Well at long last I finally got around to overclocking my new system.

I followed the advice here from Nick N (thanks) to get a good stable o/clock.

I had to wait for my new ram to arrive and with work committments I was only able to get it done this weekend.

Here are my settings.
AMD 3700 San Diego cpu--- o/c to 2640Mhz
Vcore--1.47v
CPU temp --35 deg C
M/B temp -- 33deg C
CPU--FSB Freq-- 240Mhz
SB-- NB o/clk-- Manual
SB--NB Freq--200mhz
Adjust PCIe Freq-- 100
CPU Freq Multiplier --11
K8 to NB Freq HTT-- 4
SB -- NB freq--5

RAM Memory settings
OCZ PC3500 Gold Edition 2 x 512mb CAS2
1T @ Cas 2.2.2.5  at 203Mhz
Vdd --2.85v
Mem Divider Limit 183Mhz

At these settings the system is very stable.
I could go further with the o/clk because when I was stress testing the RAM I found I could go to 214Mhz at 1T cmd and CAS2.2.2.5 but with the Vdd set to 2.95v.
I believe OCZ say their RAM will handle Vdd at 3.0 v ok so maybe I might push it further.

This would give me close to 2.8Ghz on the CPU which was starting to push it on standard cooling.
I mainly wanted to get to CPU FX55 specs which I have achieved .

Using the memory divider really makes a difference.

Clockgen was very useful for quickly seeing what was being adjusted , then going into bios and changing the settings.

I used Prime to stress test for 20hrs with no problems.
I haven't got any other performance measuring s/ware at the moment so I can't post any results.

However I fired up CFS3 and noticed and increase in frame rates by about 15fps.

cheers
chuck

Sounds like your Vcore might be too high as well, most Sandy's will do 2.6mhz on stock or near stock Vcore. You might need 1.47 or more at around 2.8ghz, but it's up to the cpu you have, I can't say for certain.

Don't raise Vcore unless it's required.

Over 2600mhz is where I need to start adding vCore. But yeah, cpu's are all different.

I get a serious case of diminishing returns with adding vCore over 2.86ghz.

Quote:


The "San Diego" is the nickname if you like, for the core. It signifies:

• The 90nm process
• 1mb L2 cache
• Socket 939

rather than the Venice, which has:

• The 90nm process
• 512kb L2 cache
• Socket 939

The 3700 was also manufactured on the Clawhammer core, which is:

• The 130nm process
• 1mb L2 cache
• Socket 754

Jon 8)

Thanks Nick &Congo who your input.
I've just got back home from working away in a remote location so I will try a few of your suggestions.

One question though , what should the standard Vcore be for the cpu ??

cheers
chuck

Thanks Jon-- will go and play.

cheers
chuck

Quote:



This is the AMD specification link for the San Diego 3700+
Sandys have a nominal Vcore 1.35/1.4v range.

http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/desktop/details.aspx?opn=ADA3700DAA5BN

I wasn't aware that there were any other San Diego's other than on E4 cores...... 3700+, 4000+, FX55, FX57.

http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/desktop/SideBySide.aspx?opn=ADA4000DAA5BN&opn=AD...

Sandys are Socket 939, single core, 1mb L2, E4 stepping, 90nm process.

Interestingly, no E4 stepping, X2 dual cored CPU's with 2x1mb L2 cache were released, I'm not sure why, but I suspect that such a CPU would have wiped out sales of the expensive Opteron dual cores.

http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/desktop/SideBySide.aspx?opn=ADA4600DAA5BV&opn=AD...

And so........ I wonder now about the strangest thing of all.

I simply can't find any evidence of an Opteron dual core based on E4 silicon, which seems like it would be the pinnacle of AMD processor performance, but alas, where is it?

Was there ever an E4 dual core with 2mb L2 cache  produced? If not, why?

??? The Twin Sandy, now that would be something  



Just for anyone who is interested, I get 2.83ghz max stable on my 3700+ Sandy with my nForce4 Asus A8N-SLI mainboard with 2x512mb Kingmax PC4000 DDR modules and a cheapish PSU...... stock cooled.

By 2.8ghz stable, I mean I can online game host with comms and lobby etc without worrying about a crash, but only in winter, it gets hot here most of the year and I usually run 2.6ghz or 2.75ghz depending on the ambient temp.

While I'm happy with my PC4000 ram, I can't run it stable at 500mhz with 1T command rate. Now, I've read a few reports of this by those who use my mainboard, but I suspect the ram just isn't good enough.

Right now I'm looking at some PC3200 that's guaranteed 2-3-2-5 timings and right now my Kingmax is only giving me 2-3-3-6 at best. So, hopefully I'll be able to stretch the new stuff to 260mhz 1T, what do you think?

So where is the e4 silicone in a toledo?