SOLVED AMD Phenom II X4 940BE

[SiLeNtCovenant]

[Solved] Decided to just chuck my old computer parts and build a new one, help me decide what to get here

I'd like to try overclocking my cpu to hopefully get more performance in my games. How reliable is the AMD Overdrive feature? It seems like I am unable to tweak the settings myself, rather it has a 'auto tune' function that supposedly takes care of these settings for me. I'm looking to up my CPU speed from 3.0Ghz to hopefully 4.0Ghz.

Anyone have any suggestions? I've read the Phenom II overclock guide and I'm still a little fuzzy on the North Bridge part, I'm guessing since I have a Black Edition CPU, I can just focus on increasing the clock speed until it's barely stable, and from then on, increase the clock speed on the north bridge to compensate?

EDIT: Now that I think about it.. 4.0Ghz may be WAYYYY out of my league seeing how my idle temps are rather high, 45C at idle. Might I add that I recently installed an Antec Kuhler 620, cheapo water cooler and it's still getting high temps. I live in Hawaii and it's pretty warm here. Getting a new case hopefully today or tomorrow, so that may help with the temperatures, and I'll be moving my pc onto my desk rather than on the carpeted floor.

I would, however, like to get the most out of this ancient relic.

 

[Xenohitsu]

I'd like to try overclocking my cpu to hopefully get more performance in my games. How reliable is the AMD Overdrive feature? It seems like I am unable to tweak the settings myself, rather it has a 'auto tune' function that supposedly takes care of these settings for me. I'm looking to up my CPU speed from 3.0Ghz to hopefully 4.0Ghz.

Anyone have any suggestions? I've read the Phenom II overclock guide and I'm still a little fuzzy on the North Bridge part, I'm guessing since I have a Black Edition CPU, I can just focus on increasing the clock speed until it's barely stable, and from then on, increase the clock speed on the north bridge to compensate?

EDIT: Now that I think about it.. 4.0Ghz may be WAYYYY out of my league seeing how my idle temps are rather high, 45C at idle. Might I add that I recently installed an Antec Kuhler 620, cheapo water cooler and it's still getting high temps. I live in Hawaii and it's pretty warm here. Getting a new case hopefully today or tomorrow, so that may help with the temperatures, and I'll be moving my pc onto my desk rather than on the carpeted floor.

I would, however, like to get the most out of this ancient relic.

I recall the 940 on the AM2+ was 125w (and seems hot there with 45C idle) and was much harder to OC compared to the newer AM3 revisions (945s, 955s, etc). 3.5-3.6ghz sounds more the average OC.

 

[SiLeNtCovenant]

I recall the 940 on the AM2+ was 125w (and seems hot there with 45C idle) and was much harder to OC compared to the newer AM3 revisions (945s, 955s, etc). 3.5-3.6ghz sounds more the average OC.

Hmm, would I even see any performance boosts at 3.5Ghz?

 

[Johan45]

Your Antec case should be fine but you need more air around your socket. Do you have a fan installed on the side to blow on the CPU/VRM area ? Also that board has no heatsink there either which will cause the heat to build up.
What are you using to report temps. HWmonitor is a good program for monitoring temps.
And yes you should see some gains at 3.5GHz but you have to get rid of the heat first.

 

[SiLeNtCovenant]

Your Antec case should be fine but you need more air around your socket. Do you have a fan installed on the side to blow on the CPU/VRM area ? Also that board has no heatsink there either which will cause the heat to build up.
What are you using to report temps. HWmonitor is a good program for monitoring temps.
And yes you should see some gains at 3.5GHz but you have to get rid of the heat first.

Yes, I'm currently using Hardware Monitor as well as Open Hardware Monitor to watch the temps.

The case doesn't have any side fans, just a vent on top for the power supply, two 120mm intake fans, which I need help wiring up one of them since I'm short a 3pin chassis plug and one 120mm exhaust fan in the back. I'll probably just splice the two fans into each other to share the chassis plug.

Would a push/pull system help since I have that radiator blocking the exhaust fan? Or do you think I'd need more fans, dunno how I'd mount em' though..

 

[Johan45]

it is an Antec 900 right ? Does it have the big fan on top ? Should be able to mount a 120 fan on the side and they have adapters so you can hook the front fan up to a molex connector. If your core temp (package) is ok you won't need a push pull but you do need air blowing on the cpu area. is this your case http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

 

[SiLeNtCovenant]

it is an Antec 900 right ? Does it have the big fan on top ? Should be able to mount a 120 fan on the side and they have adapters so you can hook the front fan up to a molex connector. If your core temp (package) is ok you won't need a push pull but you do need air blowing on the cpu area. is this your case http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

Oops, sorry.. I just got my new case, forgot to edit my sig. It's a Silverstone PS07B

It has two 120mm fans up front, covered by a magnetic filter and a door, side vented intake. Also has 2x120mm fan in the rear, push/pull setup for my Antec 620 cpu cooler. The cpu sits on top of the case, intake from the top. I was thinking of maybe cutting out a hole in the side and mounting a larger fan, but I'd hate to ruin the dust free setup..

 

[Johan45]

Have you set everything up and done any temp readings with the new case ?
I see in the mobo section you're looking at upgrading. So will you have two computers when you're done.

 

[SiLeNtCovenant]

Have you set everything up and done any temp readings with the new case ?
I see in the mobo section you're looking at upgrading. So will you have two computers when you're done.

The new case, being so compact, I'm assuming is what's making the case hot. It's only a few degrees hotter than my old Antec Nine Hundred case, but I do notice that it takes much longer to cool off after a gaming session, it'll hover at 50C for quite some time afterwards rather than dropping back to 40-45C like it used to in the old case.

If I want to do a full upgrade, chances are I'd have to get new parts for a new computer.. so I'll most likely end up with two computers. New mobo, cpu, ram, and I'm keeping my video card/case/psu. Pretty much new computer. Dunno bout the old parts though.. Would have to get a new case since I'm giving away my old one, too big for me

 

[Johan45]

Regarless of your future plans I'm sure you want to get your machine up and running. My only concern is the micro case you just got. You have to see how well you can move the air through it.