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Finally broke through a roadblock on my AMD 955

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DrJack55

Registered
Joined
Aug 3, 2010
Location
Roseville, CA
I've been stuck at 3.6 on my 955. 3.7 would work for a bit at a good temp, but after a while, usually within a day the system would crash. After evaluating my system and power requirements, I realized that not only was I maxing out my power 550 watt power supply, my power supply was also a piece of s**t because it was a Rosewill 550 watt (read 350 watt) power supply. I picked up a 750tx Corsair and lo and behold, I'm now passing my stability tests and not crashing. Hell, even Dragon Age Origins which I've just been playing hasn't been randomly crapping out on me. (I got really good with that F5 key)

So yeah, onward and upwards now!
:comp:
 
Have you given it a good long stress test with Prime95 or OCCT? Or are you saying its stable based solely on running standard apps?
 
I run Prime95, I used to do Boinc but when it crashed, sometimes it would corrupt the data packet and I'd lose the time I spent on that project and it wouldn't get accepted.

I usally run it through the night, if it's alive in the morning, then I know it's good :)

Sort of like on Aliens.. take the dropship to the Suloco and nuke the place from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.

Yeah, like that... LOL
 
:welcome: to OCF!


Yes, it's amazing what a bad PSU can do to your system.
I run Prime95, I used to do Boinc but when it crashed, sometimes it would corrupt the data packet and I'd lose the time I spent on that project and it wouldn't get accepted.

I usally run it through the night, if it's alive in the morning, then I know it's good :)

Sort of like on Aliens.. take the dropship to the Suloco and nuke the place from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.

Yeah, like that... LOL
If you run BOINC that's one of THE best stability tests I know. P95 or OCCT overnight and if that works then start crunching - hopefully 24/7. :)


BTW - Which BOINC project do you run? We've got several BOINC teams here at OCF ... ;)
 
Hrm, this is interesting. I have a Rosewill 550 also (RP550-2), and it seems I've hit a ceiling on my 955, literally 10mhz difference in clock speed will wreak havok. I've been reading its not really a good PSU to go hogwild with, looks like a new psu is on the horizon :)
 
Testing with OCCT or similar where you can monitor the voltages under load might help determine if there is really a PSU issue.
 
:welcome: to OCF!


Yes, it's amazing what a bad PSU can do to your system.
If you run BOINC that's one of THE best stability tests I know. P95 or OCCT overnight and if that works then start crunching - hopefully 24/7. :)


BTW - Which BOINC project do you run? We've got several BOINC teams here at OCF ... ;)

I run SETI and Rosetta. I've already teamed up with you guys a couple of months ago, just never bothered getting around to asking about the badges ;)
 
Looking at your cpu temp in you sig it looks like that is going to be your next roadblock. I'm guessing that is at load?
 
Looking at your cpu temp in you sig it looks like that is going to be your next roadblock. I'm guessing that is at load?

As soon as I go to 3.8 it jumps to 57 and then gets unstable. I don't that's the PS as it's now the Corsair 750 and I'm nowhere near reaching peak on that. 3.7 runs at 55 just about. I can get it sort of stable, but I think I'm missing something as increasing voltage doesn't improve stability.

True though, I think I might need to get a better air cooler than this Zalman 9700. Either that or go liquid, but I don't know if I can afford to put out that much money for a custom setup.
 
How hard are you planning on pushing the cpu? are you planning on going for 4.0 or stopping at 3.8?

3.8 on mine was fairly easy and I didn't have much issue with heat, but to get 3.9 and 4.0 I had to start pushing the juice to it and getting a good deal of heat at that point.

57C, is this at load or at idle?
 
How hard are you planning on pushing the cpu? are you planning on going for 4.0 or stopping at 3.8?

3.8 on mine was fairly easy and I didn't have much issue with heat, but to get 3.9 and 4.0 I had to start pushing the juice to it and getting a good deal of heat at that point.

57C, is this at load or at idle?

I'd like to get to 24/7 3.8, with the ability to get to 4.0 for no other reason than to break that psychological barrier.

Load, all temps I've posted are load, unless otherwise stated. Load after running Prime 95 for about 20-30 minutes.
 
Oh, been reading Dolk's guide and I think I found my answer for instability if it's not related to temperature. NB Speed and Voltage. It's not at stock, but it's not as high as what is shown on his charts for the 940. I'm only at 2200 and 1.3 respectively.
 
Ya try 2400 and if that doesn't work go for 2600 on CPU-NB. Also you can drop the HT down to 1800 and try to see if that helps if raising the CPU-NB doesn't do it.

Are you doing the OC strictly on the cpu multiplier? and what about your RAM voltage/timing/freq?
 
Ya try 2400 and if that doesn't work go for 2600 on CPU-NB. Also you can drop the HT down to 1800 and try to see if that helps if raising the CPU-NB doesn't do it.

Are you doing the OC strictly on the cpu multiplier? and what about your RAM voltage/timing/freq?

CPU multiplier. Any time I try to ef with RAM, the whole OC gets unstable. The timings are set to spec and the freq is at 1333, even though it's 1600 Ram.
 
cpu-z spd screen shot?

and cpu-z memory screen shot?


picture.php


picture.php
 
It seems to run alright at 3.7Ghz. All the same as prior screenshots, but I've dropped voltage to 1.375 and it appears to still be running stable on Prime95. Temps were 55/56c at 1.4v, now they are 54c at 1.375.
 
Oh, been reading Dolk's guide and I think I found my answer for instability if it's not related to temperature. NB Speed and Voltage. It's not at stock, but it's not as high as what is shown on his charts for the 940. I'm only at 2200 and 1.3 respectively.
I'm really quite surprised you need that much cpuNB VID for your 955BE. Those chips seem to OC with less voltage than the 940BE (as they should since the process is older). Can't get a stable 2400 MHz at ~1.225 cpuNB VID? It would sure help the temps if you could. ;)


Also, if you don't mind my asking, what SETI username do you have ...?
 
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