before I overclock my 435 rana

[k9cj5]

This is my first post but Ive found a lot of useful information here and Im hoping to find answers to the last few questions I cant seem to find answers to.
This is the system I'm planning on overclocking:

Case: Antec 600 Case
Motherboard: GA-MA785GM-US2H motherboard
Processor: AMD Athlon II X3 435 Rana 2.9GH
Ram: 4 GB Patriot Viper 2 DDR 800 CAS 444
Video Card: ASUS CuCore Series EAH4850 1gig 256-bit DDR3
CPU Cooler: Hyper 212+
PSU: 620 Antec Earthwatts P/S

I'm a little worried about the fact its not a full atx motherboard but I'm only trying to o/c the processor and nothing else. I don't know if this even matters but I thought maybe you guys would know more.

These are the settings I plan to have for my final overclock.

CPU Northbridge Freq. x9 =2115 Mhz
PCIe Clock(Mhz) 100
HT Link Width Auto
HT Link Frequency 1.6 Ghz Which is the same as x 8 or so Ive read. I will up this to 9 once stable
Memory Clock x3.33 = 783 Mhz

System Voltage Control
DDR2 Voltage Control Normal
NB Voltage Control Normal
SB Voltage Control Normal
CPU Voltage Control [+0.025V] 1.45 Volts

So this is how Im going to go about overclocking my system. Anyone see anything I need to change before I try this let me know. I was planning on setting the multiplier for NB, HT link, Vcore and Memory to what I hope the final overclock settings will be and I will slowly increase ref. clock by 10 until I hit 235. Is there any stability issues with having settings lower than spec? The fist reference clock test will be 210, so that would make my ram run at 699 Mhz, NB 1890 Mhz, and HT link at 1680. Or should I compensate the timings to keep them inline with spec? I know if its too high it will cause problems but is it the same if its too low?

 

[RGone]

Too low would not likely cause any ill effects, but why not adjust to compensate and stay at or closer to the rated spec? Why start out lower than spec?

 

[k9cj5]

Too low would not likely cause any ill effects, but why not adjust to compensate and stay at or closer to the rated spec? Why start out lower than spec?

Yeah I was thinking that also. I guess I could do that I didnt want to risk making mistakes I guess.

So my first oc attempt should looks something like this?


CPU Northbridge Freq. x9 = 1890
Reference Clock 210
PCIe Clock(Mhz) 100
HT Link Width Auto
HT Link Frequency 1.8 Ghz 9 x 210 = 1890
Memory Clock x3.33 = 699 Mhz

System Voltage Control
DDR2 Voltage Control Normal
NB Voltage Control Normal
SB Voltage Control Normal
CPU Voltage Control [+0.025V] 1.45 Volts

How should I go about Vcore? Should I just set it to 1.45 volts or star with default value and increase if it becomes unstable? If so what the default value? Thanks for the reply

 

[trents]

I would suggest starting your CPU frequency and voltage and your CPUNB freqency and voltages at factory specs but starting your HT Link frequency at 8x. The HT Link frequency does not tolerate overclocking very much at all and should be kept in the 1800 mhz range with an AM2+ board. The other frequencies are more tolerant. Start your ram at DDR2 666 and factory voltage. Then start stress testing and measuring core temps with Prime95 and HWMonitor, respectively. Increase your HT Reference (aka, "CPU frequency" and "fsb") in 5 mhz increments. Run Prime for 20 minutes after each increase until you cannot pass the stress test, then add an increment of CPU voltage to restore stability and repeat the cycle. When you run into irreconcilable stability trouble or exceed 55 C core temps, or exceed 1.5 volts of CPU voltage then post CPU-z pics of these tabs: "CPU", "Memory" and "SPD". You want to not exceed core temps of mid 50s C.

 

[keny]

I you're board can clock a high fsb theres a good chance that you could make 4ghz out of your chip , I've had 3 rana's now and 2 made 4ghz plus and one 3.9 so good luck and take it slow, small increments is the way to go.

 

[k9cj5]

I you're board can clock a high fsb theres a good chance that you could make 4ghz out of your chip , I've had 3 rana's now and 2 made 4ghz plus and one 3.9 so good luck and take it slow, small increments is the way to go.

Looks like you have the same motherboard as I do. What were your final settings in bios? I'm just curios because how the high you were able to get your final clock speed.

 

[k9cj5]

So I started over clocking my system and I got to 245 reference clock before my system rebooted during a stress test. It was on for about 15min or so before it rebooted. Here is what I had set in the BIOS.

CPU Northbridge Freq. x8
Reference Clock 245
PCIe Clock(Mhz) 100
HT Link Width Auto
HT Link Frequency 1.6 Ghz
Memory Clock x3.33

System Voltage Control
DDR2 Voltage Control Normal
NB Voltage Control Normal
SB Voltage Control Normal
CPU Voltage Control [+0.025V] 1.45 Volts

At 240 reference clock my system temps are about 36 C.

I'm thinking if I wanted to go higher I would need to up my vcore another .25 volts but I'm not sure. What do you guys think? I figured 245 would be a very good stopping point since HT/NB would be about 1960 Mhz, Ram would be around 815 Mhz. I don't want to OC any of the other components since I don't have a fan on my NB.

 

[trents]

Please post pics of CPU-z tabs: "CPU", "Memory" and "SPD". There are still some important questions about your settings that you have not provided info about. A picture is worth a 1000 words. CPU-z gives us a snap shot of your system settings and hardware specs.

The forum has a built in picture attachment tool. Please use it. Start by doing screen captures of the images you wish to upload. Windows Vista/Windows 7 has a great tool in Accessories for this called "Snipping Tool" which allows you to crop and add highlights to the images as well. Then go to the new post window. Click o "Go Advanced". Then click on the paper clip icon at the top of the post window of the new screen that appears. The rest will be obvious.

Is 36 C your max core temp when stress testing or is that just an idle temp?

 

[trents]

Also, please put your system specs, the ones found in your first post, in your "Sig".

 

[k9cj5]

Sorry about that. Here are the pictures. The temps are running prime 95 during a stress test for about 2 hours.

 

[trents]

Yeah, thiings look to be in order. I agree you probably need a little more vcore to push it any higher. You can expect about 3.5-3.6 ghz max.

 

[keny]

Heres a snap, but remember your'e other hardware has to be up to scratch for a good oc
Good luck

 

[Trance4c]

Heres a snap, but remember your'e other hardware has to be up to scratch for a good oc
Good luck

Keny - what motherboard was that on? Looks like massive FSB overclocking, just curious.

 

[trents]

You probably need to give your CPUNB a voltage bump at this point and your ram as well. 1.225v seems to be about right for the CPUNB and try going from 1.5 to 1.55 for the ram.

That CPU has the C2 stepping so it may not clock as high as you might have expected.

 

[keny]

Keny - what motherboard was that on? Looks like massive FSB overclocking, just curious.

Sorry for the late reply ! it was on a giga ma785gm-us2h, good am2+ board,i think i will get it back out again for a play, it ran out of fsb around 345 but i never really pushed it over 1.5v for a validation

 

[Trance4c]

Sorry for the late reply ! it was on a giga ma785gm-us2h, good am2+ board,i think i will get it back out again for a play, it ran out of fsb around 345 but i never really pushed it over 1.5v for a validation

Im running one of those boards, just seens I cant get Fsb beyond 246. So 345 seemed very high to me, what option in bios are you upping exactly? I assume just nb, I do not get any stability change from 1.3 or 1.4 (+.1, +.2).

 

[keny]

The easy way to find how high you're fsb can go is to lower all you're settings to stock, or as close to stock as you can get using the various multi's (ht,nb,ram and cpu) , as you raise the fsb keep lowering the multi's to keep other settings at or near to stock and you're fsb will fail to boot windows at its max value

 

[Trance4c]

The easy way to find how high you're fsb can go is to lower all you're settings to stock, or as close to stock as you can get using the various multi's (ht,nb,ram and cpu) , as you raise the fsb keep lowering the multi's to keep other settings at or near to stock and you're fsb will fail to boot windows at its max value

I've done that, though I start to get core failures around 247. This is specifically why I inquired on this thread, because I have the same board and your able to get to a much, much higher FSB speed.

I actually ran a 435 Rana and just recently upgraded to a 965BE. The 965BE I got a good price for it new, so I went ahead with it. The Gskill ram I have is good for 1066, though I can only get it stable in 4.00 mode an at 246 that turns out to be 984. Its not a huge loss, but I know there is some still to be grabbed from this system. With 965BE on water I'm running 4.181Ghz with no issues, infact I know I can run a higher multiplier so the CPU is not the limit.

The previously ran 435 Rana I was able to get a stable overclock at 3.567Ghz, still a respectable overclock but it seems your able to push the board much more. Would really be interested in your bios settings.

 

[keny]

I think I may have sOme images saved somewhere, maybe on photobucket or somewhere like that. I'm using my phone to post at the moment as I'm at work, but give me half an hour or so and I will see what I can find, bearing in mind I've only got a phone to work with lol

 

[keny]

This is the only one I have got @4.2