A8N32-SLI DELUXE AMD 64 X2 4400+

Hello to everyone, this is my first post on this forum and its rather selfish sorry but i dont have much to offer in the form of Knowledge here quite yet.

A8N32-SLI DELUXE
AMD 64 X2 4400+ TOLEDO 90NM
BFG 7950GT OC'ed to 590/1600
Audigy 2 Zs
2 Gigs Budget DDR 400mhz Ram
WD 250g SATAII
500 Watt Neo HE pwrsply

I am somewhat aware of the wealth of information here on these forums and am thankfull to have found them, i am sure there is a guide to doing what i am asking which is to OC my setup but i was really hoping for someone to hold my hand on this one as this will be my first attempt at overclocking and i really dont want to hurt my hardware as it took me 13months to save up for it and cant be replaced easily.

If there is anyone out there willing to give me this sort of attention i would be most grateful.

Thanks in advance =)

Jason

jasonaerts said:

i really dont want to hurt my hardware as it took me 13months to save up for it and cant be replaced easily.

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Changing voltages is about the only way to hurt your components.
Have a look here to get some info on how to change the BIOS settings on that MOBO. http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=468038

billb said:

Changing voltages is about the only way to hurt your components.
Have a look here to get some info on how to change the BIOS settings on that MOBO. http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=468038

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That was actually the first post i read on these forums, not that i read the entire thing word for word but i got the idea i think, although i had difficulty trying to come to a cohesive understanding as most of the information is scattered about, so i was left still not understanding what to do.

I have read elsewhere and i am sure it is here as well, certain step by step procedures to go through for finding your cpu/ram celling.

thank you for your quick reply but as stated in the post i really need someone willing to walk me through it or point me to a place where that is done, for a system of nearly identical specs.

Jason =)

Really would appreciate some help everyone =)

jasonaerts said:

Really would appreciate some help everyone =)

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Evry rig is different even if it has the same components. What works for me will not work for you. The link billb posted has the bios settings and an explanation to ea ( or most) of the settings. You'll have to do your own homework and test each one to see what works best for your particular rig.


I think QuietIce did a bang up job testing those settings and writing up on them. I personally got more performance & speed tweaking some settings in my bios.

It's a tedious and patient straining job fine tuning the rig to almost perfection. Don't get me wrong we're all here to help you, but the so called "dirty work" you'll have to do on your own. Start with small baby steps by raising the FSB by 2's and reboot the pc and see where that gets you.

Check this guide out. it'll point you in the right direction. Good luck and keep us posted.

Will do

Nebulous said:

Evry rig is different even if it has the same components. What works for me will not work for you. The link billb posted has the bios settings and an explanation to ea ( or most) of the settings. You'll have to do your own homework and test each one to see what works best for your particular rig.


I think QuietIce did a bang up job testing those settings and writing up on them. I personally got more performance & speed tweaking some settings in my bios.

It's a tedious and patient straining job fine tuning the rig to almost perfection. Don't get me wrong we're all here to help you, but the so called "dirty work" you'll have to do on your own. Start with small baby steps by raising the FSB by 2's and reboot the pc and see where that gets you.

Check this guide out. it'll point you in the right direction. Good luck and keep us posted.

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Thanks for the link, this is the kind of info i needed to start getting my mind wrapped around this. One question though if you will, is there anything i need to do to make sure my Pci-E isnt going to be getting oC'd by the HTTincreases or are they totally independent?

The PCIE is independant. You can see here the "Adjust PCIE Frequency" setting. Just keep that @ 100 and the PCIE bus will remain locked out from the rest. You can oc the rest of the system and the PCIE will not be affected

Nebulous said:

The PCIE is independant. You can see here the "Adjust PCIE Frequency" setting. Just keep that @ 100 and the PCIE bus will remain locked out from the rest. You can oc the rest of the system and the PCIE will not be affected

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Awesome, just wanting to make sure before i went ahead with max htt max ram tests.

jasonaerts said:

Awesome, just wanting to make sure before i went ahead with max htt max ram tests.

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Alrighty, go to it then

I have begun the HTT/FSB limit testing, although in the guide that Nebulous had posted a link to it does not say how to test that for stability. Any ideas? it just says until the system becomes unstable.

jasonaerts said:

I have begun the HTT/FSB limit testing, although in the guide that Nebulous had posted a link to it does not say how to test that for stability. Any ideas? it just says until the system becomes unstable.

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write down the settings you have now and let us see if there is/are anything need to change. and also tell us what area of bios you need better understanding and clear that up before going further.

ochungry said:

write down the settings you have now and let us see if there is/are anything need to change. and also tell us what area of bios you need better understanding and clear that up before going further.

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Ok i hope i have all that you need if not i can go back (note that i am not very far into this yet).

CPU FSB 210mhz
SB to NB Freq 200
PCie 100 <-not supposed to change this right.
Processor Freq Mult 6X
V1.425
Mem clock value 133
Burst 4 beats <--what does this do anyway (its default value)
K8 to NB 5x
SB to NB 5x

If you need more info i will be happy to get it for you =)

thank you

jasonaerts said:

Ok i hope i have all that you need if not i can go back (note that i am not very far into this yet).

CPU FSB 210mhz This one you can change to increase cpu speed.
SB to NB Freq 250 and SB to NB Multi @ 5x to keep this close to 1000 all the time.
PCie 100 <-not supposed to change this right.
Processor Freq Mult 11X
V1.425. This is too high for 210 mhz fsb. if you have the 89w 4400, keep this below 1.4v. I say try 1.350v and see if stable.
Mem clock value 200 gives you 1:1 ratio. if you have a memory that does DDR500 you can keep this @ 200 up to 250 cpu fsb. from there on reduce it to 183 (.915 fsb), 166(.83fsb), 133(.66fsb)
Burst 4 beats <--what does this do anyway (its default value) keep this value
K8 to NB 5x, or 4x if cpu fsb is over 250mhz
SB to NB 5x always keep this near 1000 ( 4x250, 5x200, etc)

If you need more info i will be happy to get it for you =)

thank you

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What 4400 do you have? is it 89w ?

What you showed above indicates that you have weakness in this area. You should read some more and dont play around these settings for time being.
post all the settings. You have a lot to do and to learn yet.

ochungry said:

What 4400 do you have? is it 89w ?

What you showed above indicates that you have weakness in this area. You should read some more and dont play around these settings for time being.
post all the settings. You have a lot to do and to learn yet.

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Hmm perhaps you misunderstood my settings, they are set that way so that i can test my max HTT/FSB. i was only following the instructions on the link given a few posts above HERE by Nebulous, Not sure if i linked that right.

So are you saying i am not testing my HTT correctly or did you not know they were like that for the tests?

EDIT: oh yes and i am not sure what you meant by "What 4400 do you have? is it 89w ?" i have the 90NM toledo

jasonaerts said:

Hmm perhaps you misunderstood my settings, they are set that way so that i can test my max HTT/FSB. i was only following the instructions on the link given a few posts above HERE by Nebulous, Not sure if i linked that right.

So are you saying i am not testing my HTT correctly or did you not know they were like that for the tests?

EDIT: oh yes and i am not sure what you meant by "What 4400 do you have? is it 89w ?" i have the 90NM toledo

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I dont understand why you want to test the HTT w/ 6x ? What good does it do? none.
Anyway, if you are trying to find highest OC w/ highest HTT/FSB, try 8x or 9x. The best you can get out of a system w/ good rams is 9x300, using 1:1 ratio.
But If you are trying to find the highest fsb, keep memory at around 200mhz and increase fsb 5mhz at the time.
and even that is not always good way to oc. I usually do the oc in a more practical way. for example: start w/ 11x multi (your cpu spec) and use 1:1 ratio. I do this because I know my ram can do 260-275mhz. So I dont need to find out how good the ram can do. But if you are just testing the ram, not knowing how good it does, then start w/ 9x multi, and 1:1 ratio. as said DDR600 will do 9x300= 2.7ghz which is the average oc for the 4400. If you have a dud chip, then use 8x multi. But usually the lower multi's dont oc as good as stock multi, so it defeats the purpose. That's why I always stay w/ spec multi, which is 11x in this case.
The 4400's come in 2 brands, ADA and ADV the beginning letters. the ADV's are 89watts, and dont need high vcore. you showed too high of vcore for the 89w (if that's what you have).

jasonaerts said:

Hmm perhaps you misunderstood my settings, they are set that way so that i can test my max HTT/FSB. i was only following the instructions on the link given a few posts above HERE by Nebulous, Not sure if i linked that right.

So are you saying i am not testing my HTT correctly or did you not know they were like that for the tests?

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I used infinitevalence's guide for my first OC - it's a GREAT way to start playing with the settings and you get a better understanding of how the system really works by following it. You're doing it just right! You've turned down the CPU and RAM, left the K8>NB at 5X and started cranking up the FSB to see how high it'll go before the system locks - that's how you test the HTT's top speed. Just keep following the guide step by step and you'll start to catch on! Ochungry is just used to the system and skips several steps in the process - and you will too in a few days, weeks, or months depending on how much time you devote to your new hobby. For now, stick with the guide and you can't go wrong. When you've worked your way through that, have all your top end numbers in hand and have started putting it all together, then you may have some questions we can sink our teeth into. Just remember to write everything down - even if it doesn't work.

The only suggestion I can make (and I think infinitevalence mentioned it) is to use ClockGen for some of the preliminary speed testing. It's much quicker to set ClockGen instead of the BIOS just to get an idea of where in the ballpark you're going to be with your equipment, THEN go into BIOS and follow up by testing. There is no real test for the HTT that I can think of except maybe SiSandra HDD testing and even then you'd never be sure. Infinitevalence wrote that awhile ago and the community has learned some things since then. It's common practice now to just keep the HTT below (or very near) 1000 MHz to ensure a stable system - but the exercises you're going through are teaching you about the system and how all the setting interact so keep at it and keep us posted on your progress. We've all been there but Nebulous is right - you really have to do the dirty work yourself ...


PS: One thing I should restate - when you start testing the CPU keep a close eye on your CPU and motherboard temperatures!

Awesome will do, thanks for the advice i am going to be taking things slowly here but i should be able to get more hands on exp this weekend.

Thanks for the post QuietIce i was becoming a bit confused there i appreciate you understanding my level and cheering me on =)

ochungry you certainly seem to know allot and like QuietICe stated probably skip a few steps as you know the workings of your system allready but im not quite there yet, thanks for your time none the less though, i need all the help i can get here.

jason

For stability you can use these proggies:

OCCT

Prime95

Memtest86


Sandra Lite .


OCCT is a stability tester and will push the system hard. If the system is unstable it will error out.

Prime95 does the same, but you can set it to either test the ram more or the cpu more.

Memtest86 will test the ram only.

Sandra has several benching tools.

Hopefully this will help you out.

Nebulous said:

For stability you can use these proggies:

OCCT

Prime95

Memtest86


Sandra Lite .


OCCT is a stability tester and will push the system hard. If the system is unstable it will error out.

Prime95 does the same, but you can set it to either test the ram more or the cpu more.

Memtest86 will test the ram only.

Sandra has several benching tools.

Hopefully this will help you out.

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Nebulous. These will help out allot, i knew of prime95 from some of the threads i have looked through but the others i wasnt aware of i will be running OCCT while i sleep tonight.

thanks again, these forums are an invaluable resource to anyone looking to get the most out of there systems.
Hope i can return the favor soon and start adding to the knowledge.