Phenom II 975 BE stable at 4.4Ghz but problems gaming

Walshire · 25 Jul 2012 at 23:37

Hello,

I have upgraded my mobo to a Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD7 and am now able to overclock my 975 to 4.4Ghz stable, (could go no further than 4.2 with previous board) im at 56c max load, benchmarks and stress tests all pass without issues, however when gaming, after a few minutes the screen will either freeze or im kicked to desktop, games are crysis 2, BF3, GTA IV all maxed, this does not happen when at 4.2ghz.

Could this be something to do with the NB frequency and voltage?

The NB frequency is at 2400 and voltage at stock 1.100

My RAM is at 1600 (9-9-9-24)

Ive tried raising the NB voltage to 1.125 but this made no difference.

jennidc · 26 Jul 2012 at 02:45

I would say its unstable very few phenom 2's go above 4.2 for everyday use.

To test it run prime95 on blend for a few hours.

If you can run stable at 4.2 your doing well and I would settle for that TBH

Jayster · 26 Jul 2012 at 03:42

Is your ram overclocked aswell?

Something is clearly unstable what kind of voltage do you need for 4.4? You might be able to push it a bit further if your max temp is 56 degrees under full load and not gaming.

Walshire · 26 Jul 2012 at 08:58

Yes my ram is overclocked from 1333 to 1600, no voltage increase, also changed timings to 9-9-9-24 from 11-11-11-27

The NB is 2400 with no voltage increase either

The CPU voltage reads about 1.488 in aida64 at max load on 4.4Ghz

In Bios its set at 1.4 from 1.35 stock, its how this board reads the voltages for the CPU, to get 4.2Ghz on my last mobo i had to set voltage in bios to 1.475 so i reckon its actually at 1.5 for 4.4Ghz as reading from aida is 1.488

Walshire · 8 Sep 2012 at 15:34

Hello, I've been away a while tinkering and finding whats best for my hardware, I've managed to keep stable at 4.4ghz now with less voltage, however i have not increased the CPU/NB frequency or voltage, i read the CPU/NB frequency for phenom II's at 4.4ghz- 4.5ghz is best set to either 2200mhz or 2400mhz?

Martini1991 · 8 Sep 2012 at 15:41

Phenom II's rarely do 4.4GHZ.
At 4GHZ I'd want a 2.8GHZ CPU NB, at 4.4GHZ I'd ideally want to be 3GHZ CPU NB.

Walshire · 8 Sep 2012 at 18:47

Hello,

Thanks for the reply,

Would you suggest i go straight to 2800, stress & benchmark, or go up +200 from 2000 a time?

Also any advice on voltage?

Martini1991 · 8 Sep 2012 at 18:49

I'd try 2.8GHZ at 1.35v on the CPU NB and then stress test, and then back peddle the voltage as it passes until a point it doesn't.

Walshire · 8 Sep 2012 at 19:08

Ok, nice one, il update with progress

Walshire · 9 Sep 2012 at 13:08

So i went away and tried as you suggested 2800mhz CPU/NB @1.35v, couldnt boot into windows, the CPU is only overclocked by multiplyer, does it need to be by FSB in order to raise CPU/NB to that sort of frequency?

I am able to boot at 2400mhz at stock voltage but face stability issues when i run stress test.

Martini1991 · 9 Sep 2012 at 13:12

Sure you're not raising the HT link?
2.8GHZ should be easily attainable.

Walshire · 9 Sep 2012 at 13:21

Yeah the HT Link is at stock 2000, i read theres no point in raising this, it only gives the option 2600 max when i try, so 2800 is definatly on the CPU/NB, my CPU max voltage is 1.488, would a high CPU voltage stop the CPU/NB voltage being raised so high?

Walshire · 10 Sep 2012 at 00:03

Ah you where right, sorry mate, it does boot fine and stays on, CPU 4.4Ghz @1.425v in BIOS (AIDA64 reads 1.488), CPU/NB 2800Mhz @1.350v in BIOS, RAM 1600Mhz @1.6v 9-10-9-24 , i have disabled cool & quiet and hardware thermal control, when i go to stress test it fails after a second!? pc stays on fine, do i throw more volts at it or is there something i could be over looking?

The CPU runs 24hrs stable @ 4.4GHz 1.425v with CPU/NB at stock, its only when im trying to get the CPU/NB to run at the recommended 2800Mhz it runs for a second.

Martini1991 · 10 Sep 2012 at 00:10

Run the RAM at 1333MHZ.
If you must, put the CPU NB voltage to 1.375v.
Could be LLC which is causing the problem.

Walshire · 10 Sep 2012 at 00:31

Ok, with RAM at 1333Mhz and CPU/NB at both 1.35 or 1.375 gives around 5 seconds on the stress test

LLC is set to auto and has options from regular to extreme to choose from?

Martini1991 · 10 Sep 2012 at 00:43

Set it to extreme on the CPU NB LLC.
Try 1.4v in the CPU NB.

It is the CPU NB you're putting voltage to, and not the NB right?

Walshire · 10 Sep 2012 at 00:47

Yeah mate, deffinatly CPU/NB that im adjusting the volts of, i know the NB is on the mobo and doesnt need to be changed atall

So LLC extreme, il be back in a moment

Walshire · 10 Sep 2012 at 00:58

LLC extreme and CPU/NB at 1.4, the stress test ran for around 12 seconds so its deffinatly getting more stability, will more volts do the trick or is it getting unsafe now? temps are fine

Martini1991 · 10 Sep 2012 at 01:03

Try 1.425v.
I think most I put through my CPU NB was about 1.5v

Walshire · 10 Sep 2012 at 02:04

It's done, i tried taking the voltage step by step upto 1.5v on the CPU/NB but this caused reboots and failed stress tests in seconds, also tried raising CPU volts too but same story.

So i have now set the FSB to 210, reduced multiplyer on CPU to 21x from 22x and get 4.410GHz @ 1.425v, the CPU/NB is 2730Mhz @ 1.35v, HT link auto increased from stock to 2100Mhz and RAM i have at 1680Mhz 1.6v, been stressing for 20+ mins now and not a hitch, great stuff, i have learnt a lot from you over the last few days, thank you.