Opty 146 - Overclocking on a Asus A8n-SLI board

[Thorsson]

Well there's only CPU and DIMM in my DeLuxe. The lack of chipset voltage adjustment is probably one thing that holds the OC back on these.

[farooqm]

The CPU & Dimm Volt setting are in the Jumperfree Overclocking section.
The Vcore Volts is in the Hardware monitoring section...

Grrrrrrrrrr.... If Vcore volts=Cpu Volts then I'm confused.(Cpu Volts only goes up to 1.55 on my Asus board.. not sure about max for Vcore - having said that I havn't a clue what this settings is then)

There must be others with this A8n-Sli board that have had a play?

[JimNastics]

On my Premium I have:

CPU (VCore, max 1.55)
DDR (VDimm, max 3.something)
Chipset (Max 1.6)
HT (Max 1.25)

VCore does indeed = CPU, I can't quite understand why you have both... here's my bios screen, how does it compare to yours?

http://67.15.182.13/~merkin51/a8n/a8n-1.jpg

[JimNastics]

Aaaah I see what's going on, the "Hardware Monitoring" section does exactly what it says on the tin, it just monitors hardware - the Vcore Volts in there is just reporting exactly what the current CPU Voltage value is. Maybe if they used the same terms (i.e. CPU or VCore, not both!) it would be easier to understand.

It seems that the Standard and Deluxe board don't let you change Chipset or HT, but to be honest this shouldn't be holding you back too much... VCore and VDimm is where it's at.

[JimNastics]

Not having an ASUS board I can't guarantee, but this is what I would suppose:

200 = 100 divider
266 = 133 divider
333 = 166 divider
400 = 200 - a 1:1 ratio

Using the divider is similar to using a higher multiplier for the CPU. If you check CPUZ before and after the change you should see what i'm on about

Dave

Just to add to Dave's post, another way to look at it is:

266 = CPU/15
333 = CPU/12
400 = CPU/10

For example, having your CPU at 10 x 280 on the 266 divider would have your RAM running at 2800/15 = 186mhz. I found this way a bit easier to get my head around!!

[farooqm]

Cheers Jim.... this tallies with whats in CPU-Z mem section.

Only reason I mentioned the VCore in the Hardware monitoring section is because it lets you change it rather than just showing you info.

CPU Freq 275 with x10 Multi
Set Divider to 333 (CPU/12)
Mem @ 2.5, 3, 3, 7
CPU Volts 1.4
Mem Volts 2.6

Stable @ 2750Mhz and passes all tests Super Pi, Prime95, Occt.

If I keep same mem settings and make following changes it is not stable:
CPU Freq 300 with x10 multi
Tried CPU Volts to 1.525
Tried Mem Volts to 2.75

Reckon I need to change something in Memory/Divider or something else .. what next?? suggestions (other than post machine to you )

[davethechamp]

Going back over this thread, if I identified your memory correctly, its rated by the manufacturer for between 2.7 and 2.9 volts as standerd. Perhaps its running short on volts at only 2.75?
The other thing to remember is to overclock in small steps, like 5Mhz at a time, then test (I used sandra, super pi and 3D03).

You could also try using Clockgen to OC from windows. ie: set your divider, Vcore and memory to waht you want in bios with a high HTT that you know the computer is stable at, then go in to windows and open up clockgen, click on clocks, get values and then you can adjust the speed from there. If it goes pete tong, windows will freeze and maybe BSOD. to clear it just re-start and you will be back to your bios settings when in windows. Clockgen stops you needing to constantly clear the c-mos if you push thing a bit to far.

Hope this helps.

Dave

[farooqm]

Heheh... I 'think' I am too impatient I went from 2750 to 2800 and then straight to 3000.. LOL
Wew.. do ppl have time to step through it 5mhz at a time... i've been rebooting after each change...
With the mem, from what I know it like 2.7v and upping doesn't do much for it...

This clockgen sounds useful... will see if that makes it a little less painful...

[davethechamp]

It can be a bit painfull!! but the rewards are well worth it. You may find a weet spot where you feel comfortable with the overall speed, heat and bandwidth you are getting. This does not have to be overall max speed you get.

I know I could run ,mine at 3.0 all the time, but with my cooler i prefered to knodk it down a bit for better temps. Thats why at the moment I've settled on 312 x 9 =2808 @1.392V using a 150 mem divder, actual mem speed = 234 at 2.5 3 3 7 1t.

It does take a bit of time and patience, but pays dividends!



Dave

[Tobeman]

Can I ask where you got your Thermaltake Big Typhoon from? And how did you find fitting it?

[farooqm]

Can I ask where you got your Thermaltake Big Typhoon from? And how did you find fitting it?

I got the last 2 Thermaltake BT's from SpecialTech, they'd done a stock miscount, so wasn't advertised on their web page until I asked the question.

I do know of 1 more place in the UK who had 1 left last time I asked them, I'll see if I can find the details if you really want me to find out.

Fitting: On my Asus A8n sli - clearance is great... I can even take mem out and back in without taking heatsink off (didn't think I would be able to looking at it..but I can ). To fit it you really do have to take the board out though... Once the board is out it's not too difficult... most awkward bit it getting the 2 screws that hold it in place in... I got my Bro to hold Cooler while I put screws in and tightended.. If you can get a right-angled screwdriver that makes it easier. I got the Arctic Silver on wrong initially so ended up having to take it apart and putting it together properly ... works Great now and temps are goooood.. 31 idle, 42 full load for a few hours benchmarking.

Hope that helps.