rourkchris Posted June 27, 2009 Posted June 27, 2009 As the title says I'm attempting to overclock a Phenom II 940. I really feel left in the dark here and need some hand-holding(not literally) to get me through it. Plenty of experience with Core2 Quads on Asus motherboards but the addition of HT link has me confused. I found the Core 2 overclocking guide stickied here of immense help before but don't see a similar resource for AMD chips. I guess the confusion stems from not understanding the functions of all of the BIOS options. System specs are as follows: AMD Phenom II 940 black edition quad core cpu Asus M4A79 Deluxe 790FX motherboard 8GB Mushkin DDR2 1066 5-5-5-15 CPU cooler Prolimatech Megahalems with 2 Scythe 1900 RPM 110 CFM fans in a push-pull setup PC Power and Cooling 750 watt Silencer 1TB WD Black HDD ATI 3870 Lite-On DVD burner VID is 1.35V. I've upped the multiplier to 17.5. With the multiplier set here the highest I can raise the bus is 202 without crashing. Currently have things set at 3300Mhz, CPU 1.35V, 16 multiplier, 200 bus speed, and 1806 HT link. Temps are around 35C each core and 41C 100% load. Keeping the settings here until I get a grasp of what I'm doing. 4Ghz is the goal but 3.6-3.8 is of course acceptable. I just can't get there on my own. Any help would be appreciated! BIOS settings are as follows: CPU Voltage 1.35V CPU/NB Voltage auto CPU VDDA Voltage auto DRAM Voltage 2.1V HT Voltage auto NB voltage auto NB 1.8V Voltage auto SB Voltage auto ACC enabled Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVIYTH0S Posted June 28, 2009 Posted June 28, 2009 As the title says I'm attempting to overclock a Phenom II 940. I really feel left in the dark here and need some hand-holding(not literally) to get me through it. Plenty of experience with Core2 Quads on Asus motherboards but the addition of HT link has me confused. I found the Core 2 overclocking guide stickied here of immense help before but don't see a similar resource for AMD chips. I guess the confusion stems from not understanding the functions of all of the BIOS options. System specs are as follows: AMD Phenom II 940 black edition quad core cpu Asus M4A79 Deluxe 790FX motherboard 8GB Mushkin DDR2 1066 5-5-5-15 CPU cooler Prolimatech Megahalems with 2 Scythe 1900 RPM 110 CFM fans in a push-pull setup PC Power and Cooling 750 watt Silencer 1TB WD Black HDD ATI 3870 Lite-On DVD burner VID is 1.35V. I've upped the multiplier to 17.5. With the multiplier set here the highest I can raise the bus is 202 without crashing. Currently have things set at 3300Mhz, CPU 1.35V, 16 multiplier, 200 bus speed, and 1806 HT link. Temps are around 35C each core and 41C 100% load. Keeping the settings here until I get a grasp of what I'm doing. 4Ghz is the goal but 3.6-3.8 is of course acceptable. I just can't get there on my own. Any help would be appreciated! BIOS settings are as follows: CPU Voltage 1.35V CPU/NB Voltage auto CPU VDDA Voltage auto DRAM Voltage 2.1V HT Voltage auto NB voltage auto NB 1.8V Voltage auto SB Voltage auto ACC enabled I just found this nice guide from searching thread after thread and saw someone posted it up. It definitely made me more knowledgeable on this chip Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rourkchris Posted June 28, 2009 Posted June 28, 2009 I just found this nice guide from searching thread after thread and saw someone posted it up. It definitely made me more knowledgeable on this chip Thanks IVIYTHOS! That's what I really needed. After reading the link you provided I'm well on my way. Right now I've successfully overclocked it to 3612Mhz. That guide cleared up a lot of questions. Settings: CPU Ratio 18.00x FSB Freq 200Mhz DRAM 1067 CPU/NB Freq 2200Mhz HT Link Speed 2.0Ghz CPU Voltage 1.45v CPU/NB Voltage 1.4v CPU VDDA 2.5v DRAM 2.1v HT Voltage 1.28v NB Voltage 1.28v NB 1.8 Voltage 1.8v SB Voltage auto Temps at full load are 49 C. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVIYTH0S Posted June 28, 2009 Posted June 28, 2009 Thanks IVIYTHOS! That's what I really needed. After reading the link you provided I'm well on my way. Right now I've successfully overclocked it to 3612Mhz. That guide cleared up a lot of questions. Settings: CPU Ratio 18.00x FSB Freq 200Mhz DRAM 1067 CPU/NB Freq 2200Mhz HT Link Speed 2.0Ghz CPU Voltage 1.45v CPU/NB Voltage 1.4v CPU VDDA 2.5v DRAM 2.1v HT Voltage 1.28v NB Voltage 1.28v NB 1.8 Voltage 1.8v SB Voltage auto Temps at full load are 49 C. glad to have helped!! I can't wait to start tweaking my 940 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rourkchris Posted June 28, 2009 Posted June 28, 2009 Set it back down to 3511Mhz as the temps are 45C at full load and the voltages are low and MB temps are good. Settings: CPU Ratio 17.50x FSB Freq 200Mhz DRAM 1067 CPU/NB Freq 2200Mhz HT Link Speed 2.0Ghz CPU Voltage 1.4v CPU/NB Voltage 1.3v CPU VDDA 2.6v DRAM 2.1v HT Voltage 1.28v NB Voltage 1.28v NB 1.8 Voltage 1.8v SB Voltage auto Temps at full load are 45 C. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVIYTH0S Posted June 28, 2009 Posted June 28, 2009 (edited) Set it back down to 3511Mhz as the temps are 45C at full load and the voltages are low and MB temps are good. Settings: CPU Ratio 17.50x FSB Freq 200Mhz DRAM 1067 CPU/NB Freq 2200Mhz HT Link Speed 2.0Ghz CPU Voltage 1.4v CPU/NB Voltage 1.3v CPU VDDA 2.6v DRAM 2.1v HT Voltage 1.28v NB Voltage 1.28v NB 1.8 Voltage 1.8v SB Voltage auto Temps at full load are 45 C. is that your stopping point? or is that the point of diminishing returns? Edited June 28, 2009 by IVIYTH0S Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rourkchris Posted June 29, 2009 Posted June 29, 2009 For the temp I want to remain at vs. the speed I want 3.5Ghz just seems to be the sweet spot for me on this setup. Anything over 3.6Ghz just takes to much voltage to stabilize. I've been able to reach 3.8Ghz and keep it stable but the voltages it takes to get there are way too high for my comfort. This is a HTPC and a dedicated Rosetta@Home cruncher. It's far too much hardware for an HTPC but I wanted to have enough CPU power for DC crunching and as a 3rd PC backup as well as play with an AMD system which I haven't done in a few years. Next project is to upgrade my 2 Q6600s to Q9650s and see if I can hit 4Ghz. After that an i7 may be in order. I will say as far as the Rossetta@Home project goes the Phenom II 940 performs very well, much better than anticipated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVIYTH0S Posted June 29, 2009 Posted June 29, 2009 For the temp I want to remain at vs. the speed I want 3.5Ghz just seems to be the sweet spot for me on this setup. Anything over 3.6Ghz just takes to much voltage to stabilize. I've been able to reach 3.8Ghz and keep it stable but the voltages it takes to get there are way too high for my comfort. This is a HTPC and a dedicated Rosetta@Home cruncher. It's far too much hardware for an HTPC but I wanted to have enough CPU power for DC crunching and as a 3rd PC backup as well as play with an AMD system which I haven't done in a few years. Next project is to upgrade my 2 Q6600s to Q9650s and see if I can hit 4Ghz. After that an i7 may be in order. I will say as far as the Rossetta@Home project goes the Phenom II 940 performs very well, much better than anticipated. Ya I got a Phenom II 940 for my dad since his old 3200+ computer is an absolute sloth. I really like it so far and am always willing to clock anything I have as high as it can go (intelligently). People said my Q9450 would have croaked months ago but it hasn't and probably won't for a while. I don't think it's necessary to switch from a Q6600 to a Q9650 since the performance difference is so negligible that it'd be wasted money. The 940 really is a better quad for the money unless you can find a Q9450/Q9550 for the same price range and get as lucky as I did. Though I guess the savings on the processor wouldn't matter if you have to get an all new motherboard to support it anyway. I still say a step from a Q6600 to a Q9650 is a waste of money (and a large part of that is how much higher the Q9650 is in price from the Q9550 for that matter). If anything make your Q6600's the backup computers and then run the 940 you have as the main computer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rourkchris Posted June 29, 2009 Posted June 29, 2009 On Intel processors the L2 cache makes a noticeable difference in the Rosetta@Home project. An increase from 8MB L2 cache to 12MB L2 cache will be worth it to me. I'd also like to upgrade to the 45nm fabrication and extend the life/usefullness of these 2 platforms. I'll probably defray some of the cost by selling the 2 Q6600s. Admittedly though it does seem a bit of a cost increase but I want the upgrade to have a couple of side projects. I have too much spare time Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVIYTH0S Posted June 29, 2009 Posted June 29, 2009 On Intel processors the L2 cache makes a noticeable difference in the Rosetta@Home project. An increase from 8MB L2 cache to 12MB L2 cache will be worth it to me. I'd also like to upgrade to the 45nm fabrication and extend the life/usefullness of these 2 platforms. I'll probably defray some of the cost by selling the 2 Q6600s. Admittedly though it does seem a bit of a cost increase but I want the upgrade to have a couple of side projects. I have too much spare time Then atleast get the Q9550's, or maybe one Q9550 and my Q9450 so I can get an i7 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaPiDo987 Posted June 30, 2009 Posted June 30, 2009 I can get my 940 to 3.6GHz with a multi of 18 on a 1.37V... At the moment, that's the highest/stable setting I can get her to go. I tried the other way, but I don't know of it's worth it because I have to drop my ddr2 1066 to 800, max fsb is 30, which overclocks her to 3.4GHz (ram to 940) and raise the multi till it hits 3.65GHz... I don't think it's worth lowering my ram for.5GHz... Hope that helps.... Be careful with your voltages.... http://forums.overclockersclub.com/index.p...p;#entry1690577 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVIYTH0S Posted June 30, 2009 Posted June 30, 2009 I can get my 940 to 3.6GHz with a multi of 18 on a 1.37V... At the moment, that's the highest/stable setting I can get her to go. I tried the other way, but I don't know of it's worth it because I have to drop my ddr2 1066 to 800, max fsb is 30, which overclocks her to 3.4GHz (ram to 940) and raise the multi till it hits 3.65GHz... I don't think it's worth lowering my ram for.5GHz... Hope that helps.... Be careful with your voltages.... http://forums.overclockersclub.com/index.p...p;#entry1690577 well can't you lower the timings on your ram, I read that lower ram speed doesn't matter so much with the Phenom II's and what they really like is low latencies Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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