Clarifying my understanding of a future O.C.

Basics first then questions.

This MoBo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138141

This Processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103894

8 Gigs of This Ram

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233144

This Liquid Cooler

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...formance_Liquid_Cooling_System.html?tl=g30c83

This Case

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0343331


I haven't decided on a video card yet and I'm not intending to play games on this PC anyway so I will not upgrade from the Integrated graphics for a while since I want to run CUDA and will need Nvidia for that which is a whole separate issue.
This is going to be a Back Track 5 64/Windows 7 Pro 64 multiboot rig for daily use and pentesting education. I wanted to clarify some of what I have learned so far since this is my first custom build and first O.C. without a software approach.

So I am building this currently and hope for it to be complete by tax refund time, but of course I cannot buy everything at one time now so I am going to fast forward>> a bit and pretend it is already built with the above mentioned components and ask some questions about the O.C. in order to clarify what I have learned and absorbed. I have read a lot here and feel like I am understanding a basic O.C. procedure far more than I did at the beginning.

Can someone fill the holes in my understanding and help me grasp this more than I currently do?
From what I have read a lot of people say it is better to have a faster reference clock than a higher multiplier. Is this really a big deal with AMD chips since the multiplier is unlocked or will I notice an obvious difference in performance by increasing the reference some and having a lower multiplier?
Also is my understanding correct when you increase the reference clock you increase not only the CPU speed but also the RAM speed and when you increase the multiplier only you do not increase the RAM speed?
So if this is the correct understanding when this rig is built and I am ready to O.C. the RAM will default to 1333 Mhz since this is what the board supports right?

Then in order to get it back to its default speed would it make sense to increase the reference clock until the RAM is back at its rated speed of 1600 Mhz and then adjust my multiplier from there to my desired O.C.? How much does the RAM increase in comparison to the reference clock? Does it increase the same proportion as the increase in the CPU speed? Like CPU up 1Mhz means RAM up 1Mhz when adjusting by the R.C. route?

Also since this processor is stock at 3.5 Mhz does this mean its reference clock is stock at 200 Mhz with a 17.5 multiplier or is the reference on these current chips higher than that with a lower multiplier out of the box?

I know the voltages on the CPU and RAM and timing on the RAM also come into play but I feel I grasp the concept of those steps better than I do the other stuff so I didn't include those variables in my questions albeit I understand their importance will have a role while doing this.

I only want a nice well built, stable machine somewhere in the 4.2-4.5 Mhz range and figured this was the right place to finish gathering the info I need to do so. I have learned SO much from here by just using the search feature alone and thank all who contribute to make this an awesome site. Much respect to those members who made that part so easy and to anyone who helps me from here.

One last thing. I have looked at a ton of members benchmarks not only from here but from other sites and from searching google. If anyone here has similar hardware to this current build could you give me some examples of your settings and speeds etc, to help me wrap my head around what mine might look like? I know they won't be exact but looking at others settings will help me know what to expect with mine when it is GO time. Thanks in advance.

to the forums, it looks like you are more looking for some additional help with overclocking your AMD chip to a nice stable level (and this post would be best off in the AMD section of the forums, I've reported it for you to one of our fine mods).

To answer your question about benchmarks, it depends on what type you are looking for, you could always check out HWbot and filter by your basic hardware (cpu mainly) and check against their numbers.

Janus67 said:

to the forums, it looks like you are more looking for some additional help with overclocking your AMD chip to a nice stable level (and this post would be best off in the AMD section of the forums, I've reported it for you to one of our fine mods).

To answer your question about benchmarks, it depends on what type you are looking for, you could always check out HWbot and filter by your basic hardware (cpu mainly) and check against their numbers.

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Thx a lot. I didn't mean to post in the wrong area. I should have read better. I tried using HWbot b4 and also just tried again. I even searched other places and even after filling in all available info I couldn't find any submissions besides just Intel CPU's and Nvidia cards, I guess the board don't matter as much huh?. That is why I figured it would be better to come here and get it from the OC'ers mouth so to say, instead of wasting more time to no avail. After a LOT of time searching HWBOT I got far more irrelevant information mostly about Intel chips even after being highly specific about my filtered hardware.

Personally on that cpu I would just use the multiplier to OC unless you really want to play around with stuff. Upping the reference clock does nothing performance wise unless you're ready to tinker with a lot of stuff and fine tune and it involves changing a lot of other multipliers as well.

If you're trying to get that last mhz out of the cpu or memory then go for the refrence clock if you have time on your hands to do it. The best clocks are a mix of refrence and multiplier that gets you to the bare edge of stability, as for your question about the refrence clock for that cpu, all amd PII run at 200 mhz refrence, so the multiplier will be 17.5

Khan said:

Personally on that cpu I would just use the multiplier to OC unless you really want to play around with stuff. Upping the reference clock does nothing performance wise unless you're ready to tinker with a lot of stuff and fine tune and it involves changing a lot of other multipliers as well.

If you're trying to get that last mhz out of the cpu or memory then go for the refrence clock if you have time on your hands to do it. The best clocks are a mix of refrence and multiplier that gets you to the bare edge of stability, as for your question about the refrence clock for that cpu, all amd PII run at 200 mhz refrence, so the multiplier will be 17.5

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Thanks a lot Khan, that is real good insight for me. I will probably take your advice and go the multiplier route for the most part if there is no real performance increase from messing with the reference. If I do mess with the reference at all it will only be to get my RAM to increase a little closer to its rated 1600 Mhz since it will underclock to 1333 when I install it. Then I can just adjust the RAM multiplier to finish it off if needed right?. I am not looking to squeeze every last drop out of this setup, just looking to build a decent rig from a free MoBo.

misterdogman said:

Thanks a lot Khan, that is real good insight for me. I will probably take your advice and go the multiplier route for the most part if there is no real performance increase from messing with the reference. If I do mess with the reference at all it will only be to get my RAM to increase a little closer to its rated 1600 Mhz since it will underclock to 1333 when I install it. Then I can just adjust the RAM multiplier to finish it off if needed right?. I am not looking to squeeze every last drop out of this setup, just looking to build a decent rig from a free MoBo.

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there is normally a ram divider that lets you chose 1333 or 1600 without messing with the fsb too.

check out http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=596023 dolk's guide to the phenom II if you haven't, its a pretty good read.

Khan said:

there is normally a ram divider that lets you chose 1333 or 1600 without messing with the fsb too.

check out http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=596023 dolk's guide to the phenom II if you haven't, its a pretty good read.

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Heck yes, this is exactly what I was looking for. Nice link too BTW it really helped me clarify a LOT. I read a few others but this one was the best yet. Now I know these details I should have no problems getting this thing where I want it. Thanks again.