another new to overclocking

[Dman213]

hi people i am new to overclocking got intrested cos my system is getting slightly outdated and i opened it up recently for cleaning dust and new RAM.

all the hardware is bought from www.overclockers.co.uk

CPU : AMD Athlon II X4 365
Motherboard : Gigabyte GA-MA78LMT-US2H
Memory : 2x2GB OCZ DDR3 1066
2x4GB Corsair DDR3 1066
Graphics : Radeon HD 4850
OS : W7 Ultimate 64bit

A lot of reading tells me this can be taken from 2.9ghz to 3.8ghz if properly tweaked at the right conditions.

I tried the Gigabyte Easytune6 Windows software though of course its very weak, however I used its recommended 240FSB into my BIOS without changing anything else... and quickly just to be the safe side i brought it down to 220 FSB which give me 3.19ghz.

im pretty sure my temps have from gone up from mid 30C's to 40C's idle and hitting early 50C's on full load

any advice or can anyone tell me where to go from here, i have all the programs people talk about on this board here are my CPU-Z pics and also 1 pic of speedfan on idle right now after playing mw3.

 

[trents]

Check your hardware listing. You said you have an "Athlon II X4 365".

Which revision of this motherboard do you have? There were several revisions put out by Gigabyte. Look on the board itself, usually between the PCI-e slots you will see it in white lettering.

If you want us to help you overclock we need you to abandon EasyTune and any automatic overclocking genies in bios and commit to manually overclocking in bios with the individual frequency and voltages controls.

 

[Dman213]

Check your hardware listing. You said you have an "Athlon II X4 365"

my apologies, it should have read Athlon II X4 635.. i have actually just dug out my 2 year old order list from the web page so i have everything quite specific right down to the case and psu now.

- HIS ATI Radeon HD 4850 iCooler IV 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card
- OCZ Gold 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 (1333MHz) Low-Voltage Dual Channel (OCZ3G1333LV4GK)
- Gigabyte GA-MA78LMT-US2H 760G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard
- Coolermaster Elite 335 Case - Black
- OCZ StealthXStream 2 500W Power Supply
- Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache
- AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 635 2.90GHz (Socket AM3)

Recently added
- Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3

Which revision of this motherboard do you have? There were several revisions put out by Gigabyte. Look on the board itself, usually between the PCI-e slots you will see it in white lettering.

i just looked into this and it turns out i have revision 1.3

If you want us to help you overclock we need you to abandon EasyTune and any automatic overclocking genies in bios and commit to manually overclocking in bios with the individual frequency and voltages controls.

deal! i'd love to learn i heard so much about it before and i have the time now to focus on it.. for the record, i never really used easytune i did install it and run it but it is obviously flawed with a crude interface i couldnt wait to uninstall it!!

 

[trents]

What kind of CPU cooler do you have? Very important info when overclocking.

Please take the system info you just posted (plus the CPU cooler info) and put it in your "Sig" soon. You will have access to this feature within one hour of your second post. Please keep this mind. To make a Sig, to Quick Links at the top of the page and click on Edit Signature. This is a courtesy to those helping you as the Sig will travel with every post you make for quick reference by those helping you. As you can imagine, this is handy as the thread gets longer.

Also, please download and install HWMonitor. It's superior to Speedfan and a standard tool around here.

Let's start by returning everything to stock frequencies and voltages and disabling any auto overclock bios genie you may have been using. Once you have done that, please post back with pics of CPU-z tabs: CPU, Memory and SPD. I want to check everything at stock before we start overclocking.

 

[Dman213]

What kind of CPU cooler do you have? Very important info when overclocking.

i believe i only have the AMD stock cooler, i took photos recently before i added ram

(the back fan has since been put right the other way)


(the case has a side vent)

Let's start by returning everything to stock frequencies and voltages and disabling any auto overclock bios genie you may have been using. Once you have done that, please post back with pics of CPU-z tabs: CPU, Memory and SPD. I want to check everything at stock before we start overclocking.

ok thanks i also got HWMonitor installed and took a shot at stock, the only BIOS setting that wasnt default for any of these screenshots was AMD Cool&Quiet which is still disabled.

 

[Dman213]

woke up here in UK and checked HW Monitor for my latest temperatures, after being asleep and leaving the system off for 6 hours in a cool room it seems to have been considerably lowered.. im still thinking i might need a new CPU cooler.

 

[trents]

Now, please download and install the free stress testing program: Prime95. With HWMonitor open on the desktop, run the Prime95 blend test for 20 minutes. This ought to be done in the heat of the day if you do not have AC in your living environment. We need to see what you core temps are like under full load in order to gauge whether or not you have any headroom to overclock with that stock cooler. After doing this, please repost with a pic of the HWMonitor interface.

Yeah, leave Cool N Quiet disabled and disable something called C1E as well if you have it in bios. Then go into Windows Control Panel Power Options and configure it to High Performance. This should turn off all the "green" power-saving stuff that causes erratic frequencies and voltages that mess with overclocking.

By the way, your CPU socket temp is one the lines in the section of HWMonitor with the labels "TMPINx". I'm guessing it's TMPIN0 as with a stock cooler that temp is usually a few degrees lower than the core temps. With good after market cooling the core temps are usually lower than the CPU socket temp. Bios and most reporting software that come with the motherboard like EasyTune will report the CPU socket temp. Core temps are more useful since they are actually measured from the processor die.

 

[Dman213]

Okay so i started test at 21:15 and stopped at 21:37 it was default Blend test (4 tortures), this screenshot was taken with the test still active.

Prior to this the PC has been on since 12noon and had been gaming call of duty mw3 for 3 hours before doing this test.

I waited till the heating at home was high (been a cold day here), it can get hotter in this room though.

I'm concerned temperatures are high and i had to stop gaming because my PC wasnt running as smoothly as i like.

Last week I removed the heatsink and fan to clean dust and for the first time ever i had to apply thermal paste when i reconnected to CPU, while im sure i put enough on the CPU chip i didnt actually spread any on the heatsink base.

 

[bigben6]

Listen to trents, he has you on the right track, 63c is pretty high, my guess is your gonna be buying a CPU cooler, lowend you have any variation of the soolermaster 212 (212+ or the most recent 21 evo) high end you have the noctua d14.... but stock heatsink aint gonna cut it if your hitting 63c at stock speeds unless the athlons had alot more temp room than phenoms.

 

[Dman213]

Listen to trents, he has you on the right track, 63c is pretty high, my guess is your gonna be buying a CPU cooler, lowend you have any variation of the soolermaster 212 (212+ or the most recent 21 evo) high end you have the noctua d14.... but stock heatsink aint gonna cut it if your hitting 63c at stock speeds unless the athlons had alot more temp room than phenoms.

ok i can get a new cooler tomorrow if need be then however i wont go OTT because i see myself buying a new PC next year. i would like to go in the shops and buy 1 if available and competitive otherwise i go online.

unless it really justify's the price difference i dont want to spend £60-£80 on Coolermaster V8/Noctua d14.. if i can still get decent results from the £20 Coolermaster Evo? Im happy to go halfway and pay £40 but i wouldn't do it unless it was highly recommended.

if i knew the cooler was really future compatabile with potential 12core's then i wouldn't mind spending the extra, i read the V8 works on any current board..

 

[RGone]

A pretty good list/rank of just about all the latest cpu coolers. Get the one you can afford by it's ranking if that is the way you want to go. There is a review actually for all the cpu coolers they have ranked as I understand it.

FrostyTech Mk.II Synthetic Thermal Heatsink Test Results
AMD Phenom II, Athlon II/64/FX/X2, Sempron class heatsinks

 

[Dman213]

i see.. my local independant PC store only 5mins away has a range of artic cooling freezer heatsinks.

http://pless.co.uk/home.php?cat=108

the best is Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 PRO CO Continuous Operation CPU Cooler
http://pless.co.uk/product.php?productid=9219;

or should i save 30% cost and just get the Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 CO Continuous Operation CPU Cooler (£27)

opinions plz?

 

[RGone]

I have two of similar Arctic Cooling cpu coolers and I have learned my lesson. Nothing Arctic Cooling is going to get my money again. They mount poorly or with great effort and don't cool that well.

 

[Dman213]

I have two of similar Arctic Cooling cpu coolers and I have learned my lesson. Nothing Arctic Cooling is going to get my money again. They mount poorly or with great effort and don't cool that well.

ok i would be surprised if my local PC store had high end coolers... could u recommend an alternative

im now seriously considering V8 if i can fit in my case

 

[bigben6]

gt the newest version of the coolermaster 212... end of story...

 

[trents]

Yes, too hot! You need a better CPU cooler. Look into the Coolermaster Hyper 212+ Evo. Generally available around the world and modestly priced as well as being a very good cooler. Just be aware that it will take a case of at least 7.5" wide and maybe closer to 8" to accommodate its height.

We know that when core temps exceed mid 50s c that instability can set in with an overclocked CPU and for safety sake you want to keep the CPU socket temps under 70c.

 

[trents]

ok i would be surprised if my local PC store had high end coolers... could u recommend an alternative

im now seriously considering V8 if i can fit in my case

Is it feasible for you to order something online?

 

[Dman213]

gt the newest version of the coolermaster 212... end of story...

ok thx, done!

ordered ''Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler'' from

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-035-CM&campaign=pcm/googleshopping

Is it feasible for you to order something online?

yea it was no probs i was just so eager to get cracking ASAP i will now have to wait a couple of days (Wednesday) for the anticipated delivery... so i guess this momentum will go on hold until i receive the new cooler and install it

should i pick up a 120mm fan locally for the front of the case? i dont know how to install it so it would have to really make a difference im actually happy just to try this cooler first.

will update ASAP!!!

 

[trents]

By all means install the fan in the case front. Good case ventilation is as necessary to controlling CPU temps as is a good heatsink. A heatsink using warm air to cool itself won't work very well. Here is a pic of how to orient your fans for good ventilation. You want to move the air from front low to rear high.

Installing a front fan will likely mean removing the front panel (bezel) from the case. Take the side panels off and you will see plastic tabs that have to be depressed in order to remove the front panel and maybe a screw or two.

 

[RGone]

By all means install the fan in the case front. Good case ventilation is as necessary to controlling CPU temps as is a good heatsink. A heatsink using warm air to cool itself won't work very well. Here is a pic of how to orient your fans for good ventilation. You want to move the air from front low to rear high.

Great case air-flow capture. I think I will save its' location for use again, since that sort of question is always coming back up. Thanks man.