Opteron 170 + Asus A8R-MVP - My first timer overclocking journal

primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' BoopinDetroit, MI Icrontian
edited May 2007 in Hardware
Since this will be my first time attempting anything more than a rudimentary overclock, I am going to journal my experiences here. Perhaps this can help other OC newbies like myself.

The first step was obviously deciding what hardware to buy. I am one of those that likes the cutting edge, but with overclocking patience is required and you should let other people's bad experiences pave the way for you ;)

Also, more importantly, I haven't been able to afford a new system for a few years ;D

Anyways, now that the Socket 939 platform is mature and we are starting to see the "future legendary overclockers" stuff come out, it seemed like the right time to jump in.

After looking around and watching other people's threads closely, I decided on the Asus A8R-MVP / Opteron 170 combo.

I ended up getting a Corsair XMS 2gb kit for the ram and a Fortron Source FX600-GLN for the power supply. A good friend is donating a Radeon X800XL for me :hitit2:

Not sure yet if I can get that card to work in crossfire mode.

I'll update this thread as my experience continues. For now I have all the parts except the video card. :)
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Comments

  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited February 2006
    :woowoo:

    Should be a killer rig prime.. :buck:

    IIRC, the X800XL pci-e cards are crossfire capable. Just have to get a master card to go along with it. Of course, it usually makes a lot more sense to sell your card and get a single current-gen card :)

    You'll enjoy your FX60 immensely.. err.. Opty 170 @ 2.6+GHz :D
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    I wasn't able to find an x800xl crossfire "master" card. Do you need to use a different master for it?

    I plan on using the ultimate 754/939 overclocking guide to pull off some crazy speeds :D
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    Per several suggestions, I have chosen the ThermalTake Big Typhoon HSF for this sucker :)
  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited February 2006
    Wootness I can't wait to see what you get it too
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited February 2006
    primesuspect wrote:
    I wasn't able to find an x800xl crossfire "master" card. Do you need to use a different master for it?

    I plan on using the ultimate 754/939 overclocking guide to pull off some crazy speeds :D

    I'm not sure if they ever did get around to releasing other x8xx master cards. I know the x850XT master card is readily avaliable and should work. It will simply reduce it's clock speed to match the x800XL.

    What stepping 170 did you get? :D
    primesuspect wrote:
    Per several suggestions, I have chosen the ThermalTake Big Typhoon HSF for this sucker

    Good choice. That's the king of air-cooling at the moment :thumbup
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    Stepping; A week 46 CCBWE.

    CCBWE 0546XPMW
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    Per several suggestions, I have chosen the ThermalTake Big Typhoon HSF for this sucker
    If you need tips on installing the Big Typhoon beast, just let me know. It's a pain, but well worth it. Awesome heatsink. What's the depth of your case? The Typhoon is very tall.
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited February 2006
    primesuspect wrote:
    Stepping; A week 46 CCBWE.

    CCBWE 0546XPMW

    That is a strong stepping. 2.6GHz should not be a problem (may just need a minor vcore boost) :thumbsup:
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    Well after speaking with my anonymous benefactor, I am gonna go for a crossfire setup :D

    One Sapphire X850 Crossfire edition + one Gigabyte X800XL card should get me over 11K in 3DMark05, right?

    This should be a very significant leap over my current 2600+ Athlon XP / Radeon 9800Pro setup :eek3:
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    This should be a very significant leap over my current 2600+ Athlon XP / Radeon 9800Pro setup
    Yeah, no kidding, Buckwheat! :smiles:

    Prime, I did some checking up on your motherboard. It appears that it has really mixed user reviews on its stability and OC performance. The good news is that many of the problems people are experiencing appear to be related to lack of user experience in computer tweaking. Good news, in that there may be little gremlins with the board, but problems that you will be able to work through. The good news is that many users are reporting excellent stability and overclocking with the board. Recommend that you do some searches on user experiences. But I'm sure you already have.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    Well yesterday theSMJ helped me remove the north/southbridge sinks. I cleaned the thermal gunk off and applied Arctic Silver 5 to the passive sinks. I have an extra 45mm fan laying around thats in good shape and I'm wondering if it's worth it to figure out a way to rig up the fan on the northbridge. With the big typhoon and 2xpci-e cards in there, power, space, and noise are going to be considerations.

    The big typhoon is very quiet though :eek2:

    Do you guys think the passive sinks + arctic silver 5 is enough or should I get some active cooling on the sinks?
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    The sinks don't get very hot at all really ...you should be ok with passive if you have adequate case ventilation.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    Yeah my case ventilation is pretty good. We'll see. If my oc is limited I might try active cooling. it's always an option :D
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    I'll take Csimon's comments on the northbridge thermals. I've no experience with that chipset. Don't worry about noise from the Big Typhoon. You won't hear it! They are vewy qwiet, hu hu hu.

    When overclocking, if you are still concerned about the northbridge temperature, just reach in and feel it. If it feels hot, time for action; if it feels just warm, you are in good shape. There are always ways to rig fans. If low amperage, splice on a three pin connector. If high amperage, connect to a four pin molex.

    Brian, how experienced are you with mounting CPU heatsinks that require through board mounting with a backplate? Although the Big Typhoon has lots of mounting hardware, it's fairly straight forward. Go online though, and study the installation guide before you start to install it. If you aren't careful, the heatsink won't be flush with the CPU's heatspreader. If you are careful, you can lift your motherboard with the sink and move it around. The mounting system is that stable.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    I mounted the typhoon today. It makes a great handle for the motherboard :D
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    When are you getting the video card?
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    Friday for the first one (the x850xt) and sometime next week for the second one.
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    I don't think you need a mastercard for this board.

    I've been looking up that stepping and you shouldn't have any problem with 2600. The thing that will probably hold you back for now will be the vcore limit at +-1.5. You will be amazed at how cool this chip runs.

    edit:\ Also, here's the latest review of the mobo. It should have been published a lot sooner but as I've learned from reading it they had issues with the crossfire. Seems everything turned out fine though.

    Check it out ...http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=OTU1

    "I would suggest that some extra northbridge cooling be introduced if you plan on overclocking this motherboard as it gets to be extremely hot. We used a 120mm fan directed at our northbridge heatsink as well as the power components heatsink on the motherboard. A small amount of airflow managed to keep these very cool."
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    I mounted the typhoon today. It makes a great handle for the motherboard
    You too, I see!
  • rykoryko new york
    edited February 2006
    i gotta say it...please don't do crossfire with an x850xt and a x800xl! it is basically pointless. i mean the x850xt will be essentially neutered down to x800xl speeds for compatibility purposes, and then you have spent money on a product that you can't even use at it's default speed. it's required underclocking just to get things working.

    what size monitor will you be using? are you getting the x800xl for free? have you bought the x850xt master card already?

    i would sell the x800xl and use it towards the purchase of a x1900xt. it will waste the neutered crossfire setup easily.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    Okay wait. Yes, I'm getting the x800xl for free. Technically, I'm getting both for free.

    So you think I should cancel the x850xt order, and sell the x800xl towards an x1900xt?
  • TheSmJTheSmJ
    edited February 2006
    Is it up and running yet Brian? You could throw a plain PCI video card in there so you can start messing with it before you get the PCIe card later this week.
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    primesuspect wrote:
    Okay wait. Yes, I'm getting the x800xl for free. Technically, I'm getting both for free.

    So you think I should cancel the x850xt order, and sell the x800xl towards an x1900xt?
    "cough* definitely *cough* I didn't know that was an option.

    Comb some 3dmark06 benchmarks and see what these guys are getting with these cards brian. Not too impressive even with crossfire.

    IMO you could run the free card for now until you've checked out vid cards a little more before you decide.
    The x1900xt is teh kickbootie card today! All of the high end cards are too pricey for me. :mullet:
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    dammit crap ****
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    primesuspect wrote:
    dammit crap ****
    take your time on the card and give it a bit of thought. That's a lot of money to shell out. Use the freebie for now until you've investigated some. That's my $.02.

    edit:\ if I were going ati video right now the only card I would consider is the x1900xt but considering the price ...etc. Look around at the 7800gt and up as well. Don't rule them out if you don't want to spend that kind of cash on this system. Pee'er pressure sucks sometimes don't it??? :headbange
  • rykoryko new york
    edited February 2006
    primesuspect wrote:
    Okay wait. Yes, I'm getting the x800xl for free. Technically, I'm getting both for free.

    So you think I should cancel the x850xt order, and sell the x800xl towards an x1900xt?

    well since you are getting them both at a severe discount (i.e. free!) it is a little different.

    but yes the x1900xt will smoke the x800xt(xl) crossfire setup.

    i asked about the monitor b/c if you have a 1600x1200+ lcd/crt then you would pretty much have to go with a x1900xt. the 1st gen of crossfire stuff doesn't support super high-res gaming.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    I have a 1280x1024 DVI monitor so I will be doing all my gaming at that resolution.

    I can't cancel the x850xt order, as it already shipped. For once I wanted newegg to be slow, and they weren't. I didn't pay for rush shipping and they still sent the thing out almost immediately ;D

    So I'm going to consider this a unique challenge. I'll have a weird setup with mismatched cards and I have to make the best of it :)

    The price was definitely right!
  • rykoryko new york
    edited February 2006
    yeah, it shold be a fun challenge. when you get it all setup you gotta post some pics and then please post some benchies with...

    just x800xl

    just x850xt

    x850xt(xl) crossfire...

    i am very interested in the results. I would think that the crossfire setup is really only going to benefit you when you max the AA/AF. fun, fun!
  • deicistdeicist Manchester, UK
    edited February 2006
    Prime, if you want some comparison data I just got myself an opty 170 and an x1900xt... when I get a decent PSU sorted out I'm going to start overclocking :)
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited February 2006
    Prime - Nix the X850XT/XL Crossfire. (Hard to beat Free though...) Grab either a X1900XT or X1800 variant. Also ATI will be releasing a lower end version of the X1900 soon.
    deicist wrote:
    when I get a decent PSU sorted out I'm going to start overclocking :)
    SILVERSTONE SST-ST60F ATX 600W Power Supply

    It's a little pricey but it's top notch. I have the "Zeus" version and it's solid. It even has the 8pin connector for your MSI K8N Diamond Plus mobo
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