User Guide NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking May 2005 DU-02451-001_v01
Document Change History Version Date Responsible Reason for Change 01 05/17/06 WZ, TS, NSmith Initial release.
Table of Contents NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking ...........................................1 Key Concepts .........................................................................................................2 Cooling...............................................................................................................2 Power Supply Units .............................................................................................2 Glossary of Terms ......................
List of Figures Figure 1. High-level System Diagram.....................................................................6 Figure 2. Power Management Setup SBIOS Menu ..................................................7 Figure 3. System Clock Setup for CPU Reference Clock Overclocking..................... 10 Figure 4. Memory Settings for CPU Reference Clock Overclocking ......................... 11 Figure 5. System Voltages for Reference Clock Overclocking.................................
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking The purpose of this document is to guide users through overclocking NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI technology chipset and use of the numerous tools and features that will boost system performance, enhancing end-user gaming experience. Overclocking PCs was once quite difficult and required people to physically change hardware.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Key Concepts Overclocking refers to operating PC components beyond what the manufacturer guarantees. When overclocking is not carried on with care, it may lead to system instability, crashes and loss of data, and may even destroy components. However, when overclocking is performed attentively, it increases overall system performance quite dramatically. Cooling Cooling PC components sufficiently is critical to overclocking.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Glossary of Terms 3DMark Synthetic 3D benchmark that provides a measure of graphics performance. It is also often used to test a system for stability. AMD Cool’n’Quiet™ Technology Technology that changes CPU frequency dynamically depending on power and thermal requirements of a CPU. Because it limits the overclockability of an AMD CPU, it needs to be turned off for best results. For more information, visit this link http://www.amd.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking DU-02451-001_v01 05/17/06 tRRD RAS to RAS Delay is the amount of cycles that it takes to activate the next bank of memory. The lower the timing, the better the performance but it can cause instability. tREF Refresh Rate is the amount of time it takes before a change is refreshed. If the charge is not refreshed enough, the signal loses its charge and corrupts data. It is measured in microseconds.
Overclocking the NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset This section describes how to maximize the performance of an NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI PC system. It provides a systematic approach to unleashing its immense performance potential. Bus speeds, bandwidth and processor core speeds — both CPU and GPU core speeds — are the main contributing factors to boosting overall system performance. This section describes how to adjust settings for the major chip interconnects and components that affect performance.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Figure 1.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Disable AMD Cool’n’Quiet Technology Before overclocking, disable the AMD Cool’n’Quiet™ technology. The AMD Cool’n’Quiet technology must be disabled in order to enable stable overclocking without limiting maximum achieved CPU performance. Use the following procedure to disable this feature: 1. Set AMD Cool’n’Quiet to Disable on the Advanced Power Management BIOS menu as shown in Figure 2. Figure 2. Power Management Setup SBIOS Menu 2.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking A Systematic Approach A step-by-step approach helps simplify the complex task of overclocking, described in the following steps: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. CPU reference clock (HTT) CPU HyperTransport interface speed CPU core clock frequency DDR2 memory interface frequency & timing Balance the results achieved with CPU frequency, HyperTransport, and memory overclocking 6. Overclock the PCI Express x16 buses 7.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking CPU Reference Clock CPU reference clock refers to the HyperTransport reference clock signal of the bus connecting the CPU to NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI SPP chip. Typically, CPU reference clock frequency is 200 MHz. Updating the CPU reference clock requires several steps, described in this section: 1. 2. 3. 4. Change system clocks in system BIOS menu. Change memory timings in system BIOS menu. Change system voltages in system BIOS menu.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Figure 3 shows the proper configuration in preparation for overclocking the CPU reference clock. Figure 3.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Set Memory Timings Set memory frequency as low as possible from the Memory Timings BIOS menu, as shown in Figure 4: 1. Set Timing Mode to [User limit]. 2. Set Memory Clock Limit to [DDR2 400]. Figure 4.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Change System Voltages To enable increases in the CPU reference clock frequency, increase the following voltages. Go to the System Voltages BIOS menu and change the following to match the values shown in Figure 5: 1. Change CPU core voltage, CPU. 2. Change HyperTransport interface core voltage, HT CPU <-> nForce SPP. 3. Change NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI SPP and MCP core voltage, nForce SPP and nForce MCP. Figure 5.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Fine-Tune CPU Reference Clock Go to NVIDIA nTune 5.0 to adjust the frequency using the Reference Clock (HTT) setting from NVIDIA nTune Motherboard Settings control panel as shown in Figure 6. This action incrementally adjusts the reference clock and allows for dynamically testing for system stability. Figure 6. Tip: Adjusting CPU Reference Clock using NVIDIA nTune 5.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Test System Stability To test system stability, run the NVIDIA Stability Test for at least two hours as seen in Figure 7. Additionally, running 3DMark, Prime95, or a GPU intensive game like Serious Sam II for an extended period of time allows you to get a sense of overall system stability. Note: CPU reference clock values between 314 MHz to 320 MHz may not provide system stability. Figure 7. DU-02451-001_v01 05/17/06 NVIDIA nTune 5.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking CPU HyperTransport Overclocking CPU HyperTransport (HTT) bandwidth (speed) is an important contributing factor to overall system performance. Its nominal effective bandwidth is 4 GBps running at 1 GHz (200 MHz × 5) upstream and downstream. CPU HTT bandwidth is directly proportional to CPU reference clock as mentioned earlier in CPU Reference Clock on page 9.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking 2. Go to NVIDIA nTune to incrementally adjust and test the CPU HTT bus in Windows. Increasing the Reference clock (HTT) to 281 MHz provides a stable setting that effectively increases the CPU HyperTransport speed by 40% to 1.4 GHz, up from 1 GHz. (Check in using the NVIDIA nTune Motherboard Settings control panel shown in Figure 9). The CPU HTT interface of NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI motherboards can support much higher speeds.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking CPU Core Clock This section discusses how to effectively increase the CPU core clock of the AMD Athlon FX-62 CPU on NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI chipset. Before you proceed to overclock the CPU core clock, eliminate all other sources of system instability. Do so by keeping memory and CPU HyperTransport frequencies low. Use the following procedure to overclock the FX-62 CPU: 1.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Figure 10. BIOS System Clocks Configuration for CPU Overclocking 4. Save BIOS settings and exit. 5. Use NVIDIA nTune 5.0 to change the CPU reference clock by changing the Reference Clock (HTT) setting. The AMD Athlon FX-62 CPU runs at 2.8 GHz nominally. When you increase the reference clock, for instance, to 246 MHz from 200 MHz, you have overclocked the CPU to 3.07 GHz (256 MHz × 12).
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking DDR2 Memory Interface Overclocking Because so much of the memory controller settings can be tuned and because memory speeds depend on the CPU HTT reference clock and CPU multiplier, overclocking memory is complicated.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Use the following procedure to systematically overclock the DDR2 memory interface: 1. Turn off SLI-Ready Memory feature in the Memory Configuration BIOS menu as shown in Figure 11. Figure 11. Disabling SLI-Ready Memory in BIOS 2. Go to the System Voltages BIOS menu shown in Figure 12 to increase the Memory voltage to 2.125 V. To achieve higher clocks, it is often required to increase voltage levels while maintaining low device tempuratures. Figure 12.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking 3. Change the System Clocks BIOS menu settings so they have exactly the same values as shown in Figure 10. a) Change the CPU Multiplier to x12 (for FX-62 CPU, this value is sufficient; for other AM2 CPUs x5 will work) in System Clocks BIOS menu. b) Change CPU <-> nForce SPP multiplier to x3. 4. Go to the Memory Timings BIOS menu shown in Figure 13 and set the values to match.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking 5. Go to the Driver Strength Settings BIOS menu shown in Figure 14. The Corsair TWIN2X2048-8500C5 memories can overclock further when you lower the chip-select (CS), address (MA), and clock (MCLK) drive strength settings. Drive strength defines how sharp the edge of a signal transition is. Lowering the signal drive strength reduces noise injected to neighboring signals and helps increase frequency.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking For DDR2-800 memory, use an even-numbered CPU multiplier of 10 and above: Effective Memory Frequency = 400 MHz DDR × Reference Clock (HTT) Increase For example, if the reference clock HTT is set to 250 MHz, the effective memory frequency will be 500 MHz DDR or 1 GHz: 400 MHz DDR × (250 MHz ÷ 200 MHz) NVIDIA nTune will report the effective frequency of memory in megahertz. Figure 15 shows how nTune can be used to overclock memory.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Balance CPU Frequency, HyperTransport, and Memory Overclocking Results Since CPU frequency, HyperTransport bandwidth, and memory frequency overclocking all depend on CPU HTT reference clock, it is often difficult to obtain a specific configuration that would generate a maximum overclocking for all. Hence, overclocking tradeoffs must be made in order to generate the optimum achievable performance.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking PCI Express Overclocking The NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI technology chipset is highly overclockable by design. One of the main features it supports is NVIDIA LinkBoost™ technology. LinkBoost technology is only supported on this chipset and high-end NVIDIA GeForce products such as the GeForce 7900GTX. LinkBoost technology increases the PCI Express and HyperTransport link between NVIDIA nForce 590 MCP and SPP chips by 25% out of the box.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Figure 16. Overclocking PCI Express using NVIDIA nTune 5.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP HyperTransport Interface The link between NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP and SPP is a 16-bit upstream and downstream HyperTransport interface operating at 1 GHz, similar to CPU HyperTransport interconnect. The NVIDIA LinkBoost technology increases this bus bandwidth by 25%. Bandwidth increases help with overall system performance. MCP HyperTransport (HTT) is designed to overclock by up to 50 to 60%.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking 3. To change the frequency, adjust SPP <-> MCP Ref Clock setting in System Clocks BIOS menu as illustrated in Figure 18. Gradually increment MCP HTT clock to determine the highest passing value. MCP HTT clock can run at 300 MHz and higher. Figure 18. Adjusting MCP HTT Frequency in BIOS 4. Run a stability test in Windows to test the overclocking.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking GPU Overclocking GPU overclocking adds a tremendous boost to system gaming performance. Overclocking the two settings that have the most to do with 3D performance and gaming will increase GPU performance: 3D frequency Memory frequency 2D core frequency Overclocking the GPU can be done using NVIDIA nTune 5.0 as shown in Figure 19.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Overclocking the System Now that the individual interfaces and system components have been overclocked independently, combing the new settings generates the best system performance enhancing the gaming experience. Conduct overall system stability and burn-in testing to ensure that the new settings do not impede system stability robustness. Typically, running 3DMark for 24 hours tests the new system settings adequately.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Figure 20. NVIDIA nTune 5.0 Dynamic BIOS Access To retain a complete system configuration of overclocked settings in Windows, including GPU overclocking, the NVIDIA nTune 5.0 Profiles feature, shown in Figure 21. The Profiles feature lets end users save overclock settings. Once the settings are configured properly in nTune, save a profile as an “*.nsu” file on the hard disk drive. Use the Custom Rules feature in nTune 5.
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Figure 21. Storing Profiles in NVIDIA nTune 5.0 Figure 22. Loading Automated Settings Using NVIDIA nTune 5.
Final Thoughts Overclocking is becoming mainstream practice due to technological advancements in device manufacturing and the availability of easy-to-use utilities to tune a PC system. The NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI chipset has been engineered with enthusiasts and overclockers in mind. An entire platform solution is designed to provide gaming enthusiasts and overclockers the necessary means to improve their gaming experience.
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