please help break overclock limit

[data1]

hi
i recently bought a new mobo and am now trying to overclock my amd sempron 3400+ as i did with the previous mobo.
but i can only reach 15 mhz FSB increase from the bios until it freezes at POST or wont boot at all.
so the total FSB is 215 mhz...

i have used these same components with other mobo and been able to overclock over 20 %.
But being new to overclocking i dont know what to do now, so i came here.
i hope somebody can give advice on this?


Here is my system:

CPU: AMD Sempron(tm) Processor 3400+
Mobo: ALiveXFire-eSATA2 R3.0
PSU: COMPUCASE PSU 550W 12CM ATX12V2.0

I include here also my full cpu-z info:

Processor(s)	 
Number of processors	1
Number of cores	1 per processor
Number of threads	1 per processor
Name	AMD Sempron 3400+
Code Name	Manila
Specification	AMD Sempron(tm) Processor 3400+
Package	Socket AM2 (940)
Family/Model/Stepping	F.F.2
Extended Family/Model	F.4F
Brand ID	6
Core Stepping	DH-F2
Technology	90 nm
Core Speed	1933.0 MHz
Multiplier x Bus speed	9.0 x 214.8 MHz
HT Link speed	859.1 MHz
Stock frequency	1800 MHz
Instruction sets	MMX (+), 3DNow! (+), SSE, SSE2, SSE3, x86-64
L1 Data cache (per processor)	64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L1 Instruction cache (per processor)	64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L2 cache (per processor)	256 KBytes, 16-way set associative, 64-byte line size
Chipset & Memory	 
Northbridge	ATI Xpress 200 (RS480) rev. 01
Southbridge	ATI SB600 rev. 00
Graphic Interface	PCI-Express
PCI-E Link Width	x8
PCI-E Max Link Width	x16
Memory Type	DDR2
Memory Size	3072 MBytes
Memory Frequency	276.1 MHz (CPU/7)
CAS# Latency (tCL)	4.0 clocks
RAS# to CAS# (tRCD)	4 clocks
RAS# Precharge (tRP)	4 clocks
Cycle Time (tRAS)	12 clocks
Bank Cycle Time (tRC)	16 clocks
Command Rate (CR)	2T
System	 
System Manufacturer	To Be Filled By O.E.M.
System Name	To Be Filled By O.E.M.
System S/N	To Be Filled By O.E.M.
Mainboard Vendor	ASRock
Mainboard Model	ALiveXFire-eSATA2..
BIOS Vendor	American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS Version	P3.50
BIOS Date	08/25/2009
Memory SPD	 
Module 1	DDR2, PC2-4300 (266 MHz), 1024 MBytes, Transcend Information
Module 2	DDR2, PC2-4300 (266 MHz), 1024 MBytes, Transcend Information
Module 3	DDR2, PC2-5300 (333 MHz), 512 MBytes, Elpida
Module 4	DDR2, PC2-5300 (333 MHz), 512 MBytes, Elpida
Software	 
Windows Version	Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
DirectX Version	9.0c

thx

 

[trents]

Where did you get that motherboard? It appears to be an older product. Perhaps the board itself is limiting your overclock. Not all boards are equal overclockers. ASRock has the reputation of making solid boards for everyday use but not the best overclockers.

Having said that you might try relaxing your memory timings and or giving the ram and cpu more volts. I found that my ASRock board required more volts to the cpur to run the same cpu at the same frequency as did my Gigabyte board that preceded it.

 

[QuietIce]

Turn down the CPU to 6X, the RAM to 200 MHz, and the HT Link to 3X then try to raise the clock. You'll need to set your RAM timings & voltage and vCore manually.

If you still can't exceed 215 MHz on the clock then you know where the problem is ...

 

[data1]

thanks for the replies.
i was gona try QuietIce's suggestion but i dont know if that is risky so ill leave it as last resort.

im going to try increasing memory timings the first time , though i dont know if this is danagerous?

thanks!

 

[Neuromancer]

Quiet Ice's suggestion is the "first step" in AMD Overclocking. You are not going to get better advice than that.

 

[data1]

Thank you i tried this i lowered the CPU multiplier to 6 and set the right ram speed.. still it crashes at boot. i could not find HT (hypertransport?) setting from the bios.

 

[QuietIce]

Then the board is the problem.

By lowering the CPU multiplier and RAM speeds you are no longer overclocking them when increasing the clock speed. If the board still won't go over the 215 MHz limit you experienced earlier, and the board itself is the only thing being overclocked, then the board has reached it's limit.

I'm sure you already thought of this since you knew what your CPU could do in a previous board but this little experiment, if done correctly, confirms it.


Edit:
Sometimes the HT Link is labeled "CPU <-> NB", "K8 <-> NB", or something similar ...

 

[data1]

thank you QuietIce very good instructions there. i found the HT and set it to 400mhz (800mhz was max) but still the pc crashes on boot.

so it would be poor motherboard for overclocking then? it seems strange to me that overclocking can reach only so far when manufacturer has given u the change to overclock it. ~7% overclock isnt really anything.

 

[Neuromancer]

Make sure that HTLink is lower than CPUNB speed

If you set CPUNB below stock, and DONT adjust HTLink you will not POST either

 

[QuietIce]

thank you QuietIce very good instructions there. i found the HT and set it to 400mhz (800mhz was max) but still the pc crashes on boot.

so it would be poor motherboard for overclocking then? it seems strange to me that overclocking can reach only so far when manufacturer has given u the change to overclock it. ~7% overclock isnt really anything.

It's all a matter of the hardware you have. I've managed 2.95 GHz with an Opty 165 (1.8 GHz stock = +63%) and I've seen higher than that - but the motherboards that will do that aren't cheap ...

 

[data1]

Make sure that HTLink is lower than CPUNB speed

If you set CPUNB below stock, and DONT adjust HTLink you will not POST either

the bios has only CPU - NB Link speed. (200 - 800 mhz)

but it also has:

• CPU - NB Link Width (8bit, 16bit)
• NB Core Voltage
• NB +1,8V Voltage

so, could any of those settings make it work?
maybe raise NB volts ?

 

[QuietIce]

The cpuNB speed and CPU-NB voltage that Neuromancer is referring to is for the Phenom and newer CPUs. You don't need to worry about that with your 3400+ Sempron.


Raising the NB chipset voltage may help - at least it's worth a try. Not sure what the stock voltage is for that board, though. Newer NB chipsets run at 1.1v so you might increase the NB Core voltage to 1.2-1.25v.

I wouldn't worry about the 1.8v setting, it should be fine at stock ...

 

[data1]

thank you. i tried NB Core Voltage with high and ultra high options but no work.

i never set the memory latencies manually though because im under assumption that setting 266 mhz (memory) to 200 mhz would seal out the memory error.

 

[Neuromancer]

Well if you drop it down to 200 it might automatically tighten the latencies. So settings them manually can help.



Thanks for the cover QI, completely missed this was a K8 based chip

 

[SCFAdamVcG]

theres a trick I tried that broke past 273 HTT , try setting your ram's trfc manually.

 

[data1]

theres a trick I tried that broke past 273 HTT , try setting your ram's trfc manually.

That is interesting. thanks! the bios only has TRC timing and many many other timing settings but not TRFC.