1st time overclocking

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21 Feb 2011
Posts
137
Location
Darford, Kent
Hi everyone

I'm new to overclocking and just wanted some advice really.


My set up currently is:

AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition 3.2GHz
Asus AM3 M4A88T-V EVO/USB3
Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz/PC3-12800 XMS3
Seagate ST3500418AS 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 16MB Cache
After market CPU cooler - Scythe Shuriken Quiet Low Profile
Sapphire HD 5770 Vapor X
Rasurbo 550w EAP Eco
Windows 7 64 bit

I have followed the very helpful guide on the forums here and OC the cpu to 4.2 ghz, 1st query I achieved this by raising FSB to 205 and multiplier to 20.5, is this the correct way round to have it or should I raise FSB and lower multi or doesn't matter?

At these setting I ran Primer95 for 6 hours and highest temp was 65c, is this ok?, maz temp for my cpu is 70c according to AMD. Also I had to raise vocre to 1.5 to achieve this so without better cooling i'm not sure if I can get much more out of my CPU.

My cpu is meant to support extra core unlocking and so does my board but can't get it to unlock, just says your cpu doesn't support core unlocking, am I doing something wrong is have I just got unlucky with my CPU?

I would like to get into water cooling but want to take baby steps, was looking at getting the H50 through OCUK, would I notice a big difference in CPU temp with my current set up.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks
 
Wow. 4.2 is a really good overclock for that chip. Most people cant get much above 3.8 / 3.9.

I thought that the max temp was 62 for all phenom II cpus. Others may correct me.

Were you seeing any cpu throttling? I have found that if I get above 55*C the cpu starts automatically decreasing the multi to protect itself.

The 555 can potentially unlock to a quad core. My old one did. Not all of them though. At what point do you get the 'does not support' error message?

This is pretty much the best guide for unlocking I think. Remember to put your overclock back to stock before you try to unlock. Temps will increase a LOT when/if you unlock.
 
Congrats on a impressive OC :)

I would'nt call a H50 water cooling in a true sense of the word really. Sure it's got water but just think about the size of the unit? It's a very small water filled loop so you'll not get true water cooled effects really. You don't state a case in your listing but I would go for a different CPU cooler to be honest

This

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-031-TT&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

at just over 40 quid it's reported as a top notch cooler for AM3 systems with really good cooling results :)
 
Thanks for the quick reply guys

I checked my CPU model on It shows max temp as 70c if i'm reading it right

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/pii_555/

Max Temp 70o Celsius

How can I tell if i'm getting throttling, I'm not getting any decrease in performace when gaming and running primer, i'm checking the CPU frequency on my MB and CPU - Z and i stays at 4.2 GHZ throughout.

For the Unlocking, my board should be as easy as pressing F4 on BIOS load and should unlock and I have tried this on stick setting. It powers down and tries booting 3 times, on final time setting to Asus boot screen and at bottom it says your CPU doesn't support core unlocking?

My case is:

Nexus Clodius Ventilation Pro PC Case

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/products/pc-cases/nx-clodius

Not sure if that fan would fit in my case as its only a midi case?
 
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