Do I have a stinker of a chip?

SlyReaper · 30 Oct 2009 at 13:16

Phenom II 955 with a VID of 1.35V. Isn't that a tad high for a 45nm chip? I'm not having a lot of luck overclocking either - even a small boost to multiplier or FSB speed results in a crash when running Prime95. I thought these chips were supposed to be capable of 3.6 to 3.8GHz on stock volts? :confused:

blaineoliver · 30 Oct 2009 at 13:17

All of the 955s have the same voltage, its different to intel chips. upto 1.55v they can take.

deusexlumina · 30 Oct 2009 at 15:00

you should get to 3.6 on stock volts, up the multi by one or by a .5 and run the test with all other settings set to standard and it should be fine

as soon as you start touching the fsb things get more complicated, you have to take into account HTT and Northbridge speeds as well as ram. Google "Dolks guide for phenom overclocking" its a great help. Phenomsalso love tight memory timings, so make sure these are as tight as possible before you begin to clock away

Hope this helps

SlyReaper · 30 Oct 2009 at 16:05

Is 72C too hot?

deusexlumina · 30 Oct 2009 at 16:08

yes, far too hot

should be around 50-55 under load, phenoms become unstable over 62 degrees which would explain why you're getting errors in prime...

SlyReaper · 30 Oct 2009 at 16:17

I'm using a huge Zalman heatsink which is pressed very firmly against the CPU with plenty of thermal goo.

mmj_uk · 30 Oct 2009 at 16:23

955BE has a TDP of 125W (I think?) so you're going to need a high quality heatsink for overclocking, Zalman's tend to be focussed around low noise.

rudeboymcc · 30 Oct 2009 at 16:37

and it's actually better to use as little thermal paste as possible, as long as it's spread on a large area.

SlyReaper · 30 Oct 2009 at 16:40

It seems to be more or less stable at 3.6 on 1.45V. 3.7 on 1.45V made the computer crash the moment I started up Prime95. This is just by adjusting the multiplier, not touching the FSB.

SlyReaper · 30 Oct 2009 at 19:00

Oh good grief, it goes to 62C on just 3.5GHz, and I don't think it's even stable at this voltage. It's not stable at 3.6 at 1.4V. Am I just being a noob, or have I just been mind-bogglingly unlucky?

AND the computer is now completely dead. It won't POST, it won't even beep. And this is after it was running stable. Even resetting the board isn't working.

MeatLoaf · 30 Oct 2009 at 19:21

Id remove your heatsink clean off the thermal paste and reapply just a small amount. Then reseat your cooler and go from there.

BigBruiserAl · 30 Oct 2009 at 19:22

reseat hsf, clean the chip up and apply i thin layer or blob method.....more goo=more heat

SlyReaper · 30 Oct 2009 at 19:28

Damn, the heatsink is a pain in the arse to remove.

blaineoliver · 30 Oct 2009 at 19:47

WAtch you dont rip the chip out! I would look at maybe getting a higher power cooler myself.

SlyReaper · 30 Oct 2009 at 19:47

It's still dead.

Salsa · 30 Oct 2009 at 19:58

Reset the CMOS? See if that helps you to get it to post.

SlyReaper · 30 Oct 2009 at 20:05

Okay it lives again. Phew, that was a scary half hour.

blaineoliver · 30 Oct 2009 at 20:10

I find sometimes my pc stops powering up, put it down to heaving overclocking and restarting.

BigBruiserAl · 30 Oct 2009 at 20:18

blaineoliver said:
I find sometimes my pc stops powering up, put it down to heaving overclocking and restarting.

Never built or owned any and left like that, if you suspect that the overclock is stoping post you should lower it ....or did i misunderstand what you meant?

SlyReaper · 30 Oct 2009 at 20:20

I think he meant that restarting frequently to fiddle in the BIOS might cause the computer to go "DO NOT WANT!"