Help for a beginner wanting to overclock a Phenom II X6 1035T?

trents said:

You need to download and install the following tools to assist you in overclocking:

CPU-z (reports voltages, frequencies and lots of general information about your system and overclock settings).

HWMonitor (reports maximum, minimum and current temp, voltage and frequency values. We use this to track certain critical numbers during stress testing)

Prime95 ( we use this to put the CPU and memory under heavy load to make sure the overclock values in bios you have entered produce a stable condition)

I hope your 500W "generic" PSU is up to the challenge. That's the one question mark I have about your hardware. Cheap PSUs often don't give the clean, stable power and voltages you need for good overclocking.

The big concept you must keep in mind is that your CPU has an upwardly locked core frequency multiplier. That means you will have to overclock with the CPU frequency (aka, FSB or "Front Side Bus"). This is the master frequency of the system and other frequencies are harmonized with it. The importance of that fact is that it makes you have to manage not just the CPU frequency but the RAM, HT Link and CPU/NB (aka, NB). If any of these others get too high as you overclock the CPU frequency then instability occurs before your CPU has achieved it's overclock potential.

Another "big idea" to grasp is that when frequencies rise, more voltage is needed to support the higher speed to keep them stable, just like more gas is needed to make a car go faster.

Please read this tutorial to help prepare: http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/596023-Dolk-s-Guide-to-the-Phenom-II

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