclock, you've probably gone too far on the overclock.

If it's not Prime95 stable it's not stable, simple as that. And you need to run it for at least 48hrs to consider it stable. I can't even begin to fathom how you people will use a system that "feels" stable or "doesn't give me any problems" What is THAT? Gee Jim, I've been smoking next to the tank of highly flammable liquid and it hasn't blown up yet so it must be okay. The retarded "logic" people will cling to to make themselves feel better...

Bar81 said:

If it's not Prime95 stable it's not stable, simple as that. And you need to run it for at least 48hrs to consider it stable. I can't even begin to fathom how you people will use a system that "feels" stable or "doesn't give me any problems" What is THAT? Gee Jim, I've been smoking next to the tank of highly flammable liquid and it hasn't blown up yet so it must be okay. The retarded "logic" people will cling to to make themselves feel better...

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Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Grov said:

What use is 24hours of prime stable to anyone?

Just look 3dmark 03 like 20 times. if it doesn't crash, it's fine.

Prime sucks.

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not everyone uses thier computers JUST to game.

a LOT of ppl like to FOLD or run SETi. a cpu that is only 3dm03 stable does noone any good when it comes to Distributed Computing. if its not prime stable, you are just passing on innacurate results that are worthless.

prime has its place, its just not for you Grov. don't be upset you can't pass it.

Bar81 said:

If it's not Prime95 stable it's not stable, simple as that. And you need to run it for at least 48hrs to consider it stable. I can't even begin to fathom how you people will use a system that "feels" stable or "doesn't give me any problems" What is THAT? Gee Jim, I've been smoking next to the tank of highly flammable liquid and it hasn't blown up yet so it must be okay. The retarded "logic" people will cling to to make themselves feel better...

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When prime errors out, and nothing else does, you start to wonder man. Not that I like it erroring out, I don;t take it as the word of God. Many other things can tell you if its a stable OC or not.

Grov said:

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

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Elaborate?