AMD 555BE Overclocking
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Note that when increasing the FSB you're also overclocking pretty much everything else in the system, so when you inevitably hit a wall you'll have no idea what's holding you back. Given that you're CPU multiplier is conveniently unlocked, you should start by bringing that up a notch and testing after every increase until it starts losing stability.
If you're very lucky you might be able to reach that frequency with just that, if not it'll require a bit more fiddling about. As far as voltages go, you should aim at the highest stable clock you can achieve while keeping the voltage as low as possible, increasing it -only- when you really need some more stability. (more voltage itself does -not- make a CPU 'faster') Do note that diminishing returns start hitting -very- hard fast when it comes to overclocking. Also keep in mind limits to voltages and temperatures you don't want to cross.
Whether you'll need more juice or not depends entirely on how lucky you are with the chip, some need more then others. I'd guess you'd have to bump the volts slightly to get to 3.9. However, don't get ahead of yourself, take your time to test everything out with reasonable increments. Finally, keep in mind that chips have their limits even granted extensive tweaking, if yours can't go higher, it can't, not all will reach 3.9, that's a fact.
In short, a good first step would be to see how far you can go using only the multiplier, nothing else. Give it a bit more voltage once you hit a wall and see whether it budges, failing that you'll need to get right down to it and fiddle with the other settings. Feel free to post your initial results and we'll see about getting you further.
- Ordokai
If you're very lucky you might be able to reach that frequency with just that, if not it'll require a bit more fiddling about. As far as voltages go, you should aim at the highest stable clock you can achieve while keeping the voltage as low as possible, increasing it -only- when you really need some more stability. (more voltage itself does -not- make a CPU 'faster') Do note that diminishing returns start hitting -very- hard fast when it comes to overclocking. Also keep in mind limits to voltages and temperatures you don't want to cross.
Whether you'll need more juice or not depends entirely on how lucky you are with the chip, some need more then others. I'd guess you'd have to bump the volts slightly to get to 3.9. However, don't get ahead of yourself, take your time to test everything out with reasonable increments. Finally, keep in mind that chips have their limits even granted extensive tweaking, if yours can't go higher, it can't, not all will reach 3.9, that's a fact.
In short, a good first step would be to see how far you can go using only the multiplier, nothing else. Give it a bit more voltage once you hit a wall and see whether it budges, failing that you'll need to get right down to it and fiddle with the other settings. Feel free to post your initial results and we'll see about getting you further.
- Ordokai
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Assuming you're using the BIOS directly for overclocking, there should be a CPU multiplier setting that goes something like 10x 10.5x 11x 11.5x etc. That's the one you should be playing with initially. To get the expected frequency you simply multiply the multiplier
with the FSB. Actually, to soften up the jumps in frequency with each multiplier increment I suggest lowering your FSB by a bit after the initial few jumps, say... 20 or so assuming its 200 by default. And upping it back towards 200 in a few steps to make sure the rig can 'fully' take that increment's change. Reasoning behind this being, if you make too big of a frequency jump beyond the point of instability, the mobo might refuse to POST at all, in which case you'll likely need to reset the CMOS. (by, for example, removing the mobo battery for a little bit) Also, as far as testing goes, anything's fine but don't overdo it with testing the incremental steps. At this point we're looking for blatant instability like failure to boot, freezes, BSODs, restarts etc. a couple of minutes of prime is plenty.
Once you get closer to the clock you want to keep long-term you can go crazy with more extensive tests to make sure it's rock solid, 6-10 hours seems like a reasonable amount. It's really a two-stage process, first we 'feel' out the limits of our hardware and then we try and optimize the results for lower temperatures, stability, noise, power consumption, lifespan etc. Be gentle with the voltages though, its all too easy to start giving it much more than it wants/needs/likes, excessive overvolting is the most hazardous part in the whole ordeal, by far. Any fool can bluntly crank it up and get a suicide overclock, however it takes an artist to achieve the same with as little sacrifice as possible.
Finally, always keep an eye on your temps and your volts, when thinking of giving it more juice take into account that quite a few mobos like adding some volts on top of your settings, check voltages in windows to make sure they're not higher then you want them to be. If there's an 'overvolt' setting in the BIOS (or some variation thereof) make sure to turn it off.
Damn, its way too easy to get carried away with this, I've written plenty as it is but there's still oh so much more to say. Let's make this easier shall we, you ask - we answer.
- Ordokai
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