Questions Regarding Overclocking Amd Phenom X3

[Darkfield]

Hi guys,

 

Kinda never overclocked a phenom cpu and I needed to know if I can get some with factory default cooling for AMD Phenom X3 8450. somehow I think the stock fan can barely keep this angry beast together and I don't know what is the highest temperature that phenom x3 can take. I know it sounds a bit n00bish, but I thought asking it here from the ocexperts is my best bet.

 

here's the specs:

 

CPU: AMD Phenom X3 8450

Mobo: ECS A780GM-A Ultra

Mem: 2x1GB KingMax DDR2 800

PSU: SilverStone Zeus 650W

 

Thanks

[Crow47]

Well, I would think you'd be able to get a little bit out of the stock cooler yet. First, check your temperatures right now without overclocking to see if you really have any room. Download RealTemp http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/ and see what your temps are like. For a Phenom, I'd recommend something between 40c and 60c while you're playing games. If you are comfortably under 60c, go ahead and try bumping up your clocks. Yeah, you can go higher than 60c, but in my experience, for normal usage, you want to stay 60c and under.

 

To further help us out, tell us your idle and load temps in RealTemp, and we'll be able to give more accurate advice with that information.

[Darkfield]

Well, I would think you'd be able to get a little bit out of the stock cooler yet. First, check your temperatures right now without overclocking to see if you really have any room. Download RealTemp http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/ and see what your temps are like. For a Phenom, I'd recommend something between 40c and 60c while you're playing games. If you are comfortably under 60c, go ahead and try bumping up your clocks. Yeah, you can go higher than 60c, but in my experience, for normal usage, you want to stay 60c and under.

 

To further help us out, tell us your idle and load temps in RealTemp, and we'll be able to give more accurate advice with that information.

 

first, thank you. now, I've downloaded RealTemp but it says this cpu is not supported (AMD Phenom Triple-Core 8450) so I can't use it I guess as this was the latest version and there was no updates since August. but speedfan shows some temps which I think the core should be the CPU temp if I'm not mistaking:

idle time:

running fallout 3 about 45% cpu usage:

 

and I don't know about the 127C temp, it's always 127C, locked!

[maj0rgamer]

welcome to occ...

 

the 127c temp was most likely a stuck sensor...wouldn't worry about that. i have something like that in my pc as well.

 

as far as getting accurate temps and checking for stability, i think you should download occt and prime95. occt is a really good program for monitoring temps (i'm not sure if phenom x3 is supported, but it should be) and prime95 is a program that can be used for testing system stability...

 

you can get them both from here...

 

 

http://majorgeeks.com/OCCT_d5612.html

 

http://majorgeeks.com/Prime95_d4363.html

 

 

those are good temps you've posted above if i've picked out which ones in the mix could be your cpu cores, but i don't know if they can be trusted, so...

 

i think you should run a torture test with prime95 and occt running in the background to monitor temps...keeping an eye on the temps maybe run it for an hour or so and then if you post up temps for us under full load like that you should get a good assessment of where you could take that processor as far as overclocking...

 

please post idle temps as well, such as shortly after you turn on the pc.

Edited December 29, 2008 by Maj0r Gamer

[Kuronin]

One time, I went to the bathroom and my CPU fan got "stuck". It's a good thing I was keeping an eye on it, because it got up to 93C. Needless to say I trashed that fan faster than it could spin.

 

I wuz all like OMGWTFBBQ!

Edited December 29, 2008 by Kuronin

[Darkfield]

Ok, I've done as you instructed, so here is the result:

 

during the test I noticed the chipset temp is rather high, cause I have this bad habit of touching heatsinks, it was really really hot, but then again SpeedFan didn't show anything or unless it's the 780G standard operating temperature.

 

ps: oh, I almost forgot, I ran the benchmark a bit late, idle temp was always around 27C.

Edited December 29, 2008 by Darkfield

[Kuronin]

Woah, that's pretty warm. You don't want to go much higher than that. Why don't you just spend a little more and get a decent cooler or at very least a fan.

[Darkfield]

Woah, that's pretty warm. You don't want to go much higher than that. Why don't you just spend a little more and get a decent cooler or at very least a fan.

 

well, it's not my own PC, it's just a test platform where I work at. We're doing.. stuffs.. although I have an Asus Silent Knight II here, so I can do that, but I kinda like it to test the board and cpu potentials with factory default stuff, my point is overclocking shouldn't be costing money for consumers so when ever possible I try to avoid using aftermarket stuffs in my tests. I go at it with all I have, but whenever I see possible vulnerabilities I seek some help from guys who are experienced in the matter ^^.

[damian]

I kinda like it to test the board and cpu potentials with factory default stuff, my point is overclocking shouldn't be costing money for consumers so when ever possible I try to avoid using aftermarket stuffs in my tests.

That defeats the purpose of overclocking though Enthusiasts (overclockers) save money on hardware like processors not on cooling.

[Darkfield]

That defeats the purpose of overclocking though Enthusiasts (overclockers) save money on hardware like processors not on cooling.

 

I know but my readers aren't usually fall into that category, you know in my country overclocking is kinda a new thing, most of the people don't really understand it. so, such a category definitely is not going to spend so much on aftermarket stuff, they might even rather go for a new hardware because it might save them the trouble.

[Darkfield]

now there's a problem, I've overclocked the cpu to 2.4GHz with x9 multiplier and 1.23v to cpu voltage. well I ran the Cinebench and I've got a satisfying result, also with sciencemark. but when I went for a game benchmark, system froze and I had to restart. VGA was burning hot, so I suspected it might be the problem. but unfortunately this HD 2600 thing has heatsink not a fan and I cannot really do anything about it. 2600's sink is really hot even with stock cpu settings. any word of advise would be appreciated.

[Kuronin]

Time for a Ghetto mod.

 

This is one of mine.

 

Before

 

 

After

 

 

 

Of course that is overkill (I was bored and had the parts lying around)

 

But you get the idea.

Edited December 29, 2008 by Kuronin