Athlon II x4 640 Overclock Help (Newbie Overclocker)

[Fifedogg]

I just put this PC together today and am having some trouble with overclocking it. I'm not new to Building PC's etc. but have never overclocked a PC before. Any change I have made has instantally crashed in prime95 When using the software that came with the board to overclock it. The board I'm using says it is easily overclocked but I guess I'm not doing it right. I used the setting to add 10% to the front side bus (Physical OC switch on MB) Still crashes in Prime95 within 5 seconds but runs perfect doing everything else. I'm obviously doing something wrong. Here are my Specs: (Got some sick deals through NewEgg buying these parts seperately over the past few weeks $440 total spent for everything including 2 dvd burners)

-AMD Athlon II X4 640

-MSI 880GM-E43 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX

-G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

-COOLER MASTER Elite 430 Case w/ 4 Fans

-Cooler Master Hyper TX3 Heatsink W/ MX-2 Thermal Compound

-Corsair 650 Watt PSU

-Running Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit

-1 TB Samsung 7200 rpm 32 MB Cache HD

I would really like to get somewhere around 3.4-3.6 mhz stable. What should I do first? Should I be lowering other things like say ram etc when I raise the FSB? I'm still just learning about this stuff so please bare with me

Any help will be greatly appreciated. I will be researching these threads over the next few days and really learning about overclocking in general. Sorry about being such a newbie to all of this but I'm a quick learner

 

[trents]

You probably need to add vcore to make it stable at the higher clock speed. We do not suggest using software or bios automatic "cheater" settings to overclock. Changing bios settings manually is a much better way to go.

What kind of core temps are you getting at stock speeds and voltages? Please install HWMonitor and have it open while running Prime95 blend for 10 minutes. Take screen shots and upload pics, please.

 

[Fifedogg]

You probably need to add vcore to make it stable at the higher clock speed. We do not suggest using software or bios automatic "cheater" settings to overclock. Changing bios settings manually is a much better way to go.

What kind of core temps are you getting at stock speeds and voltages? Please install HWMonitor and have it open while running Prime95 blend for 10 minutes. Take screen shots and upload pics, please.

Thanks for your help. I will do that later when I get home from work.

 

[Fifedogg]

Ran Prime95 on stock values for 18 minutes and these were my results.

I dont remember seeing anything about Vcore in my bios but I'll have to look again.

 

[Fifedogg]

Ran this for a little while and it finally crashed during the test when I was navigating around in windows I thought I was going to be golden but I guess not. Where should I tweak around at?

 

[trents]

In addition to the "CPU" tab in CPU-z, please upload screenshots of "Memory" and "SPD" tabs whenever you post after changing bios settings.

vcore is shorthand for "CPU voltage". I have essentially the same CPU as you do and I can tell you you will need more vcore for significant overclocking. You won't hurt anything if you keep your vcore under 1.5v as long as your core temps are not exceeding mid 50s C. It will also help if you give your CPUNB two voltage bumps (up to 1.2v) over the default setting and keep the CPUNB (NB in CPU-z) at somewhere between 2200 and 2400. The "Memory" tab will show that frequency. I'm guessing you are also running your ram too fast by now as you have increased the fsb from 200 to 222 (unless you lowered the starting speed of the ram). "SPD" tab will show us what its stock frequencies and timings are.

In bios, be aware that it is very easy to confuse the NB chipset with the CPUNB. Leave the NB chipset voltage and frequencies alone. The bios may not use CPUNB to refer to such and may use "NB" to refer to both the NB chipset and the CPUNB. The former has to do with the onboard video while the latter has to do with the integrated memory controller on the CPU die. What section they are located at in bios usually tips it off as to which one is meant.

It looks like from you core temps you have a little more overclock room. When core temps reach mid 50s C. you will be at the end of the overclock string and would need better cooling to go further.

 

[trents]

By the way, turn off Cool and Quiet in bios and C1E (if you have it). When enabled, they can create instability in overclocking.

 

[Fifedogg]

was able to get about 10 minutes on Prime95 Blend but then it crashes.

 

[trents]

Your memory timings are too tight for the speed you are running the ram at. Compare JEDEC #2 and #3 in CPU-z tab "SPD" from your most recent post. You are running ram timings that are appropriate for DDR2 533 speed.

Your HT Link speed is too high at 2270. Keep it between 1800 and 2000 as you overclock.

 

[Fifedogg]

Your memory timings are too tight for the speed you are running the ram at. Compare JEDEC #2 and #3 in CPU-z tab "SPD" from your most recent post. You are running ram timings that are appropriate for DDR2 533 speed.

Your HT Link speed is too high at 2270. Keep it between 1800 and 2000 as you overclock.

what should the timings be? Also my bios doesnt display them like 3-3-3-3 etc and I dont know what value goes where.

Its like this:

DRAM tCL
DRAM tRAS
DRAM tRP
DRAM tRCD
DRAM tWR
DRAM tRFC

DRAM tWTR
DRAM tRRD
DRAM tRTP
DRAM tFAW



I'll do some more research...

 

[QuietIce]

The main settings (DRAM tCL, DRAM tRAS, DRAM tRP, DRAM tRCD) match the labels used in CPU-Z/Memory tab which match the labels in the SPD tab ...

 

[Fifedogg]

Here are pics of my Bios settings. Tell me what I'm diong wrong.

I've also changed my ram settngs to 8-8-8-24 and nothing has seemed to change on my CPU-Z SPD screen.

I already lowered the HT Link to 1816 Mhz.

 

[QuietIce]

You'll need to go into Advanced DRAM Configuration to find the timings ...

 

[trents]

I've also changed my ram settngs to 8-8-8-24 and nothing has seemed to change on my CPU-Z SPD screen.

The CPU-z screen will not reflect any changes you make in bios settings. It simply reads the manufacturer's info that is encoded on the ram module. It is a guide to give you info about what are appropriate voltages and timings for your ram at basic starting frequencies, as well as the max frequency your ram is rated for.

Wow! Those bis pics you uploaded are huge! Please downsize them in the future. Someone said today the paper clip icon (upper left) when in Advanced mode works to size the pics to fit a normal forum window. Otherwise, you might try a freeware program called "PixResizer".

 

[Fifedogg]

yeah my bad I'll resize next time. I'm at 3.4 ghz going on 20 mins on Prime95 with my CPU at 50*C. I just had to add a little more cpu voltage and lowered the HT link to 1816. This is the most stable she has been.

How long would I need to run Prime95 to consider her stable?


Edit: She made it about 22 Mins at 52*C and finally crashed...What settings do you think I should try and tweak?

 

[trents]

Try bumping up the voltage a little on the CPU-NB VDD and the CPU VDD. Just one small notch on each. Give your DRAM voltage one small bump too.

 

[Fifedogg]

Try bumping up the voltage a little on the CPU-NB VDD and the CPU VDD. Just one small notch on each. Give your DRAM voltage one small bump too.

I bumbed up those voltages a tiny bit and it still crashed after about 15-20 mins on Prime95 Blend. CPU VDD couldn't go any higher than 1.40. Should I try bumping the others up some more? Do you think my ram is ok at 8-8-8-24?

Does it matter that my memory is in the 3 and 4 slot instead of the 1 and 2 dimm slot? I'm guessing it doesnt matter.

How long would I have to run Prime95 to consider it stable? Also, what do you guys think about the intel burn test software?

 

[Fifedogg]

Finally got some stable runs on my setup at 3.39 ghz. I've gone 25+ mins in Prime95 @ a max of 51*c but usually stayed around 48-50*c before it crashed. I Also did a complete run on Intel's burn test which ran a little higher at 53*c and it passed. Here are my bios settings. What could I do more to make here a little faster/stable? Anything I do other than this setup makes here crash. I've tried lowering the voltage, upping the FSB but nothing else is stable. My mem is now at 9-9-9-24

 

[Fifedogg]

 

[QuietIce]

I can't see anything off-hand that can be improved much.


Prime95 is the "standard" used for stability testing. If you want to run something else use the LinX option in OCCT - it's the same thing.


If the cpuNB will go up another notch that will help memory performance but it's not a big deal if it won't ...