So I've finally got this system running, and now I'm thinking what I can do to get it working at it's best.
I have:

GA K8NS 939 mobo
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ winchester core
1GB Kingston ValueRam
Geforce 5200FX AGP

The weakest component here is the video card, but I rarely do anything more graphically challenging than watch DVD's.

The RAM is almost certainly inadaquate for overclocking, should I attempt it.

The CPU is definately starting to show it's age, but *might* overclock nicely, if I changed the RAM.
I was thinking of going for a new Athlon64 X2 4200+.

Which component do you think would give the most perfomance improvement and what would you suggest to replace it?

Thanks,
Sam

Biscuits are good, but keep the crumbs off your keyboard!

"The RAM is almost certainly inadaquate for overclocking"

You don't have to overclock the RAM on an A64 system. Change the memory setting in the BIOS to DDR333, lock the AGP at 66MHz, lower the HT multi to 4x, disable Spread Spectrum, & begin raising the CPU Freq 10MHz at a time

Thanks Jam, I made a mistake posting the RAM info, it's actually:
1GB Corsair Value Select PC3200

That's already DDR400?

Sam

Biscuits are good, but keep the crumbs off your keyboard!

I've been looking into overclocking since I finally have a system with any possibility of overclocking.

On thing I haven't been able to understand is, what's the point of increasing the speed of your CPU, if the RAM speed is not increased. If the CPU can't get hold of the data any faster, what's the point of making it able to work faster?

Sam

Biscuits are good, but keep the crumbs off your keyboard!

Check MOBO CPU compatibility before you buy an X2.

Yeah, already have, I'd need a BIOS update for dual-core CPUs.

Sam

Biscuits are good, but keep the crumbs off your keyboard!

"what's the point of increasing the speed of your CPU, if the RAM speed is not increased"

The A64 system is different than conventional FSB systems. Although the term FSB is sometimes used, the A64 technically has no FSB. The memory controller is integrated into the CPU & communicates at full processor speed. This integrated controller then communicates with the RAM at the rated RAM speed (usually 200MHz). The CPU communicates with the rest of the system using the "HyperTransport bus" which typically runs at 1000MHz. The HT bus is the product of the CPU freq & the HT multiplier...the default setting is 200MHz x 5. The HT bus doesn't tolerate overclocking very well, so it should always be kept as close to 1000MHz as possible. Lower is OK...higher is not. For example, if the CPU freq is raised to 250MHz, the HT multi should be lowered to 4x to keep the HT bus at 1000MHz (250MHz x 4).

On a conventional FSB system, the CPU communicates with a memory controller on the motherboard, which in turn communicates with the RAM. The optimal performance setting for a conventional system is 1:1 CPU:DRAM ratio, so when raising the FSB, you'd also have to raise the memory speed to match. But on an A64 system, a 1:1 ratio isn't necessary, nor is it possible.

I believe the 3000+ Winchester runs at 1.8GHz so in your case, the CPU & memory controller communicate at 1800MHz. The memory controller then communicates with the RAM at 200MHz for PC3200/DDR400. If you increase the CPU speed, you increase the communication speed between the CPU & controller.

So what you need to keep in mind when overclocking your A64 is to adjust the settings to keep the RAM speed at 200MHz & the HTT bus at 1000MHz, while increasing the CPU speed as high as possible.

Your default settings:

CPU multi = 9x
CPU freq = 200MHz
CPU clock speed = 1.8GHz (200 x 9)
HT multi = 5x
HT bus = 1000MHz (200 x 5)
RAM setting = DDR400, resulting speed = 200MHz

Overclock settings:

CPU multi = 9x
CPU freq = 250MHz
CPU clock speed = 2.25GHz (250 x 9)
HT multi = 4x
HT bus = 1000MHz (250 x 4)
RAM setting = DDR333, resulting speed = 208MHz

Hi Jam, this wasn't really an overclocking question, but, what the hell. I knew about Athlon64s having no FSB, but had heard that the HTT on the chip was basically the same thing.

When I do get around to overclocking this PC I'll definitely do as you recommend.

If I left the RAM setting at DDR400, then increased the clock speed, The RAM would go much faster, and probably fry, right?

But if the CPU is runnning faster than the RAM, the data is still only travelling at the speed of the RAM?
I still don't see where the gain is coming from. The CPU can work on information faster, but the data is not arriving at it any faster.

Right? Wrong? Sorry but I just don't get it.

Thanks,
Sam

Biscuits are good, but keep the crumbs off your keyboard!

The gain is between the CPU & memory controller. This makes the latency*** period much shorter:

Conventional:

CPU <---------> M/C <---------> RAM

A64:

CPU <-> M/C <---------> RAM

*** definition of "memory latency" = the time between initiating a request for a byte or word in memory until it is retrieved ***

Ah, OK. Thanks Jam.

This machine will be used to record high-quality multi-track audio. I definitely need more RAM for that, I reckon I'll get more of the type I have now, (Corsair Value Select PC3200)

Looking at the overclocking possibilities, I think the CPU will do for a while longer.

That leaves the GPU, I can't stand having that rubbish GeForce 5200 in there. I might eventually set up a dual-monitor display, and I'm limited to AGP.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Sam

Biscuits are good, but keep the crumbs off your keyboard!

depends on how much you're willing to spend:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/03...

Hi,
The GeForce 6600GT card looks OK. I'd say I can go up to £100.

I can get that card for £40, load up on some RAM and overclock the CPU a bit. That should speed things up a bit.

Thanks,
Sam

Biscuits are good, but keep the crumbs off your keyboard!