Overclocking (Main Thread)

I haven't had a chance to dive deep into the specifics of what you were asking... I believe it was regarding the 200*14 ratio? Regardless, I'll be sure to post an update once I've finished running all the tests.

It turns out my motherboard doesn't actually offer any manual "selection" for memory ratios like the FSB; instead, the board seems to handle those settings automatically on its own. I'm honestly not quite sure how it calculates the logic behind it, but I'm essentially at its mercy. This means my usable FSB frequencies are limited strictly to 166, 200, 220, and 240.

Gerald Turner48 said:I didn't read your whole question carefully... I think you were asking about the 200*14 ratio? I'll post an update once I've finished testing everything...

I don't actually have a specific "memory ratio" setting on my motherboard; it just handles the FSB automatically. I'm not entirely sure how it calculates it, but I'm stuck with whatever it decides... which basically means my only usable FSB frequencies are 166, 200, 220, and 240.

You can actually set the FSB to whatever you want; you aren't strictly limited by the board. On your setup, if I remember correctly, just set your RAM to 100% and switch the rest of the BIOS settings to Expert mode—that should lock the FSB and RAM into a 1:1 ratio. From there, it's easy. There are even some custom modded BIOS versions out there specifically for your board, but that's a whole different rabbit hole...
I think I had a solid link for your specific board saved somewhere, but I can't seem to track it down right now...

Well, someone started a thread over in the FBI:Memory section regarding ClockGen, so I just thought I’d bring it up... I actually know my way around changing the buffers 🙂

On another note, I managed to track down some modded BIOS files for my motherboard, though I haven't quite summoned the courage to flash them yet... maybe one of these days when I finally have enough room for two separate PCs set up

I really need some help here 😁

So, here’s my current setup:

An Abit NF8 paired with a Sempron 2800 + and some Kingmax PC-3200, 512mb

I’m wondering just how much I can push this processor, but what I’m really sweating is the memory settings... I’m dying to squeeze a little more speed out of these sticks...

Since I’ve never actually messed around with RAM like this before, I'm pretty lost so please, any advice would be huge 👍

Right now, everything is just sitting there on (Auto)

---------------------------
Max Memclock
1T/2T Memory
CAS# Latency
RAS# To Case Delay
Min RAS# Active Time
Row Precharge Time
----------------------------

Does anyone out there have experience with this? I know someone around here must have done this a million times, so if you could just let me know what settings to plug in so I can actually get my money's worth from this 500-something dollar memory I dropped...

Oh, and one more thing: when you start cranking up the memory speeds, do I need to bump up the voltage? And if so, how much...

👋 👋 👋

Alright, let me dive into this...
The Sempron is running on a 333(166) bus, though you might be able to push that memory up to 400...

I believe if you look through your BIOS settings, there should be an option to adjust the memory frequency—that’s how you’ll get it hitting 400 if it isn't doing so already.

By the way, when you start bumping up the memory voltage, you can safely go up to 2.8V. It doesn't run too hot at that level, and it's actually the maximum voltage allowed per the official specs. If you have a decent cooler installed, you could try bumping the Sempron voltage up to about 1.75V; if you do that, you might just find enough headroom to push the bus up to 200.

Gerald Turner48 said:Alright, let me dive into this...
The Sempron is running at a 333(166) bus speed, but you could potentially push that memory up to 400...

I'm pretty sure if you dig around in the BIOS, there should be an option to adjust the memory settings, you know, to get it hitting that 400 mark... if it isn't doing it already...

By the way, if you decide to bump up the memory voltage, you can safely go up to 2.8V... it won't overheat too badly and that’s basically the max allowed by the specs... if you can manage to nudge the Sempron voltage up to about 1.75V—assuming you have a decent cooler, obviously—then you might actually be able to crank that bus speed up to 200...

Thanks for the info, Gerald Turner48. To be honest, I think this processor is locked—actually, I'm starting to think all Semprons are locked—so there's really no point in trying to overclock it.

I've got a Zalmanov CNPS7000b-ALCu + cooler on here (using Arctic Silver paste) but my temps are hitting 65 degrees just sitting idle, which honestly feels insanely high to me... 😲 😲 😲
I've been checking the temperatures using Sandra and through the BIOS.

And man, my über powerhouse was basically the ultimate beast back in the day

celeron 800 Mhz => 1200 Mhz@35 C

It really ought to fly 😁

By the way, regarding the Zalmanov cooler on the Semporna... which motherboard are we talking about here??

Gerald Turner48 said:it’s gotta fly 😁

Anyway, regarding that Zalmanov cooler on the Semporna... what kind of motherboard are we talking about here??

The Abit NF8 nForce3 👍

But regardless, when you ask "do you think it'll fly on mine or..." 👋
I still feel like hitting 68 degrees is just way too hot, especially since you can't even crank this processor up any higher.... 🙂

Andrew Mendoza66 said:Abit NF8 nForce3 👍

Either way, "do you think I'm crazy or..." 👋
Honestly, 68 degrees feels way too hot, and there's zero chance of overclocking this chip... 🙂

Go do some actual reading here: http://www.insanetek.com/index.php?page=abitnf8

brightgull15 said:Do your homework a little bit... seriously... I was just digging through some old archives on InsaneTek and stumbled onto this page about the Abit NF8... man, talk about a trip down memory lane! It’s one of those deep dives that really makes you realize how much things have changed since we were all obsessing over every single tiny overclocking tweak and voltage bump back in the day... I remember sitting in my room for hours, staring at these specs and wondering if I could push my rig just a little bit further without everything going up in smoke... it's wild how much passion went into these enthusiast boards, even when the manuals were a total mess and you basically had to be a wizard just to get the BIOS to behave properly... anyway, check it out if you want to feel that old-school hardware itch again... http://www.insanetek.com/index.php?page=abitnf8

Alright, finally got things sorted out with that new BIOS update... and man, I gotta tell ya, my temps have dropped all the way down to 40 degrees while idling now! 👍 👍 👍

So, now I’m really wondering if there's any way to squeeze even a little more life out of this Sempron 2800 + of mine... like, is there any juice left in the tank? And does anyone actually have some solid ideas on how I should go about tweaking the settings for this 512mb Kingmax PC-3200 RAM I'm running... I'm honestly just looking for any kind of direction at this point... 😁

Andrew Mendoza66 said:Alright, cool. I flashed the new BIOS and now my idle temps are sitting at a solid 40 degrees.👍 👍 👍

So, now I'm wondering if there's any actual juice left to squeeze out of this Sempron 2800+ of mine. Anyone got any bright ideas on how to dial in the settings for my 512mb Kingmax PC-3200?😁

Lower is always better.😁

Look, try 2-2-2-x. Honestly, I doubt it'll work.😁

Or maybe something closer to 2.5-2-3-x. That might actually pull it off...

Check out the overclocking forums or just ask some James Roberts87 types who have messed around with Sempron 2800 + before—I haven't personally touched one.

There's one thing you just don't do on an AMD system: running the CPU and DDR asynchronously.😁 To get the absolute best performance out of an AMD build, the ratio between the CPU and DR needs to be 1:1.

mr. ex said:The lower, the better...😁

So, honestly, just give 2-2-2-x a shot, I really think it might work...😁

Or maybe something closer to 2.5-2-3-x, that could actually be the sweet spot...

Man, maybe I'm just being a total newbie here, but this is my first time messing around with high-end RAM, so I'm kind of lost on where everything goes (like that 2-2-2-x stuff) 😢

Right now, my BIOS settings look like this:

Max Memclock
1T/2T Memory
CAS# Latency
RAS# To Case Delay
Min RAS# Active Time
Row Precharge Time
--------------------------

Let me just check those out real quick and then I'll stop bugging you guys with all these silly questions... 👍

Usually, you'll see options like NORMAL, TURBO, or MANUAL for your memory settings in the BIOS

Just flip it over to TURBO—it usually defaults to 2-2-2-5—and call it a day...

If that doesn't cut it, you'll have to mess around with MANUAL and bump those timings up...

Raymond Rodriguez40 said:usually you'll see options like NORMAL, TURBO, or MANUAL for your memory timings in the BIOS

just flip it over to TURBO (it’s mostly gonna be 2-2-2-5) and you should be good to go...

but if that doesn't cut it, you'll have to mess around with the MANUAL settings and bump those numbers up a bit...

Well, I don't have any of those pre-set Turbo things in my BIOS, it just gives me the MANUAL option, which is kind of annoying because I actually want to know what everything does...

Like, take 2-2-2-5 for example (which corresponds to CAS#, RAS#... stuff like that)

1T/2T Memory
CAS# Latency
RAS# To Case Delay
Min RAS# Active Time
Row Precharge Time

Andrew Mendoza66 said:I don't have any specific settings defined for my RAM in the BIOS—it's just set to Manual—but I actually want to know which value goes where.

For example: 2-2-2-5 (which represents CAS#, RAS#... etc.)

1T/2T Memory
CAS# Latency
RAS# To Case Delay
Min RAS# Active Time
Row Precharge Time

CAS# Latency is usually your first number... so, that's the 2.
RAS# To Case Delay is typically the second one... so, that's the 2.
RAS# Precharge is the third digit, making it 2.
Cycle Time (TRAS) is the last number... so, that's the x (usually it's just the sum of those first three numbers).

mr. ex said:The CAS# Latency is usually just that first digit... so, you know, 2
RAS# That Case Delay part is typically the second one... so, 2
RAS#Presharge is the third digit, which would be 2
And then Cycle Time (tras) is that last number... basically x (it's usually just the sum of those first three digits...)

Man, that's actually what I was trying to ask you, mr. ex... 👍

Andrew Mendoza66 said:Look, that’s what I’m asking you, mr. ex.👍

Yeah, just ask him.😉

By the way, that RAS active time you're looking at? It's actually just the tras... basically, it's just the last digit.

And for heaven's sake, set the ratio to 1:1. No question about it.

Oh, and one more thing—go ahead and install CPU-Z. It'll lay out everything you need to know about your RAM and CPU perfectly.

For anything else, just hit up Everest.