Thursday, August 10, 2006
What do you need to overclock?
HARDWARE
CPU: The amount you can overclock your CPU depends upon the core and stepping you have. Core is the basic architecutre you can say on which the CPU is built while stepping is the date and month of manufacture. The more voltage you feed the CPU the more there is a chance of getting a higher overclock. However if you feed too much voltage you can even kill it.
Motherboard: To overclock your AMD 64 system, you will need a motherboard which offers options to set(increase and decrease) FSB, HTT bus, use memory dividers and remain stable after overclock as well. If you don't have the right motherboard you should drop the idea of overclocking unless you buy a new motherboard.
RAM: In AMD 64 systems, the RAM and CPU are synchronized to each other. This means that if your CPU is running at 200MHx FSB then your RAM will be running at 200MHx as well. Since it is DDR RAM, effective RAM speed will be 200 X 2MHz = 400MHz, that is a different concept all together. But what this means is that even if your CPU can reach an FSB of 250, but if you RAM can't run at 250MHz, you will need to lower your FSB as well, which effectively means that you have to run your CPU lower than its potential or buy new RAM which can run at htose high frequencies. This means that be default RAM : CPU ratio is always 1 : 1 in AMD 64 systems. However, you can use memory dividers to change the ratio, eg - 5 : 6 or 2 : 3 etc. For example, if you use 5 : 6 ratio, when your CPU runs at 200Mz, the RAM runs at 166MHz. However the RAM and CPU will still be synchronized.
Example- We are using RAM : CPU ratio of 5 : 6. If we clock the CPU to 240MHz FSB, then RAM has to be (5*240)/6MHx = 199MHz, which is effectively around 200MHz. So you are using your CPU overclocked but keeping the RAM at stock. This is how even ordinary RAM can be used for getting decent overclocks. However keep in mind that using memory dividers can cause a certain loss in performance. But we must keep in mind that CPU speed is king for AMD 64 systems using DDR memory(ie. s939 and s754).
Another important consideration that need to be taken is that whether you are running RAM 2T or 1T. 2T lets you get higher overclocks while 1T gives more performance. I recommend you test each way and find out what is best for you. A game FarCry for instance runs on my system using Asus A8N E only when I use the RAM at 2T.
Another thing that affects Overclocks is RAM timings. The tighter they are the better the performance. We will discuss the details later.
Power Supply: Overclocking may involve more power and therefore you need a power supply that is capable of delivering enough power. I don't recommend generic brands, it is better to stick to brands like Fortron, OCZ, Seasonic etc. In case you can't find such brands as in developing countries, then you might need to go for brands as Antec and Coolermaster. Keep in mind that even within a company there may be different models with night and day difference. You need to be well versed with the technical aspects of each model, to choose the right one.
Cooling: For moderate overclocks, stock cooling of AMD 64 CPUs is acceptable but not advised. Keep in mind that for every 10C you increase your CPU temperature, you reduce its life by half. You also need to keep the temperature within a certain range especially if you supply additional voltage, else you will burn the CPU and maybe something esle along with it, maybe even the motherboard. For high overclocks, aftermarket cooling is even more important. Air cooling costing 20-60$ should be sufficient in most cases, but if you want water cooling, it is your wish as long as you know what you are doing.
SOFTWARE
BIOS: (Required) Basic Input Output System. All your overclocks and setting changes are done through your BIOS. Although there are utilities like Clockgen and even nTune. I recommend using the BIOS. Utilities like nTune can only be used for basic amateur overclocks and don't provide as many options. They also need to be reloaded after each windows reboot. Clocken on the other hand doesn't offer as many features and can by no means compared to overclocking from the BIOS which is the safest and best method to oveclock the CPU and/or RAM. My motherboard automatically restarts the system if my overclock doesn't permit windows to load or shows a BSOD(Blue Screen of Death) so that I can change my BIOS settings again. In case your BIOS doesn't all that, then I think you would need to open your cabinet, and reset the jumper, or maybe remove the CMOS battery and keep it outside for sometime as well. This might not happen with nTune or even Clockgen though.
CPU-Z: (Recommended) Required to view RAM timings, stepping, clock speeds, SPD, bios revision etc.
Speedfan: (Required) You must be well aware of your system temperatures, the top one should be that of the CPU. You should also know the voltage and fan speeds of your system. You can also keep an eye on the motherboard, system, HDD etc temps depending on what allthe software shows. Speedfan is a very important tool, go through it carefully if you want.
Super PI: (Required) Do the 1M test after each small CPU speed increment/decrement, should take less than a minute on most/any AMD 64 system. This is a general system stability test with probably more emphasis on CPU. After you have decided on a specific CPU speed, you must run the 32M test which should take around 30minutes or so on most systems.
Prime 95: (Required) It is advised to do a 12-24hrs or more Torture Test.
3D MARK : (Required) My system was able to pass a nearly 8hr Prime and Super Pi 32M test but failed within minutes in both 3D Mark 06 and 05. You must run 3D Mark 06, 05 and 01, as they are CPU sensitive, especially 3D Mark 01, though I would say never skip 3D Mark 06 either. Run all these tests. Also, observe whether there has been an increase in the score or not, especially CPU score. If it has decreased then this may not be a very good sign.
Games: (Required) Once I had increased my voltage, I could pass all those 3 3D Mark tests but failed in Call of Duty 2. So this means that running actual games can infact be more important than anything else. Try to run the latest and most intensive games especially CPU sensitive games. If you can run Oblivion for 30-60minutes without fail then you might not face a problem. You can also consider running FEAR and Doom3.
Memtest 86: (For memory overclocks, required, else preferable) If you have overclocked your RAM, run Memtest 86 Test 5 after each RAM overclock and in the end run the entire test series to know how stable your RAM is.
Windows: (Recommended) Even if you pass all tests, it would be a good idea to observe how stable your system is while running basic activities in Windows and also whether it is more responsive or not. I have read a person saying that overclocking made his system less responsive. So you should keep an eye on that as well.
Also, do keep in mind that put your system back to BIOS defaults before installing windows, else you might face problems. Rather safe than worry.
CPU: The amount you can overclock your CPU depends upon the core and stepping you have. Core is the basic architecutre you can say on which the CPU is built while stepping is the date and month of manufacture. The more voltage you feed the CPU the more there is a chance of getting a higher overclock. However if you feed too much voltage you can even kill it.
Motherboard: To overclock your AMD 64 system, you will need a motherboard which offers options to set(increase and decrease) FSB, HTT bus, use memory dividers and remain stable after overclock as well. If you don't have the right motherboard you should drop the idea of overclocking unless you buy a new motherboard.
RAM: In AMD 64 systems, the RAM and CPU are synchronized to each other. This means that if your CPU is running at 200MHx FSB then your RAM will be running at 200MHx as well. Since it is DDR RAM, effective RAM speed will be 200 X 2MHz = 400MHz, that is a different concept all together. But what this means is that even if your CPU can reach an FSB of 250, but if you RAM can't run at 250MHz, you will need to lower your FSB as well, which effectively means that you have to run your CPU lower than its potential or buy new RAM which can run at htose high frequencies. This means that be default RAM : CPU ratio is always 1 : 1 in AMD 64 systems. However, you can use memory dividers to change the ratio, eg - 5 : 6 or 2 : 3 etc. For example, if you use 5 : 6 ratio, when your CPU runs at 200Mz, the RAM runs at 166MHz. However the RAM and CPU will still be synchronized.
Example- We are using RAM : CPU ratio of 5 : 6. If we clock the CPU to 240MHz FSB, then RAM has to be (5*240)/6MHx = 199MHz, which is effectively around 200MHz. So you are using your CPU overclocked but keeping the RAM at stock. This is how even ordinary RAM can be used for getting decent overclocks. However keep in mind that using memory dividers can cause a certain loss in performance. But we must keep in mind that CPU speed is king for AMD 64 systems using DDR memory(ie. s939 and s754).
Another important consideration that need to be taken is that whether you are running RAM 2T or 1T. 2T lets you get higher overclocks while 1T gives more performance. I recommend you test each way and find out what is best for you. A game FarCry for instance runs on my system using Asus A8N E only when I use the RAM at 2T.
Another thing that affects Overclocks is RAM timings. The tighter they are the better the performance. We will discuss the details later.
Power Supply: Overclocking may involve more power and therefore you need a power supply that is capable of delivering enough power. I don't recommend generic brands, it is better to stick to brands like Fortron, OCZ, Seasonic etc. In case you can't find such brands as in developing countries, then you might need to go for brands as Antec and Coolermaster. Keep in mind that even within a company there may be different models with night and day difference. You need to be well versed with the technical aspects of each model, to choose the right one.
Cooling: For moderate overclocks, stock cooling of AMD 64 CPUs is acceptable but not advised. Keep in mind that for every 10C you increase your CPU temperature, you reduce its life by half. You also need to keep the temperature within a certain range especially if you supply additional voltage, else you will burn the CPU and maybe something esle along with it, maybe even the motherboard. For high overclocks, aftermarket cooling is even more important. Air cooling costing 20-60$ should be sufficient in most cases, but if you want water cooling, it is your wish as long as you know what you are doing.
SOFTWARE
BIOS: (Required) Basic Input Output System. All your overclocks and setting changes are done through your BIOS. Although there are utilities like Clockgen and even nTune. I recommend using the BIOS. Utilities like nTune can only be used for basic amateur overclocks and don't provide as many options. They also need to be reloaded after each windows reboot. Clocken on the other hand doesn't offer as many features and can by no means compared to overclocking from the BIOS which is the safest and best method to oveclock the CPU and/or RAM. My motherboard automatically restarts the system if my overclock doesn't permit windows to load or shows a BSOD(Blue Screen of Death) so that I can change my BIOS settings again. In case your BIOS doesn't all that, then I think you would need to open your cabinet, and reset the jumper, or maybe remove the CMOS battery and keep it outside for sometime as well. This might not happen with nTune or even Clockgen though.
CPU-Z: (Recommended) Required to view RAM timings, stepping, clock speeds, SPD, bios revision etc.
Speedfan: (Required) You must be well aware of your system temperatures, the top one should be that of the CPU. You should also know the voltage and fan speeds of your system. You can also keep an eye on the motherboard, system, HDD etc temps depending on what allthe software shows. Speedfan is a very important tool, go through it carefully if you want.
Super PI: (Required) Do the 1M test after each small CPU speed increment/decrement, should take less than a minute on most/any AMD 64 system. This is a general system stability test with probably more emphasis on CPU. After you have decided on a specific CPU speed, you must run the 32M test which should take around 30minutes or so on most systems.
Prime 95: (Required) It is advised to do a 12-24hrs or more Torture Test.
3D MARK : (Required) My system was able to pass a nearly 8hr Prime and Super Pi 32M test but failed within minutes in both 3D Mark 06 and 05. You must run 3D Mark 06, 05 and 01, as they are CPU sensitive, especially 3D Mark 01, though I would say never skip 3D Mark 06 either. Run all these tests. Also, observe whether there has been an increase in the score or not, especially CPU score. If it has decreased then this may not be a very good sign.
Games: (Required) Once I had increased my voltage, I could pass all those 3 3D Mark tests but failed in Call of Duty 2. So this means that running actual games can infact be more important than anything else. Try to run the latest and most intensive games especially CPU sensitive games. If you can run Oblivion for 30-60minutes without fail then you might not face a problem. You can also consider running FEAR and Doom3.
Memtest 86: (For memory overclocks, required, else preferable) If you have overclocked your RAM, run Memtest 86 Test 5 after each RAM overclock and in the end run the entire test series to know how stable your RAM is.
Windows: (Recommended) Even if you pass all tests, it would be a good idea to observe how stable your system is while running basic activities in Windows and also whether it is more responsive or not. I have read a person saying that overclocking made his system less responsive. So you should keep an eye on that as well.
Also, do keep in mind that put your system back to BIOS defaults before installing windows, else you might face problems. Rather safe than worry.
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