AMD® Phenom™ II Overclocking Thread

mmj_uk · 7 Feb 2010 at 14:13

Si Lad said:
My crashes are weird. On my old CPU (3800 Venice) I used to get blue screens when going too far but on this 965 I get grey vertical bars and then the screen flashes different colours.I have a 5770 vapour x.
I have not had a blue screen yet, is this caused by the graphics driver rather than an unstable system ?

It sounds like you've got the Radeon GSOD:
http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm?catid=260&threadid=124747&enterthread=y

Elfmeister. · 7 Feb 2010 at 14:16

No its not the GSOD, I've already applied the HotFix.

It may not work though!

mmj_uk · 7 Feb 2010 at 14:19

Elfmeister. said:
No its not the GSOD, I've already applied the HotFix.

It may not work though!

Yeah a lot of people are complaining that it doesn't.

I get it when overclocking my 5870 so I tend to think it's hardware related.

.walls · 7 Feb 2010 at 14:23

This is my day to day clock (720 BE, CPU @ 3.6, NB @ 2.6). Have had it at 3.9, but it was just too much voltage to be running everyday, whereas I can get this and still be inside the AMD recommended limits 24/7.

Not going to have a CPU-z validation as it only runs on windows.

Elfmeister. · 7 Feb 2010 at 14:33

mmj_uk

If Big.Wanye hasn't installed a 5 series card yet maybe he can try and see if this happens when using the 4200 IGP our motherboards have, I would but I can't be botherd to take out my GPU at the mo.

Uriel · 7 Feb 2010 at 16:48

My PWM splitter cable arrived with the Akasa fans and guess what? My motherboard uses voltage regulation, not PWM for fan speed control. Darn deceptive 4 pin PCU fan header :rolleyes:

.

There's a silver lining though. Having the fans run at full whack has dropped my temps slightly, meaning 3.3GHz with a 2.1GHz NB / HT and DDR2 800 speeds now seems stable. Miss the quiet thought. I can feel a fan controller purchase coming along.

Anyway - any of you Phenom II overclockers fancy adding results to my WPrime thread? http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18111799

Meaker · 7 Feb 2010 at 17:56

I swapped out my thermalright TRUE for a titan fenrir, with the same fans its quite similar.

DFIs smart guardian software tells me 52/53C at full load at 1.55v at 3.933ghz.

Skillmister · 8 Feb 2010 at 16:09

Right then, finally picked up my replacement RAM and got my system back to Quad Core

Absolutely amazed at the results as i never really got to test it before.

With a couple of 3D render tests, cut the time by just over half! 5minutes 19sec @ Dual Core into 2:30 @ Quad, brilliant news!

Here's my screens at stock Quad, temps on TMPIN0 on Dual-Core were 2-3 degrees higher than the actual core temperatures, so im going to allow about 5-6 degrees higher now its a Quad. Definatly happy with it currently as its with stock cooler, looks like i'll have a good amount of headroom once i get a new one.

Time to give my first OC a go

Edit: Help? It appears my multiplier wont go over x15.0 Whats up? Do i change the HT ref. Clock instead?

ran_out · 8 Feb 2010 at 16:54

Installed my system in a new case with a 2nd fan on the Baram over the weekend and seeing much better temps now. Annoyingly the fan I got wouldn't clip to the Baram so had to switch it with one of the case fans. Have now found settings that are IBT stable at about 4ghz (225*17.5 @ 1.5v) but haven't had the time to do any prime runs.

I'm seeing a slight problem with my bios setting off a CPU fan speed warning though when cold booting and cancelling my overclock unless I go into bios then restart, this bios doesn't seem to have an option for disabling fan-speed warning though.

eddyc · 8 Feb 2010 at 19:30

skillmister: do you mean you are not stable above 15 or you cant change the setting in the bios above 15?

Skillmister · 8 Feb 2010 at 19:34

Cant change it above 15 (stock), its the max setting in bios and on the AMD Overdrive slider.

eddyc · 8 Feb 2010 at 19:34

Right here is my > 25 hrs prime run. Thats stable enough for me.

And here are my benchmarks.

Before clocking:

And after clocking:

Going to take Big.Wayne's advice and get some Devil May Cry done tonight I think.

Happy clocking everyone.

EDIT: Skillmister - not sure. Sorry. Motherboard problem? Does yours definitely allow you to change the multi?

Pendu · 8 Feb 2010 at 19:40

You unclocked your L3 cache, nice one mate.

eddyc · 8 Feb 2010 at 19:48

I did?

Dont even know what that is!

Skillmister · 8 Feb 2010 at 20:07

Yes i can definatly change it between 4 and 15. Can alter the Clock between like 100 and 400 but i dont know if thats the wrong way to go about overclocking.

eddyc · 8 Feb 2010 at 22:00

Some mobos I think only allow you to make the multi smaller.

Increasing the clock speed is a fine way of OCing but I think people with black edition processors tend to use the multi because it is easier to get better results.

Is yours a B.E.? If not that would explain it. Only black edition ones allow you to increase the multi.

Uriel · 8 Feb 2010 at 22:07

Skillmister - your CPU isn't a black edition is it? Non black edition CPUs have a set maximum multiplier.

Skillmister · 8 Feb 2010 at 22:22

Ah, not black edition. Everything makes sense

I resisted the temptation on the overdrive utility to shove the clock up to 400 and see what happens on a 6GHz OC XD

sunderland · 9 Feb 2010 at 14:58

Big.Wayne im after building a new system with one of these AMD Phenom II X2 Dual Core 550,how easy is it to unlock them and would it unlock with this board Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4,also is this board fine for crossfire as gaming is all i want to play with this system,nice to see some of the clock speeds your getting with these chips,

eddyc · 9 Feb 2010 at 15:14

Hi Sunderland, not Big.W but maybe i can help

They are very easy to unlock, it is just a matter of changing the settings in the BIOS. Sometimes you will need to up the vcore a bit as well to help get the extra cores stable.

But do not buy one with the expectation of unlocking it or you risk disappointment :eek:

! Not all of them unlock to quad and many do not unlock at all. If you need a quad core I suggest buying one as its the only sure way of getting what you need.

But if you dont exactly need one but would like the possibility of an added bonus then go right ahead

This guide has a list of mobos which are capable of unlocking them.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.