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AMD® Athlon™ II Overclocking Thread
- Thread starter Big.Wayne
- Start date
Hello again, i'd like to get my Athlon to 3.7 if poss, temps are all under control, i just can't seem to boot with an fsb of 270+.
What is the standard for NB voltages? I would like to raise it a bit but i have no idea where to start!
Any ideas?
You're doing a great job in this Thread Wayne, you really know your stuff.
What is the standard for NB voltages? I would like to raise it a bit but i have no idea where to start!
Any ideas?
You're doing a great job in this Thread Wayne, you really know your stuff.
Hi burrell, thanks for your kind words! 
I'm a pretty slow learner myself but having owned an AMD® Athlon™ II system for a year now I managed to get to grips with the basics! . . . still got more to learn but I reckon in another 12 months I will have cracked it!
I replied to your post #245 stating your CPU-NB clock was rather high and how to make life simple you should consider dropping the CPU-NB multiplier to see if that solves your clocking problem? . . . 3.5GHz is a decent clock from a AMD® Athlon™ II X4 620 as it only has a [x13] CPU multiplier therefore forcing you to pump the Ht ref.Clock sky high . . . 270MHz is great!
Re finding out what the standard voltage is for your processors CPU-NB the only app I know of is Everest which shows you both CPU & CPU-NB [VID]
As you can see on the AMD® Athlon™ II X4 630 I am using the CPU-NB [VID] is 1.175v for operation at the standard 2.0GHz . . . at the moment I'm running it at 2.5GHz but had to manually boost the CPU-NB voltage from 1.175v to 1.225v . . .
If you think your Processor clock is maxed then fair enough go about raising the CPU-NB voltage and see if you can get 2.7GHz stable *but* if your still working out the max CPU clock then drop the CPU-NB multi down to [x8] or [x7] to take the strain off it and allow to to explore the Ht ref.Clock and CPU clocking further . . .
To get your Propus up to about 3.7GHz your gonna need a 285MHz Ht ref.Clock which may or may not be possible depending on the quality of your motherboard and CPU etc . . . for maximum chance of success your gonna need to drop the HT-Link Multi, the CPU-NB multi and the Memory multi . . . if you used the [1:2] memory multi that would still mean your DDR2-1066 ram was being overclocked while using a Ht ref.Clock of 285MHz
I'm a pretty slow learner myself but having owned an AMD® Athlon™ II system for a year now I managed to get to grips with the basics! . . . still got more to learn but I reckon in another 12 months I will have cracked it!
I replied to your post #245 stating your CPU-NB clock was rather high and how to make life simple you should consider dropping the CPU-NB multiplier to see if that solves your clocking problem? . . . 3.5GHz is a decent clock from a AMD® Athlon™ II X4 620 as it only has a [x13] CPU multiplier therefore forcing you to pump the Ht ref.Clock sky high . . . 270MHz is great!
Re finding out what the standard voltage is for your processors CPU-NB the only app I know of is Everest which shows you both CPU & CPU-NB [VID]
As you can see on the AMD® Athlon™ II X4 630 I am using the CPU-NB [VID] is 1.175v for operation at the standard 2.0GHz . . . at the moment I'm running it at 2.5GHz but had to manually boost the CPU-NB voltage from 1.175v to 1.225v . . .
If you think your Processor clock is maxed then fair enough go about raising the CPU-NB voltage and see if you can get 2.7GHz stable *but* if your still working out the max CPU clock then drop the CPU-NB multi down to [x8] or [x7] to take the strain off it and allow to to explore the Ht ref.Clock and CPU clocking further . . .
To get your Propus up to about 3.7GHz your gonna need a 285MHz Ht ref.Clock which may or may not be possible depending on the quality of your motherboard and CPU etc . . . for maximum chance of success your gonna need to drop the HT-Link Multi, the CPU-NB multi and the Memory multi . . . if you used the [1:2] memory multi that would still mean your DDR2-1066 ram was being overclocked while using a Ht ref.Clock of 285MHz
- 285/1*2= 570MHz (DDR2-1140)
- 285/3*5= 475MHz (DDR2-950)
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ok went for 240 clock and got it, works fine, seemingly stable.
1 hour prime95 working fine so far
240 clock @ 1.46Vcore
Removing that cheap stick of 8500 ram has sorted out the memory multiplyer, can actually properly understand your calculations now big wayne without the calculator lol
Temps are really getting high now, whats the top end limit on the athlon II's? it's about 60c isn't it?
heres a screeny showing stable and ram etc etc
1 hour prime95 working fine so far
240 clock @ 1.46Vcore
Removing that cheap stick of 8500 ram has sorted out the memory multiplyer, can actually properly understand your calculations now big wayne without the calculator lol
Temps are really getting high now, whats the top end limit on the athlon II's? it's about 60c isn't it?
heres a screeny showing stable and ram etc etc
Associate
hey big wayne,
sorry not been on for awhile, been busy with work!
I have managed to get to 3.78ghz on this config:
AMD® Athlon™ II X2 240 @ 3.78GHz
* Processor Frequency = 3.78GHz
* HT ref.Clock = 270MHz
* CPU Multiplier = x14
* Memory Multi = 3:8
* Memory Speed = 720MHz (DDR3-1440)
* Vcore = 1.4875 v
I tried upping the clock to 275 but it wasnt stable on an intel burn test, so I changed to vcore to 1.5v but it still didnt stablise.. didnt know if I should push passed 1.5v? The cpu-voltage led on my mobo changed to an angry red though which was pretty kool
With regards to the screen pics.. I used photobucket but for some reason it resizes your uploads, any ideas if theres a better upload site to use?
Cheers
sorry not been on for awhile, been busy with work!
I have managed to get to 3.78ghz on this config:
AMD® Athlon™ II X2 240 @ 3.78GHz
* Processor Frequency = 3.78GHz
* HT ref.Clock = 270MHz
* CPU Multiplier = x14
* Memory Multi = 3:8
* Memory Speed = 720MHz (DDR3-1440)
* Vcore = 1.4875 v
I tried upping the clock to 275 but it wasnt stable on an intel burn test, so I changed to vcore to 1.5v but it still didnt stablise.. didnt know if I should push passed 1.5v? The cpu-voltage led on my mobo changed to an angry red though which was pretty kool
With regards to the screen pics.. I used photobucket but for some reason it resizes your uploads, any ideas if theres a better upload site to use?
Cheers
Soldato
I got my Athlon II X4 640 today along with the Gigabyte GA-880GM-ED2H motherboard and 4Gb Corsair XMS3 1600Mhz RAM. Had a quick tinker with it, going to run Prime95 on it for a long stretch soon. Left it for 10 minutes or so and it was fine though.
Doesn't seem to want to go any higher than this! (I enabled that Hybrid EC Firmware option, all it seems to have done for me is broke the Core temps.)
Edit 3! : I can get it to boot into Windows at 3.9Ghz, spent about 30 minutes on Crysis Warhead no problems what so ever. Shame it only lasts around a minute in IntelBurnTest or Prime95 though!
Question though, as I was having a route through the Motherboard settings I came across something called 'Hybrid EC Firmware'. What does this do? I've had a google of it and can't really make much sense of it!
Doesn't seem to want to go any higher than this! (I enabled that Hybrid EC Firmware option, all it seems to have done for me is broke the Core temps.
)Edit 3! : I can get it to boot into Windows at 3.9Ghz, spent about 30 minutes on Crysis Warhead no problems what so ever. Shame it only lasts around a minute in IntelBurnTest or Prime95 though!
Question though, as I was having a route through the Motherboard settings I came across something called 'Hybrid EC Firmware'. What does this do? I've had a google of it and can't really make much sense of it!
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Did a quick overclock on my 630 can someone check it to see if my settings are alright?
Load temp is 50 degrees running a CM Hyper TX3. I did the 1 hour stability test in AOD and it's survived an hour of prime95 blend so far.
My voltage is set to auto I think... it fluctuates between 1.375 and around 1.4 and for a tiny second 1.44 - is this normal or should I set this to something defined?
And the final question - my RAM timings are lower than what they are rated to... is it worthwhile in terms of performance to keep them as low as possible or should I run them within spec?
Thanks all!
Load temp is 50 degrees running a CM Hyper TX3. I did the 1 hour stability test in AOD and it's survived an hour of prime95 blend so far.
My voltage is set to auto I think... it fluctuates between 1.375 and around 1.4 and for a tiny second 1.44 - is this normal or should I set this to something defined?
And the final question - my RAM timings are lower than what they are rated to... is it worthwhile in terms of performance to keep them as low as possible or should I run them within spec?
Thanks all!
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@sunlitsix EC Hybrid enables the core and cache unlock features. It goes beyond ACC I think as you can choose to disable or enable specific cores.
Man of Honour
Looks good so far Pulse Ammo.
Is your RAM DDR3-1333mhz or DDR3 1333mhz.
My own Athlon II 630 managed 3.8ghz however it lived a a short while after as I was pushing for 4ghz with extremely high vcore and my mobo let go and took the chip with it.
You still have plenty of vcore "available" to push the chip further.
Is your RAM DDR3-1333mhz or DDR3 1333mhz.
My own Athlon II 630 managed 3.8ghz however it lived a a short while after as I was pushing for 4ghz with extremely high vcore and my mobo let go and took the chip with it.
You still have plenty of vcore "available" to push the chip further.
Thanks for your reply Froz!
My ram is PC12800 timings should really be: 9-9-9-24-34 - resolved that in my bios now though... may fiddle with that once I'm happy with other settings.
Speaking of voltage - what voltage killed off your chip then?
I primed for a few hours and the system seemed stable however I wanted to manually control my voltages so I decided to set my Vcore to 1.375 in the bios and it fails prime blend almost immediately. Tried going up to 1.4 in the bios.
CPU-Z is giving me as low as 1.360 under load so I think I need to go do something about the V-Droop? Also going to raise my NB to 2200mhz since I've heard that can help a bit.
The reason I didn't like Auto v-core even though it seemed stable with limited testing and under 50c was because the voltage fluctuated in CPU-Z from around 1.375 to as high as 1.47 which is above the AMD spec sheet max. Granted that it only flickers to the high values for a small second.
TL : DR Anyone got a good guide regarding voltages? Big Waynes recent posts were nice for helping keep my ratios at good speeds but I could do with a primer on voltages and how they react under load.
My ram is PC12800 timings should really be: 9-9-9-24-34 - resolved that in my bios now though... may fiddle with that once I'm happy with other settings.
Speaking of voltage - what voltage killed off your chip then?
I primed for a few hours and the system seemed stable however I wanted to manually control my voltages so I decided to set my Vcore to 1.375 in the bios and it fails prime blend almost immediately. Tried going up to 1.4 in the bios.
CPU-Z is giving me as low as 1.360 under load so I think I need to go do something about the V-Droop? Also going to raise my NB to 2200mhz since I've heard that can help a bit.
The reason I didn't like Auto v-core even though it seemed stable with limited testing and under 50c was because the voltage fluctuated in CPU-Z from around 1.375 to as high as 1.47 which is above the AMD spec sheet max. Granted that it only flickers to the high values for a small second.
TL : DR Anyone got a good guide regarding voltages? Big Waynes recent posts were nice for helping keep my ratios at good speeds but I could do with a primer on voltages and how they react under load.
Man of Honour
To start with. It wasnt technically the chip that died. The board blew some VRMs which in turn took out the in built memory controller. Would run prime95 on linux and memtest for 24 hours but the slightest hint of windows it fell over, that was at 1.7v on a budget board.
1.55v is perfectly fine to put through your chip without fear of damaging it. I would have ran it at 1.7v 24/7 as it was still well below 72'c if the board hadnt nuked itself and the chip.
My Athlon II X4 needed 1.425v for 3.6ghz stable.
I dont personally notice a real world difference by overclocking the CPU-NB and HT Link, however I dont bother benching till I'm happy with the max clock for each.
I'll be back overclocking an Athlon II X2 235e under a waterloop so I'll do some very thorough testing and see what difference it makes.
1.55v is perfectly fine to put through your chip without fear of damaging it. I would have ran it at 1.7v 24/7 as it was still well below 72'c if the board hadnt nuked itself and the chip.
My Athlon II X4 needed 1.425v for 3.6ghz stable.
I dont personally notice a real world difference by overclocking the CPU-NB and HT Link, however I dont bother benching till I'm happy with the max clock for each.
I'll be back overclocking an Athlon II X2 235e under a waterloop so I'll do some very thorough testing and see what difference it makes.
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Thanks again. I knew about the issue of the VRMs blowing out on AMD boards so I'm trying to keep it quite conservative voltage wise. I'm running a M4A785TD-V Evo which has a small heatsink over the VRMs as well as 8 (I think) phase power so I think it's harder to blow out this board than others due to the stress being spread out more?
I'm not so much looking for performance out of an increased NB but I've heard if you lag it too far behind the CPU clock that it can cause instability. Think both my NB and HT were at 2000mhz though...
I'll tinker more with vcore and vdroop unless people here say auto is fine?
I'm not so much looking for performance out of an increased NB but I've heard if you lag it too far behind the CPU clock that it can cause instability. Think both my NB and HT were at 2000mhz though...
I'll tinker more with vcore and vdroop unless people here say auto is fine?
Soldato
Ah right ok. Well I enabled it and it didn't unlock an extra cache so it's disabled again.
Thaught I'd give that a try myself and success!
I think my load temp is abit high though, just installed the Corsair H70 and I've got the fans working as an Exhaust. Might try flipping them around later on.
I personally wouldn't trust the stability of it when set to Auto V but thats just me.
Man of Honour
PulseAmmo: The board in question was a Gigabyte MA-78LMT-S2, a very budget board by all accounts, IIRC it had 4+1 Phase power circuitry as well as no heatsinks on the VRM area. The only thing I run on my system that will show a difference would be Folding@home and I can honestly say with this chip @ 4ghz theres no difference between 2.5ghz HT Link & CPU-NB and 2ghz, however I'll do some testing on a fresh windows install when my Athlon II chip arrives.
Stick to manually adjusting voltages and motherboards tend to overcompensate when overclocking as they aren't intelligent enough yet, if you haven't got Load Line Calibration enabled I would suggest doing so as it will help control that Vdroop. ~19% was the sweetspot on my Asus board but thats away for RMA at the moment
Sunlitsix
Looks good so far, I'd try bumping the CPU-NB and HT Link multiplyers upto [10x] and give a a good blast on Prime.
54'c is fine at that voltage with a H70 running IBT. I think my chip ran around the same temps with L3 cache unlocked under custom water.
Unlucky on not getting an unlock on the L3 Cache, still gutted I killed mine.
Stick to manually adjusting voltages and motherboards tend to overcompensate when overclocking as they aren't intelligent enough yet, if you haven't got Load Line Calibration enabled I would suggest doing so as it will help control that Vdroop. ~19% was the sweetspot on my Asus board but thats away for RMA at the moment
Sunlitsix
Looks good so far, I'd try bumping the CPU-NB and HT Link multiplyers upto [10x] and give a a good blast on Prime.
54'c is fine at that voltage with a H70 running IBT. I think my chip ran around the same temps with L3 cache unlocked under custom water.
Unlucky on not getting an unlock on the L3 Cache, still gutted I killed mine.
@sunlitsix The cache only unlocks on very few of them nowadays - I think there was a run of Athlon x3s (perhaps 435) that had a high chance of 4 core and cache unlock recently. At any rate you can tell if you have a locked deneb core by the serial on your CPU iirc its something like CADAC vs CACYC.
@Froz I'll adjust manually in that case then. I'll need to do some reading though - Load Line Cal is set to auto which my board says is 50% - however I thought that VDDC CPU was the setting to help counter droop so I think I need to do some reading here.
@Froz I'll adjust manually in that case then. I'll need to do some reading though - Load Line Cal is set to auto which my board says is 50% - however I thought that VDDC CPU was the setting to help counter droop so I think I need to do some reading here.
Man of Honour
I cant remember exactly what the purpose of VDDC CPU was but it had no effect on Vdroop at all for me.
For an unlock on an X4 you need a CACYC
Full details of my old chip as I have it next to me
For an unlock on an X4 you need a CACYC
Full details of my old chip as I have it next to me
Code:
ADX620WFK42GI
CACYC AC 0931BPMW
9A06306H90080Soldato
Well it lasted around about 1 hour 10 mins on Prime95 before the BSOD. :/
I'm going to have to check this again but on Hardware Monitor I've watched the TMPIN2 temperature go up and as soon as it goes over 60*c I think the PC BSODs. Not sure what TMPIN2 relates to either though! TMPIN1 is my CPU.
I'll check that out ASAP then.