2600+ S754 overclocking recommendations?

qparadox

2600+'s based on the Palemo (90nm) core are showing up at the local computer stores. I'm putting together at least one (probably 2) folding computers and want the most points/$. This will be my first foray into the non-socket A AMD world in 5 years so I'm looking for some friendly advice.

Does anyone have any experience with these procs? Appparently there's an article on them on xbitlabs .. but its down.

I know the Nforce 3 250 and Nforce 4 have working PCI locks .. but what about the via / sis chipsets? Anyone know?

Any recommendations for the board and/or ram? (remember its supposed to be lower cost as well :P). This computer will only be folding so absolutely no gimmicks are needed. My board + ram budget is MAX ~$200 cdn or $155 US and I'd prefer around $170 cdn (~$135 US).

Thanks in advance

muddocktor

The DFI NF3-250 Gb boards aren't too expensive here in the US, around $100 delivered from Newegg or Chiefvalue and are great boards and even have all the bells and whistles for that price. For a cheaper solution I don't know though. I don't know about the Sis chipset boards but I do remember reading that the pci/agp lock works on that chipset. With the Via chipset, I think that it's a crapshoot whether the pci/agp lock works.

For value memory, you can buy the OCZ Value 3200 with Winbond chips for around $115-120 delivered in the US from the egg or Atacom. This is a 1 gig DC kit, which will work fine for building 2 folding rigs. You can also use the TwinMoss PC3200 Speed Premiums (SP) for around $50 (512 MB sticks)from the Egg, witch have Winbond UTT chips on them. Both of these series of ddr will run tight timings, but need high volts to do it. The DFI board can run around 3.1-3.2 v vdimm and higher with modded bioses and psu's. I have 1 DFI board that is running a mobile clawhammer at 2700 MHZ with 3.2v, ram speed at 243 MHz and 2-2-2-10-1t timings with an unmodded TT purepower 420 psu. but you can tell the psu is loaded pretty hard.

As far as for pricing in the great white north where you live, I have no idea though. You will have to ask some of your fellow polar bears about that.

BTW, I recommending the 512 MB sticks of ram so your folding rigs can do BP work with no problems.

edcentric

As for memory, anandtech did an article recently on value memory and how it overclocks.
You will need input from others on mobos, but there are some sharp ones out there.

qparadox

Hmm I can't seem to find the VX anywhere in Canada yet. There's OCZ value .. but its the old stuff. Luckily, I've found a mailbox in Point Roberts U S of A I can ship to .

muddocktor

Hey, that's pretty cool QP. If you hold off ordering for about a week I'll let you know how the Value VX runs; I ordered a gig DC kit of it from Newegg last night.

EDIT: For a vid card, you might want to get a Sapphire Radeon 7000 from Newegg too, they are around $29.00 shipped and they work well for non-gaming applications.

qparadox

Thanks for being the guneia pig mudd . I'm gonna put together a sckt A mini folder this weekend to stave off my craving, and I'll definitely be waiting for a report on the VX .

muddocktor

OK, I have some preliminary results from the Value VX and it's looking pretty good so far, QP. I've been trying out each stick separately so I could find the weak spot easier and so far, both sticks memtest fine up to 235 MHz and 2-2-2-10 timings with 3.1v vdimm on my new Lanpraty NF3-250Gb system I'm putting together. They both started showing errors in memtest around 238 MHz with the above timings. I'm presently testing at 238 MHz and 2-3-2-10 timings with 1 pass made and no errors.

My verdict: Good stuff and you can't argue the value of this stuff compared to it's overclocking ability.

qparadox

sounds good so far mudd thanks for the info and keep us posted. I'll probably order sometime next week as work is owning me this week.

muddocktor

I've tested 1 stick up to it's limit and it didn't go much higher. I got it to pass memtest at 240 MHz only by backing off the timings to 2.5-3-3-10 but no higher. This is with 1t set also, since the proc I bought off Tex is an older C0 stepping instead of the newer CG steppings, and the C0 procs can't run 2t timings I've heard. Still, I'm sure if I put a ddr booster on I could get higher speeds but that kind of defeats the buying value ram theme. I might try it anyways since I have a ddr booster, just to see where it ultimately tops out.

Anyways with the A64 platform, 235 MHz capable ram with tight timings should give me some decent performance with no real penalty for using memory dividers.