Should newbie CPU be "run in" like a new car (Burn in stock

[decptt]

I have a question about "RUN IN"

 

simply question: Should CPU be "run in"? and if yes, HOW??

 

If a overclocker get a new CPU, should he/she burn it in a stock speed and stock voltage before overclock? how long for run in (8 hrs-48 hrs??? not ZERO HR: just clock it MAX then decrease it until stable)

[Death909]

To my knowledge, most people (including me) just overclock. When you hit instability you raise the voltage and see how far you go, till it doesn't go any higher or you don't want to raise the voltage.

 

As for burn-in, I don't know about to many people that do that, and so far mine has not increased in max clockspeed at 1.55v since I first overclocked it. AMD / Intel mostlikely burn-in the CPUs before they leave the factory, its mostly certain RAM (BH-5, UTT, CH-5) that can be burnt-in with noticable difference, and that is mostly because the RAM is not burnt-in at the factory due to it being mass-produced and normally untested.

[NEOAethyr]

All ram can be burned in, and I don't mean killing it with alot of voltage .

 

As for the cpu, if I got a new one well...

 

I would find to highest oc with either the lowest voltage, or the highest sustainable oc period.

 

Then drop the vcore where it's not stable, and hammer the crap out of it until it is stable.

You have to do this where it gets the least amount of errors possible, meaning no errors.

 

Do this by taking away cpu time from teh prog that you're using to hammer the cpu.

 

Prime works and s&m works.

Prime is easy simple stuff.

It fails and you try again.

If it does'nt bsod on you or reset, etc.

 

I myself now use s&m to do that sort of thing, and use prime to burn in memory 1st.

 

For my cpu, a athonxp, I use the fpu test since that's the bunk part on my cpu.

I use the lowest load %, ie 5%.

If it's to much where it gets an errors or so, I take away seom cpu time from it by running stuff in the background.

 

Eventually after enough passes in loop mode length, I can up the load % and I don't need to take away cpu time.

 

Cool it much as possible too, this helps.

But watch out, don't get your hardrives to cold, the mid 10 c's and lower are dangerous for hardrives as I found out the other day.

Keep them around 20c min.

 

This is all up to you really.

 

 

Best thign for soemone liek you to do is either find the highest oc with stock votlages or highest oc period, then hammer it with prime without dropping the vcore.

Just hammer it for about 30hrs or so like that.

It'll get faster and faster by doing it.

 

If you want to later, you can drop the vcore a step and use prime, it may fail, but you can keep trying until you get say 12hrs worth, it's all good.

But it won't be 100% stable,as prime is'nt really anythign hard to do 98% of the time.

But it'll help.

 

 

Upping the voltage on any part thinking it's gonna help it is stupid, no offence to anyone that's tried this, I tried it too.

It makes parts slower, even intel did a study on this and said so them selves.

 

Also it tends to kill memory, why?

Because errors = bad, breaking in using memtest tends to keill memory unless you're lucky enough to be close to the edge, and beable to pull off a breakin.

It's best not to try that.

 

 

Good luck.

None the less you dn have to do any of this.

But if you do, you'll find that you'll need less and less vcore down the road.

Liek I said, all you need to do is prime the crap out of it, even at a stable vcore, but no more then what's needed to pass prime.

 

 

Edit:

Oh yeah, the better the psu is(ie the more cleaner power, less noise I mean), the easier this is to do.

[marcuri]

see my post here:

 

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34891

 

In short i personally don't think burning in is what you're looking to do. Theres simply no shortcut to breaking in a processor except for time. If you want, just simply be comfortable running it at a *relatively* higher voltage (than what u'd deem as your personal max.. as long as its not over the max recommended by people for your particular processor)... as long as its stable for about a month and then lower the voltage down as far as you can after one month of use without changing any other settings and seeing how much you can reduce it with it still being stable. Keep re-evaluating every 1-3 months and lowering it accordingly. I think a processor is like a car or a baseball glove. Only thing thats going to break it in is time and use.

 

The safest way is to use it for about two months without overclocking at all. Then attempt to overclock it as I believe it will net better results at lower voltages once the processor has been broken in with use (not simply high amounts of heat and voltage). Maybe you could replace months with weeks... for me it worked after a few months.. i didn't try any sooner than a couple of months

 

Please note this is something thats based simply on my own observations with my own computer setup. I think its a really reasonable and overlooked idea/theory with processors. Who knows how right it is.. but logically i think it makes sense. At least wait a good week after the computer has been running 24/7 or as close to that as possible. A few good cooling and heating cycles would also help get the thermal paste transfering heat optimally... so maybe a prime 95 stress test for an hour followed by an hour of the computer being off about 3-4 times during that 1 week before overclocking would help with temps when you finally do overclock.

 

Time for breaking in a processor is something people don't take seriously enough... and while i've never heard anyone suggest this.. or any of the above really how i've stated it (thats not to say it hasn't been said) i think if ou look ate my idea/theory it makes alot of sense. Hopefully if you follow my advice you'll have a processor that lasts longer and has a better intial overclock. Remember, every couple of months try to lower the voltages and get it stable at a lower voltage if you can. it'll help temps and increase the processor life. eventually you will reach a point where you can't go any lower.. but that probably won't happen until approx 2-3 adjustments over 6-8 months. my guess is you can get it down a good entire volt over that period. likewise theres also the possiblity of increasing your overclock with the same voltage... but i don't recommend that... you'll probably end up with a processor that will die MUCH MUCH sooner. Good luck. hope this helps

[NEOAethyr]

I totally agree .

[zoomee]

good question - i'd have to say yes after my 4400+ used to be only 2.5 on both cores - it refused to do 260x10 - now - after a couple of months - I've got 2.6! - well wierd - looks like a burn-in though.

[smolt]

Then drop the vcore where it's not stable, and hammer the crap out of it until it is stable.

 

 

What size Hammer do you use?

[marcuri]

lol.. wise butt

[smolt]

[NEOAethyr]

A tiny hammer, as long as it is a hammer .

 

Meaning:

Hammer it hard as possible without errors.

 

Prime seems to be safer(Not totally sure) because it stops right when it finds out it errored.

 

Memtest seems to be a prob when burning in.

 

S&M, use the highest load % as possible without errors.

If the lowest % is getting errors, watch some movie in the background or somehting so it takes away enough cpu time from S&M, it will help.

 

I dn if watching videos is the best thing though but mp3's are'nt enough.

Surfing the net is though, if you can do that, but don't idle for to long.

 

Eventually prime will allow more and more time to be run.

Or s&m will stop erroring at a given load %, and you can step it up a tad.

 

It takes a lot of time to do this, I mean alot.

 

Also prime may error out very quickly, you have to keep on it.

Eventually you'll get on hour out of it for instance, then more and more.

 

But at 1st you may error right away.

I dn if prime is a good idea in that case but I dn, I no longer use prime to do that myself, but I do know it does work.

 

 

One more thing, if you get screwed up, ie no screen, or reset or something of that matter, you're probably gonna want to clear the cmos.

I found that I get soem strange problems if I get some sort of errors with either with fsb or cpu stuff, if I had probs.

If I don't clear the cmos, I may lose the usb keyboard, or windows will refuse to bootup at a given vcore or something.

Other strange things have happend as well.

 

So any sign of strangeness, reset the cmos and try again.

 

 

Oh and if s&m is'nt passing the avg length memory test, close or not even close, does'nt matter...

Hammer it with prime, once you get the 8hrs out of it try s&m again.

If you get say 1-3 errors in the avg length memory test, remember the test it had an error on, run the short test on it, then the avg test on it.

Just that one test you failed.

 

If you pass both, try the whoel range of tests again, 1-4, with avg length, you should pass.

If a diffrent test fails this time, do the same as above and try again, it should'nt take long for you to pass it all in one shot.

 

This seems to work, but it may not depending on your curcumstances.

To many errors and it's only gonna get worse.

 

Prime helps alot bus wise for break in though.

[Elias]

well if your using as5 then it takes aapx 100 hours for it to fully kick in I belive. Maby just being to catious on my end but id like to make sure the cpu works before I void all the warrenties

[decptt]

Thanks, guys

I will do it with my new system in Jan (if I have enough money to buy Opty + Expert + 2x1GB)