Can't clock AMD 965 C2 past 3.6 [Solved, finally]

[wowdoggy954]

Hello friends. I had a problem wherein I could not clock my AMD X4 965 past 3.6 GHz no matter what I tried. The CPU version is C2 and I was told matter-of-factly that the C2 hits a wall at 3.6 GHz. After about two weeks of trying every single different setting possible, I finally gave up. Well, today in my search for a solution to a different problem I found something that was not mentioned in any of the suggestions previously posted.

My motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P and in the BIOS there is a setting called AMD K8 Cool'nQuiet. It seems that this setting throttles both CPU frequency and voltage. After disabling it, I was not only able to boot my system with a core multiplier of x19, but run Prime95 Large for over 30 minutes while maintaining a core temp of 54 - 55c. 3.817 GHz stable @ 1.44v - yeeha! With Cool'nQuiet enabled my system would not boot with a multiplier higher than x17. Thanks again for everyone's input.

[Boinker]

Lol. surprised that was missed. Yeah the C+Q set-up is bad juwjuw when it comes to overclocking the phenoms. Intels are the same why with there speed step and c3 state system but they take a bit longer to become unstable from it.

 

Glad you got it figured out and now a respectable oc. Now, lets see a better cooling solution on it and what you can get. good luck.

[potatochobit]

your computer might crash, bro

1.45v doesnt seem no where near enough and 30 mins of prime time is useless

you need to do at least a 2-3 hour load and a 6 or overnight if possible

[wowdoggy954]

Yeah, yer right bro. It did crash. Bumped the voltage up another notch and I'll run Prime overnight. My cooling is pretty good with the Hydro H50 P/P with dual 2000 rpm Scythe's. Quite frankly I was shocked when the system actually booted with the higher multiplier. Thanks for the input.