Foq, your tech savvy opinion requested!

[Mindf!3ldzX]

SAPPHIRE- HOME

vs

ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

Note : I dont recall how much OC'ing headway the x1650 provided, but if I recall it wasnt much before artifacts started occuring. The asus 8500GT has been overclocked to these spec's.....

CPU-Z Validator 3.1

the 2nd link gives the stock clocks for the asus brand.

which you suggest is best? and what do you think about my near 1ghz gain in OC the 90nm Windsor AM2?? going for 3ghz per core tommorow.

[foq]

When it comes to video cards, I don't really have brand preference. There's not really a huge difference in build quality in video cards between brands like there is with motherboards, but there is how they handle customer service, how good thier warranty is... stuff like that. Between ASUS and Sapphire... I don't really know. However I can tell you that my ASUS 9600GSO has been a champ when it comes to the overall build quality and the overclock I got out of it, but the thermal paste was terrible... it was nothing like I've ever seen before. Normally, you wipe the excess thermal paste off with toilet paper or something, then you hit it with a Q-tip soaked in rubbing alcohol, but the rubbing alcohol didn't even touch this stuff�I had to use Goo-B-Gone. For me it's not such a big deal since I have confidince in myself in that I know what I'm doing (and the paste I replaced that crap with), but I just didn't like them using that... junk. Anyways, between Sapphire and Asus I have no preference.

The x1650 and the 8500GT are two very different cards. The x16xx series is infamous for being crappy to start with and furthermore being crappy clockers. My 8500GT however was one of the best cards I've ever had in terms of overclocking... the core went from 500 to 700 and the memory went from 333 (666) to 400 (800). My ASUS 9600GSO went from 550 to 750 and the memory went from 800 (1600) to 850 (1700). Not a huge jump but things to flaky if I took it to 900 (1800) so I left it at 850 (1700).

You have an F3 Windsor... I had an F2 and it would not do 3GHz no matter what I did. The F3 can do more though... you should be able to hit 3 with it. Doing some research, the F3 windsors should be able to do 3.3GHz on 1.6v, but that's too much voltage for my taste. You probably won't get that high anyway because you have a relatively low multiplier compared to the specific chip I looked at. Try setting it to run at 250x12 (3GHz) with 1.45v. Drop your memory to DDR2 533 if you want to stay at 667 speed or keep it at 667 and you should end up with DDR750 (of course there's more play in this with changing timings and voltages to keep stability).

Rememer, if you change stuff and it doesn't POST when you reboot, clear the cmos. Hit the switch on the back of the power supply to turn it off, hit the power button on the tower to drain the capacitors, and find the CMOS jumper and move it (your motherboard manual will tell you where the CMOS jumper is and what to do with it), or get the CMOS battery out and leave it out overnight, then put it back in. Also, make sure you have a good board that can handle the voltage. I had a cheap $70 budget-bunk board once (BIOSTAR TF720 A2+) and it cooked and took my 9800GT out with it when I tried overclocking a Phenom 9500 to 2.65GHz with 1.375v. Thankfully, Newegg accepted my RMA, but my 9800GT was lost forever (I threw all the stuff away that came with it) along with that Phenom 9500.

I reccomend using Linx or OCCT Linpack for stability testing. The programs are overly rigorous so they will go off about errors with nothing else will, which I like because if your stuff gets through that test, then there's almost no way for it to get weird crashes/lockups etc.

[Mindf!3ldzX]

Wow that doesnt sound like thermal paste, it sounds like they used gorilla glue lols

Yea I've read online about people getting their's to the 3ghz mark,and so far everything has been gravy. I normally just pull the cmos battery, usually just takes 10-15 seconds the clear the cmos,and that 10-15 seconds gives the cpu time to cool if I've pushed it too far,which so far doesnt seem to be the case as of now...

Okay so,lets go for broke, bbiab

[spooker]

isn't peaceful coexistence great

[Mindf!3ldzX]

i can easily respect a fellow computer builder,especially someone who likes to push things to the brink of ->pewf<- ,dead hardware.

Update, I reached 3000.5 clock rate(250x12,vcore 1.36,temps under load 69-77degrees) and as I went for one more FSB interval the mobo's bios decided it wanted to lock me out,and force me back into even smaller incremental gains and now im back to 2775 ,going back to 3 slowly,and thats all the juice their is to squeeze!. So far, it seems the bios is just plain and simply being a prick and activating some sort of failsafe. When foq's jibba jabba about overclocking and 8500gt pitch-fork review, I was instantly ready to tweak,so I modified my Artic Freezer 64 Pro and attached the stock fan,minus the heatstink on the opposite side of the heat sink fins and now have a push/pull heat removal.I had to remove a case fan for the mod,but I also noticed a significant difference in vcore temps. under load OCCT, 55 degree's start up temp (idle) , and tops out no higher than the low 60s. YAY =o

[foq]

55*c is way too high for idle.

Make sure you're using the Linpack tab in OCCT. The regular OCCT tab is a generic stability test and it's not as rigorous. The Linpack test will push your temps very high though, higher than you'll ever see them normally.

Your BIOS won't let you go higher than 1.36v? Man, that's dildos. You should need at least 1.4v to be stable.

[foq]

Did you blow something up?

[Mindf!3ldzX]

of course not, lol. look, no problemo!

AMD Processors for Desktops: AMD Phenom?, AMD Athlon? FX, AMD Athlon? X2 Dual-Core, AMD Athlon?, and AMD Sempron? Processor <- SPECS for my CPU. Notice the normal operating temp's, volts, and other details. Then compare to this link..

My temp's are perfect,per my particular chip's spec sheet.I could in theory based on temperatures alone,well exceed 3ghz,but other factors at play im sure will make it become unstable,we'll see in a few days.


im using kingston 677,under clock the memory before increasing fsb for stability,might be able to take it further we shall see though.

[foq]

Hm... your HT link speed is kinda high. You might want to look around in your bios for a HT link multiplier and drop it to 4x to set it back at 1000.

[metchsteekle]

why is it OVERNINETHOUSSAAAAAAA_______