• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

My first overclock - HELP!

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

CJI87

Registered
Joined
Nov 16, 2012
Location
New York City
hey all,

brand new to the world of overclocking, but im somewhat computer literate so please be patient with me. ive been slowly buying parts for my rig, and its finally complete. Specs are as follows.

Case - Corsair 600T
Motherboard - Asus M4A88T-M/USB3
PSU - Corsair TX650W
Memory - Corsair Vengeance LP 2x4GB (im not sure of the voltage-maybe someone can help me figure that out,the part number is CML8GX3M2A1600C9)
Cooling - Corsair H100 With Gentle Typhoon 1850 Fans
CPU - AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition
GPU - AMD Radeon HD 6850
HDD - Seagate Barracuda 300GB SATA + Maxtor 6Y080P0 IDE (the Seagate is running Windows Vista 32bit, the Maxtor is running windows 7 64bit)

Right now im trying to overclock on the seagate. current software im working with is Prime95, CPU-Z, CPUID Hardware Monitor Pro and AMD Overdrive. thats where the problem is, i dont know exactly where to get started, ive been stress testing with prime95 but i have no idea what im looking at :chair:
i tried looking at the BIOS as well, but that was even more confusing. I was hoping it would be possible to find a stable overclock from windows, and save it as a profile that could be loaded from the bios. i noticed there is a tool in the BIOS called Asustek O.C. Profile Utility. I look forward from hearing from you guys.

CJ
 
First thing I do when going to overclock...

...is to establish a working baseline. Then I can proceed with some mearsure of confidence I know where I am going.

These are the types of information that most users supply in order to be able to help them very much. Of course beginning with a setting that is 'known' to pass P95 Blend mode makes good sense, because a failed P95 Blend test is not going to give a baseline of a configuration that 'does' work.

CPU Tab in CPUz from CPUID com
attachment.php


Memory Tab in CPUz from CPUID com
attachment.php


SPD Tab in CPUz from CPUID com
attachment.php


And this is screen capture of HWMonitor (free version) from CPUID com
HWMonitor has been scrolled enough and large enough to show Min/Max of Voltages and includes the CPU CORE TEMPS fully visible.

This capture is made of HWMonitor after it has been open on the desktop logging Min/Max temps and voltages while Prime 95 was running Blend Mode test on all cores for at least 20 mins and then the capture of HWMonitor was made and it shows the Min/Max temps and voltages before P95 Blend was started and while running P95 Blend mode and gives much greater insight into how the system is performing without guessing.

attachment.php


In order to attach screenshots of INDIVIDUAL images as suggested, first crop and capture the images with Snipping Tool found in Windows Accessories or equivalent. Then click on Go Advanced, a button at the bottom of every new post window. Then click on the little paperclip tool at the top of the Advanced post window when it opens. Clicking on the paperclip tool brings up the file browser/upload tool and the rest is fairly obvious.
 
thanks for your prompt respone. hope these help. these shots were taken while running prime95 blend test for about an hour. also, My SPD tab had only blank fields, is that a problem?
Untitled.jpg

memory.jpg

Edit: found my SPD tab. they are in the #3, and #4 slots. should i change that?
 
Last edited:
Temps look good CJ, just post a ss of the spd tab either 3 or 4 that way we can see if you have your timings set correctly.
 
slot #3 and #4 are the same. should i put the mem in the opposite slots or does it not matter?
Untitled.jpg
 
Your motherboard manual will describe the slots the ram should be in for the board to run the ram in dual channel which is surely what you want.

EDIT:
Okay I looked at the CPUz memory tab and it shows the ram is in dual channel mode. So the ram should be in the correct memory slots for dual channel.
END EDIT.
 
is any other info needed to establish a good baseline? where do i go from here?
Yes you can make a signature so we don't have to look for what is in the case.

Raise the multiplier by one and run P95 Blend for at least 20mins and post HWMonitor if the P95 passes.

My how to put up Sig at OCF.


New Shortcut method for putting a Signature with your system information following your every post so people can know what is in the case that they are trying to assist with. You can use something like what is shown in my signature as a good template of needed information Thank you.
 
Man you need to learn terminology of bios settings. I am going to look for a simple overclocking guide for Phenom 2 with terms described.

Multiplier is AKA CPU Ratio in bios and there maybe other names used for different motherboard makers and manual/bios writers.
 
Man you need to learn terminology of bios settings. I am going to look for a simple overclocking guide for Phenom 2 with terms described.

Multiplier is AKA CPU Ratio in bios and there maybe other names used for different motherboard makers and manual/bios writers.

thanks! like i said, this is the first time Ive ever done this. Any help is greatly appreciated, but please don't expect me to know what everything means.
 
Ok, so far all i upped was the cpu multiplier to 18x. It brought the core speed to around 3612 MHz. I then ran prime95 for another 20 minutes. how do these numbers look? System seemed very stable and would like to continue. Im looking to get it to around 4.2-4.7 if possible.
Untitled.jpg
 
Last edited:
1. Okay the green crap is off? Windows power management is set to Performance?

2. IN round numbers you have 10c of temps to yet go upwards as the speed increases.

3. I would manually set cpu voltage (Vcore) to 1.4V and then jump to a 20x multiplier for 4.0Ghz and P95 it for 20mins minimum. 1.4Vcore might be a shade low, but you should know pretty quickly if P95 Blend fails quickly.

4. Watch temps for a high of 60c on CPU Temp and 55c ish on the CPU Core Temps/"package" as core temps are known by when moving to the latest HWMonitor.
 
1. Okay the green crap is off? Windows power management is set to Performance?

2. IN round numbers you have 10c of temps to yet go upwards as the speed increases.

3. I would manually set cpu voltage (Vcore) to 1.4V and then jump to a 20x multiplier for 4.0Ghz and P95 it for 20mins minimum. 1.4Vcore might be a shade low, but you should know pretty quickly if P95 Blend fails quickly.

4. Watch temps for a high of 60c on CPU Temp and 55c ish on the CPU Core Temps/"package" as core temps are known by when moving to the latest HWMonitor.

hello again RG

went to control panel, system, power managemenrt and set it to high performance, so thats done. I then went to my bios and put in these settings. windows would not boot. i tried with AMD Turbo CORE both enabled and disabled. i hope this screenshot gives you some insight into my bios settings and what else could be, or need be changed. photo.JPG
 
No reason to try turbocore on or off. OFF is what you want.

I don't see anything to keep from booting windows except that I have already stated that 1.4Volts to the cpu could n0t be enough.

So take the multiplier back to 19x and try that instead of the 20x. That should give a directional pointer for what to do with 20x multiplier.
 
thanks RG! bumping it down to 19 worked. im going to run a P95 blend test now, ill post my results in a half hour

Edit: i guess i wont need that much time lol. as soon as i start the blend test i get BSOD. ill try lowering the multiplier to 18.5-etc..
 
Last edited:
Were me I would bump Vcore up a notch. No sense in going back to what we just left or nearly so.

bumped Vcore up to 1.431250v along with an x18.5 mulitiplier(x19 gave BSOD after like 5 minutes running P95) here are my numbers after running P95 blend for about an hour.
Untitled.jpg
 
I downloaded the manual for that motherboard to see what the manual said about the bios options. There are options to raise the cpu voltage (Vcore) so the cpu has more voltage to try and remain stable when overclocked. But you say you set the cpu voltage to 1.4325 and yet HWMonitor says you are still only getting about 1.38Volts Vcore. That is not enough voltage to sustain a 4.1Ghz overclock on the cpu.

In you bios screen shot I see that CPU Overclocking mode is still set to AUTO. I would think that should be set to Manual and not AUTO. That might make the cpu voltage rise as it should when manually setting CPU voltage.

You are going to have to try manipulating settings like taking the cpu overclocking from an AUTO mode to Manual and see if you see a TRUE rise in cpu voltage. PLUS you are likely going to have to see if taking Load Line Calibration off of AUTO mode to manual mode and see if it will allow more CPU voltage. The descriptions are written in YOUR manual. You are going to have to trial and error those settings until HWMonitor actually registers a CPU Voltage increase.

The very minimalist settings are shown in your bios. You are going to have to try the settings related to Vcore and get the actual voltage to the cpu to rise up as indicated by HWMonitor. Cannot do that from this end.

If some combination of getting CPU Overclock from AUTO to manual and trying to adjust the Load Line Calibration settings does not give you and increase in voltage to the cpu, then you are about at the end of your overclocking upwards in cpu speed is just about at an end.

Different model Asus boards that are better intended for overclocking by the user himself; have better bios menu choices for user adjustment. The board you have is more intended for the beginner type overlcocker and not someone wanting to really push the speed limit.
 
Back