Unlocking an X2 3800?

[Sleepy_AMS]

Two part question, I recently got a X2 3800, and decided i would go about starting to overclock it. I went into the BIOS and I couldn't get the multiplier over 10x. How do you unlock a processor? What are some good tools to use when doing this? I have Prime-95 and CPU-z, but is there a good temp monitor I can use?

Also, sometimes when I am playing Half-Life 2, the game will just suddenly freeze or quit. And during normal windows use, the screen will go black for a couple seconds, then turn back on. Is this the CPU's fault or the GPU (I use a non-OCed 7800GTX) Any suggestions on what to do here?

Please don't flame me, I used the search and nothing came up. I heard you guys are good so I cam here. Thanks. I never have really overclocked before so I'm kind of new to the whole thing.

 

[avalanche83]

If you have a DFI mobo you can use Smartguardian for temps, and the cpu is locked internally so there is no way to unlock them.

 

[Sleepy_AMS]

If you have a DFI mobo you can use Smartguardian for temps, and the cpu is locked internally so there is no way to unlock them.

Well then how does everyone overclock them? I've seen people here with sig saying their X2 is overclokced with a 1X.X mutiplier and whatever FSB.

 

[The Coolest]

All Athlon64 processors, except the FX have multipliers unlocked downwards only. You can't use the multiplier to overclock. The only way is upping the FSB/HTT/'External Clock' speed.

 

[Sleepy_AMS]

Whatever. Thanks for the input on that, any answers for my other questions?

 

[Yuriman]

The freezing problem could be any number of things, the first I would look into is heat. I'm not sure what you would use to check the temperatures on an nVidia card, but you can use Speedfan for your processor and chipset. It could also be that your power supply isn't up to the task.

Have you upped the HTT at all yet?

HTT x Multiplier = CPU speed

EDIT: For overclocking, check out the stickies. It will save me a lot of typing, and probably explain it better too.

BTW Welcome to the Forums!

 

[DeepScience]

What drivers are you running (amd dual core, take out the nvidia ata/firewall etc)?

What PSU are you running?

 

[evancold]

Yes, more system info would be helpful here. Seems you are just jumping into overclocking, I would suggest you read the stickies and learn. If you are having a certain problem, by all means we can help. However a response such as "whatever" seems inappropriate when we are just helping you.

 

[mystfied]

Freeze or quit, could be just a programming bug (I've had that happen to me before, sudden crashes), if you haven't overclocked much.

I'll give a mini guide on OC-ing:
> HTT is usually what you push up, it's the HyperTransferTech frequency.
HTTfrq * HTTmult = bus speed <= 1000
HTTfrq * RAM_divider_ratio = ram freq <= what it can take
HTTfrq * CPUmult = clock speed

VCore, CPU voltage, allows for more stability at higher clocks BUT will make heat
Too much heat or vcore makes instability
Aim for idle temps <40C and load temps <50C, little over is okay

There are lots of stickies on OC-ing. Very helpful stickies.

 

[Know Nuttin]

You could try the X2 driver fix. It may solve your problem.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=81429

Have you tested your memory and CPU for stability?

 

[brakezone]

If you have prime95, I would recommend testing the setup before overclocking. Try running two instances of prime95 blend mode for a bit until the screen fills up with passed tests.

Once you find a spot that you plan on keeping, then you subject it to a longer stability test than when your playing around.

You have a interesting question concerning the screen turning black. If you have not updated to the latest graphics card driver, I would recommend doing so now. I know it sounds ridiculous, but make sure the monitor is plugged in tightly. The problem could actually be a problem with your monitor or a problem with the graphics card driver. I'm sure there could be other problems but it is most likely an incompatability issue between the hardware and the driver or a monitor problem. I know there are some bad nvidia drivers out there with some kind of thing that will actually mess up your monitor, I know i've encountered that driver.

As far as unlocks, amd64 are effectively locked as far as setting a higher than default multiplier. You can lower the multiplier though, which is nice if you want high FSB. This is actually a good thing i fyou consider the athlon xp's which were stuck at a particular multi.

 

[InfiniteThought]

Freeze or quit, could be just a programming bug (I've had that happen to me before, sudden crashes), if you haven't overclocked much.

I'll give a mini guide on OC-ing:
> HTT is usually what you push up, it's the HyperTransferTech frequency.
HTTfrq * HTTmult = bus speed <= 1000
HTTfrq * RAM_divider_ratio = ram freq <= what it can take
HTTfrq * CPUmult = clock speed

VCore, CPU voltage, allows for more stability at higher clocks BUT will make heat
Too much heat or vcore makes instability
Aim for idle temps <40C and load temps <50C, little over is okay

There are lots of stickies on OC-ing. Very helpful stickies.

That about says it all there.

Well done.

 

[welco]

I've seen some Athlon 64 processors become unlocked, but that was by pure luck. The Athlon 64 series will let you set the multiplier at any setting below the stock one, but not above it. The only current AMD processors that can go above is the FX series, I believe. I just push my FSB and run a memory divider to get my overclock.

 

[mynihilism]

Whatever. Thanks for the input on that, any answers for my other questions?

wow nice attitude, if you come here for advice take it and build off of it. don't blow it off like its a bunch of **** because its not what you wanted to hear.

(edited to be nice)

 

[Sleepy_AMS]

wow nice attitude, if you come here for advice take it and build off of it. don't blow it off like its a bunch of **** because its not what you wanted to hear.

(edited to be nice)

Sorry if I came off that way, I didn't mean to. I was just kind of frustrated at the moment because I was in the middle of a game and it quit, so it was kind of the last straw with me.

As for more system info:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800 (Not overclocked yet)
---Zalman 7700 HSF
Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro-SLI
eVGA NVidia 7800GTX (450/1200)
OCZ Modstream 520 watt PSU
2gb Corsair XMS
Creative Audigy 2 ZS (Iheard they had driver issues with NVidia)

I'm not sure if you need anything else. My temps for the X2 are at 21C idle and go up to 35C after a lot of gaming. The 7800GTX stays at about 45C idle and goes up to 61C under load. I have also installed the dual-core patch as mentioned above. These just started happening a couple weeks ago and I've had all the stuff mentioned above for about 2 months. I've already checked my case for fan failures, and I check my temps reguarly, so I doubt that would be the problem, but I don't know. I had a thought recently that it might be my mobo, because my wireless G PCI adapter has also been going out for a second, then it goes back on. So maybe it's that? I really don't know and I should be posting this somewhere else but it's already started here. Thanks in advance.

 

[IvanAndreevich]

Creative Audigy 2 ZS (Iheard they had driver issues with NVidia)

I run it no problems.

Prime the damn CPU and if it's stable for 10 hours, run loops of something graphically-intensive. Then report the results

 

[Sleepy_AMS]

Will do, thanks for the suggestions.