What can i expect?

I have a phenom 9850 on the way from newegg and i plan to overclock it. Im upgrading from a phenom 9600 because its apparently a choke point in my system.

But im kind of a n00b when it comes to overclocking and i was just curious as to what i might be able to expect when i try to overclock the processor. I was snooping around and read about how the PSU and motherboard can effect how well you can overclock so im wondering if my system is a good candidate to get higher than average results.

Im really hoping to hit 3.0ghz. I can run my 9600 @ 2.51ghz stable on the stock voltage (which is somewhere around 1.27 i believe?) But anything over that even if i up the vcore will BSOD or freeze when loading windows. Which is part of the reason for the upgrade cause ive found the 9600 overclocks bad and the 9850 overclocks much better

3G is definitely doable, with mobos that have SB750 even more could be reached depends on cooling someone ocd to 3G with a 9550.

Depends on the MB/RAM combo. If you're going to use that Crosshair, I'd say 2.7-3.0G max is your range. With a good 790FX, 2.8-3.2G and with SB750 3.0-3.6G stable.

Obviously every chip differs and so it can due to knowledge/hardware/OS but this is the casual trend.

All of the Phenoms only really oc properly on the SB750. 9350/9500/9600/9650 stuck at sub 2.5G are hitting 2.75-3.1G stable with SB750 boards.

Well i got the processor today. And im fairly disappointed. I have it running at 2.7ghz right now waiting for a crash to happen. Im afraid to stress the processor at all. So far after a few hours of messing with it i have had it crash at speeds as low as 2.6ghz. It overclocks horribly. Almost everything ive tried over the stock 2.5ghz has crashed.

Anything over 2.7ghz, windows wont load. Im debating taking a step back to dual core right now because this chokehold my CPU has on my computer is really killing my gaming performance

As I said, don't plan on oc'ing Phenom much past stock without AM2+ and AM2+ SB750 MBs. So the result isn't the first of its kind and entirely expected.

As for nothing over 2.6G stable - somethings wrong and your BIOS/MB highly likely. They may not be excellent ocers but even the worst 9850 is better than that. Like many other SAM2s, I doubt what your BIOS shows as changing on K10 is actually changing into that spec.

K10 2.7G (2cores) will match and many times outperform a 3.1G X2 in gaming so unless you were running >3.2G, something else seems wrong (as in you're probably still at stock or underclocked as many SAM2s do).

Can you run an EVEREST CPU Queens test and post the ss just to confirm you're running stock?
I'll post mine up matching all your settings on a SB750 board to see if somethings wrong with your BIOS/MB.

To answer one last qs, stock 9600 is 1.196-1.25v max, the rest is MB overvoltage. Stock 9850/9950 is 1.288-1.30v. I've not yet come across any different values from all the chips.

What are your ram timings.

I was able to run 3d mark 06 with no problem, and the crysis gpu benchmark as well. So far its going strong i guess now with the settings i have now

Bumping the multiplier up causes instability. this is the highest most stable overclock ive gotten so far. I have the RAM underclocked until i can get the CPU stable



UPDATE: Crashed while unzipping Everest CPU. *sigh* i bought this cpu because of the possibility to signifigantly outperform the 9600

Crosshair might bethe issue with the 590 chipset, my 570 chipset is currently holding me back.

Sounds like when you're required to increase the Vcore.

Hmm Does it have to do with the fact that you have 8gigs of memory? Correct me if I'm wrong but the more memory you have when OCing the more bottle neck you get.

Other than that, try messing with your HT link, instead of having it at 5x, put it down to 4x or 3x.

I flashed my BOIS back to version 1103. I read about a lot of problem with 1207 and 1103 was always very stable for me. Well see how that goes

Alright forget it. Im gonna bite the bullet on the restocking fee from newegg. i can have it stable at 2.6ghz but thats only 100mhz over where my 9600 was overclocked to. anything over that didnt work longer than 15 mins. and for $169 its not even close to being worth it. Oh well. $25 out the window on this one

everyone is telling you it's your motherboard. and everyone is correct.

Well as others have said, a better mobo would serve you well.

On top of that just as others have said, lower your HT link to 4 and then bump the multi. You will probably need to increase your Vcore a little, when I went to clock mine I just started at 1.4v after seeing what was needed by other people to reach decent clocks.

If your ram timings are still as tight as they are in your sig, that might contribute to the problem.

I have ran a 9850 in an M2N32 SLI before and easily gotten better clocks so I am fairly sure that you would be able to aswell.

It seems odd that you came here and asked what to expect and than have disregarded everything anyone has told you. It doesn't seem as though you have even acknowledged that other people have posted trying to help you out.

Bahhh, to hell with it, im just wasting my time.

Also don't forget that the 9600 has the TLB bug, which means that either you get crashes or you use the bug fix which slows down the PC by about 10% or so. Anything ending in a 00 (any phenom/toliman) has the bug, anything ending in a 50 doesn't, so I'd keep the 9850.

I just bought a 9950 BE myself (it's in the mail from the egg... prolly here in about 12 hrs or so...) My first goal is a stable, working system, but then I plan to see if I can squeeze some more power out of it.

Enough has been said already really.

You're going about it the wrong way, even if it was a poor oc'er, you're only going to get a few MHz out of it this way. Your oc'ing NB/RAM at fixed MAL with 8GB RAM in and stock CPU/NB voltage. Theres your problem

I have a 9850 right here.
9x SB600 MBs -> 2.80G 1.2v max stable.
4x SB700 MBs -> 2.80G 1.164v max stable.
2x SB750 MBs -> 3.15G 1.344v max stable, 1.344v 3.25G benched easily, 288HT max, 3.6G 1.55v maxed, still testing.

Before I started tweaking and lengthy testing, mine was one of the worst chips, especially on SB600.

Everyone has been telling me a better motherboard wil serve me better. I dont want to invest any more money in a new motherboard. I was hoping to get at least 2.8ghz out of the 9850. That goal is just not happening with it so i figure its just not worth $169 to get just 100mhz over my 9600. It would be worth it if i had purchased a new motherboard as well but that is kinda out of my budget right now. I really do appreciate the help and input from everyone. Thank you very much.

I also did try everything people were saying, from bumping the vcore to as high as 1.375 to lowering the HT link to 4, and loosening the RAM timings. That high of a vcore was sorta stable but did eventually crash around 2.65ghz and the processor idled at 50C. I just didnt post a new reply every time i sucessfuly booted into windows.

It was more of a personal preference. I couldnt get what i wanted out of it. Some may be happy with getting it to 2.6ghz, but i expected more. my fault i guess for having an older motherboard

My phenom 9600 is 100% stable with no crashes for weeks @ 2.51ghz with the TLB bug fix disabled both in the BIOS and through windows. I know the fix works cause my benchmarks before disabling it and after are like night and day. And in 3dmark06 the cpu score was identical with the OCd 9600 and the stock 9850 (same clock speed)

Again thank you everyone for your help. This forum has been awesome for me since this PC was my first build from the ground up. Ive learned a lot and you guys really know your stuff

My phenom 9600 is 100% stable with no crashes for weeks @ 2.51ghz with the TLB bug fix disabled both in the BIOS and through windows. I know the fix works cause my benchmarks before disabling it and after are like night and day. And in 3dmark06 the cpu score was identical with the OCd 9600 and the stock 9850 (same clock speed)

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Right, so you chose stability (which is what most would choose), but a 9600 at 2.5 ghz is about 10% slower than a 9650 at 2.5 ghz. I'm not which benches will show this, but it's fairly well documented.

That being said, there supposedly is some Linux-only fix for the 9600 that allows you to fix the bug with negligible loss of performance. Doesn't help in Windows though.

For future reference could anyone possibly recommend a motherboard that i could upgrade to? Im debating not sending the processor back and just buying a new motherboard down the road sometime

A lot were saying that you should get the M2N32 SLI. Besides that I don't know what you should go with. Just make sure that the SB is the 750 series, and also make sure you get the latest 790 NB.