The Specs: Asus M4N82 Deluxe (Rev 2) - BIOS Version 2402 AMD Athlon II X4 630 - 2800Mhz 4 Gig Ram 800Mhz Duel Channel (Cheap Micron from Maplins ) Asus GeForce 550GTX Ti - 910Mhz/1.1V Core, 1026Mhz Memory, 1820Mhz Shader The Results: CPU: 3237Mhz/1.392V Core, x14 Multiplier, 231Mhz Bus, 2312Mhz HT Link, 924Mhz Ram Duel Channel GPU: 1100Mhz/1.15V Core, 1026Mhz Memory, 2200Mhz Shader Any attempts to push it faster causes: Post Boot Failure/Windows Reboots/BSOD. Also any attempt to take some BIOS settings out of AUTO causes: Post Boot Failure. Turning off PSU's power switch then turning PC back on allows access to BIOS to fix it. So anyone had better luck with CPU/Motherboard Combo?
If I remember correctly: The Athlon II chips were never brilliant Overclockers (The Phenom II's weren't really, either.) It probably could go further, but you really, really have to whack the voltages up to get more performance. Hence me running this thing at far over it's stock voltages for 4Ghz. Problem is that it'll chuck out heat, keep an eye on the temperatures when you're overclocking if you do go for the "NEEDZ MORE VOLTZ" route.
Got the CPU running at 3325Mhz now, I think I'll settle for that. Tried upping core to 1.5V (I don't feel safe going any higher) doesn't even let me clock any higher without problems. I have a feeling its the cheap PSU and RAM stopping futher speed increases, or maybe some other factor. 500Mhz extra for free is good enough for me. Prime95 tests in progress
The only decent athlon chips for overclocking on normal cooling are the dual cores, most of which could hit 3.6-3.9GHz from stock clocks of 2.5-3GHz. Sorry bud.
Well Prime95 failed CPU at 3325Mhz. Went back down to CPU at 3237Mhz. Testing with Prime95. True I'm gonna try Water Cooling one day even though CPU runs at 39C - 40C under Prime95 with Air Cooling. If only to have that modern/coolness feel.
tbh that's not a bad oc, they just don't do much...especially those low-end amd quads... what psu do you have?
What case are you using? To get my overclocks I had to up the airflow quite a bit in my case with an extra 2 140mm fans. Also, if you are hitting 40c under load in Prime, you have another almost 30c to play with(although that will vary apparently cpu to cpu). Chuck some more volts in... 1.55 is apparently around that cpu's comfortable limits. People got 3.5ghz out there on the internetz!
Coolmaster HAF-X I tried 1.55V, for some reason when I set core to 1.5V or 1.55V it will not read over 1.423V in CPU-Z.
aint the temps limiting him... and why bother? extra volts to gain 200 mhz? makes no sense...unless he's trying to set some kinda record lol...
I think it's the old thing here about CPU differing from one to the other. I used to run my X4 620 @ 3.4Ghz although it would push to 3.5Ghz. Looking at your spec, I can tell you now that it's the ram that's holding you back. When I changed mine to 1066 Gskill it helped me overclock it an extra 200Mhz ( I'm selling it actually...lol)
Well... yeah. It depends what you are trying to achieve for sure. It's a budget build though clearly, so why not try squeeze more performance out of it?
it's about the trade-off... he's getting almost half a ghz already, so there's some extra "free" performance....but another .108 volts to get another 150-200 mhz? not to mention that's running at the upper end of what the chip can take? just not worth it...imo anyway don't get me wrong...i'm all about seeing where i can take the chip/gpu/ram... but as far as an everyday oc, gotta balance it...
So its a choice between: Better DDR-2 ram and seeing how much overclocking this MB allows, or upgrade to a better MB like the Asus R.O.G range and get DDR-3 ram as well, then its a choice between Intel CPUs or AMD CPUs, Sandy Bridge is tempting. I find I always end up going down a budget route. So advice and ideas welcome.
These chips actually run really cool. Mine Idled at low 20's and would hit mid 30's if it was working hard and maybe creep to low 40's on prime 95. Mind you I did have a beast of a cooler sitting on it. They can take all the abuse you can throw at them.
lol...well, no, they really can't...every chip has a limit. in your situation, that says more about your cooling and your room temps than anything. keep it pretty cool in your house it sounds like. i guess i'm curious what your point is? are you saying it does make sense to run a chip at it's higher voltage range for a 6% speed increase? if so, i guess that everyone is entitled to their opinion...in the end that's all any of us are offering, opinions...mine is that wouldn't be smart, and not worth the gain... off-topic i looked at your site bulldog, got as far as the front page. might want to look at that...got some run-on sentences and capitalization/punctuation errors right on the front page...i'm not makin a dig or anything, just trying to help. I know personally if i look at a site to possibly spend money there, and i see those things....i keep looking elsewhere.
I'm not saying go totally nuts on the voltage. I tend to find a limit and the back off 100Mhz so I know it's going to be rock solid. The X4 640 should hit 3.5ghz no probs. I also know that these chips are quite sensitive to what Ram they have to play with. P.S Thanks for pointing out the bits on the web site .I'll get it checked over. Pointless me doing it as I'm dyslexic...lol
