9950 question!

[sycc]

Alright guys, I just here recently got the Kuhler 920 installed on my system (built it a few years ago) and I have been wanting to OC it for a while being I don't have much money to play around with 2 build a new PC!

I have the MSI K9a2 Platinum motherboard
AMD Phenom 9950BE
Antec Kuhler 920 liquid cpu cooler
8gb OCZ Ram
64gb Crucial M4 ssd (another 500 gig regular hdd for space)
xfx 7xxx series card
and the nzxt phantom as the case!

I realize this system is pretty old now, but it plays bf3 without any problems...but i still wanna be able to get more performance out of it until I'm able to buy all new hardware! help me out guys, please! i've never overclocked **** in my life haha!!!

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=2400674

 

[Alaric]

My 9850 http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=2400472 . Mine isn't a BE , and the first gen Phenoms don't have a reputation for OCing very well. I replaced my junk power supply after it fried itself and hit 3038 MHz with the first round of playing with it. All I did was set my LLC to 3.225% , HT multiplier at 8 and HT to 243. I'll poke at it some more and see what NB and HT voltage can do for it , but I'm already close to the temperature wall with air cooling. I can run a stable 2887 MHz and the improvement is noticeable. I may try water cooling to see what I can wring out of the old girl. Or get one of the 980 BEs Newegg still has in stock. My favorite screenshot!-

Yes , this was a glitch in Core Temp. I have never seen that speed out of any 9850 , let alone mine.

 

[trents]

sycc, the first thing to do is check core temps. If you haven't already, download and install HWMonitor and Prime95. Open HWmonitor on the desktop and leave it open while you run a 20 minute Prime95 blend test. Then post back with a pic of the HWMonitor interface so we can check temps to get an idea if you have any headroom for overclocking.

 

[sycc]

sycc, the first thing to do is check core temps. If you haven't already, download and install HWMonitor and Prime95. Open HWmonitor on the desktop and leave it open while you run a 20 minute Prime95 blend test. Then post back with a pic of the HWMonitor interface so we can check temps to get an idea if you have any headroom for overclocking.

Here ya go, it ran for about 40 minutes actually lol. Hope this helps!

*epic failure on the attached image try, heres a better one:

 

[trents]

Okay, your temps are great! Plenty of room to overclock there. Here's the plan I suggest.

First, please post back and include pics of your CPU-z tabs: Memory and SPD at current settings.

Then:

Increase your CPU multiplier in .5x increments.

After each increment of increase, run a Prime95 blend test of 20 minutes. Have HWMonitor open on your desktop whenever you run this stress test. You want to keep the core temps from exceeding say 55-57c and the TMPIN0 (CPU socket temp) from exceeding 68c. If this happens, stop the Prime stress test.

If you pass the test (no blue screen, lockup, spontaneous restart and no Prime95 core workers drop out) increase the CPU multiplier another .5x. Repeat this until you fail the test and then add an increment or two to your CPU core voltage to restabilize things.

Repeat this process until you seem to hit a wall and then post back with pics of HWMonitor after your last stress test and pics of CPU-z tabs: CPU, Memory and SPD.

 

[sycc]

Okay, your temps are great! Plenty of room to overclock there. Here's the plan I suggest.

First, please post back and include pics of your CPU-z tabs: Memory and SPD at current settings.

Then:

Increase your CPU multiplier in .5x increments.

After each increment of increase, run a Prime95 blend test of 20 minutes. Have HWMonitor open on your desktop whenever you run this stress test. You want to keep the core temps from exceeding say 55-57c and the TMPIN0 (CPU socket temp) from exceeding 68c. If this happens, stop the Prime stress test.

If you pass the test (no blue screen, lockup, spontaneous restart and no Prime95 core workers drop out) increase the CPU multiplier another .5x. Repeat this until you fail the test and then add an increment or two to your CPU core voltage to restabilize things.

Repeat this process until you seem to hit a wall and then post back with pics of HWMonitor after your last stress test and pics of CPU-z tabs: CPU, Memory and SPD.

I'm kind of "worried" to do all of that, being I have no clue what the hell I'm doing!! Maybe I can get some more insight on it that way I'm not half as freaked out!!

 

[RGone]

If those minor changes cause freak out then maybe overclocking is not for you after all. I have seen all sorts of little oddities over the course of a few years of working with and overclocking various configurations and I had but to press onward or stop and not push the parts and pieces which is what overclocking actually is anyway; push the parts and pieces outside their specifications.

This is one of the first links g00gle brought up when I searched for AMD Overclocking 101. Start at the beginning was my idea. Take a read they describe some things at a more beginning level. There are thousands of such articles about overclocking on the internet.


Free your AMD: how to overclock AMD in 5 easy steps

 

[bigben6]

I'm kind of "worried" to do all of that, being I have no clue what the hell I'm doing!! Maybe I can get some more insight on it that way I'm not half as freaked out!!

Assuming you do not touch voltages, your at almost no risk to your system, worst case is bsod on you, when it reboots you back your multi down some, on my system i left votages alone and i went form 3.2 to 3.7 on multi alone... but if adjusting .5 mulit scares you, then an OC is not what you wanna be doing...

 

[trents]

Well, you came to us asking us to help you overclock and now you are rejecting our help. The method I suggested to you is very incremental and safe. If you want to overclock you have to be willing to increase frequencies and voltages. That's what overclocking is by definition. There's just no other way to do it than increasing frequencies and voltages. In my opinion, the overclocking guides are more helpful after you've done some hands on and played with the variables. The key thing to keep in mind is that if you monitor temps as you overclock you will avoid unsafe voltages. Temps are the key.

 

[bigben6]

i would research the following
how your multiplier effects your cpu
locked vs unlocked mulitpliers
and OC'ing via front side bus

upping cpu speed by way of mulitplier in the BIOS is far and away the easiest, safest, and most proven method to oc.... if need me write down all the factory settings be fore messing with everything...