ballsofcurry Posted March 9, 2011 Posted March 9, 2011 What's up guys, I'm new here, because for the first time in my life I have a decent gaming PC. I'm trying to overclock this setup: CPU: AMD Phenom™II X4 965 Black Edition Quad-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology (3.4Ghz) MOTHERBOARD: Asus M4A87TD MEMORY: 8GB (2GBx4) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Module (A-Data Gaming Series with Heat Spreader) FAN: CoolerMaster V8 Gaming CPU Cooling Fan POWERSUPPLY: * 850 Watts - CoolerMaster Silent Pro Gaming 80 Plus Power Supply [+112] VIDEO: Power Color AMD Radeon HD 6870 1GB GDDR5 16X PCIe Video Card [this is from the cyberpower receipt, don't know if any of you recognize it] I went to the Bios and I found so many things I didn't understand, but I decided to go ahead and overclock what I thought I did know pretty well, the multiplier and the bus frequency. I raised it to 17.5 and 201, and I was pretty stable so I got a bit confident and raised it to 18.5 and 205. I also decided to change the voltage to 1.365. It ran in Prime95 for about half an hour before I got the ""FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.6, expected less than 0.4". (granted, this is probably because I ran the shogun 2 demo, but I really think I stopped Prime95 before I started the demo). Anyway, even if I did forgot to turn off Prime 95, that was still enough to convince me that I need to find out more about the other features in the BIOS that I know nothing about. If I'm thinking about changing voltage, should I change the CPU voltage only (since I'm a noob), or do I think about CPU/NB voltage as well. And what about the DRAM, HT and NB voltages that I simply left on auto previously. Not to mention the frequencies. Should I be changing my DRAM frequency to the 1600 Mhz i see on the label, or no? What about CPU/NB frequency, and HT Link speed? It's just a lot of things, but one thing i'd like to mention is that i'm not looking for anything near to 4 ghz. I'd be really happy with 3.7- 3.8. Is there a way to get there while just focusing on a few things, like maybe just CPU, CPU/NB voltage, DRAM voltage , the bus ratio and the multiplier, and maybe Dram frequency, while forgetting about all that other stuff? Also I know how to monitor temperature, and I understand voltage affects that, it's just that I'm confused with the many different types of voltage. (the CPU voltage was set to 1.344, and the CPU/NB to 1.100; this in grey text in the BIOS, I can still change the values though) Cheers guys, I appreciate any input you have Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandre Posted March 10, 2011 Posted March 10, 2011 Welcome to OCC mate. Here is a great guide to overclocking your Phenom II hope you find it useful Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballsofcurry Posted March 10, 2011 Posted March 10, 2011 haha you're right, that is a pretty good guide. one thing though, how bad is it that when I adjust my CPU NB voltage in BIOS, it goes yellow? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVIYTH0S Posted March 10, 2011 Posted March 10, 2011 haha you're right, that is a pretty good guide. one thing though, how bad is it that when I adjust my CPU NB voltage in BIOS, it goes yellow? Some motherboards will color code in the "warning" colors too early, how much are you giving it? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedCrazy Posted March 10, 2011 Posted March 10, 2011 I will leave the overclocking advice to the experts, i am still quite a noob at ocing, but i will tell you this which has caught me out a number of times. Clicking the red X on Prime95 does not stop it. You have to go to options and hit stop. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballsofcurry Posted March 10, 2011 Posted March 10, 2011 Oh yea, I got caught like that once too, but this time I'm sure I pressed stop. For the voltages, I get into yellow for CPU voltage at 1.46V, and yellow for CPU/NB at 1.20 V, and yellow for RAM voltage at 1.57 V. The thing is Dolk's guide, using an AMD 940, suggested the max for CPU/NB was 1.40V. Seems really far away at this point to be getting a yellow warning. Any suggestions? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVIYTH0S Posted March 10, 2011 Posted March 10, 2011 hmm that is interesting...I guess stick it at 1.20v and see if that will getcha stable, if you find that to be the cause of instability raise it some...you may still not have to raise it as high as 1.40v Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandre Posted March 10, 2011 Posted March 10, 2011 hmm that is interesting...I guess stick it at 1.20v and see if that will getcha stable, if you find that to be the cause of instability raise it some...you may still not have to raise it as high as 1.40v Yeah just because it says that 1.40 v is the max voltage doesn't you should put it to that voltage - it means you shouldn't really try to go over it. Generally people try to keep the voltage down as a low as possible as an increase in voltage increase temperature of the CPU by a significant amount. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballsofcurry Posted March 10, 2011 Posted March 10, 2011 good news, i finally got a stable setup at 3.8GHz. Worked well on shogun, on Prime 95 core temp never goes above 52 degrees. FSB = 200 Multiplier = X 19 DRAM = 1600 Mhz ( 9 9 9 24) NB Freq = 2400 MHz CPU Voltage = 1.42V CPU/NB Voltage = 1.200 RAM Voltage = 1.59V Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballsofcurry Posted March 10, 2011 Posted March 10, 2011 My bad, Prime 95 actually heats up quite a bit. I stopped it at 57 degrees. My question is though, why should it matter that Prime95 heats up so badly, if even a demanding game like Shogun 2 never heats up the core beyond 45 degrees? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandre Posted March 10, 2011 Posted March 10, 2011 My bad, Prime 95 actually heats up quite a bit. I stopped it at 57 degrees. My question is though, why should it matter that Prime95 heats up so badly, if even a demanding game like Shogun 2 never heats up the core beyond 45 degrees? You're right Prime95 does heat it to extreme values - more than any game. That is why it is a good way to testing your overclock for heat and instability. Basically the program acts as an upper bound to your temperatures so if you don't reach 62 C on Prime95 you can be sure you won't reach it on a game and hence it gives you confidence. As long as the temps don't go above your maximum temps for the CPU with Prime95 your overclock will be fine. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
acpowell Posted March 10, 2011 Posted March 10, 2011 My bad, Prime 95 actually heats up quite a bit. I stopped it at 57 degrees. My question is though, why should it matter that Prime95 heats up so badly, if even a demanding game like Shogun 2 never heats up the core beyond 45 degrees? Welcome to OCC! (first time I have said that) I have a simliar board to you, I think I have the next one up from yours, and I have a 1090t but I believe I have the same ram as you, and I found that when I forced it to do 1600Mhz (always wants to default to 1333) that eventually I would start getting blue screens. They were just random ones nothing to outragous. When I put the ram back to auto all the Blue Screens stopped. So hopfully you won't have that issue, plus I am running at 4Ghz not 3.8. If you do start to have blue screens I would put your ram to auto and see if that makes a difference. Also I bet you could get your CPU to 4Ghz pretty easily. As for the Prime95 getting very hot, like someone else said, yes it does get hot and it is designed to get hot so you can see if your setup will last in extream situations. Will you ever in normal use get that way, I doubt it but hey, it is good to know that you could if you needed to. Good Luck and keep going! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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