My X2 3800+ sucks...

[emtp563]

After reading the other X2 threads here and many others around the net, I thought for sure I would be able to get at least 2.6Ghz out of a 3800+ X2. Being that I phase-change, I thought 2.9-3Ghz would be achieveable.

The cpu I had in my box last was a 3500+ OC'd to 2.5Ghz. I ran that puppy for many months on end without so much as a hiccup.

The new X2 won't oc worth a §§§§ past 200mhz over stock speed (2.2Ghz). I am extremely disappointed in this chip. The highest vcore I have tried was 1.5v. At first I thought it was my bios. I'm using the Asus A8V Deluxe and flashed to the newest 1015 bios. I then found that 1013 is the first bios that supports X2, but there was some issues with it with E6 revision chips. So I reflased to 1014 (in between, LOL). Still can't get past 2.2Ghz.

When I initially dropped this cpu in the mobo, I kept all the same settings I was running my 3500+ at. The box wouldn't even post with the new cpu running the old 3500+ settings. I know for a fact my memory can handle 250Mhz at CAS2 2-2-5 1T (it has done so for the past 8 months).

My system is as follows:

AMD 3800+ X2
Asus A8V Deluxe bios 1014
1Gb Corsair XMS Pro CAS 2 2-2-5 1T
BFG 6800GT OC
Vapochill (non-lightspeed)

Here is the stepping of the cpu:

I've read here that 0526 or 0527 UPBW were excellent steppings in terms of overclocking. Mine appears to be a newer stepping and sucks-***. I am thinking my motherboard is a bit old and may be holding me back- but I don't want to upgrade to a PCI-e board just yet and I'll be hard pressed to find a decent AGP board these days.

Anyone have any reccomendations as how to clock this puppy higher?

This is my system:

 

[Rattle]

try a reformat

 

[xTrEmEoVrClOcKr]

With a Vapo, id try over 1.6v depending on temps.

 

[TeleMan]

I have a similar vintage cpu (CDBHE 0533SPEW) that has been successfully running at 2.4Ghz. I can get it a bit higher but have not been willing to try any more voltage. Overall it has been very stable although have had some problems in games with the worst being Rallisport Challenge as it will reboot within just a few minutes of play. Can however play many other games including Far Cry without a problem. I am curious what Win XP driver you are running for the cpu. My system indicates the Microsoft driver version 5.1.2600.0 is in use. I see that AMD has a driver version 1.2.2.2 but have not yet tried it or seen many people mention if it's of any value.

 

[Jakalwarrior]

Start over from scratch on in the bios. Maybe you missed something. 2.2 at 1.5vcore is so horrible makes me wonder if the thing is stable stock. Also, check to make sure the vcore is actually changing. I ran into that problem for a while till I found out. "Duh! wont go over 2.5.... ohhhh Vcore is stuck at 1.35"

 

[JDXNC]

Sounds to me like you might not have dropped you HTT multiplier. You'll need to set it to 3x or 4x, you won't get very far at 5x, which is seems to be what is happening.

 

[kimochii72]

I feel for you guy.
I have done practically the same upgrade as you w/o the cooling. My 3800 x2 does not make the claims I've been seeing on websites either. Although I can not complain after seeing your results. I think the people who aren't getting decent overclocks are the ones who are posting less than the good overclocks, making most of us potential buyers think 2.5 to 2.6 is the norm. I feel people should be more informed on the reality of this.
I was somewhat disappointed to find that my system, very similar to yours won't overclock well either.

Former system

Abit Av8 (k8t800 chipset)
Amd 3500 (clawhammer) overclocked 2.53 stable and 2.6 sometimes stable
PNY 6800Gt
2x250g diamondmax 10 (raid0)
4x512mb valueram (214max)

After upgrading:
changed to amd 3800 x2 (CDBHE 0531TPCW FROM NEWEGG 2 WEEKS AGO)

This chip will hit about 2300 on stock volts with xp-90
After that it requires up to 1.55v is is not prime or sp2004 stable from 2.37 on. However, it's pretty stable on games upto about 2440-2450 but burns at about 50-53c.

Given that I believe we have similar chipsets and came from similar upgrades I truely don't believe that your bios is going to fix much and that you may be stuck with that speed. I feel that people purchasing these x2 should not be blind-sighted by all the high overclocking posts and should see posts like mine to get a better perspective on what you could get.

 

[Jakalwarrior]

I feel for you guy.
I have done practically the same upgrade as you w/o the cooling. My 3800 x2 does not make the claims I've been seeing on websites either. Although I can not complain after seeing your results. I think the people who aren't getting decent overclocks are the ones who are posting less than the good overclocks, making most of us potential buyers think 2.5 to 2.6 is the norm. I feel people should be more informed on the reality of this.
I was somewhat disappointed to find that my system, very similar to yours won't overclock well either.

Former system

Abit Av8 (k8t800 chipset)
Amd 3500 (clawhammer) overclocked 2.53 stable and 2.6 sometimes stable
PNY 6800Gt
2x250g diamondmax 10 (raid0)
4x512mb valueram (214max)

After upgrading:
changed to amd 3800 x2 (CDBHE 0531TPCW FROM NEWEGG 2 WEEKS AGO)

This chip will hit about 2300 on stock volts with xp-90
After that it requires up to 1.55v is is not prime or sp2004 stable from 2.37 on. However, it's pretty stable on games upto about 2440-2450 but burns at about 50-53c.

Given that I believe we have similar chipsets and came from similar upgrades I truely don't believe that your bios is going to fix much and that you may be stuck with that speed. I feel that people purchasing these x2 should not be blind-sighted by all the high overclocking posts and should see posts like mine to get a better perspective on what you could get.

same thing that bit me with my 2.4C
Most of the 3800s I see doing good were the early ones. Post to some of the databases and rally the guys who arent clocking good to do the same. Most of the people who get a crappy clockin chip dont say a word and keep to themselves out of shame thus causing other people to get a skewed image.

 

[fuzzba11]

That's pretty unfortunate, but you can't just expect to get 2.6GHz with the lowest clocked X2. I guess you got unlucky with the stepping, my 4400 is CCBWE 0536 and it goes to 2.6, why not get a more expensive chip?

 

[lordkosc]

2.2 Ghz out of the 3800x2 isn't that bad for a 320.00 dual core chip....

 

[deception``]

No offense, but I'd blame the boards more than the processors. Expecting good clocks out of an ASUS AMD board with a VIA chipset is beyond me. I think that you should look into a better motherboard before you rule out the processor alone.

deception``

 

[emtp563]

Sounds to me like you might not have dropped you HTT multiplier. You'll need to set it to 3x or 4x, you won't get very far at 5x, which is seems to be what is happening.

I have always run the HTT multi at 800Mhz, I even tried 600Mhz which didn't work. (fyi: on the A8V, 5x=1000, 4x=800, 3x=600, etc). The mem. multi. is at 5:3 (DDR 333).

I started with the default XP SP2 driver (no luck), now I am using the AMD X2 driver from AMD's website. This should not have any effect because I have C & Q disabled in the bios.

What I would check for next is proper contact between my evaporator and cpu- but Asus PC Probe says it's a chilly 1 degree Celcius, it looks like it's making good contact. The thing that looks like a concern is my 12v rail voltage. It's 11.18v that's kinda low. I can't see how- it's an Enermax EG651P 550W psu which puts out 24A on the +12v rail.

Only three things can be wrong here: This new X2 stepping sucks, my +12v rail voltage is too low (which may be attributed to the mobo), or my motherboard sucks.

Any one have any reccomendations on a good AGP motherboard (I don't want to upgrade my video card to PCI-e just yet).

 

[emtp563]

That's pretty unfortunate, but you can't just expect to get 2.6GHz with the lowest clocked X2. I guess you got unlucky with the stepping, my 4400 is CCBWE 0536 and it goes to 2.6, why not get a more expensive chip?

I wanted the cheapest X2 because a.) Everyone in all the forums are getting good overclocks out of the 3800+ and b.) Most importantly- I don't want to upgrade my video card until the socket M2 boards come out- then I'll get DDR2 and a PCI-e video card along with a M2 "Windsor" chip when they come out.

 

[ShadowClock59]

The memory seems fine (question, TCC* or BH*/CH*??) but I noticed while overclocking my x2 38, it requires nearly twice as much attention to the timings as a regular A64! I found this out because Ive always been able to run my G.SKill TCCD 4400LE at 2-3-3-7 at up to 260mhz. I could get it to boot with thoughs timings on the x2, but would very quickly give bsods before windows loaded, after messing around with the timings for about 2 hours, I finally tried something I felt sure would not work. I went back to 2-3-3- and change the tras to 5 instead of 7, as well as the tref to 3072, and viola! 99.9% stable (never know for sure if its 100%) 32mb pie, SP2004, everything.

I found this very odd, because at 270-280HTT, it required a complete turnaround and a high lat of 3-4-3-10 to run stable.

I think it really depends on how stable your voltage is, my PSU jumps around a little more than I like, so once it starts breathing a little to hard, I gotta set my latencies back up the voltage some more, even in CPUZ ive seen it jump up and down from 1.524v down to 1.462v!!

Good luck man, sorry to hear its giving you problems. BTW, mines an E4.

 

[CanadianTSi]

Your 12v is way low, I would check it with a multimeter and If it is really that low replace your PSU.

 

[emtp563]

Your 12v is way low, I would check it with a multimeter and If it is really that low replace your PSU.

The PC Probe is apparently wrong. My multimeter shows 12.1v on the +12v rail.

 

[Who]

I'd get a better board. I wouldn't expect good clocks from a board with a VIA chipset.

 

[IWasHungry]

Are you using the multimeter at load?
Also, it would be more accurate if it was measured with the motherboard connectors, not a 4-pin molex.

 

[lordkosc]

I came across this sig on another forum.... He got a great overclock from his 3800x2

3800+ X2 toledo @ 2.65GHz = to 5100+ 265x4x10
MSI neo 4 ultra SLI
1 gig corsair @ PC 4200 T1
4x 36 gig raptor raid 0
2 7800 gt in SLI 502 - 1.23
Enermax SLI PSU duel 12+ rails
extreme Home made Ice water cooling GPU,s

His website...

http://pcgeek2006.tripod.com

 

[Super Nade]

I'd get a better board. I wouldn't expect good clocks from a board with a VIA chipset.

Not true. I did have this board and it a good one. The only hardware level drawback was taht the VDRAM was limited to 2.8V and it didn't like TCCx. I had no problems with CPU clocks. However, ASUS are known for poor quality BIOS releases. This is a very real problem. I'm not one bit surprised that you are having problems. It is most likely BIOS related. Wait for newer versions and most likely your problems will be fixed. Not many modders work for this BIOS, so you are unlucky on that account.

All you can do is wait or try the betas ASUS release.