[majnu]

Originally Posted by Berties

For example if you have a 4.7mhz IBM XT processor with quad SLI 680. GPU's will be waiting for next instructions.

Cheers, I found an explanation which helps me understand it better.

As this is thrown around so much these days I thought I would have a go at explaining it

What goes on when you play a game. Simplified

- The CPU sends draw calls to the graphics driver, These draw calls could be anything from rendering a little tree to a mega battle with loads of explosions.

- The graphics driver then turns the draw calls into a scheduled rendering list and feeds it to the graphics card.

- The graphics card renders the list sent to it by the graphics driver.

My quite rubbish explanation

Now as we all know CPU's have varying amounts of power, And we also know that games don't just consist of graphics.

There's sound, Physics, artificial intelligence and general game management code all running and requiring processing at the same time that these graphics draw calls are being processed.

Now if a large part of a CPU's resources are being consumed by sound, physics or artificial intelligence then there's not a lot of spare CPU processing cycles left over for processing the draw calls.

Now if you have a relatively weak graphics card this isn't a problem as the CPU could easily keep the graphics driver and thus, The graphics card fed with rendering information.

Now throw in a high end graphics card and you're in trouble, With the CPU using it's processing power on other aspects of the game the monster GPU is sat idle waiting for rendering information.

And that is a CPU bottleneck.

It's also the reason why games benefit from quad core support as there's more cores and CPU cycles to generate these draw calls while other cores handle other aspects of the game.

How to tell if you're CPU bottlenecked :

- Running at higher resolutions doesn't affect your frame rate.
- Low GPU usage
- High GPU usage with low on screen action but usage drops when loads of enemy's/physics work loads are being processed on screen.
- Adding a second or third graphics card has provided no change in frame rates

What to do if you're CPU bottlenecked :

- Overclock your CPU
- Upgrade CPU
- Turn off as many back ground programs as possible to try and free up some CPU cycles
- Turn up graphics settings to try and move the bottleneck over to the graphics card by giving it more work to do.
- Turn up anti-aliasing ( Works best for me )

I'm no expert but hope it helps a few people to understand

How does a CPU bottleneck a graphics card.

[majnu]

In Prime95 (small) I pass all tests with the exception of the large and torture test, does that mean that I need to go back into bios and adjust some of my values or can I just leave things how they are?

NVM
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...22&postcount=6

[JDCFH]

Originally Posted by majnu

In Prime95 (small) I pass all tests with the exception of the large and torture test, does that mean that I need to go back into bios and adjust some of my values or can I just leave things how they are?

If your failing tests something isn't quite right.

What chip do you have?

May need a slight voltage increase. I've read for proper stability you should do 24 hours of prime 95.

If its passing small asks failing others could be your ram is ubstable? As large and Blend test ram as well as CPU

[AVF Jay]

If you fail any test in prime 95 then you are not stable.

The best test to do is a custom blend with 90% of ram used.

I personally test for 24 hours. Some people test for a few hours, or even 12 hours and think that's enough.

But the problem with that is after a few hours and even 12 hours prime hasn't ran through all the tests.

What I generally do is test an overclock with intel burn test for ten runs to test for initial stabilty as it will find unstable overclocks quicker than prime, if it passes I then prime it for 24 hours.

Also just incase you haven't, make sure everything is at stock when overclocking the cpu, if you try overclocking ram, and cpu etc at the same time and you are unstable then it's going to be hard to find out the cause.

So find your stable overclock on the cpu, then put the cpu back to stock and then overclock ram.

One other thing I do which for some might think is overkill is I always do a prime test on a new build with everything at stock, to make sure everything is stable.

I also run hci memtest on ram at stock to again make sure everything is as it should be.

Trying to overclock a system that isn't stable at stock is pointless.

Also you say you haven't passed the other tests, what is happening? Is one of the workers failing, or is it a bsod? bsods can give you a lot of information on why you're unstable. Some bsod codes relate to lack of vcore for example.

And the one mistake some people make when overclocking is simply assume the answer to getting stable is more vcore. Trust me it isn't always down to vcore

[majnu]

Originally Posted by CFH

If your failing tests something isn't quite right.

What chip do you have?

May need a slight voltage increase. I've read for proper stability you should do 24 hours of prime 95.

If its passing small asks failing others could be your ram is ubstable? As large and Blend test ram as well as CPU

Q9550. I edited the above post before I saw your reply, but yeh basically it's best to have 100% stability. Back to the drawing board .

Originally Posted by brembo

If you fail any test in prime 95 then you are not stable.

The best test to do is a custom blend with 90% of ram used.

I personally test for 24 hours. Some people test for a few hours, or even 12 hours and think that's enough.

But the problem with that is after a few hours and even 12 hours prime hasn't ran through all the tests.

What I generally do is test an overclock with intel burn test for ten runs to test for initial stabilty as it will find unstable overclocks quicker than prime, if it passes I then prime it for 24 hours.

Also just incase you haven't, make sure everything is at stock when overclocking the cpu, if you try overclocking ram, and cpu etc at the same time and you are unstable then it's going to be hard to find out the cause.

So find your stable overclock on the cpu, then put the cpu back to stock and then overclock ram.

One other thing I do which for some might think is overkill is I always do a prime test on a new build with everything at stock, to make sure everything is stable.

I also run hci memtest on ram at stock to again make sure everything is as it should be.

Trying to overclock a system that isn't stable at stock is pointless.

Also you say you haven't passed the other tests, what is happening? Is one of the workers failing, or is it a bsod? bsods can give you a lot of information on why you're unstable. Some bsod codes relate to lack of vcore for example.

And the one mistake some people make when overclocking is simply assume the answer to getting stable is more vcore. Trust me it isn't always down to vcore

I can't get past 5-10 mins in Prime nevermind 12 hours

The problem I'm having is that I can achieve a decent 3.8-4ghz overclock speed just by bumping up my FSB; selecting a 8.5X multiplier and select the minimum VCore that my PC requires to boot into Windows. In my case that was 1.28V

However when I run Prime I get those worker stopped errors.

I understand that by increasing the Voltage for the below BIOS settings will solve it; I start from 0.6V for each and work my way upwards until Prime Passes, but no matter what I do I just cant get it stable

CPU GTL 0/2 is GTL voltage for 1st and 3rd core/worker
CPU GTL 1/3 is GTL voltage for 2nd and 4th core/worker

I understand that there is a bit of trial and error involved, hence why I asked before if there is a guide to understanding how the other BIOS variables (there are so many ) come into play and what they do.

P.S I've not even touched RAM overclocking yet, I wouldn't even know where to start. If I am right the CPU's FSB should Ideally match the Clock Speed for RAM 1:1 Ratio, which in my case is 1066Mhz RAM. However I have RAM with varied latencies only so I need to consider how that comes into play.

[Liam8]

Here's mine

CPU-Z Validator 3.1

Cheating I know as I bought a preoverclocked system from Overclockers.

I was thinking of o/c my graphics card next as it's still at stock speeds.

Any tips?

[TheNameIsJambo]

Originally Posted by Liam8

Any tips?

Just do it?

[JDCFH]

Originally Posted by TheNameIsJambo

Just do it?

Hahaha i'm sure you said similar to me yesterday...

[Sniper Ash6]

Originally Posted by Liam8

Here's mine

CPU-Z Validator 3.1

Cheating I know as I bought a preoverclocked system from Overclockers.

I was thinking of o/c my graphics card next as it's still at stock speeds.

Any tips?

The i3-550 is a 2c/4t chip, CPU-Z only says 1c/2t for you

How many "cores" do you see in the performance tab of task manager?

[JDCFH]

Originally Posted by Sniper Ash6

The i3-550 is a 2c/4t chip, CPU-Z only says 1c/2t for you

How many "cores" do you see in the performance tab of task manager?

And voltage looks high?

[Sniper Ash6]

Originally Posted by CFH

And voltage looks high?

IIRC Intel say they're good up to 1.4V

[majnu]

Originally Posted by Liam8

Here's mine

CPU-Z Validator 3.1

Cheating I know as I bought a preoverclocked system from Overclockers.

I was thinking of o/c my graphics card next as it's still at stock speeds.

Any tips?

if only cpu overclocking was as easy as overclocking the gpu

I think there is something which prevents the nvidia cards from being overclocked too much, dunno the technicalities though.

Video Card Overclocking Guide (NCIX Tech Tips #69) - YouTube

[AVF Jay]

Originally Posted by Liam8

Here's mine

CPU-Z Validator 3.1

Cheating I know as I bought a preoverclocked system from Overclockers.

I was thinking of o/c my graphics card next as it's still at stock speeds.

Any tips?

Have you checked for stability?

Voltage does look high for that overclock. with that sort of voltage I'd imagine you could get a higher clock speed.

With your graphics card make sure core and and shaders clock are linked and increase them a little bit, then test for stabilty. I use furmark. Crank your fan speed up manually while testing.

If stable then bump up core/shader speed until you're unstable, once you've found your stable clock speed, then do the same process for overclocking the memory.

[AVF Jay]

Originally Posted by majnu

if only cpu overclocking was as easy as overclocking the gpu

Cpu overclocking is easy, especially with the latest hardware, even bioses are so much more userfriendly.

It's generally a case of increasing the multiplier (on unlocked chips) testing for stability, if unstable then adding vcore.

Other voltages only really need to be touched on high overclocks.

[Sniper Ash6]

Originally Posted by majnu

if only cpu overclocking was as easy as overclocking the gpu

I think there is something which prevents the nvidia cards from being overclocked too much, dunno the technicalities though.

Video Card Overclocking Guide (NCIX Tech Tips #69) - YouTube

The last two NVIDIA cards I've had have been overclockable by 30%

[majnu]

Originally Posted by brembo

Cpu overclocking is easy, especially with the latest hardware, even bioses are so much more userfriendly.

It's generally a case of increasing the multiplier (on unlocked chips) testing for stability, if unstable then adding vcore.

Other voltages only really need to be touched on high overclocks.

I think the problem I'm having atm is that all the memory banks are occupied with 4X2gig ddr2 RAM. Which have varied latencies (5-5-15 and 5-5-19), although their voltages and clock speeds are the same, even if I knock up the voltage on the Northbus (I think it's called) windows refuses to boot and then I get some funny buzzing noise .

If I don't mess around with ram voltages and run Prime on Light mode (which only stresses the CPU) everything is fine. As soon as I run blend or torture (which tests RAM iirc) then the little workers stop working

[AVF Jay]

Originally Posted by majnu

I think the problem I'm having atm is that all the memory banks are occupied with 4X2gig ddr2 RAM. Which have varied latencies (5-5-15 and 5-5-19), although their voltages and clock speeds are the same, even if I knock up the voltage on the Northbus (I think it's called) windows refuses to boot and then I get some funny buzzing noise .

If I don't mess around with ram voltages and run Prime on Light mode (which only stresses the CPU) everything is fine. As soon as I run blend or torture (which tests RAM iirc) then the little workers stop working

What it might be worth doing before overclocking is running hci memtest on your ram at stock timings and making sure everything is fine.

As I said before overclocking I always make sure everything is working as it should be at stock.

I'll always run memtest on ram, prime and intel burn test on cpu, furmark on the gpu at stock and then 3d mark and other benchmarks.

[Liam8]

Originally Posted by Sniper Ash6

The i3-550 is a 2c/4t chip, CPU-Z only says 1c/2t for you

How many "cores" do you see in the performance tab of task manager?

Task Manger says 1 core 2 threads

[Sniper Ash6]

You're missing half of your CPU mate: Intel® Core

[Bigbud]

Originally Posted by Sniper Ash6

You're missing half of your CPU mate: Intel® Core

I turned off half my cpu in the msconfig file previously maybe worth checking

[Sniper Ash6]

Originally Posted by Bigbud

I turned off half my cpu in the msconfig file previously maybe worth checking

Why?

[Liam8]

Where did it go?

[JDCFH]

Originally Posted by Liam8

Where did it go?

Ask whoever over clocked it 'professionally' for you

[Liam8]

Found it, it was msconfig, I'd set it to number of processors 2

Now throw rotten fruit!!

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=2314351

[Sniper Ash6]

Originally Posted by Liam8

Found it, it was msconfig, I'd set it to number of processors 2

Now throw rotten fruit!!

CPU-Z Validator 3.1

That's better!

[wolvers]

Finally got round to rooting my Tegra2 tablet, so it's now overclocked to 1.6ghz from 1.2ghz. Check out my temps. Don't think I'll bother watercooling it.

Its been a while since I clocked some Nvidia hardware, but it feels good!

[Chox1988]

nice, didnt realise once rooted you could do that

[AVF Jay]

Yeah, I overclocked my old galaxy s 2

[wolvers]

Originally Posted by Chox1988

nice, didnt realise once rooted you could do that

You need a tweaked kernel too, which also means you need a recovery mod installed like clockwork (there's a touch screen one now ). So it's not a one step process.

All good fun though.

[Deadringers]

Originally Posted by wolvers

You need a tweaked kernel too, which also means you need a recovery mod installed like clockwork (there's a touch screen one now ). So it's not a one step process.

All good fun though.

Just re-did my phone and my sensation is now running at 1.5ghz up from 1.2 I think it is?