Cool n Quiet n Overclocked

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03-02-2006, 05:34 PM
DanceswithUnix

Cool n Quiet n Overclocked

Just to explain my thoughts up-front, I am more interested in my system being quiet than fast. Still, I wouldn't want to turn down some free frames per second if I can get them :mrgreen:

Right now, I am overclocked 10% and have cool n quiet turned on (stock voltage). This unfortunately makes the CPU run at 1.1GHz when power saving rather than the usual 1.0GHz. Would be nice if overclocking settings only took hold at the highest power state, but heigh-ho :rolleyes:

My question is: Whilst everyone & their cat seems to have found the upper limit of their CPU with CnQ turned off, has anyone here tried with it left on? I presume the 1GHz low voltage setting will be the limiting factor.
03-02-2006, 05:45 PM
Noni

Why not turn quiet and cool off?
03-02-2006, 05:51 PM
DanceswithUnix

If I turn it off, then my PC will become hotter, and then the fans will speed up and it will get louder.

I am quite happy for it to get louder when playing games (which is just as well, because it does) but want to try and keep it quiet for programming/surfing/email etc which it spends most of it's time doing.
03-02-2006, 05:52 PM
Noni

Silent down your computer then :). Get a fan controller mate.
03-02-2006, 06:08 PM
DanceswithUnix

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noni

Silent down your computer then :). Get a fan controller mate.

I already have a quiet PSU, quiet case fan and use the Asus Q-fan system to make that quieter still. I have a fanless graphics card and have swapped my mobo chipset fan for a passive cooler. At idle with Q-fan I find the AMD stock cooler is quiet enough (~1200RPM).

So, does anyone know how fast I can expect a Venice to go at 1.1v (or whatever the lowest power saving state is) or am I the first to try and find out?
03-02-2006, 06:29 PM
davethechamp

This is an interesting idea. One I certainly have never experimented with, and I don't recall hearing much about others trying it.

You could pave the way in a new field of over/under clocking!
03-02-2006, 08:20 PM
YorkieBen

underclocking is nothing new

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1798
03-02-2006, 09:11 PM
nvening

You could try using ntune to setup different profiles of clock speeds and then you can simply chose one and the system will go to that speed, staying in the windows environment.
03-02-2006, 11:50 PM
ztec

my suggest change from air to water cooling,you can get a budget water cooling kit of xcase.co.uk for 60pounds,solves or noise problem and aids your overclocking :)
04-02-2006, 12:18 AM
DanceswithUnix

Quote:

Originally Posted by nvening

staying in the windows environment.

I only use Windows to play games. The machine spends most of it's time running Linux! The nice bit about Cool-n-Quiet is that it is OS agnostic.
04-02-2006, 12:19 AM
Hans Voralberg

Get a big HSF like the Scythe Ninja or Thermaltake HR01, better than budget watercooling. And i dont think C&N can go together with oc, most likely it will cause some instability.
04-02-2006, 12:20 AM
DanceswithUnix

Quote:

Originally Posted by ztec

my suggest change from air to water cooling,you can get a budget water cooling kit of xcase.co.uk for 60pounds,solves or noise problem and aids your overclocking :)

Interesting thought. I have limited funds though, and my server sat next to me is an Athlon 1000 which sounds like it wants to take off (well, in comparison to my main machine) so that gets some dosh first.
04-02-2006, 01:12 AM
ztec

here's the review of it: http://www.caseclosed.co.uk/article_...nc001_10mm.htm

that should give you a better look at how good it really is,but i don't no much about watercooling ..so don't take my word for it :)
04-02-2006, 02:42 AM
sawyen

C&Q never worked for my overclocks.. I make a habit of turning it off, doesnt make that much difference.

You could also alternatively use stuff like Systools to configure ur own C&Q settings, maybe leave speeds up to about 1.2Ghz rather than 800MHz.. and Vcore upped to like 1.2ish rather than the measly 1.05V.. This then limits the lag response efficiency of the MOSF to supply shrinking and expanding volts from kicking in too hard.. Worked for my 2.5Ghz setup a while back, but when I get pass 2.5 with a nominal Vcore of 1.5V.. didnt work too well... Might as well work with C&Q off...
04-02-2006, 11:39 AM
kalniel

I've never really played with much overclocking, but surely if you're just raising the fsb (I know it's not fsb, but can't think of another term that's not confusing :p) C&Q won't have that much effect on overclocking? Maybe at the extreme levels, but the lower multiplier would surely balance out the effect of increased fsb at lower speeds. As the CPU load ramps up it just increases the multiplier - maybe this occurs to quickly to be stable on a high overclock, but a medium one should be ok I'd have thought. (I'm also someone who wants to run with C&Q all the time).
04-02-2006, 04:12 PM
DanceswithUnix

Quote:

Originally Posted by YorkieBen

underclocking is nothing new

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1798

Thanks for that link. Not sure about their conclusions (I wonder if the temp would have changed if they turned off the 120mm fan, that sounded like a waste of time) but the experiment does show that at the 1.05v you get at the normal 1.0GHz should be good for quite a bit more.

That passive CPU heatsink looked a bit tasty too, I shall have to see how much they cost.
04-02-2006, 04:22 PM
DanceswithUnix

Quote:

Originally Posted by kalniel

I've never really played with much overclocking, but surely if you're just raising the fsb (I know it's not fsb, but can't think of another term that's not confusing :p) C&Q won't have that much effect on overclocking? Maybe at the extreme levels, but the lower multiplier would surely balance out the effect of increased fsb at lower speeds.

I am certainly hoping that is the case!

Quote:

As the CPU load ramps up it just increases the multiplier - maybe this occurs to quickly to be stable on a high overclock, but a medium one should be ok I'd have thought. (I'm also someone who wants to run with C&Q all the time).

Well, a medium overclock is all I was really looking for, I don't really have the time to spend eeking every last Hz out of the machine.

I am also fortunate that I was a tad tight when I bought this CPU, as it only has two power states (1.0GHz->1.8GHz) whereas the S754 A3700 I use as work seems to go 1.0->1.8->2.0->2.2->2.4 which might be a bit more of a 'mare to get stable.

Off to try upping to 20% now :D
04-02-2006, 04:41 PM
arthurleung

My 3000+ runs 2Ghz at 1.1V so I don't bother with CnQ, my stupid Asus A8N-SLIs refuse to give less than 1.1V to my CPUs so CnQ would not help at all to cut power usage.
04-02-2006, 05:55 PM
mahenworld

DanceswithUnix - My motherboard (Gigabyte GA-K8N Ultra 9) allows overclocking with Cool & Quiet, provided only the FSB is adjusted. If I adjust any other settings like multiplier, voltages the C&Q stops working.

Here is a link to an excellent article on how to overclock/underclock while using C&Q.

CrystalCPUID: User Configurable Cool 'n' Quiet
05-02-2006, 04:17 PM
DanceswithUnix

Well, thanks to everyone for the information! The information in those links boosted my confidence in what the CPU can handle even at low voltage.

I am now up to a 33% overclock, and so far so stable. I wrote a small shell script to display the current CPU frequency, and can watch it flip up and down whilst compiling etc and it all seems OK.
05-02-2006, 08:30 PM
Veles

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanceswithUnix

At idle with Q-fan I find the AMD stock cooler is quiet enough (~1200RPM)

Thats your problem there, switch out your stock cooler for something better, I'm running an X2 with a thermalright XP-120 heatsink and a 120mm akasa amber series fan on it. With Q-fan on it's running at ~700RPM and both cores at full load it doesn't get much faster or hotter.
06-02-2006, 11:24 AM
DanceswithUnix

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veles

both cores at full load it doesn't get much faster or hotter.

OK, I realise that there are better ways to get the heat away from my CPU, but I really don't want to create that heat in the first place!

The PC is in a small room which, in summer, gets pretty warm even with the window open. Using CnQ cuts down the amount of heat generated, which keeps the room temperature down by a few degrees C.

Still, 700rpm sounds nice, and I would feel safer with that than that big passive Scythe one I was eyeing up the other day. Perhaps I shall put one on my birthday list :)
06-02-2006, 02:29 PM
ultim8um

The scythe Ninja is a super cooler tbh... If you buy from Scan or Tekheads you will get the plus version which includes a very slow spinning 120mm fan :) I have one mounted on my Opteron 146 and it is keeping it nice n cool.
06-02-2006, 02:41 PM
dangel

Quote:

Originally Posted by ultim8um

The scythe Ninja is a super cooler tbh... If you buy from Scan or Tekheads you will get the plus version which includes a very slow spinning 120mm fan :) I have one mounted on my Opteron 146 and it is keeping it nice n cool.

Just make sure it'll fit in your case.. it's blinking enourmous!
06-02-2006, 03:30 PM
arthurleung

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanceswithUnix

OK, I realise that there are better ways to get the heat away from my CPU, but I really don't want to create that heat in the first place!

The PC is in a small room which, in summer, gets pretty warm even with the window open. Using CnQ cuts down the amount of heat generated, which keeps the room temperature down by a few degrees C.

Still, 700rpm sounds nice, and I would feel safer with that than that big passive Scythe one I was eyeing up the other day. Perhaps I shall put one on my birthday list :)

I'm running my 3000+ at stock passive now. It gets up to 44'C at full load but there isn't a fan on it so I'm happy enough. Now if I could force my Asus board to provide a lower voltage (1.1V is not low enough). I need 0.95V.... I know my CPU can do it since I was running it like that on my old mobo...