M720-US3 + Phenom II 555 Multiplier issues

Hi Guys, First post here so be gentle, I did do a search for this but cant seem to find it covered anywhere

Hardware involved :-
Mobo - Gigabyte M720-US3 Rev 1.1
Bios - Award F6 (latest stable none beta version)
Processor - AMD Phenom II 555 Stock Speed 3.2 GHZ
Cooling - Corsair H50 with Dual 120mm fans in a Push - Pull Config
Memmory - OCZ PC26400 (DDRII @ 800mhz)
GFX - XFX Radeon HD5770


Now I was aware before buying the processor that I may be able to unlock the 2 additional cores to make it into a quad core, I have tried this several times and it locks the system up on Prime95 with in a few seconds of launch. So I have decied rather than have a quad core I would go for a 4ghz Dual core.

I have seen Screenshots with this possible, and can see that it involves increasing the FSB as well as the multiplier, Since this is my first real over clock I am a bit cautious about increasing the FSB, as my understanding about this, it increases the speed of everything on the mobo and not just the processor.

at the moment I have a rock solid over clock at 3.8ghz and I know I have room for a lot more as my temps are pretty low at the moment 20c idle, 30ish at full load



So (sorry so long winded) what I am trying to do is reach 4ghz via Multiplier only, However, the Gigabyte M720-US3 that I currently have is only accpting a x19 option,
if I try a x19.5 or a x20 option (which would give me the 4ghz) it defaults back to auto or x11

what I am wondering is this a limitation on the mobo, or have I got a weired Bios flash ? if its a bios issue, would going to an ealier version work ?

Sorry for the long post but I like give a little background

Hi there, to OCF!

Now, I'm a complete noob myself, when it comes to overclocking and I'm still waiting for my own 555 to be shipped, but I've been reading this while I'm waiting, it actually has loads of good and useful info!

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=596023

There's another similar thread in another forum that I've been reading. I has a bit more info about memory and memory OCing (includes DDR3 too). Should you want to give that one a look as well, let me know and I'll PM it as I'm not sure if I can give out linkies to other forums

Anyway, consider this a silly question for a noobie, but have you tried to increase the voltage on the unlocked cpu? Maybe it just needs moar juice?

yeah tried giving it a little more power, By a little I mean one increment in the options avalible, yet the bios is still locking it at 19 multiplier.

Thanks for the link to that guide v1ks
it gave me the pointers that I was looking for,

Have Managed to get my Rig to 4ghz

seems stable, will leave it running prime95 overnight and report back

well prime gave no errors, so it's all good.
Anyone looking for a new budget processor should definitly consider a Phenom II

Good stuff