Overclocking On The 754/939 Platform

7 Feb, 2006 at 4:25pm ET Article published in Tech

Anyone serious about PC gaming knows that the current king of CPUs is the AMD Athlon 64. The Athlon 64 platform has brought many new features to the table and with these new features comes many new overclocking challenges. Weighing in at a mammoth 55 pages, Short-Media is proud to present the ultimate guide to overclocking the Athlon 64 754 and 939 platforms.

View: Overclocking on the 754/939 Platform

In the socket-A days, upgrading away from the OEM HSF to an aftermarket unit with a higher flowing fan could drastically reduce CPU temperatures. Today, the A64 OEM HSF is already quite decent and the chips run so cool that most entry-mid price range ‘performance’ HSFs provide only a minor improvement. I’d encourage anyone new to overclocking to try out the OEM cooler before running out to purchase an expensive replacement. For mild overclocks and small vcore increases, it should do just fine.

Source: Short-Media

Comments

7 Feb 2006 ~ 12:56pm Linc Outstanding! Amazing!
7 Feb 2006 ~ 12:59pm RWB Looks excellent so far!
7 Feb 2006 ~ 1:29pm GooD Lemonlime... is... my... hero !

This is the better (and bigger) overclocking guide i've ever seen

Good job !
7 Feb 2006 ~ 1:37pm profdlp I built my Socket 939 system in January of 2005. I've always intended to get around to a little OC action - this inspires me to get on the ball and actually do it.

What a resource!
7 Feb 2006 ~ 1:41pm GHoosdum This is awesome. Thank you, lemonlime.
7 Feb 2006 ~ 2:00pm Trogan Great job Lemonlime.
7 Feb 2006 ~ 2:01pm paroxym This article was originally 23 pages but Lemonlime overclocked it to 55. Only required .15v more on the vcore.
I kid you not.

I love you Miguel. You're hardcore.
7 Feb 2006 ~ 2:04pm Armo lol
7 Feb 2006 ~ 2:11pm QCH :wow2: 55 pages!!!! AWESOME... even a OC nubbie such as myself can do it now!!! Great work LemonLime!!!!! :thumbup
7 Feb 2006 ~ 2:25pm Leonardo Well done. Comprehensive, readable, thorough....great! What a superb contribution to our site.
7 Feb 2006 ~ 2:54pm RWB 30 minutes to go before I can leave work and re overclock my systemand see if I can pull some more juice outta her.....

err that didn't sound right at all...
7 Feb 2006 ~ 3:30pm lemonlime Thanks very much for the kind feedback everyone. This article has actually been a work in progress since about August '05. I have been plugging away at it on my spare time, and learned a thing or two along the way. Believe it or not, it has actually been chopped quite a bit. The first revision was over 40,000 words. Big thanks to Matt (General Keebler) for helping with grammar. I vow to one day learn to use commas properly. Also, big thanks go to Dan (Shorty) for publishing the 55 page monstrocity.

There are many different approaches to overclocking the A64, however, I feel that this process is the best way to identify CPU, memory and IMC limitations, and to truly appreciate what your system is capable of. I also tried to stay realistic, and to remain cognizant of the laws of diminishing returns. You'll notice that I try not to push the vcore/vdimm envelope too much, and ensure that those with stock coolers can also benefit. Everything will still apply if you are brave, and want to push harder.

I may continue to revise the article as new chips become available, and I'd also like to add some notes on dual-core processors later on. Everything should still be applicable for DC users, but I plan to add some additional content. Of course, these updates are just an excuse for me to purchase things like vapochills, dual core processors and new equipment

I'd very much welcome any questions or comments on the material. Feel free to contact me via. PM or post in the thread. If anyone wants some assistance overclocking, please start a new thread in the Overclocking forum so that others may benefit too. There are many veteran overclockers around that would also be willing to provide some assistance.

Mike.
7 Feb 2006 ~ 4:14pm jradmin

lemonlime wrote:

Thanks very much for the kind feedback everyone. This article has actually been a work in progress since about August '05. I have been plugging away at it on my spare time, and learned a thing or two along the way. Believe it or not, it has actually been chopped quite a bit. The first revision was over 40,000 words. Big thanks to Matt (General Keebler) for helping with grammar. I vow to one day learn to use commas properly. Also, big thanks go to Dan (Shorty) for publishing the 55 page monstrocity.

There are many different approaches to overclocking the A64, however, I feel that this process is the best way to identify CPU, memory and IMC limitations, and to truly appreciate what your system is capable of. I also tried to stay realistic, and to remain cognizant of the laws of diminishing returns. You'll notice that I try not to push the vcore/vdimm envelope too much, and ensure that those with stock coolers can also benefit. Everything will still apply if you are brave, and want to push harder.

I may continue to revise the article as new chips become available, and I'd also like to add some notes on dual-core processors later on. Everything should still be applicable for DC users, but I plan to add some additional content. Of course, these updates are just an excuse for me to purchase things like vapochills, dual core processors and new equipment

I'd very much welcome any questions or comments on the material. Feel free to contact me via. PM or post in the thread. If anyone wants some assistance overclocking, please start a new thread in the Overclocking forum so that others may benefit too. There are many veteran overclockers around that would also be willing to provide some assistance.

Mike.

Dude, you rock! :Rocker: :Rocker: :Rocker:
7 Feb 2006 ~ 4:25pm Shorty My eventual plan is to move this HUGE guide into it's own section and structure
7 Feb 2006 ~ 4:59pm Omega65 Not Bad! Massive!
7 Feb 2006 ~ 10:05pm lemonlime

paroxym wrote:

This article was originally 23 pages but Lemonlime overclocked it to 55. Only required .15v more on the vcore.
I kid you not.

I love you Miguel. You're hardcore.

lol!.. clearly this is the Chuck Norris of overclocking guides
8 Feb 2006 ~ 1:41pm Sledgehammer70

lemonlime wrote:

lol!.. clearly this is the Chuck Norris of overclocking guides

Can we get the Round House Kick stamp of approval? "we should make that a Short Media approved Stamp"

Short Media give this review The Round House Kick Approval!

This is one great report. Me knowing AMD CPU's pretty well can actually say I even learned new info I never knew....or just new took the time to learn....Great write-up...
8 Feb 2006 ~ 3:01pm Shorty Huge dropdown index added
8 Feb 2006 ~ 3:38pm lemonlime

Shorty wrote:

Huge dropdown index added

Looks awesome Shorty!
8 Feb 2006 ~ 4:28pm muddocktor Great job, lemonlime. I haven't had a chance to finish reading through it (I'm about halfway finished but had to do some other things for a while, damn dental appointment) but what I've read so far is very good.
13 Feb 2006 ~ 9:34am Greger Wery nice guide indeed, any chance of a pdf release?
13 Feb 2006 ~ 9:51am primesuspect Yeah, we're probably going to do a PDF release of the guide
13 Feb 2006 ~ 10:42am Greger Ohhh very nice, can't wait :P