I bought a Biostar A780L3G MAtx Mobo & AMD 560 Phenom II CPU (3.3 Ghz ) at MicroCenter for a whopping $100.
As I was using this for my dedicated Linux rig, the 3.3ghz of the cpu was fine, but as an overclocker I wanted more.
I could not unlock the additional 2 cores in bios, so I moved on to increasing the CPU speed.
Currently the rig is coasting along at 3.7 Ghz, a decent overclock. This with stock timing of the memory and stock voltages - (a Gkrellm window is also shown for temps with the stock AMD HSF) -
You can change the FSB but I found the motherboard too unstable, as it changes other things as well.
After searching the web I found that the Bios has a setting that allows fine tuning of the multiplier and other setting.
First, get into the Bios and get to the Performance Menu ( 1 )
Then select CPU Tuning ( 2 )
Scroll down to Custom P-States ( 3 )
Then Enable Custom P-States ( 4 )
Once you enable the Custom P-States you will be able to see the advanced settings.
Here is what my Phenom II 560 CPU settings ( Core FID ) ( 5 ) were, 16.5 x 200 = 3300 Mhz
When you hit enter you will get to select other Multipliers. I selected 18.5 for 3700 Mhz ( 6 ) , the overclock I am currently using -
After selecting the multiplier you can hit F10 to save and then the mobo will reboot.
As you can see in the above pics there are a lot more settings available to you.
Not bad for a budget motherboard/CPU combo!
As I was using this for my dedicated Linux rig, the 3.3ghz of the cpu was fine, but as an overclocker I wanted more.
I could not unlock the additional 2 cores in bios, so I moved on to increasing the CPU speed.
Currently the rig is coasting along at 3.7 Ghz, a decent overclock. This with stock timing of the memory and stock voltages - (a Gkrellm window is also shown for temps with the stock AMD HSF) -
You can change the FSB but I found the motherboard too unstable, as it changes other things as well.
After searching the web I found that the Bios has a setting that allows fine tuning of the multiplier and other setting.
First, get into the Bios and get to the Performance Menu ( 1 )
Then select CPU Tuning ( 2 )
Scroll down to Custom P-States ( 3 )
Then Enable Custom P-States ( 4 )
Once you enable the Custom P-States you will be able to see the advanced settings.
Here is what my Phenom II 560 CPU settings ( Core FID ) ( 5 ) were, 16.5 x 200 = 3300 Mhz
When you hit enter you will get to select other Multipliers. I selected 18.5 for 3700 Mhz ( 6 ) , the overclock I am currently using -
After selecting the multiplier you can hit F10 to save and then the mobo will reboot.
As you can see in the above pics there are a lot more settings available to you.
Not bad for a budget motherboard/CPU combo!
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