Related Manuals for Nvidia nForce 590 SLI
Summary of Contents for Nvidia nForce 590 SLI
- Page 1 User Guide NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking May 2005 DU-02451-001_v01...
- Page 2 Document Change History Version Date Responsible Reason for Change 05/17/06 WZ, TS, NSmith Initial release. DU-02451-001_v01 05/17/06...
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Page 3: Table Of Contents
Table of Contents NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking ...........1 Key Concepts ......................2 Cooling.......................2 Power Supply Units .....................2 Glossary of Terms ....................3 Overclocking the NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset........5 Disable AMD Cool’n’Quiet Technology ..............7 A Systematic Approach ...................8 CPU Reference Clock ...................9... - Page 4 Memory Settings for CPU Reference Clock Overclocking ......11 Figure 5. System Voltages for Reference Clock Overclocking......... 12 Figure 6. Adjusting CPU Reference Clock using NVIDIA nTune 5.0 ......13 Figure 7. NVIDIA nTune 5.0 Stability Test ............14 Figure 8.
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Page 5: Nvidia Nforce 590 Sli Technology Chipset Overclocking
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. -
Page 6: Key Concepts
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. -
Page 7: Glossary Of Terms
Basic Input Output System. CPU HTT HyperTransport interface connecting the AMD CPU to NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI SPP. Nominally, it runs at 1 GHz clock or 4 GBps in downstream and upstream directions. CPU HTT Clock signal of the CPU HyperTransport link. It has impact on... - Page 8 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking 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. Refresh Rate is the amount of time it takes before a change is refreshed.
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Page 9: Overclocking The Nvidia Nforce 590 Sli Technology Chipset
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 —... -
Page 10: Figure 1. High-Level System Diagram
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Figure 1. High-level System Diagram DU-02451-001_v01 05/17/06... -
Page 11: Disable Amd Cool'n'quiet Technology
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. -
Page 12: A Systematic Approach
7. Increase the NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP HyperTransport bus frequency 8. Boost the GPU core and memory frequencies Each of the following sections provides guidance on how to tweak an NVIDIA nForce 590-SLI technology chipset based PC system based on this step-by-step approach. -
Page 13: Cpu Reference Clock
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. -
Page 14: Figure 3. System Clock Setup For Cpu Reference Clock Overclocking
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Figure 3 shows the proper configuration in preparation for overclocking the CPU reference clock. Figure 3. System Clock Setup for CPU Reference Clock Overclocking DU-02451-001_v01 05/17/06... -
Page 15: Figure 4. Memory Settings For Cpu Reference Clock Overclocking
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Set Memory Timings Set memory frequency as low as possible from the BIOS menu, as Memory Timings shown in Figure 4: 1. Set Timing Mode [User limit] 2. Set Memory Clock Limit [DDR2 400] Figure 4. -
Page 16: Figure 5. System Voltages For Reference Clock Overclocking
Figure 5: 1. Change CPU core voltage, 2. Change HyperTransport interface core voltage, HT CPU <-> nForce SPP 3. Change NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI SPP and MCP core voltage, nForce SPP nForce MCP Figure 5. -
Page 17: Figure 6. Adjusting Cpu Reference Clock Using Nvidia Ntune 5.0
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 setting from NVIDIA nTune control panel as shown (HTT) Motherboard Settings in Figure 6. This action incrementally adjusts the reference clock and allows for dynamically testing for system stability. -
Page 18: Figure 7. Nvidia Ntune 5.0 Stability Test
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. -
Page 19: Cpu Hypertransport Overclocking
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. -
Page 20: Figure 9. Adjusting Ht Bus Frequency Using Nvidia Ntune 5.0
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 to 281 MHz provides a Reference clock (HTT) stable setting that effectively increases the CPU HyperTransport speed by 40% to 1.4 GHz, up from 1 GHz. -
Page 21: 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. -
Page 22: Figure 10. Bios System Clocks Configuration For Cpu 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 setting. Reference Clock (HTT) 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 ×... -
Page 23: Ddr2 Memory Interface Overclocking
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. -
Page 24: Figure 11. Disabling Sli-Ready Memory In Bios
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Use the following procedure to systematically overclock the DDR2 memory interface: 1. Turn off feature in the BIOS SLI-Ready Memory Memory Configuration menu as shown in Figure 11. Figure 11. Disabling SLI-Ready Memory in BIOS 2. -
Page 25: Figure 13. Bios Memory Timings Settings For Memory Overclocking
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking 3. Change the BIOS menu settings so they have exactly the same System Clocks values as shown in Figure 10. a) Change the (for FX-62 CPU, this value is CPU Multiplier sufficient; for other AM2 CPUs x5 will work) in System Clocks BIOS menu. -
Page 26: Figure 14. Bios Drive Strength Setting For Memory Overclocking
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking 5. Go to the BIOS menu shown in Figure 14. Driver Strength Settings The Corsair TWIN2X2048-8500C5 memories can overclock further when you lower the chip-select ( ), address ( ), and clock (... -
Page 27: Figure 15. Memory Overclocking Using Nvidia Ntune 5.0
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. Adjusting memory timings drive strengths, and possible memory and CPU voltages ever so slightly might be necessary to achieve higher overclockability. -
Page 28: Balance Cpu Frequency, Hypertransport, And Memory Overclocking Results
Finally, focus on HyperTransport speed. HyperTransport overclocking provides some added performance benefit, but its impact is not as significant as altering CPU frequency and memory performance settings. Fortunately, NVIDIA nTune 5.0 provides a complete, easy-to-use solution to optimize memory performance in a Windows environment. DU-02451-001_v01... -
Page 29: Pci Express Overclocking
HT nForce SPP <-> MCP nForce SPP nForce MCP 3. Use the NVIDIA nTune 5.0 to dynamically change and test each x16 PCI Express link within the Windows environment. This will overclock PCI Express on the NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI chipset. -
Page 30: Figure 16. Overclocking Pci Express Using Nvidia Ntune 5.0
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Figure 16. Overclocking PCI Express using NVIDIA nTune 5.0 DU-02451-001_v01 05/17/06... -
Page 31: Nvidia Nforce 590 Sli Mcp Hypertransport Interface
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%. -
Page 32: Figure 18. Adjusting Mcp Htt Frequency In Bios
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking 3. To change the frequency, adjust setting in SPP <-> MCP Ref Clock System BIOS menu as illustrated in Figure 18. Gradually increment MCP Clocks HTT clock to determine the highest passing value. MCP HTT clock can run at 300 MHz and higher. -
Page 33: Gpu Overclocking
Memory frequency 2D core frequency Overclocking the GPU can be done using NVIDIA nTune 5.0 as shown in Figure 19. Although increasing 2D core frequency does not affect 3D applications and gaming performance, the setting impact 2D applications such as DVD playback. -
Page 34: Overclocking The System
5. PCI Express and MCP HyperTransport bus speeds Upon achieving a stable system configuration, store the new settings and reload them when starting a new Windows session. NVIDIA nTune 5.0 provides a comprehensive solution for customizing and retaining settings and retaining overclock settings. -
Page 35: Figure 20. Nvidia Ntune 5.0 Dynamic Bios Access
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 feature, shown in Profiles Figure 21. The Profiles feature lets end users save overclock settings. -
Page 36: Figure 21. Storing Profiles In Nvidia Ntune 5.0
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Technology Chipset Overclocking Figure 21. Storing Profiles in NVIDIA nTune 5.0 Figure 22. Loading Automated Settings Using NVIDIA nTune 5.0 Custom Rules DU-02451-001_v01 05/17/06... -
Page 37: 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. - Page 38 NVIDIA Corporation. Trademarks NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, SLI, the SLI logo, and nForce are trademarks or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.