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AMD® Phenom™ II Overclocking Thread

im pretty sure mine defaults at 1.2...

edit, overdrive reports 1.3 and wont go lower :/
cant confirm this in bios cos voltage settings show increments (ie, +25mv). bummer.

edit edit: Nb VID is 1.2 and will go lower, NB core is 1.3 and wont. anyone know the difference?
 
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One is your actual northbridge chip (the bit on the motherboard with the heatsink on it). The other is the memory controller potion of your CPU, and is somewhere on that little silicon wafer inside the square of metal with the spikes on the back that you call a Phenom :)

I suspect NB core is the memory controller, because it's part of the CPU core...

*edit* I have had many beers. I may be wrong!
 
well, I can confirm my system is running sweet as pie with 4 sticks of 2Gb @DDR3-1600 - all on stock settings (apart from a slight oc multi jump on the CPU to 3.8)

Prime95 blend has been running for 16hours straight no issues - yaay :)

http://blog.corsair.com/?p=65 - COMPARISON ON 4GB V'S 8GB
 
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zoomee - thats an interesting comparison. I wonder whether those of us with SSD boot drives would see the same performance boost given that our page files are fast access anyway?
 
The same article states that an SSD will still be much slower than memory to access: Less / no reliance on the pagefile on the hard disk drive - The storage drive is the slowest component in your PC. Even an SSD is at least an order of magnitude slower than RAM!

I'll be honest - I have noticed a slight improvment in response to my system - I can't say I will use the full 8Gb to its potential as they are doing in that article but at least I'm assured my system should last a couple of years at least (once I get my X6 of course :P )
 
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Oh sorry. Obviously didnt read it properly :rolleyes:

Another 4GB of ram is tempting. Reckon I will probably wait until I actually need it. Cant really justify the cost at the moment. Besides I may end up putting 4GB sticks into my spare slots and end up with 12GB instead. :cool:
 
Hmm, I guess I have no idea what I'm doing then gareth xD My BIOS just shows a CPU-NB voltage up with the CPU settings, and a northbridge voltage down in a different section; least I can't fudge that up :]
 
Hey guys,

Recently built my new rig (spec here).

I followed a guide for unlocking the cores and I think its worked successfully :D It shows up as x4 in CPU-Z and bios etc.

To test stability do I just run a Prime95 blender test? How long shall I run it for? Also, if my CPU gets crazy hot, will it stop as I am leaving it on over night.

CPUZ Screenies:

2mw8s5z.png


14tl5i.jpg


Cheers!
 
another interesting question. my BIOS northbridge voltage will adjust the core (1.3 and up in 0.03 increments), but doesnt have an option to adjust the IMC, yet i can still supposedly adjust this in overdrive. does it change the voltage, or is it just showing numbers on the screen?

discuss. (30 marks)
 
@#&$%!!!!

Rebooted after 6 hours of prime. I give up, I just can't get 8GB of memory stable at the old 4GB latencies :(

Left it running 10-9-9-24 while I'm at work. Damn thing better not have bloody rebooted by the time I get back or I'll take a hammer to it! I know the difference between 9 and 10 is pretty much nil in real world, and that the increased capacity more than makes up for it, but... it's double figures, man! :(

*breathes*

Ewaf; nice one with the jammy unlock :) Most people seem to aim for 8-12 hours prime before declaring stability. Do NOT leave it unattended from the start, the actual throttle temp of a P2 appears to be significantly above it's rated top temperature (why??). But you can safely watch it for an hour and know that during that time it's gotten as hot as it's ever going to; if it stays sane for that long, then all is well :)

thingemajib; consider using K10Stat which will show you both your current CPU-NB voltage, and let you adjust it easily :) It's a bit intimidating to look at, there's a nice guide on it here that should get you going.
 
Eddiew cheers for the heads up, been waiting for someone to answer me :D

Gonna run Prime95 blender (Do I need to change any settings or just leave it at default?) and watch it for an hour or so then leave it. What temps should I start to worry about? Right now its at 27degrees and around 40 under 10mins of prime95


Cheers
 
Ewaf - no you dont need to change the prime settings. Just run the standard blend test.

I would start getting worried if it hit 55 so it sounds like you are okay so far. I assume you have correctly identified which of the TMPIN readings is the correct one? It is not the same on all mobos.

Good luck :D
 
Bah, mine hits 58-59 under prime :P Fortunately I know nothing real-world takes it that high, most times it's under 50 with gaming loads :)
 
Interesting... 10 hours of prime stability, rebooted as soon as I stopped it and the clock speed reverted to idle. Yesterday's reboots were all under similar conditions... Methinks I have an issue with CnQ state changes ¬_¬

I turned on C1E a while ago, think I'll go turn that off as I've heard people say it can affect stability...

Other ideas anyone?
 
Hey guys,

Well looks like I managed to unlock me Phenom II x2 555 BE to a quad core \:D/ 13 hours of prime95 with no errors. Bargain!

Now I want to start overclocking it. Should I just increase the multiplier by 1 and then run prime95? How long should I test in prime95 for?

Cheers!
 
gareth170 said:
thingemajib, your bios may have a hidden menu. try alt + F1 or ctrl + F1 on the main bios menu
Click to expand...

or if its default bios might not have unlock options like mine didnt till updated bios ;) some options were there but you couldnt touch with the one that came with mb
 
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