Opteron 165 on NF4 Sli Infinity issues

[ShinyG]

Hi guys,

 

This is my first thread here and I hope you can help me.

 

First things first: my "machine"

 

CPU: Opteron 165 (CCBBE 0616XPMW)

CPU cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 PRO

MB: DFI NF4 SLI Infinity (latest bios flashed)

MB cooler: Thermalright HR-05 (non SLI , works if you only have one video card...) which gets it's air flux from the GPU cooler (see below)

Memory: 2x512 Geil Value DDR400 (runs 220 stable)

GPU: Radeon X800 GTO modded to XT (16 pipes, overclocked)

GPU cooler: Arctic Cooling Silencer 5

HDD: 2x160GB Hitachi SATA-II in RAID 0

DVD+RW

PSU: Thermaltake Purepower 460W

OS: WIN XP SP2 up to date

 

I followed the AMD64 overclocking guide to try and see what is the max freq my CPU runs at. I set the memory divider to 100 just to be sure and left all the timings on auto...

Results

-200x9 until aprox 275x9 runs perfectly stable in prime and memtest (stock voltage)

at about 280x9 the system freezes on boot, either Win Xp starts loading but I get a lovely BSOD..

I tried increasing the voltage till 1.55 and still the same...

I think 275x9 (~2500mhz) is WAY too low for this CPU, so I guess is that crappy PSU I have?

 

I have some more questions for you, but I need your opinion on the PSU matter first...

 

Thanks in advance,

[red930]

Well, your system isn't a huge powerhouse, but Thermaltake generally isn't known for great power supplies either. Do you have a multimeter so you can manually check it out?

 

What kind of temps are you seeing?

 

I'm not certain, but I'm guessing that they generally max out around 2750 or so, fyi.

[ShinyG]

I'll measure it later today and post back. Forgot to do it in the first place...

The reason I asked about the PSU is because I used the online eXtreme Power Supply Calculator to see how much power would my system need in case of overcloking. I entered the specs above and for 2700mhz it said I need a 457W PSU (or something) and that seems too close to my PSUs rating to actually work...

I also had one "problem" with the Thermaltake, as the fan broke (!?!) at one point, without me sticking anything into it (). The retailer said he cannot replace it, as the fan is not covered by the warranty (!?!). BS I said, argued with him, I threatened to call the Costumer Protection Office, he said he has family there, so I said "*!^@ you!" and left! I hate people with relatives in high places...

Anyway, I went and bought an Arctic Cooling 120mm fan and "modded" that crappy PSU!

As my system is quite quiet, I didn't notice the fan problem for a couple of days in which the PSU probably ran really really hot. I only opened the case when I realised by system wasn't stable after a couple of hours of Couter Strike: Source.

 

If the rails are unstable or the PSU turns out to be too low, I'll just change it to a Corsair HX520W or a OCZ OCZ600GXSSLI

Heck, I'll change it, even if my current PSU works good...

[ShinyG]

Results of my latest study on my machine using my trusty digital multimeter...

 

1. Rail voltages (test performed @ 270x9):

 

a. Boot 5.11V and 12.14V

b. Windows idle: 5.12V and 12.19V

c. Windows load (after 20 minutes of "dual" Prime95): 5.15V and 12.13V

 

In this configuration it ran 8hrs of double Prime95 so I guess it's safe to say it's pretty stable...

 

2. Overclocking test (during this test the 12V rail oscillated between 12.14V) and 12.20V)

 

1st run: 300x9, stock voltage, 133 divider, default timings

-locks up at the RAID screen

 

2nd run: 295x9, stock voltage, 133 divider, default timings

-locks up at "DMI Pool Data..." screen (getting better I thought... )

 

3rd run: 295x9, 1.45Vcc, 133 divider, default timings

-BSOD.... (wow, even better, I NEED more poweeeer!)

 

4th run: 295x9, 1.55Vcc, 133 divider, default timings

-bad, bad crash: screen full of ASCII and random beeps after POST

 

5th run: 295x9, back to 1.45Vcc, 133 divider, tweaked timings

-at last Windows boots, temps are ok (Diode: ~30C)

-I run prime: BANG, I get this error after "about" one second:

FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.5, expected less than 0.4

 

I thought: no problem, I'll restart, loosen some timings and try again. So I did:

 

6th run: 295x9, 1.45Vcc, 133 divider, loose timings

-black screen, no POST, contious beep (Damn it!)

 

Had to reset the BIOS so now I'm running a stock Opty 165 while typing this, I feel so ashamed... :sad:

I'll soon get back to 270x9 which was stable, or try stuff on the milder side of 290x9...

 

I'll try that later, but now here are some questions to all you DFI gurus:

 

1. Regarding the PSU voltages, do they seem ok?

2. Is it justified to ditch this PSU and get a better one? (like the Corsair HX520)

3. From your expertise in A64 overcloking, what seems to be the likely-est (invented word !?) reason for the problems I have described above?

 

Any suggestions are more than welcome!

 

Thank you!

[27floyd]

Your doing ok there..

For 2700Mhz you shouldnt need to go over 1.4v-1.45v.

What kind of memory timing options does that board have?

With that much of a divider, your gonna need to adjust the secondary memory timings..

A better PSU is always a good idea, but the volts on yours do seem ok..

[ShinyG]

I have a pair of 512 sticks (Geil Value with heat-spreaders). They're rated @ 2.5-4-4-8 2.6V-2.9V

Not too much OC headroom there, I'm planning on getting a decent 2x1024Mb kit soon so I won't bother to much with the Geils.

 

In my previous posts I forgot to mention that I've set the timings for the memory manually even if I said "default timings". That's because with a 133 divider, at 300mhz bus, the mainboard detected the memory as being "DDR399" and tried to put it on CL2 which wouldn't even boot

[ShinyG]

New development: it seems that my CPU is not Orthos stable even at 2430MHz with the memory running on 133 divider (below DDR400 with standard timings).

I don't get it...

The CPU diode temp never passed 36deg C, and each core was at ~46. The strange thing is that it passed the 8 hour dual prime a week ago...

Back to the drawing board! Currently running at 2210Mhz (tooo damn low), apparently stable.

Any ideeas why this happens?

[27floyd]

Its your ram not the cpu....

You need to adjust your timings.....Do you have a acreenie of the BIOS?

[bldegle2]

i will go with the ram settings as suspect, recently i have been playing a lot with dividers and cpu HTT maxes, it is amazing what a couple of tweaks in the memory department can do for a higher, stable overclock.

 

laterz.

[kitfit1]

it is amazing what a couple of tweaks in the memory department can do for a higher, stable overclock.

 

It's not that amazing bldegle, clocking on the NF4 has always been down to ram and timings, plus the mem controller.

[ShinyG]

Thanks guys, you gave me my trust back

It's almost midnight here in Romania and I feel the urge to try one more time!!!

Be right back with screenies! (Don't worry, I'll just edit this post )

 

Back with results: 270x9, same Orthos error after 5 minutes of blend test:

 

Now, here are some BIOS pics with the current CPU and memory settings:

 

Also, here are some screenshots with the options I didn't find in the A64 overclocking guide posted here. These seem to be Infinity specific settings, but they might have some LanParty equivalent...I hope someone can shed some light on what they actually do!

 

[WR6X]

I see you're still running on stock Vcore. Maybe upping it may help. @home I've also a set (for testing mainly) of GEIL Value. Got it to 250MHz without any problems. I'll be @ home in 1 1/2 week. If you want i can give you some settings.