Help with OC Epox + Ath 64 3200+
 

I have an EPoX EP-8KDA3J paired with an Ath 64 3200+ for Premier/AE. From what I've read this combo takes quite well to OC. I've got a nice fan and circulation is good for the time being. What steps do I need to take to maximize the performance without smoking it. I'm sure some of you are using that same mobo so any specifics about your own system would be helpful.

I'm also about to buy 2gb of pc3200 and two 21" monitors for it, any recomendations.

As always, thank you.

Try:
Quick and Dirty OCing guide for A64

2- RAM: AMD64 platforms may have trouble with too much RAM. I believe you can't run 4 sticks of double-sided/banked RAM. 512MB sticks and 1GB sticks are typically double-sided. (I may be wrong here, but this is something to watch out for. Read your motherboard's manual- it should have a RAM compatibility chart.)

If your system is a dual channel platform (not all AMD64 is... depends on processor core and socket), run pairs of the exact same model and capacity RAM for best performance.

3- Monitors: Look for a hot deal on a LCD...
Example American hot deals sites:
gotapex.com
bensbargains.net or something like that

You may also wish to check the outputs on your video card... at 20", you probably want to connect both monitors via DVI (digital). If you don't have a dual DVI card, DVI + VGA should be ok. And you could upgrade if you are unsatisfied with the quality of the analog connection on your second monitor.

I assume you're looking at LCDs and not CRTs. 2X21"CRTs is not a good combination to run in my opinion. Huge bezels and magnetic interference (i.e. with your NTSC monitor ot TV as preview device) may become issues.

And definitely have a third monitor that's a TV or NTSC/PAL monitor. Hook it up as the firewire preview.

I'm living on a the unfortnate side of a proxy and I can't dl my mobo's manual...so I'll have to wait a few days and get it from my parents house.

LCD's are out of my price range and after editing on both extensivly I have no concerns about the quality of two good CRT 21". I do understand your concern about my ntsc monitor. It's in a location that is generally sheilded from the other two, it's sits about 3 foot to the left. Plus I have the option of using an LCD ntsc monitor if that would be more resistant to the fields.

I don't think LCDs are very useful for giving an accurate idea of what your video looks like, if most of your audience is using CRT-based televisions.

The problem with that is that it may be annoying that it's 3 feet to the left (the head turning might be annoying?). But if it works, it works.

I appreciate the advice, and I think I will be making my first of many summer purchases this weekend.

I have a half donut desk so my monitors are setup in a pretty natural position, but I may do some testing to figure out my optimal workstation.



If I start cutting HD what will I need to change?

I want to get 2gb+ ram but I've been out of the pc tuning thing for quite awhile. I'm willing to spend a reasonable amount as long as it is worth while.

I need DDR400.

I'm not really exact on the technical specs my board requires but if you guys have any favorites or major dislikes let me know.

I was looking at HyperX but god that's expensive and it may not even be worth it...then again I wouldn't know.

Thx in advance.

Don't pay extra for low latency or overclocking RAM (i.e. kingston hyperX). It just isn't worth it.
Low latency RAM makes no difference for rendering speed. It might make a few percent difference for MPEG2 encoding. Assuming it does, it still isn't worth the price premium.
Overclocking RAM only helps you if you are overclocking, but even then the performance increase is only a few extra percent. Drop the memory divider and you can use normal RAM fine.

In the case of RAM for video editing, you can just get whatever's cheapest + compatible. There really isn't all that much difference unless you plan on overclocking or tweaking your system.
The cheapest stuff might have a little shoddier quality control... but it's not a problem if you test your RAM with prime95 torture test overnight or 1 pass of memtest (prime95 is a better test).

Since you're overclocking you might want to try to get RAM that's a good brand, which is an indicator of good quality (more headroom for overclocking). Well-regarded brands:

Corsair, Mushkin, Crucial (Crucial RAM comes with the slowest RAM timings possible; you may want to drop them down)

Also well-regarded, but less so: Kingston, OCZ, Geil

2- Some AMD64 systems will not take 4 sticks of double-sided/banked RAM. 512MB sticks tend to be double-banked. So... do your research. Motherboard manuals will have RAM compatibility charts.
I don't know all that much about the ins and outs of that. The newer Venice cores may handle this scenario better?