Why has my overclock stalled?
Sunday, 14 May, 2006
I have an Athlon64 3200+ ‘Venice’, and it’s stuck at 2.4 GHz. I’ve seen lots of people reporting that their processor gets to 2.7 GHz even with budget RAM, and I expected to get better with my Corsair XMS RAM.
I’ve tried increasing the vcore and I’ve tried loosening the RAM timings. What else can I do to get my overclock higher?
sPeedfreAk , , The Universe
 Probably nothing. You’ve most likely got a chip that just won’t handle an overclock any bigger than the one you report. Just because other people have obtained a higher overclock doesn’t mean that yours will. They were lucky enough to get their hands on a ‘better’ chip, is all!
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen people saying “all XX processors overclock to YY MHz!” It’s bunkum. Some do. Perhaps most of some particular processor lines do. But not all such chips do. CPU’s are each unique items with respect to their ability to handle overclocking. Line up 10 different Athlon64 3200+ ‘Venice’ core chips and every one will have a different limit to its overclocking capability.
I’d suggest you simply enjoy the overclock you’ve already achieved.
Cheers, Terry O'Shanassy
 Reader solutions
JeffPosted: 24/03/2008 re: Why has my overclock stalled? "Stuck at 2.4Ghz !"
Most users (with older,slower machines)...would 'literally' kill...to have that computer-speed !
Count your blessings, and leave well alone !
2.4Ghz...is the CPU's 'best working speed' (by 'default',that is...'why' do you think the Manufacturers 'state' this ?
You want faster ?
Go buy a CPU, that is duly 'capable'..of going faster.
No!
Go-n-fry your motheboard, instead (that's what will happen,eventually!) Craig BennettPosted: 02/08/2006 re: Why has my overclock stalled? With regard to Mat Nicholls' 6600Gt Overclocking, I also have a 660GT and when using the Nvidia registry tweak, it auto detects 1.0 Ghz ram speed, when using this setting, should I increase the AGP voltage setting in BIOS to 1.7v from the standard 1.5v. I have an ASUS K8V-X mobo and these are the two voltage settings it offers for AGP hiroPosted: 19/05/2006 re: Why has my overclock stalled? When processors are manufactured, they must meet/exceed the MINIMUM requirements for that specific chip. If you make a 3200+ processor like yours, it only needs to meet the minimum specified processor speed. Some of the 3200+ chips may exceed the minimum requirement and some may only just meet it. It is the above that determines how much it can be overclocked. If it exceeded the minimum requirements during manufature, then its still labled 3200+, however the user will be able to successfully overclock it. However obviously if it only barely met the minimum required specs then it won't overclock at all.
Having said that, don't forget for a successful overclock, its not just your cpu and ram thats important. Every component counts, your motherboard, cpu, ram and vid card can all play a part in how much you can overclock. Mat NichollsPosted: 16/05/2006 re: Why has my overclock stalled? Totally agree with Terry and incidentally the same is applies to Graphics cards too and results can be rather surprising too. In brief me + friend both with 6600gt's my clock GPU handled over 550mhz and Ram 1.01 Ghz (though reduced this as seemed extreme though card "auto detected" this freq!) his would only stay stable below 520mhz GPU & 940mhz Ram but in actual gaming his performed better even to the naked eye yet this varied between games. Same GPU yet very different reactions to overclocking. But in saying that, any overclocking is fun but never has given much more than 10-20FPS more on any game (including CPU,FSB ,Ram + Voltage) but if learning and "just because" justify overclock then is worth effort! Heat is the enemy here... |