Of course, our readers know all about overclocking. In fact, many reviews of processors and video cards would not be complete enough without looking at the potential for overclocking.
If you consider yourself an enthusiast, forgive us for some background information - we'll get to the technical details shortly.
What is overclocking? At its core, the term is used to describe a component that runs at higher speeds than its specifications to increase performance. You can overclock various computer components, including the processor, memory and video card. And the level of overclocking can be completely different, from a simple increase in performance for inexpensive components to a rise in performance to an outrageous level, which is normally unattainable for retail products.
In this guide, we will focus on overclocking modern processors AMD to get the best possible value for your chosen cooling solution.
The level of overclocking success is highly dependent on the components of the system. To begin with, you need a processor with good overclocking potential, capable of operating at higher frequencies than the manufacturer specifies. AMD is currently selling several processors that have fairly good overclocking potential, with the "Black Edition" line of processors directly aimed at enthusiasts and overclockers due to the unlocked multiplier. We tested four processors from different families of the company to illustrate the process of overclocking each of them.
For overclocking the processor, it is important that other components are also selected with this task in mind. The choice of a motherboard with an overclocking-friendly BIOS is quite critical.
We took a couple of Asus M3A78-T (790GX + 750SB) motherboards, which not only provide a fairly large set of BIOS features, including Advanced Clock Calibration (ACC) support, but also work great with the AMD OverDrive utility, which is important for squeezing the most out of Phenom processors.
Selecting the right memory is also important if you want to achieve maximum performance after overclocking. When possible, we recommend installing high-performance DDR2 memory that is capable of clock speeds above 1066MHz on AM2+ motherboards with 45nm or 65nm Phenom processors that support DDR2-1066.
During acceleration, frequencies and voltages increase, which leads to an increase in heat dissipation. Therefore, it is better if your system will run a proprietary power supply that provides stable voltage levels and sufficient current to cope with the increased demands of an overclocked computer. A weak or outdated power supply, loaded "to the eyeballs", can spoil all the efforts of an overclocker.
Increasing frequencies, voltages and power consumption, of course, will lead to an increase in heat dissipation levels, so the cooling of the processor and case also has a significant effect on overclocking results. We didn't want to hit any overclocking or performance records with this article, so we ended up with rather modest $20-25 coolers.
This guide is intended to help users who are less experienced with overclocking processors to enjoy the performance benefits of overclocking a Phenom II, Phenom, or Athlon X2. Let's hope that our advice will help novice overclockers in this difficult but interesting business.
A variety of terms, often denoting the same thing, can confuse or even frighten an uninitiated user. Therefore, before we go directly to the walkthrough, we will look at the most commonly used terms related to overclocking.
CPU frequency(CPU speed, CPU frequency, CPU clock speed): The frequency at which the computer's central processing unit (CPU) executes instructions (for example, 3000 MHz or 3.0 GHz). It is this frequency that we plan to increase in order to get a performance boost.
HyperTransport link frequency: interface frequency between the CPU and the northbridge (for example, 1000, 1800 or 2000 MHz). Usually the frequency is equal to (but should not exceed) the northbridge frequency.
Northbridge frequency: frequency of the northbridge chip (for example, 1800 or 2000 MHz). For AM2+ processors, increasing the northbridge frequency will result in better memory controller performance and L3 frequency. The frequency must be at least as high as the HyperTransport link, but it can be increased much higher.
Memory frequency(DRAM frequency and memory speed): The frequency, measured in megahertz (MHz), at which the memory bus operates. Can be specified as a physical frequency, such as 200, 333, 400, and 533 MHz, or effective frequency, such as DDR2-400, DDR2-667, DDR2-800 or DDR2-1066.
Base or reference frequency: The default is 200 MHz. As you can see from the AM2+ processors, other clocks are subtracted from the base clock using multipliers and sometimes dividers.
Before we move on to the description of frequency calculations, it should be mentioned that most of our guide covers overclocking AM2+ processors such as Phenom II, Phenom or other Athlon 7xxx models based on the K10 core. But we also wanted to cover early AM2 Athlon X2 processors based on the K8 core, such as the 4xxx, 5xxx, and 6xxx lines. Overclocking K8 processors has some differences, which we will mention a little later in our article.
Below are the basic formulas for calculating the frequencies of the AM2+ processors mentioned above.
If we want to overclock the processor (increase its clock speed), then we need to either increase the base frequency or increase the CPU multiplier. To take an example, the Phenom II X4 940 is running at a base frequency of 200 MHz and a CPU multiplier of 15x, resulting in a CPU clock speed of 3000 MHz (200 * 15 = 3000).
We can overclock this processor to 3300 MHz by increasing the multiplier to 16.5 (200 * 16.5 = 3300) or raising the base clock to 220 (220 * 15 = 3300).
But it should be remembered that the other frequencies listed above also depend on the base frequency, so raising it to 220 MHz will also increase (overclock) the frequencies of the north bridge, the HyperTransport channel, as well as the memory frequency. On the contrary, simply increasing the CPU multiplier will only increase the CPU clock speed of AM2+ processors. We'll look at simple multiplier overclocking with AMD's OverDrive utility below, and then move into the BIOS for more advanced base clock overclocking.
Depending on the manufacturer of the motherboard, the BIOS options for the processor frequency and northbridge sometimes use not just a multiplier, but the ratio of FID (Frequency ID) and DID (Divisor ID). In this case, the formulas will be as follows.
By keeping the DID at level 1, you'll get to the simple multiplier formula we discussed above, meaning you can increase CPU multipliers in 0.5 increments: 8.5, 9, 9.5, 10, etc. But if you set the DID to 2 or 4, you can increase the multiplier in smaller increments. To complicate matters, values can be specified as frequencies, such as 1800 MHz, or as multipliers, such as 9, and you may have to enter hexadecimal numbers. In any case, refer to your motherboard manual or look online for hex values for different CPU and Northbridge FIDs.
There are other exceptions, for example, it may not be possible to set multipliers. So, in some cases, the memory frequency is set directly in the BIOS: DDR2-400, DDR2-533, DDR2-800 or DDR2-1066 instead of choosing a memory multiplier or divider. In addition, the frequencies of the north bridge and the HyperTransport link can also be set directly, and not through a multiplier. In general, we do not recommend worrying too much about such differences, but we recommend that you return to this part of the article if the need arises.
Processors
Memory
Video cards
cooler
Motherboard
power unit
Useful utilities.
Hardware monitoring: Hardware Monitor, Core Temp, Asus Probe II, other utilities included with the motherboard.
Performance Testing: W Prime, Super Pi Mod, Cinebench, 3DMark 2006 CPU test, 3DMark Vantage CPU test
Remember that you are exceeding the manufacturer's specifications. Overclocking is done at your own risk. Most hardware manufacturers, including AMD, do not offer a warranty for damage caused by overclocking, even if you use AMD's utility. THG.ru or the author is not responsible for damage that may occur during overclocking.
AMD OverDrive is a powerful all-in-one overclocking, monitoring and testing utility for AMD 700 series motherboards. Many overclockers don't like to use a software utility under the operating system, so they prefer to change the values directly in the BIOS. I also usually avoid the utilities that come with motherboards. But after testing the latest versions of the AMD OverDrive utility on our systems, it became clear that the utility is quite valuable.
We'll start by taking a look at the AMD OverDrive utility menu, highlighting interesting features as well as unlocking the advanced features we'll need. After launching the OverDrive utility, you are greeted with a warning message that clearly states that you are using the utility at your own peril and risk.
When you agree, pressing the "OK" key will take you to the "Basic System Information" tab, which displays information about the CPU and memory.
The "Diagram" tab contains a diagram of the chipset. If you click on a component, more detailed information about it will be displayed.
The "Status Monitor" tab is very useful during overclocking as it allows you to monitor the processor clock speed, multiplier, voltage, temperature and load level.
If you click on the "Performance Control" tab in the "Novice" mode, you will get a simple engine that allows you to change the frequency PCI Express(PCIE).
To unlock the advanced frequency setting, go to the Preference / Settings tab and select " Advanced Mode".
After selecting the "Advanced" mode, the "Novice" tab was replaced by the "Clock/Voltage" tab for overclocking.
The "Memory" tab displays a lot of information about memory and allows you to adjust delays.
There's even a built-in benchmark to quickly evaluate performance and compare it to previous performance.
The utility also contains tests that load the system to check the stability of the system.
The last tab "Auto Clock" allows you to perform automatic overclocking. It takes a lot of time, and all the excitement is lost, so we did not experiment with this function.
Now that you are familiar with the AMD OverDrive utility and have switched it to Advanced mode, let's move on to overclocking.
WITH motherboard On the 790GX chipset and the Black Edition processors we used, overclocking with the AMD OverDrive utility is fairly easy. If your processor does not belong to the Black Edition line, then you will not be able to raise the multiplier.
Let's take a look at the normal operation of our Phenom II X4 940 processor. The base frequency of the motherboard varies from 200.5 to 200.6 MHz in our system, which gives a core frequency between 3007 and 3008 MHz.
It is useful to run some performance tests at the stock clock speed to compare the results of the overclocked system with them later (you can use the tests and utilities we suggested above). Benchmarks allow you to evaluate performance gains and losses after changing settings.
To overclock the Black Edition processor, check the "Select All Cores" checkbox on the "Clock/Voltage" tab, then start increasing the CPU multiplier in small steps. By the way, if you do not check the box, then you can overclock the processor cores separately. As you overclock, don't forget to look at temperatures and constantly run stability tests. In addition, we recommend that you make notes regarding each change, where you will describe the results.
Since we expected a solid boost from our Deneb processor, we skipped the 15.5x multiplier and went straight to the 16x multiplier, which gave the CPU core frequency at 3200 MHz. With a base frequency of 200 MHz, each increase in the multiplier by 1 gives an increase in the clock frequency of 200 MHz, and an increase in the multiplier by 0.5 - 100 MHz, respectively. We ran post-overclock stress tests with the AOD stability test and the Prime95 Small FFT test.
After stress testing Prime 95 for 15 minutes without a single error, we decided to raise the multiplier further. Accordingly, the next multiplier of 16.5 gave a frequency of 3300 MHz. And at this core frequency, our Phenom II passed through the stability tests without any problems.
A multiplier of 17 gives a clock speed of 3400 MHz, and again stability tests were performed without a single error.
At 3.5 GHz (17.5*200) we successfully passed a one-hour stability test under AOD, but after about eight minutes in the "heavier" Prime95 application, we got " blue screen" and the system rebooted. We were able to run all benchmark tests at these settings without crashing, but we still wanted our system to get through the 30-60 minute Prime95 test without crashing. Therefore, the maximum overclocking level of our processor at stock voltage is 1.35 B is between 3.4 and 3.5 GHz.If you don't want to raise the voltage, then you can stop there.Or you can try to find the maximum stable CPU frequency at a given voltage by increasing the base frequency in steps of one megahertz, which for multiplier of 17 will give 17 MHz at each step.
If you are not averse to raising the voltage, then it is better to do this in small steps of 0.025-0.05 V, while you need to monitor the temperatures. We kept the CPU temperatures low and we started raising the CPU voltage little by little, with a slight rise to 1.375V causing the Prime95 benchmarks to run at 3.5GHz quite steadily.
It took 1.400V to run stable at a multiplier of 18 at 3.6GHz. It took 1.4875V to be stable at 3.7GHz, which is more than the default AOD allows. Not every system will be able to provide sufficient cooling at this voltage. To increase the default AOD limit, edit the AOD .xml settings file in Notepad to increase the limit to 1.55V.
We had to bump the voltage up to 1,500V to get the system stable in the 3.8GHz 18 multiplier tests, but even bumping it up to 1.55V didn't make the Prime95 stress test stable. The core temperature during the Prime95 tests was somewhere in the 55 degrees Celsius region, which means we hardly needed better cooling.
We rolled back to a 3.7 GHz overclock, with the Prime95 test successfully running for an hour, which means the stability of the system was checked. Then we began to increase the base frequency in 1 MHz steps, while the maximum overclocking level was 3765 MHz (203 * 18.5).
It is important to remember that the frequencies that can be obtained through overclocking, as well as the voltage values \u200b\u200bfor this, change from one processor sample to another, so in your case everything may be different. It is important to increase the frequencies and voltages in small increments while performing stability tests and monitoring the temperature throughout the process. With these CPU models, increasing the voltage does not always help, and processors can even become unstable if the voltage is increased too much. Sometimes, for better overclocking, simply strengthening the cooling system is enough. For optimal results, we recommend keeping the CPU core temperature below 50 degrees Celsius under load.
Although we were unable to increase the processor frequency above 3765 MHz, there are still ways to further improve system performance. Raising the frequency of the northbridge, for example, can have a significant impact on application performance, as it increases the speed of the memory controller and L3 cache. The northbridge multiplier cannot be changed from the AOD utility, but it can be done in the BIOS.
The only way to increase the northbridge clock speed under AOD without rebooting is to experiment with a CPU clock speed with a low multiplier and a high base frequency. However, this will increase both HyperTransport speed and memory frequency. We'll take a closer look at this issue in our guide, but for now, let me show you the overclocking results of three other Black Edition processors.
The other two AM2+ processors overclock exactly like the Phenom II, except for one more step - enabling Advanced Clock Calibration (ACC). The ACC feature is only available on AMD SB750 southbridge motherboards, such as our ASUS 790GX model. ACC can be enabled in both AOD and BIOS, but both require a reboot.
For 45nm Phenom II processors, it is better to disable ACC, as AMD states that given function already present in the Phenom II crystal. But with 65nm K10 Phenom and Athlon processors, it is better to set ACC to Auto, +2% or +4%, which can increase the maximum achievable processor frequency.
regular frequencies.
Max multiplier
Maximum overclocking
The above screenshots show our Phenom X4 9950 overclocked at stock 2.6GHz with 13x multiplier and 1.25V CPU voltage. used for overclocking. The multiplier was increased to 15x, which gave a 400-MHz overclock at stock voltage. The voltage was increased to 1.45 V, then we tried the ACC setting in Auto, +2%, and +4%, but Prime95 could only work for 12-15 minutes. Interestingly, with ACC in Auto mode, a multiplier of 16.5x and a voltage of 1.425V, we were able to increase the base frequency to 208 MHz, which gave a higher stable overclock.
Regular frequencies
Maximum overclocking without voltage increase
Maximum overclocking without using ACC
Maximum overclocking
Our Athlon X2 7750 runs at stock 2700 MHz and 1.325 V. Without a voltage boost, we were able to increase the multiplier to 16x, resulting in a stable 3200 MHz. The system was also stable at 3300 MHz when we slightly increased the voltage to 1.35 V. With ACC disabled, we increased the processor voltage to 1.45 V in 0.025 V steps, but the system was not able to work consistently with a 17x multiplier. She "flew" even before stress testing. Setting ACC for all cores to +2% allowed us to achieve an hour of stable operation of Prime95 at 1.425 V. The processor did not respond very well to voltage rises above 1.425 V, so we were able to get a maximum stable frequency of 3417 MHz.
The benefits of enabling ACC, as well as overclocking results in general, vary significantly from one processor to another. However, it's still nice to get such an option at your disposal, and you can spend time fine-tuning the overclocking of each core. We didn't get a huge boost in overclocking from enabling ACC on both processors, but we still recommend checking out the 790GX review, where we took a closer look at ACC, where this feature had a greater impact on the overclocking potential of the Phenom X4 9850.
Our motherboard Asus M3A78-T has been flashed latest version A BIOS containing support for new CPUs and also providing the best chance of successful overclocking.
First you need to enter the BIOS of the motherboard (usually done by pressing the "Delete" key during the POST boot screen). Check your motherboard manual for how you can clear the CMOS (usually with a jumper) if the system fails the POST boot test. Remember that if this happens, then all previously made changes, such as time / date, turning off the graphics core, boot order, etc. will be lost. If you're new to BIOS setup, pay close attention to the changes you'll make and write down the initial settings if you can't remember them later.
Simply navigating through the BIOS menus is perfectly safe, so if you're new to overclocking, don't be afraid. But make sure that you exit the BIOS without saving the changes you have made if you think that you might accidentally mess something up. This is usually done with the "Esc" key or the corresponding menu option.
Let's delve into Asus BIOS M3A78-T as an example. BIOS menu differ from one motherboard to another (and from one manufacturer to another), so use the instructions to find the appropriate options in the BIOS of your model. Also, keep in mind that the options available vary greatly by motherboard and chipset model.
In the main menu (Main) you can set the time and date, connected drives are also displayed there. If the menu item has a blue triangle on the left, then you can go to the submenu. The item "System Information", for example, allows you to see the version and date of the BIOS, the brand of the processor, the frequency and volume of the installed random access memory.
The "Advanced" menu consists of several nested submenus. The "CPU Configuration" item gives information about the processor and contains a number of options, some of which are best disabled for overclocking.
Most of the time you will probably spend in the menu item "Advanced" "JumperFree Configuration". Manual exposure important settings provided by setting the "AI Overclocking" item to the "Manual" mode. Other motherboards will probably have these options in a different menu.
Now we have access to the necessary multipliers that can be changed. Please note that in the BIOS the CPU multiplier is changed in increments of 0.5, and the northbridge multiplier in increments of 1. And the HT channel frequency is specified directly, and not through a multiplier. These options vary significantly between different motherboards, for some models they can be set through FID and DID, which we mentioned above.
In the "DRAM Timing Configuration" item, you can set the memory frequency, whether it is DDR2-400, DDR2-533, DDR2-667, DDR2-800 or DDR2-1066, as shown in the photo. In this BIOS version, you do not need to set the memory multiplier/divider. In the "DRAM Timing Mode" item, you can set delays, both automatically and manually. Reducing latency can improve performance. However, if you do not have completely stable memory latency values at hand at different frequencies, then during overclocking it is very reasonable to increase the latency of CL, tRDC, tRP, tRAS, tRC and CR. Also, you can get higher memory frequencies if you increase the tRFC delays to very high values like 127.5 or 135.
Later, all "relaxed" delays can be returned back to squeeze out more performance. The process of reducing one latency per system startup is time-consuming, but well worth the effort to get maximum performance while maintaining stability. When your memory is running outside of specifications, run a stability test with utilities such as the Memtest86 boot CD, as memory instability can lead to data corruption, which is undesirable. With all that said, it's safe to let the motherboard adjust the latencies on its own (usually setting pretty "relaxed" latencies) and focus on overclocking the CPU.
IN this case the adjective "advanced" is not very appropriate, because, unlike the methods discussed above, we will present here overclocking through the BIOS by increasing the base frequency. The success of such overclocking depends on how well your system components can overclock, and to find the capabilities of each of them, we will iterate over them one by one. In principle, no one forces you to follow all the steps given, but finding the maximum for each component can result in higher overclocking, since you will understand why you hit one or another limit.
As we said above, some overclockers prefer direct BIOS overclocking, while others use AOD to save time for testing, since they do not need to reboot every time. The settings can then be manually entered into the BIOS and try to improve them even more. In principle, you can choose any method, since each has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Again, it would be nice to disable the Cool "n" Quiet and C1E, Spread Spectrum and automatic systems fan controls that reduce fan speed. We also disabled the "CPU Tweak" and "Virtualization" options for some of our tests, but did not find a noticeable effect on any of the processors. You can later enable these features, if required, and you can check if they affect system performance or on the stability of your overclocking.
Now we'll move on to the technique that owners of non-Black Edition processors will have to follow to overclock them (they can't increase the multiplier). Our first step is to find the maximum base frequency (bus frequency) that the processor and motherboard can operate at. You will quickly notice all the confusion in naming the various frequencies and multipliers, which we already mentioned above. For example, the reference clock in AOD is called "Bus Speed" in CPU-Z and "FSB/FSB Frequency" in this BIOS.
If you plan to overclock only through the BIOS, then you should lower the CPU multiplier, northbridge multiplier, HyperTransport multiplier, and memory multiplier. In our BIOS, lowering the northbridge multiplier automatically reduces the available HyperTransport link frequencies to or below the resulting northbridge frequency. You can leave the CPU multiplier at default and then lower it in AOD, which makes it possible to further increase the CPU frequency without rebooting.
For our Phenom X4 9950 processor, we chose an 8x multiplier in the AOD utility, since even a 300 MHz base frequency at this multiplier will be lower than the stock CPU frequency. We then raised the base frequency from 200 MHz to 220 MHz, and then increased it in 10 MHz steps up to 260 MHz. We then moved to a 5 MHz step and increased the frequency to a maximum of 290 MHz. In principle, it is hardly worth increasing this frequency to the limit of stability, so we could easily stop at 275 MHz, since it is unlikely that the northbridge will be able to operate at such a high frequency. Since we were overclocking the base frequency in AOD, we ran AOD stability tests for a few minutes to make sure the system was stable. If we did the same in the BIOS, then the simple ability to boot under Windows would probably be enough. good test, and then we would run final stability tests at a high base frequency to make sure.
Since we already lowered the multiplier in AOD, we know the maximum CPU multiplier and now we already know the maximum base frequency that we can use. With the Black Edition processor, we can experiment with any combination within these limits to find the maximum value for other frequencies such as Northbridge frequency, HyperTransport link frequency, and memory frequency. On this moment we will continue overclocking tests as if the CPU multiplier was locked at 13x. We will look for the maximum CPU frequency by increasing the bus frequency by 5 MHz at a time.
Whether overclocking via BIOS or via AOD, we can always go back to the 200MHz base clock and set the multiplier back to 13x, which will give us a stock clock speed of 2600MHz. By the way, in this case, the northbridge multiplier will still remain 4, which gives a frequency of 800 MHz, the HyperTransport channel will operate at 800 MHz, and the memory will operate at 200 MHz (DDR2-400). We will follow the same procedure for increasing the base frequency in small increments, performing stability tests each time. If necessary, we will increase the CPU voltage until we reach the maximum CPU frequency (by turning on the ACC in parallel).
Having found the maximum CPU frequency of our AMD processors, we have taken a significant step towards increasing system performance. But the processor frequency is only part of the overclocking. To squeeze out the maximum performance, you can work on other frequencies. If you increase the voltage of the north bridge (NB VID in AMD OverDrive), then its frequency can be increased to 2400-2600 MHz and higher, while you increase the speed of the memory controller and L3 cache. Increasing the frequency and reducing the delays of RAM can also have a positive effect on performance. Even the high performance DDR2-800 memory we used can be overclocked to over 1066 MHz by increasing the voltage and possibly lowering the latency. The HyperTransport link frequency usually does not affect performance above 2000 MHz and can easily lead to instability, but it can also be overclocked. The PCIe frequency can also be slightly overclocked to somewhere around 110 MHz, which can also give a potential performance boost.
As all the mentioned frequencies slowly rise, stability and performance tests should be carried out. Setting different parameters is a lengthy process, perhaps beyond the scope of our guide. But overclocking is always interesting, especially since you will get a significant performance boost.
Let's hope that all our readers who want to overclock an AMD processor now have enough information on hand. Now you can start overclocking using the AMD OverDrive utility or other methods. Keep in mind that the results and the exact sequence of steps will vary from one system to another, so don't blindly copy our settings. Use this manual only as a guide to help you find the potential and limitations of your system on your own. Take your time, don't step up, monitor temperatures, run stability tests, and bump the voltage up a bit if needed. Always carefully feel the limit of safe overclocking, because a sudden increase in frequency and voltage blindly is not only the wrong approach for successful overclocking, but it can also damage your hardware.
Last tip: each motherboard model has its own characteristics, so it doesn’t hurt to get acquainted with the experience of other owners of the same motherboard before overclocking. Adviсe experienced users and enthusiasts who have tried this motherboard model in work, I will help to avoid "pitfalls".
We tested another instance AMD processor Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition, provided by the Russian representative office of AMD. It ran successfully at 3.6 GHz when we increased the supply voltage to 1.488 V (CPUZ data). It seems that 3.6 GHz is the threshold for most processors when air-cooled. We successfully overclocked the memory controller to 2.2 GHz.
Overclocking various computer hardware components (also called overclocking) is both a hobby and a professional necessity for a wide range of IT professionals. Each chip is accelerated according to special algorithms. The processor, as the main chip of the PC, too.
Overclocking the processor, on the one hand, is easy. As a rule, the matter is limited to making just a few changes to a certain kind of settings. However, determining what kind of numbers and indicators should be present in them sometimes requires almost engineering, professional knowledge. It is no accident that overclocking is the prerogative of not only amateurs, but also experienced IT specialists.
Among IT experts, there is a version that the most overclocked microcircuits are produced by the Canadian company AMD. Therefore, chips of this brand are especially popular with overclockers. Of course, there are ardent opponents of this point of view, who believe that the eternal competitor of the Canadians - Intel (by the way, still winning in terms of global sales) - is able to produce chips that are compatible with overclocking procedures just as well. However, according to many experts, AMD chips have the ability to overclock by at least 20%, or even more. Perhaps, they admit, chips from Intel are capable of showing the best results, however, AMD's guaranteed acceleration, regardless of the specific chip brand, will most likely look preferable.
How to overclock an AMD processor and achieve optimal performance at the same time? What are the nuances of chip acceleration to consider? What programs to use?
As we have already said, overclocking is a way to artificially increase the performance of the processor (and after it, also the entire computer as a whole). This operation is carried out, as a rule, by making appropriate changes to the settings of the main PC chip. Somewhat less often, overclocking is carried out by hardware methods (it is understandable - there is a chance of damaging the processor). Change software settings one way or another connected with the increase in the values of the clock frequency of the chip. If in the factory state the processor operates, say, at 1.8 GHz, then by overclocking this figure can be increased to 2-2.5 GHz. At the same time, the computer will most likely continue to work stably. Moreover, it is quite possible that games and applications will be loaded on it that the processor would not have pulled in the factory state. Thus, overclocking is also a way to increase the functionality of a PC.
The best AMD processor for overclocking - what is it? Experts recommend paying attention to the following microcircuit models. Among inexpensive chips is the Athlon 64 3500 processor. Despite the fact that it is single-core and far from the most modern, its architecture, as experts admit, is well compatible with overclocking. If you take more expensive chips, you can pay attention to the Athlon 64 X2 chip. However, according to many experts, the AMD FX processor in a wide range of modifications has the greatest overclocking ability. Of course, each of the models has different compatibility with acceleration. It often happens that chips of the same series, but with different indices, show completely different results during performance testing in an overclocked state. There are even cases when chips of the same brands, the capabilities of which are being studied in parallel on separate computers, behave very differently.
Many IT specialists try to compare the performance of AMD processors after overclocking. But regardless of the results obtained (which, as we said above, may differ even for chips of the same brand on different PCs), experts note a pattern: as the manufacturability of microcircuits grows, the Canadian manufacturing company, as a rule, expands the possibilities for overclocking its chips .
Before you start overclocking the processor, you should do some preparatory work. Conventionally, it can be divided into two stages - hardware and software. As part of the first, the most important task is to acquire a high-quality cooling system. The fact is that overclocking the processor is almost always accompanied by an increase in the temperature of the microcircuit (this can result in instability of its operation and even failure). There is a high probability that the standard cooler will not be able to cool the chip efficiently enough. Therefore, if we decide to do overclocking, we buy a good fan for the processor.
Regarding the software stage of the preparatory work, it should be said that it is important to acquire the appropriate software. We'll need good program to overclock the processor. In principle, you can get by with a regular tool in the form of a BIOS interface (especially since a significant part of our work will be carried out in it). But experienced experts still recommend using third-party software as well. What is the best overclocking software for AMD processor? According to many experts, this is AMD OverDrive. Its main advantage is versatility. It is equally well suited for overclocking most processor models from the Canadian brand.
We also need a program for measuring the temperature of the processor in real time through Windows. A utility like SpeedFan is quite suitable. It, like AMD OverDrive, can be easily downloaded through simple queries in search engines.
As we said above, the performance of the processor is determined mainly by its frequency. But this is far from the only parameter of this kind. There are also other important frequencies:
North Bridge;
HyperTransport channel (used in most modern AMD processors).
The main rule regarding the frequency ratio: the value for the northbridge should be identical to that set for HyperTransport (or a little more). With memory, everything is somewhat more complicated (but we will not overclock it in this case, so we do not take into account the nuances associated with RAM now).
As such, the frequency for each of these components is calculated using a simple formula. The multiplier set for a particular microcircuit is taken, and then the product of it and the so-called base frequency is calculated. Both parameters can be changed by the user BIOS settings.
Having completed a short theoretical digression, we move on to practice.
As we said above, AMD OverDrive, according to many experts, is the best program for overclocking a processor under the Canadian brand. At least, according to experts, it is ideal for the typically overclocked series of AMD 700 chips. There are no problems with how to overclock an AMD Athlon processor in most modifications, experts believe.
Having opened the utility, you immediately need to transfer it to the operating mode, which is called Advanced. Then select the Clock/Voltage option. Check the box next to Select All Cores. After that, we can start increasing the processor frequency through a multiplier. The characteristics of AMD processors, as a rule, allow you to immediately set a number from 16 (with a default base frequency of 200 MHz). If the computer is stable, the chip temperature does not exceed 75 degrees (measured using the SpeedFan program or its equivalent), then you can try to increase the multiplier to 17 or more units.
Some overclockers talk about the usefulness of changing not only the frequency of the chip, but also the voltage. The AMD overclocking utility we use allows you to do this. Experts recommend: it is better to increase the voltage in extremely small portions. You need to add literally 0.05 volts, and then measure the stability of the system and the temperature of the chip. If all parameters are normal, then add as many more.
The program for overclocking the AMD processor, the possibilities of which we studied above, is not the only tool for accelerating the operation of the chip. No less opportunities, as many experts admit, are provided by the BIOS interface. It is known to be in every computer. No additional software needs to be installed. How to overclock AMD processor through BIOS?
First of all, we go to software interface this system (usually this is done by pressing the DEL key at the very beginning of the computer boot). The names of the menu items are very different, depending on the specific model motherboard. Therefore, it is quite possible that some values in the instructions below will not coincide in location with the actual ones. In this case, the user should look into the factory manual for the motherboard - it is usually included with the delivery of the computer.
Options related to overclocking the processor are usually located in the Advanced section of the main menu. The item containing the frequency settings in many cases sounds like JumperFree Configuration. In order to set the desired values manually, set the AI Overclocking line to Manual. After that, the user will be able to change the frequency and multiplier settings.
The rules for setting values for each of the parameters are the same as in the AMD OverDrive program. You should not get too carried away with large numbers for multipliers and a sharp increase in voltage. You also need to keep in mind that if we increase the performance of AMD processors through the BIOS, then to activate the settings you have set, you need to reboot each time (after saving the values - as a rule, for this you need to return to the main menu and press the F10 key). This, as many users rightly believe, is less convenient than through the OverDrive program.
At the same time, according to some experts, the BIOS interface allows in some cases (it all depends on the specific model of the motherboard) to work with advanced settings for the processor frequency and multipliers. In particular, the BIOS can disable power-saving modes, which can limit the intensity of the cooler speed, which should be just the maximum during overclocking.
One of the key moments of overclocking is the search for limiting values for the chip frequency. How to overclock an AMD processor to the maximum? The main thing here, experts say, is to identify the limit values for all components of the formula, which we described above. That is, the overclocker will have to experiment not only with the multiplier, but also with the base frequency. Experts recommend revealing its limiting value very gradually. At the same time, it is not recommended to increase the multiplier (as well as the voltage). The criterion for reaching the maximum value of the base frequency is the overall stability of the system, while maintaining, of course, the temperature of the processor within the normal range.
As we said above, in addition to the frequency of the chip, there are other parameters that are important in terms of the overall performance of the computer. What are the patterns here? How to overclock an AMD processor and other hardware components at the same time - such as memory, northbridge and HyperTransport channel?
Experts note that it is RAM that lends itself best to increasing the frequency. In particular, modules with a nominal value of 800 MHz can be overclocked to 1000 MHz and higher. In turn, the frequency of the northbridge is effectively increased by increasing its voltage. At the same time, by the way, the performance of some controllers may also increase. The frequency of HyperTransport, as we said above, is better not to make it too high. Let it be equal to the values set for the north bridge. Experts note that it is not necessary to change it - the fact that the HyperTransport frequency is lower than that of the north bridge, as a rule, does not affect the overall performance of a computer running on an AMD processor.
As we said above, the AMD FX chip, according to many experts, is one of the best for overclocking. What are the characteristics of its acceleration? How to properly overclock AMD FX processors?
At the very beginning, we talked about the stages that precede acceleration. This rule is also relevant for working with FX. As for the hardware stage, apart from installing a powerful cooler, it is necessary to carry out one more procedure highly recommended by many experts - replacing the factory thermal paste with fresh one. To do this, we have to remove the case cover system block and remove the processor from the motherboard connector. This must be done very carefully - the surface of the chip is very sensitive to external influences. Thermal paste should be applied in a thin, even layer.
The software stage of preparing for FX overclocking will include slightly different procedures compared to those that we described at the beginning of the article. AMD OverDrive this example we will not use. However, we will need another useful utility - CPU-z - it is designed to monitor the processor frequency values in real time. You can download it at in large numbers portals. The request is simple: "download CPU-z".
So, we go back to the BIOS. A lot of motherboard models on which the FX processor is installed have a modern UEFI interface. Therefore, this small instruction is designed to work in it. Having entered the UEFI BIOS, the user should select the Extreme Tweaker item. In the window that opens, you need to find the line CPU Ratio. The default value should be changed to 24.
A little lower is the NB Voltage line. There you need to activate the Manual option, which will allow us to set the voltage manually: we set the number to 1.5 volts. The next setting of interest to us is Power Control. It is slightly above NB Voltage. Selecting it, set the value of Ultra High for Load Line Calibration there.
We return to the main UEFI menu. We find the item CPU Configuration and select the line Cool and Quiet. Set the value to Disabled. We save the changes in the BIOS settings by pressing the F10 key. We reboot.
We are waiting for Windows to load and run CPU-z. We study the logs of the program. If the frequency set by us (calculated it should be approximately 115-120% of the factory one) is maintained at stable values, then the overclocking was successful.
Athlon 64 x2 model 5200+ was positioned by the manufacturer as a mid-range dual-core solution based on AM2. It is on its example that the procedure for overclocking this family of devices will be outlined. Its margin of safety is quite good, and with the appropriate components, it was possible to get chips with indices 6000+ or 6400+ instead.
The AMD Athlon 64 x2 processor model 5200+ can easily be upgraded to 6400+. To do this, you just need to increase its clock frequency (this is the point of overclocking). As a result, the final performance of the system will increase. But at the same time, the power consumption of the computer will also increase. Therefore, not everything is so simple. Most components computer system should have a safety margin. Accordingly, the motherboard, memory modules, power supply and case should be more High Quality, which means that their cost will be higher. Also, the CPU cooling system and thermal paste must be specially selected specifically for the overclocking procedure. But it is not recommended to experiment with a standard cooling system. It is designed for a standard thermal package of the processor and will not cope with the increased load.
The characteristics of the AMD Athlon 64 x2 processor clearly indicate that it belonged to the middle segment of dual-core chips. There were also less productive solutions - 3800+ and 4000+. This First level. Well, higher in the hierarchy were CPUs with indices 6000+ and 6400+. The first two processor models could theoretically be overclocked and get 5200+ out of them. Well, the 5200+ itself could be modified up to 3200 MHz, and due to this, a variation of 6000+ or even 6400+ could be obtained. And technical specifications they were almost identical. The only thing that could change was the amount of second-level cache and the technological process. As a result, the level of their performance after overclocking was practically the same. So it turned out that at a lower cost, the end owner received a more productive system.
AMD Athlon 64 x2 processor specifications may vary significantly. After all, three versions of it were released. The first of these was codenamed Windsor F2. It worked at a clock frequency of 2.6 GHz, had 128 KB of cache in the first level and, accordingly, 2 MB in the second level. This semiconductor crystal was manufactured according to the norms of 90 nm technological process, and its thermal package was equal to 89 W. At the same time, its maximum temperature could reach 70 degrees. Well, the voltage supplied to the CPU could be 1.3 V or 1.35 V.
A little later, a chip with the code name Windsor F3 appeared on sale. In this modification of the processor, the voltage changed (in this case it dropped to 1.2 V and 1.25 V, respectively), the maximum operating temperature increased to 72 degrees and the heat pack decreased to 65 watts. On top of this, the process itself has changed - from 90 nm to 65 nm.
The last, third version of the processor was codenamed Brisbane G2. In this case, the frequency was raised by 100 MHz and was already 2.7 GHz. The voltage could be 1.325 V, 1.35 V or 1.375 V. The maximum operating temperature was reduced to 68 degrees, and the thermal package, as in the previous case, was 65 watts. Well, the chip itself was manufactured using a more progressive 65 nm process technology.
The AMD Athlon 64 x2 model 5200+ processor was installed in socket AM2. Its second name is socket 940. Electrically and in relation to software it is compatible with AM2+ based solutions. Accordingly, it is still possible to purchase a motherboard for it. But the CPU itself is already quite difficult to buy. This is not surprising: the processor went on sale in 2007. Since then, three generations of devices have already changed.
A fairly large set of motherboards based on socket AM2 and AM2 + supported the AMD Athlon 64 x2 5200 processor. Their characteristics were very diverse. But in order to maximize the overclocking of this semiconductor chip, it is recommended to pay attention to solutions based on the 790FX or 790X chipset. These motherboards cost more than average. This is logical, since they had much better overclocking capabilities. Also, the board must be made in the ATX form factor. You can, of course, try to overclock this chip on mini-ATX solutions, but the dense arrangement of radio components on them can lead to undesirable consequences: overheating of the motherboard and the central processor and their failure. Specific examples include Sapphire's PC-AM2RD790FX or MSI's 790XT-G45. The M2N32-SLI Deluxe from Asus based on the nForce590SLI chipset developed by NVIDIA can also be a worthy alternative to the above solutions.
Overclocking an AMD Athlon 64 x2 processor is impossible without a high-quality cooling system. The cooler that comes in the boxed version of this chip is not suitable for these purposes. It is designed for a fixed heat load. With an increase in CPU performance, its thermal package increases, and the standard cooling system will no longer be able to cope. Therefore, you need to buy more advanced, with improved technical specifications. We can recommend using the CNPS9700LED cooler from Zalman for this purpose. If you have it, this processor can be safely overclocked to 3100-3200 MHz. In this case, there will definitely not be any special problems with overheating of the CPU.
Another important component to consider before AMD Athlon 64 x2 5200+ is thermal paste. After all, the chip will not function in the normal load mode, but in a state of increased performance. Accordingly, more stringent requirements are put forward for the quality of thermal paste. It should provide improved heat dissipation. For these purposes, it is recommended to replace the standard thermal paste with KPT-8, which is perfect for overclocking conditions.
The AMD Athlon 64 x2 5200 processor will run at higher temperatures during overclocking. In some cases, it can rise to 55-60 degrees. To compensate for this increased temperature, one quality replacement of thermal paste and cooling system will not be enough. You also need a case in which air flows could circulate well, and this would provide additional cooling. That is, inside the system unit should be as much as possible free space, and this would allow for the cooling of computer components due to convection. It would be even better if additional fans were installed in it.
Now let's figure out how to overclock the AMD ATHLON 64 x2 processor. Let's find out on the example of the 5200+ model. The CPU overclocking algorithm in this case will be as follows.
If during the overclocking process the PC starts to freeze and it is impossible to return to the previous values, then it is necessary to reset the BIOS settings to the factory settings. To do this, just find at the bottom of the motherboard, next to the battery, a jumper labeled Clear CMOS and rearrange it for 3 seconds from pins 1 and 2 to pins 2 and 3.
Not only the maximum temperature of the AMD Athlon 64 x2 processor can lead to unstable operation of the computer system. The reason can be caused by a number of additional factors. Therefore, during overclocking, it is recommended to conduct a comprehensive check of the reliability of the PC. The Everest program is best suited for this task. It is with its help that you can check the reliability and stability of the computer during overclocking. To do this, it is enough to run this utility after each change made and after the OS has finished loading and check the status of the hardware and software resources of the system. If some value is out of range, then you need to restart the computer and return to the previous settings, and then re-test everything.
The temperature of the AMD Athlon 64 x2 processor depends on the operation of the cooling system. Therefore, at the end of the overclocking procedure, it is necessary to check the stability and reliability of the cooler. For these purposes, it is best to use the SpeedFAN program. It is free, and the level of its functionality is sufficient. It will not be difficult to download it from the Internet and install it on a PC. Then we launch it and periodically, for 15-25 minutes, control the number of revolutions of the processor cooler. If this number is stable and does not decrease, then everything is in order with the CPU cooling system.
The operating temperature of the AMD Athlon 64 x2 processor in normal mode should vary from 35 to 50 degrees. During overclocking, this range will decrease towards the last value. At a certain stage, the CPU temperature can even exceed 50 degrees, and there is nothing to worry about. The maximum allowable value is 60 ˚С, approaching which it is recommended to stop any experiments with overclocking. A higher temperature value can adversely affect the semiconductor chip of the processor and disable it. To take measurements during the operation, it is recommended to use the CPU-Z utility. Moreover, temperature registration must be carried out after each change made to the BIOS. You also need to withstand an interval of 15-25 minutes, during which you periodically check how hot the chip is.
The word "overclocking" has firmly entered the lexicon of PC owners, and in computer magazines and articles on the Internet it is quite common. However, many users have no idea how to overclock the processor, or experience difficulties in this when changing platforms from Athlon XP or Pentium 4/Celeron to Athlon 64. New motherboards have their own characteristics that affect overclocking, due to which is why attempts to force the processor to work in forced mode are sometimes unsuccessful. In this article, we will give a number of recommendations for overclocking the AMD64 platform, which will be useful to "novice enthusiasts".
First of all, let's take a look at how Athlon 64 fundamentally differs from Athlon XP or Pentium 4/Celeron in terms of overclocking: this processor is connected to the northbridge on the motherboard by a special HyperTransport bus that operates at 800/1000 MHz, and if earlier the frequency processor frequency was the product of the bus frequency and the CPU ratio, now this indicator is determined by multiplying the CPU ratio by the frequency of the motherboard master oscillator. By default, the generator outputs 200 MHz, while the frequency of the HyperTransport bus, like that of the processor, is regulated by the corresponding multiplier. Nevertheless, some motherboard manufacturers continue to call the oscillator frequency selection point bus frequency selection, which is not entirely correct.
Now let's move on to the overclocking features. First, the PCI and AGP bus frequencies are also tied to the generator frequency by default. Therefore, if you do not explicitly set them in the corresponding BIOS items, then they will grow during overclocking. The video card, controller operating on these buses hard drives, LAN card and other devices do not tolerate high frequencies and may fail. Unfortunately for owners of motherboards based on VIA K8T800, this chipset cannot fix PCI/AGP bus frequencies during overclocking. Owners of motherboards based on nForce3/4 can change these frequencies manually in the BIOS.
Another feature of Athlon 64 overclocking is the way to set the memory bus frequency. If the owners of motherboards based on nForce2 could set this parameter hard regardless of the processor bus frequency, now it is also tied to the generator frequency. Therefore, the item in BIOS Setup, called Memory Frequency - DDR400, actually means that the memory bus frequency coincides with the frequency of the master oscillator and will also increase during overclocking. The remaining memory modes - DDR333, 266, 200 - are implemented using divisors, which are approximately 1.22; 1.55 and 2. Let's explain this with an example: by setting the oscillator frequency to 244 MHz in the BIOS and setting the memory type to DDR333, we get a frequency of 244: 1.22 = 200 MHz (DDR400).
For overclocking, it is useful to reduce the multiplier for the HyperTransport bus to three, since its frequency also increases and becomes additional reason instability. For those who are concerned about the question “Will lowering the HyperTransport frequency affect system performance?”, We can reassure - bandwidth this tire is enough with a head even in this version.
Let's now consider the overclocking of the Athlon 64 processor in practice. As test bench maternal ASUS board A8N-E based on the nForce4 Ultra chipset, AMD Athlon 64 3000+ processor with a real frequency of 1800 MHz on the Venice core, two Transcend DDR400 memory modules (timings 2.5-3-3-8), NVIDIA graphics card GeForce 6600 overclocked to 430/630 MHz.
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So, in the BIOS, go to the second tab, called Advanced, and then to the CPU Configuration item. Here we lower the HyperTransport bus multiplier by changing the HyperTransport Frequency from Auto to 3X. Next, go to the DRAM Configuration sub-item and change the Timing Mode value from Auto to Manual. After that, the Memclock index value item becomes available. We install DDR266 instead of DDR400 in it, so that the memory does not turn out to be a limiting factor during overclocking, which will allow us to reach the generator frequency of at least 300 MHz.
We return to the topmost level and go to JumperFree Configuration. By default, the oscillator frequency settings are not available, but after setting the Overclock Profile to Manual, the CPU Frequency item appears. The processor frequency that can be achieved during overclocking depends largely on the user's luck - it is different for each instance. In this case, in the preliminary tests, the processor started up with an oscillator frequency of 285 MHz instead of the standard 200 MHz. In general, the frequency should be increased in increments of 20 MHz, raising it until the system passes stability tests. After that, it makes sense to reduce the step to 1 MHz and more accurately select the maximum operating frequency. In addition, to increase stability, you can increase the voltage on the processor in the CPU Voltage item to 1.55 V. Also, here you should set the maximum CPU Multiplier value instead of Auto (in our example, this is x9) and change the PCI Clock Synchronization Mode item from Auto to 33, 33 MHz (never set To CPU). Since this board does not have an AGP port, nothing else needs to be changed. Otherwise, we would have to fix 66 MHz in the AGP Clock item. On some motherboards, however, due to errors in the BIOS, during overclocking, the AGP and PCI frequencies may increase even when manually selecting standard bus frequencies. This can be easily avoided by setting the frequencies for them to 67 and 34 MHz, respectively. It is also not uncommon for the points for AGP/PCI frequencies to be combined into one, but the frequencies, despite this, are fixed for both buses. The name and location of the above BIOS items may differ on other motherboards, but, nevertheless, the principle remains the same, and it will not be difficult to find the settings necessary for overclocking.
As a result, the actual processor frequency increased from the nominal 1800 MHz to 2565 MHz, i.e. increased by 42.5%. Growth rates in common applications are presented in diagrams and depend on the specific task.
| 1800MHz | 2565MHz | Growth percentage | ||||
| 3Dmark05, Video Marks | 1024×768 | 2843 | 2897 | 1,90 | ||
| 1024×1280 | 2309 | 2325 | 0,69 | |||
| 3Dmark05, CPU Marks | 4119 | 5146 | 24,93 | |||
| 3Dmark01, Video Marks | 1024×768 | 15382 | 17384 | 13,02 | ||
| SuperPi, c | 46 | 35 | 23,91 | |||
| Doom3 FPS | Ultra High Quality | 1024×768 | 58,8 | 59,8 | 1,70 | |
| 1024×1280 | 44,2 | 44,6 | 0,90 | |||
| high quality | 1024×768 | 69,4 | 71,7 | 3,31 | ||
| 1024×1280 | 48,5 | 48,7 | 0,41 | |||
| Far Cry, FPS | Demo Research | 1024×768 | Minimal FPS | 30,9 | 39,38 | 27,44 |
| Average FPS | 46,22 | 51,47 | 11,36 | |||
| Maximum FPS | 73,91 | 77,16 | 4,40 | |||
| 1024×1280 | Minimal FPS | 28,79 | 29,63 | 2,92 | ||
| Average FPS | 37,53 | 37,71 | 0,48 | |||
| Maximum FPS | 50,97 | 52,35 | 2,71 | |||
| Demo Regulator | 1024×768 | Minimal FPS | 27,81 | 35,32 | 27,00 | |
| Average FPS | 51,88 | 58,36 | 12,49 | |||
| Maximum FPS | 81,97 | 87,3 | 6,50 | |||
| 1024×1280 | Minimal FPS | 27,33 | 30,26 | 10,72 | ||
| Average FPS | 40,85 | 41,97 | 2,74 | |||
| Maximum FPS | 73,74 | 67,39 | -8,61 | |||
| Demo Pier | 1024×768 | Minimal FPS | 39,28 | 51,5 | 31,11 | |
| Average FPS | 58,52 | 72,84 | 24,47 | |||
| Maximum FPS | 100,11 | 126,51 | 26,37 | |||
| 1024×1280 | Minimal FPS | 35,31 | 33,58 | -4,90 | ||
| Average FPS | 51,95 | 55,37 | 6,58 | |||
| Maximum FPS | 81,76 | 78,27 | -4,27 | |||
Of course, AMD engineers could not afford the luxury of removing overclocking protection. The new Athlon XP/MP based on the Palomino core is a perfect example of the high quality work that a chipmaker is capable of. If you now want to connect the L1 bridges with a regular pencil, this will no longer help. As we remember, this method was quite effective on previous Athlons with the Thunderbird core. Thus, the dreams of cool "overclockers" who, even before buying a processor, made plans for overclocking, dissipated.
What has changed with the arrival of Palomino? In addition to adding new L bridges, pits were burned into the processor using a laser. The pits make it difficult to connect the contacts (using, say, the same pencil) to remove the protection. From a technical point of view, the protection of the old Athlon and the new Athlon XP/MP has not changed.
And although we found a few technical features during testing, all you have to do to overclock is connect L1 pins. This unlocks the multiplier set at the factory with bridges L3 and L4.
After we connected the L1 pins, the AMD Athlon 1900+ ran at 1666 MHz (2000+) without any problems.
After numerous trial and error, taking into account the advice of our readers, in the end we got a clear step by step guide to help users remove multiplier protection on Athlon XP. And that's not it. In addition, we have added testing of the "new" processor so that you can evaluate the performance gain.
The time it takes to remove the multiplier is about 30 minutes. After that, you can overclock the processor by changing its multiplier. We do not take into account overclocking by increasing the FSB frequency, because this leads to an increase in frequencies. AGP tires and PCI, which does not have the best effect on stability.
Boot screen with overclocked Athlon XP:
BIOS recognized it as Athlon XP 2000+,
though we won't see that processor for another 6 weeks or so.
To connect the L contacts, you will need the following tools:
Unlike the usual Athlon (a ceramic substrate with a Thunderbird core), on which the L1 pins were easily connected using a regular pencil, AMD built in more sophisticated protection in the Palomino. If on the old Athlon Thunderbird the resistance between the ground and the lower row of L1 contacts approached infinity, then on the new Athlon XP (Palomino core, organic packaging) the resistance turned out to be 945 Ohm (about 1 kOhm).
For this reason, the pencil will not work: if you connect the L1 contacts with a pencil, the resistance of the graphite will be too high. Accordingly, the current will not flow through the bridges, and the contacts will be open. In other words, AMD also tried to make life difficult for overclockers from this side. The only way out of this situation is to use a substance with minimal resistance, such as conductive zapon varnish, which can be bought at a radio store.
The resistance between ground and the L1 pins has been reduced to about 1 kOhm - the pencil no longer works.
Old Athlon Thunderbird: We measured the resistance of a graphite bridge made with a pencil. As you can see, it is higher than 1 kOhm, but in this case everything will work.
Another measurement showed that the symbols "L1", "L2" and the triangle (circled in blue) are grounded. You should avoid accidentally leaking varnish to these points, otherwise all your efforts will go down the drain.
Before exercising with varnish, the pits burned out by the laser should be filled. If the lacquer lacquer leaks into these pits, you again run into the problem of unnecessary grounding. With the naked eye, it is difficult to see a grounded copper plate closing the hole from below.
First, you should cover the L1 contacts (top and bottom rows) with a piece of tape or something similar. This will separate the pits from the contacts for the next step - filling the pits with superglue.
Appearance of L1 pins on Athlon XP 1900+
The same at high magnification
Be careful. Carefully check the connection of the tape and the substrate along the entire length so that the adhesive does not penetrate where it should not.
Once the contacts have been completely insulated with tape, superglue can be applied. Carefully monitor the amount of glue so that only a small part is squeezed out onto the processor.
Adding superglue to the exposed area between L1 pins
An enlarged view of the pits filled with glue
Wait 10 minutes for the glue to dry completely. Next, carefully peel off the tape and use a scalpel to gently remove any remaining adhesive.
Removing glue residue between L1 contacts with a paper cutter
Now it's time to connect the L1 pins (top to bottom in pairs) using a conductive zapon lacquer. Again, you will have to cover some of the contacts with tape, otherwise the varnish may get into unnecessary places. First, attach tape to both sides of the future L1 bridge (in the picture below - from top to bottom). Secondly, close everything except the bridge by applying strips of adhesive tape in a horizontal direction (in the figure below - from left to right). Given several failed attempts (including broken processors), we strongly recommend that you follow our instructions.
Each bridge is 'tied up' individually to ensure that the zapon varnish is accurately applied. In the picture you can see how exactly you should surround the contact with tape. Otherwise, you will not be able to connect the contacts correctly. After covering the extra places, apply varnish with a small brush.
Conductive zapon varnish, which can be purchased at a radio supply store.
Applying varnish on a homemade "window" in the film.
In fact, the window will be completely filled with varnish.
Enlarged image of the first bridge induced with varnish
Now you should remove the film and you will get a good enough connection. Follow the same procedure for each remaining pair of contacts until all L1 bridges are closed. Next, measure the resistance of the resulting bridges (from the bottom contact to the top). The resistance should be close to 0 ohm! Check again if there has been an accidental connection of adjacent bridges to each other. If you find such a connection, it should be carefully opened using a scalpel. When measuring resistance, do not press hard on the probe, otherwise you may chip off the varnish.
Bridges, of course, can be removed. For this you will need a hard eraser. Then you can do the bridging procedure again.
So, the contacts are connected properly (for better safety, you can seal the contacts with tape). It's time to put the processor on the motherboard, in our case Epox EP-8KHA+ with VIA chipset KT266A. The following illustration shows that the multiplier can be easily changed.
The multiplier can now be safely changed from the BIOS
The 12.5X multiplier is not available in the BIOS - the processor interprets 13X as such. We believe Epox specialists will correct this situation in the future.
Change core voltage in BIOS for overclocking
As you can see, in order to successfully overclock the Athlon XP 1900+ to 2000+, we had to raise the core voltage to 1.85 V.
Picture with the new clock speed and multiplier for Windows 98. After the BIOS shows the Athlon XP frequency of 1666 MHz (Athlon XP 2000+), you can boot the operating system (in our case, Windows 98SE). As you can see, the popular WCPUID tool shows the following data: core frequency 1666 MHz, multiplier 12.5X, FSB frequency 133 MHz. The run was successful.
The situation has not changed under Windows XP.
For the most inquisitive, we have prepared two tables of the dependence of the multiplier and voltage values on the closure of the corresponding bridges.
Deciphering the values of the bridges to change the multiplier
If your motherboard supports overclocking (for example, it allows you to set a multiplier in the BIOS), then closing the L1 bridges will be the most convenient solution for you. We have described this process in detail above. Initially, the processor comes with open L1 bridges. In this case, the multiplier is set by the bridges L3 and L4. But if you want to change these bridges, you will not be able to return everything as it was. Therefore, we do not provide instructions for working with bridges L3 and L4.
Deciphering the meanings of bridges L11
to adjust core voltage
Motherboards that support overclocking usually allow you to manually change the core voltage. If your motherboard only auto-voltages, you'll need to find a way to increase the voltage for normal overclocking.
We had to go through trial and error before finding the best bridging method. The biggest problem was creating a window for a separate bridge. Initially, we used paper that does not get along well with zapon varnish. In addition, there is no guarantee that the paper adheres tightly to the substrate. If you drop varnish into a paper window, then the varnish will easily pass behind the paper, smear on the surface and all your work will go down the drain.
Failed attempt to create window for bridge L1 using paper
The enlarged picture clearly shows the sloppy connection of the bridges.
Pencil connection with Athlon XP no longer works. Nearby is an enlarged image of the bridges. But the resistance of such bridges is too high, so such a connection does not work. As we have already said, the resistance of the bridge exceeds 1 kΩ, and no current flows through it. On the old Athlon Thunderbird, the resistance between the lower L1 pins and ground was close to infinity, so the current still passed through the graphite bridges.
If, when applying the adhesive, you do not thoroughly check the fit of the adhesive tape to the substrate, you may encounter the following situation.
In this illustration, the layer of glue extends far beyond the pits,
even partially closing contacts
The situation had to be corrected in this way
