AMD 955 BE 3.2Ghz OC Help

I know this is an old processor, but I want to make it last as long as possible while getting the best performance I can. I have the stock cooler and the C3 revision model, I will be benchmarking with AMD OverDrive utility, have TurboV, and Speccy. Currently on a stock clock my processor is getting a score of 5300, with my current jacked up crappy OC I am getting 6,100 on average, with a 54C idle, and 58C under load. The problem is I am getting stutter in games

Let me hand you some more useful specifications about my system:

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)

ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro RS-650-ACAA-A1 650W

I currently have a Zotac 9800GTX Amp'd Edition (legendary card but getting a bit worn), and will be upgrading to a MSI Twin Fozr 7950 this week.

So guys I need your help. For this setup I need advice on ways to make a safe, stable, OC for my processor that will make it perform at maximum efficiency. What software, and drivers do I need, and what exact settings should I tinker with first in the Bios. Multiplier, Core Voltage, Bus Speeds, NB settings, etc. Any help will be appreciated, I feel like I am not getting good performance out of this processor.

My current unstable OC:

3.8Ghz
Voltage: 1.325V
HT ref. Clock: 210

Everything else in the BIOS I believe is in Auto Mode, and I don't really trust Auto Mode lol. I feel like it's holding me back.

This is what my Bios looks like (Pic just for reference and isn't my PC)

Upper Portion:
http://www.overclockers.ua/motherboard/amd-870-asus-gigabyte-msi/07-big-asus-m4a87td-evo.jpg

Lower Portion:
http://farm3.anhso.net/upload/20101021/12/o/anhso-123326_IMG_6794.jpg

So where should I start and what should I tweak first? Should I uninstall all OC software and start fresh, are there new drivers available for my Mobo, and CPU? Thanks again!

Can anyone help me shed some light on this?

Mogul, Welcome to the forums. Lets start off at the beginning. You are much better off using the BIOS to OC then windows based programs. Now I suggest you read the following guide. It is easier for us to help you, if you have some knowledge of what we are talking about when we try to help you.

Now when you say you had 54c idle temps It concerns me. Generally, a 955 may start being unstable around 55c. What case do you have the components in? How many fans and how long has it been since it's been cleaned? Could you please download the following programs CPU-Z, hwmonitor and prime95. Return the pc to it's stock settings, open HWmonitor and run prime for 20 min. Please post individual pictures of the following tabs in CPU-Z, cpu, spd and memory. As well as the HWMonitor showing temps under load.

Mandrake4565 said:

Mogul, Welcome to the forums. Lets start off at the beginning. You are much better off using the BIOS to OC then windows based programs. Now I suggest you read the following guide. It is easier for us to help you, if you have some knowledge of what we are talking about when we try to help you.

Now when you say you had 54c idle temps It concerns me. Generally, a 955 may start being unstable around 55c. What case do you have the components in? How many fans and how long has it been since it's been cleaned? Could you please download the following programs CPU-Z, hwmonitor and prime95. Return the pc to it's stock settings, open HWmonitor and run prime for 20 min. Please post individual pictures of the following tabs in CPU-Z, cpu, spd and memory. As well as the HWMonitor showing temps under load.

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Hey thanks for the reply. I will go download these programs now, should I uninstall the other third party OC utilities? As for the case, I have the NZXT Hush Case. Which I believe has a lame total of 2x 80mm fans, front and rear. I am going to clean the case now and see if that doesn't help a bit. Let me know what I should do about the OC programs I have installed currently.

Mogul26 said:

Hey thanks for the reply. I will go download these programs now, should I uninstall the other third party OC utilities? As for the case, I have the NZXT Hush Case. Which I believe has a lame total of 2x 80mm fans, front and rear. I am going to clean the case now and see if that doesn't help a bit. Let me know what I should do about the OC programs I have installed currently.

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maybe you need to put a new thermal paste on it.,,before overclocking

miko30 said:

maybe you need to put a new thermal paste on it.,,before overclocking

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Just cleaned my case out, running at 48C at idle on a 3.6Ghz OC. I did a huge read up on that guide that was linked, and from that I set these:

Core Multiplier: 18X (3600Mhz)
FSB (HT Ref Clock?): 200Mhz

Then to compensate for the increase in core clock, I boosted the CPU/NB to 2400Mhz based on the formula CPU/NB (+/-200) = (CPU Freq * 2) / 3.15

Then increased the offset voltage to +0.028v on my CPU, stock Vcore is 1.35, and on the NB set the Voltage to +0.05. Stock voltage on NB is 1.1v

Maybe I should slow down though and start over once I post some tests on the base processor. Or should we go from here?

Mogul26 said:

Just cleaned my case out, running at 48C at idle on a 3.6Ghz OC. I did a huge read up on that guide that was linked, and from that I set these:

Core Multiplier: 18X (3600Mhz)
FSB (HT Ref Clock?): 200Mhz

Then to compensate for the increase in core clock, I boosted the CPU/NB to 2400Mhz based on the formula CPU/NB (+/-200) = (CPU Freq * 2) / 3.15

Then increased the offset voltage to +0.028v on my CPU, stock Vcore is 1.35, and on the NB set the Voltage to +0.05. Stock voltage on NB is 1.1v

Maybe I should slow down though and start over once I post some tests on the base processor. Or should we go from here?

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Post Screen Shots of HW Monitor CPU-z , Prime 95, and Overdrive under full load.
You might need more juice to the NB to run it at 2400MHz, but that's just a guess.

You really need to get a better CPU cooler and some more air flow through your case if you want your board and CPU to last

Mogul, since you have it Oc'ed please do as Digital faer said and post some pics of the tabs I told you in my previous post and HWmonitor. Make sure your temps are staying below 60 on the cores. Also forget about OC'ing software, use the bios.

I will get the figures for you as soon as I can.

Have HWMonitor open on the desktop to start with and then run a 20 minute Prime95 blend stress test to check for maximum core and CPU (socket) temps. Then post back with an attached pic of the HWMonitor interface immediately after the stress test so we can look at temps and voltages. To attach a pic, first crop and save with Snipping Tool in Windows accessories. Then click on the Go Advanced button at the bottom of any new post window and click on the little paper clip tool.

955s not going to get an acceptable temp reading with increased vCore and vCPUNB and an OC of 3.6GHz on a stock cooler. I've been working with C2 and C3 945s-965s since god knows when (God says 2008) and they do NOT do well on those stock coolers. I think you can get 3.5-3.6 on stock if you have a good chip that doesn't require a voltage bump, but the heat goes up quick on these 45nm chips when you bump voltage.

My C2 would go up to 3.85GHz on stock voltage, but would blow its lid if I increased voltage. It put out more heat than a C3, but neither would have tolerated a stock. Coolermaster 212s (Plus, EVO, Hyper, whatever) are exceedingly cheap (Like 20-29 bucks max) and give you enough thermal headroom to get into the upper range these CPUs will allow as far as OCing goes. They also have enough cooling power for moderate OCs on much newer CPUs as well

Coolermaster 212s (Plus, EVO, Hyper, whatever) are exceedingly cheap (Like 20-29 bucks max) and give you enough thermal headroom to get into the upper range these CPUs will allow as far as OCing goes. They also have enough cooling power for moderate OCs on much newer CPUs as well

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+1

Thanks for the advice. I will invest in a better cooler this Christmas to keep the temps down. I ran BF3 last night and hung around 56-57C, and saw a 5FPS increase across the board. This was at 1.38V at 3.6, and I played for a good 2 hours. Which is still really hot so cooling that down will be a must to get extended life from this processor.

I am at College atm and not at my desktop. I will get those benchmarks ASAP, as well as a few pics of my current bios settings. Which are probably all jacked up, because I am a noob.

Mogul26 said:

Thanks for the advice. I will invest in a better cooler this Christmas to keep the temps down. I ran BF3 last night and hung around 56-57C, and saw a 5FPS increase across the board. This was at 1.38V at 3.6, and I played for a good 2 hours. Which is still really hot so cooling that down will be a must to get extended life from this processor.

I am at College atm and not at my desktop. I will get those benchmarks ASAP, as well as a few pics of my current bios settings. Which are probably all jacked up, because I am a noob.

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That's like I feared-- You'll be fine gaming if it is stable, but your temps will spike too high when benchmarking for sure. Make sure you keep a good airflow and dust off that stock cooler in the meantime When you get that new cooler, we shouldn't have much trouble getting you 3.7-3.9GHz on that chip

Ok I am running HW Monitor, and Prime95. I clicked "Torture Test" so I think it is running. My biggest concern is that my CPU is already approaching dangerous levels, 70C which is when my PC is set to reboot, so we will see what happens.

When will I be able to tell when the test is done? Also my CPU fan is only running at 3,400RPM, I feel like it should be faster than that. CPU voltage is at 1.28v which is odd since I set it to 1.375 in the Bios. Maybe I set the offset incorrectly?

Edit: Nevermind the temps went back down to 62C, on test 8

Update:

Something seems to be all fubar'd with all of my readings. Nothing is consistent.

The voltage on HW Monitor for CPU says 1.25V-1.30V, Overdrive says 1.35V Constant, in another area it says ****ing 3.0V. My Bios is set to 1.35V with a + offset of 0.038 which should allow a max voltage under full load of 1.38v right?

Also my temps all read differently. In HW monitor it says CPU: 62C then below it says Core 0-3 and they all read 67C and CPU:65C. Then in Overdrive it reads CPU: 58C and in Core 0-3 68C. So WTF is going on here? Why is it verying so much and what can I trust? I feel like my sensors are all off. There is no way I am running this hot, my mobo would have shut down the processor or it would have crashed by now.

Here are the results from the torture test 31 tests, 37 minutes: 0 errors, 0 warnings

Pics are below.

Everything was taken during the stress test, except the picture labelled CPUz-5minutes which was taken 5 minutes after I stopped it. The voltage increases AFTER the test. Is the decrease in voltage during the test a safety measure? and why all the mixed readings with temp and voltage on the others. It's so inconsistent. There were no errors though, so does this mean it's a stable clock?

Way too hot for my liking, I would get a new heatsink though I'm not sure the CM Hyper 212 will fit in your case.

Mandrake4565 said:

Way too hot for my liking, I would get a new heatsink though I'm not sure the CM Hyper 212 will fit in your case.

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Yes, it should fit. Those coolers will generally fit in cases that are at least 7.5" wide and his is 7.61". Mogul, I would also recommend this cooler. It would be a good match for your CPU. You definitely need better cooling. The stock coolers are only adequate for running at stock frequencies and voltages. Don't waste your time and your system trying to do what can't be done.

trents said:

Yes, it should fit. Those coolers will generally fit in cases that are at least 7.5" wide and his is 7.61". Mogul, I would also recommend this cooler. It would be a good match for your CPU. You definitely need better cooling. The stock coolers are only adequate for running at stock frequencies and voltages. Don't waste your time and your system trying to do what can't be done.

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All the way. Its most likely stable, which is good. For a voltage increase and an OC, the temps aren't terrible for a stock cooler (Means upgrading cooler + TIM is all you need)

Voltages aren't going to show consistent-- They change based on load, and different programs make different assumptions while measuring. HWMonitor is generally the most accurate when it comes to vCore, vCPU-NB, and RAM. Rail voltages are usually off in HWM, so don't bother with these. A multimeter is always the best way to go, but as long as your rig isn't on fire you can assume your voltages aren't freaking out too much.

Get that 212, pronto!

Anonaru said:

All the way. Its most likely stable, which is good. For a voltage increase and an OC, the temps aren't terrible for a stock cooler (Means upgrading cooler + TIM is all you need)

Voltages aren't going to show consistent-- They change based on load, and different programs make different assumptions while measuring. HWMonitor is generally the most accurate when it comes to vCore, vCPU-NB, and RAM. Rail voltages are usually off in HWM, so don't bother with these. A multimeter is always the best way to go, but as long as your rig isn't on fire you can assume your voltages aren't freaking out too much.

Get that 212, pronto!

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Will do, thanks for all the help. So can we assume that my OC was successful since I haven't experienced crashes or instability? Of course there always a chance that I am OC'ing incorrectly, and not actually seeing performance gains.