Attempting to OC AMD Phenom II Black Edition X6 1100T (New to OC'ing Need Help)

[BeK]

I have a AMD Phenom II Black Edition X6 1100T. I have never overclocked before and I am nervous about damaging my CPU but I want to see what kind of performance I can really get out of this thing as I heard that lots of people have had great result with doing so.
I will be air cooling and I am using a NZXT Phantom case with 7 fans as well as a ZALMAN CNPS11X Extreme aftermarket CPU cooler.
My Mobo is a GIGABYTE GA-990XA-UD3 and the RAM is G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866

Will the components listed suffice?

What software would I use to OC this CPU? AMD Catalyst Control Center?

Do I have to OC using the bios? Are there any advantages for using the bios to OC oppose to OC'ing through Windows? (I'm running W8.1)

What is the best software to use for testing stability, is it still Prime95 or is there better software to work with?

I would like to be able to get it to at least 4.0GHz clock speed on this CPU. Any input would be appreciated. Thank you.

Sorry to sound like such a noob but I have never OC'd before and the info in Dolk's guide seems a bit overwhelming as I had no idea that there was so much to OC'ing a CPU.

 

[Johan45]

Well I'm assuming you've read Dolk's guide?? There's a lot of useful information there. Most of us who come and help here do all our OCing through the bios as OC software isn't always the most stable. You'll want to use P95 to test and HWMonitor free to capture voltages and temps. We'll also want to see CPU-z main memory and SPD tabs. To start do a 20 minute P95 blend torture test with HWmonitor running in the back ground so we can see max temps and volts. Post this up along with the CPU-z tabs I just mentioned and we'll go from there.

 

[BeK]

Well I'm assuming you've read Dolk's guide?? There's a lot of useful information there. Most of us who come and help here do all our OCing through the bios as OC software isn't always the most stable. You'll want to use P95 to test and HWMonitor free to capture voltages and temps. We'll also want to see CPU-z main memory and SPD tabs. To start do a 20 minute P95 blend torture test with HWmonitor running in the back ground so we can see max temps and volts. Post this up along with the CPU-z tabs I just mentioned and we'll go from there.

Thank you for following up. Yes I did read Dolk's guide and its overwhelming as well as somewhat confusing. I guess I was just hoping that this OC'ing thing would be easier thats all.
I'll start with the steps that you recommended. Thanks again.

 

[Mandrake4565]

BeKure, overclocking isn't hard per se, it just takes patience. Read the guide a few times and post the information Johan asked. We are more then willing to help you learn how to overclock, but the onus will be on you to try and understand what your system likes and doesn't like. Every system is different, even if they have the same exact components, they may overclock differently. That is what most new overclockers do not understand. Therefore, difficult for us to just make it easy and just tell you that X settings will work for you. Here is how to post pictures.

 

[trents]

It is unlikely you will fry your CPU, at least if your overclocking process involves progressing in small increments and you measure load temps along the way. CPUs these days are very tough critters with thermal shutdown mechanisms built in. Actually, there is more of a chance that the motherboard will be damaged before the CPU is. But if you proceed carefully and systematically neither should be an issue.

 

[BeK]

Ok I have the recommend programs downloaded. (Prime 95 & HWMonitor).

With my paticular MoBo, I have access to the BIOS through windows but I don't see how I would go about adjusting my CPU cores through the Windows accessable BIOS.

 

[RGone]

@ BeKure, we don't use software overclocking as already stated. Those of us offering help right now use Asus mobo's and not Gigabyte, so the overclocking software they have is not known to us.

I expect there would be more knowledge about Giga software overclock at the Giga forums since for sure we don't use software to overclock but some of them over there may do so.
RGone...

 

[BeK]

Sorry, I didnt realize that this forum was more so for Asus users. Ok, well thanks anyway and thank you to all who responded.

 

[trents]

BeKure,

The ET6 will only give you partial control over bios settings. For instance, it does not give you the ability to adjust RAM frequency, RAM timings or RAM voltage. It is pretty limited. You really need to commit to overclocking from the bios if you want us to help you. And no, this forum is not geared to Asus motherboard users. RGone was referring only to the ET6 software.

 

[Johan45]

You can get to your BIOS by restarting the computer, then hitting delete while you see the post message before windows starts.

 

[BeK]

BeKure,

The ET6 will only give you partial control over bios settings. For instance, it does not give you the ability to adjust RAM frequency, RAM timings or RAM voltage. It is pretty limited. You really need to commit to overclocking from the bios if you want us to help you. And no, this forum is not geared to Asus motherboard users. RGone was referring only to the ET6 software.

Thank you for the clarification. I would like to ask a couple of questions though before I continue to look into this matter further.

1. Is there a way to take screen shots from the BIOS as this would be far easier to point out problems that I may/will fall into along the way. A picture speak 1000 words and being about to post sceen shots of problems/questions that I will run into would be most helpful.

2. The main reason I want to OC is because I am a gamer and I was hoping to get more out of my gaming experience. There is a certain MMORPG that I play and I average 9-25 FPS when I play this game. When there are multiple players on the screen at once it's usually about 7-9 fps.
I have a few friends who have intel CPU's (i5's & i7's) and they average 30-80 FPS when they play this very same game. I could only imagine what that must be like, so the main reason I want to OC is to improve my gaming experience. I'm hoping that it would be worth it to OC my AMD CPU oppose to just going out and getting a new MoBo along with a Intel CPU.
My question is, do you think that OC'ing this CPU would make any noticable difference? (Even just a 15-20 FPS boost would be worth it to me). This OC'ing thing is confusing enough to me as it is and since you guys have all this experience with OC'ing, I'd imaging that you would be able to tell me whether or not it is even worth the time.
Is it safe to assume that at least some of you are gamers or that you utilize software that is CPU intensive?
Again, thanks for the responses.

 

[Tech Tweaker]

Sorry, I didnt realize that this forum was more so for Asus users. Ok, well thanks anyway and thank you to all who responded.

I think you're getting an erroneous impression there. Really this forum has users for ALL motherboard brands. We use, talk about, and overclock with a lot of different brands here.

I personally use Abit, Asus, DFI, and Gigabyte boards. My main PC is currently a Gigabyte (GA-G33M-DS2R) Intel LGA775.

Anyway, I'd agree that it's more recommended that you do your overclocking through the bios. It's easier to overclock that way, and generally overclocking through the bios is more reliable than through software in the OS (software tends to vary a bit more and be unpredictable in what it will do with overclocking). Software overclocking has a tendency to do things like apply more voltage than necessary, or give a lower or higher Front Side Bus (FSB) setting than you intend to use.

Hit Delete when you're booting up, and go into the MB Intelligent Tweaker (M.I.T.) section of your bios to input your settings. You might need to hit Ctrl+F1 to unlock some overclock settings though, before you enter the MIT.

 

[Johan45]

Thank you for the clarification. I would like to ask a couple of questions though before I continue to look into this matter further.

1. Is there a way to take screen shots from the BIOS as this would be far easier to point out problems that I may/will fall into along the way. A picture speak 1000 words and being about to post sceen shots of problems/questions that I will run into would be most helpful.

Most new boards have that ability you'll need a flash drive formatted to FAT32 and with ASUS you press F12 but you'll have to find what does it with your board, it'll probably tell you in the BIOS which to use

2. The main reason I want to OC is because I am a gamer and I was hoping to get more out of my gaming experience. There is a certain MMORPG that I play and I average 9-25 FPS when I play this game. When there are multiple players on the screen at once it's usually about 7-9 fps.
I have a few friends who have intel CPU's (i5's & i7's) and they average 30-80 FPS when they play this very same game. I could only imagine what that must be like, so the main reason I want to OC is to improve my gaming experience. I'm hoping that it would be worth it to OC my AMD CPU oppose to just going out and getting a new MoBo along with a Intel CPU.
My question is, do you think that OC'ing this CPU would make any noticable difference? (Even just a 15-20 FPS boost would be worth it to me). This OC'ing thing is confusing enough to me as it is and since you guys have all this experience with OC'ing, I'd imaging that you would be able to tell me whether or not it is even worth the time.
Is it safe to assume that at least some of you are gamers or that you utilize software that is CPU intensive?
Again, thanks for the responses.
If the game is CPU bound which it sounds as if a lot of the MMORPGs are OCing will benefit you . How much is hard for me to say since I haven't played any of them. But it's worth trying, also if the game is not multithreaded you may be able to disable a couple of cores and clock a bit higher just for that game

 

[BeK]

Just to be sure, are these the 3 things (circled in red) that I am supposed to modify? I just want to be sure before I go around changing something that make cause issues later on.
Also does anyone know what Turbo CPB does?

 

[chrisjames61]

Sorry, I didnt realize that this forum was more so for Asus users. Ok, well thanks anyway and thank you to all who responded.

Even if you have a Gigabyte board you should use the BIOS to overclock.

 

[chrisjames61]

Just to be sure, are these the 3 things (circled in red) that I am supposed to modify? I just want to be sure before I go around changing something that make cause issues later on.
Also does anyone know what Turbo CPB does?

What you have to do is take Dolk's guide and apply what you read to those settings you see in your bios. FSB settings, CPU multiplier ratio, etc.... How everything affects each other. The easiest thing to do is slowly upping your cpu multiplier. The 1100T is unlocked so you are golden here. Then stress test for checking stability. Then if you get to a clockspeed where you are unstable there are things you can do voltage wise to get your overclock stable. While doing this you have to be aware of your temperatures. I am only a novice. The core group of guys here know a crap ton about overclocking. Plus they are entertaining! Rule #1 is overclock in your BIOS. You will quickly become familiar with all the settings. Knowing about all your BIOS settings is very good to know even if you don't overclock.

 

[ShrimpBrime]

Just to be sure, are these the 3 things (circled in red) that I am supposed to modify? I just want to be sure before I go around changing something that make cause issues later on.
Also does anyone know what Turbo CPB does?

Yes you want to change these settings to manual and dial in the settings yourself.

Typically when overclocking Turbo core is turned off.

You also need to turn off all your power saving features while in the bios as well. Cool and Quiet and C6 and such you want off.

 

[trents]

Disable Core Performance Boost. CPB Ratio will then disappear. Disable Cool N Quiet and C1E which may be in a different tab like "Advanced".

Take CPU Clock Ratio off off Auto and set it to the stock 16.5x.

Take CPU North Bridge Ratio off of Auto and set it to 9x for now.

Take CPU Host Clock Control off of Auto and set it to the stock 200 mhz for now.

Take Memory Clock off of Auto and set it to 1333 mhz to make some headroom for overclocking. The RAM speed will increase as you increase the CPU Host Control rises, as will the CPU Northbridge and the HT Link frequencies.

Take the HT Link Frequency off of Auto and set it to 9x for now.

After making these changes boot back into Windows. If you have not done so, download and install CPU-z and attach pics of these three tabs: "CPU", "Memory" and "SPD".

After that, we'll go from there. Make sure you have downloaded and installed these other two programs as well: HWMonitor (non pro version) and Prime95.

 

[BeK]

View attachment 140936

Disable Core Performance Boost. CPB Ratio will then disappear. Disable Cool N Quiet and C1E which may be in a different tab like "Advanced".

Take CPU Clock Ratio off off Auto and set it to the stock 16.5x.

Take CPU North Bridge Ratio off of Auto and set it to 9x for now.

Take CPU Host Clock Control off of Auto and set it to the stock 200 mhz for now.

Take Memory Clock off of Auto and set it to 1333 mhz to make some headroom for overclocking. The RAM speed will increase as you increase the CPU Host Control rises, as will the CPU Northbridge and the HT Link frequencies.

Take the HT Link Frequency off of Auto and set it to 9x for now.

After making these changes boot back into Windows. If you have not done so, download and install CPU-z and attach pics of these three tabs: "CPU", "Memory" and "SPD".

After that, we'll go from there. Make sure you have downloaded and installed these other two programs as well: HWMonitor (non pro version) and Prime95.

Wow. I really do appreciate all this. I don't think I would have figured all this out on my own. Here are the screens you asked for. Is the SPD tab supposed to be blank like that?

 

[trents]

CPU-z "SPD" tab pic has blank values because there is no memory module in Slot#1. Please select Slot #2 any of the populated slots in the drop down box and replace that pic, please.