Dolk's Guide to the Phenom II

[Dolk]

To answer this I'll go a bit more into detail, more so because I'm bored and want to make sure that my knowledge is still there.

The basic understanding of the CPU on the silicon level is that there are multiple planes of VDD across the entire chip. It is sectioned off into specific areas though, CPU, CPU-NB, HTT, etc. Yet they all come from the same source. That means they also share the same current source. Thus when you increase the power in one area, it draws power form the other areas. This can be a double edge sword. In the most basic terms this means that areas can benefit from other areas.

The most noticeable case is the CPU and CPU-NB VDD share. What that means is that you can raise one to help lower the other.

Now in terms of speed or raw MHz, the CPU-NB does not have to be the same speed as the HTT for Deneb CPUs. In 3/4th cases the CPU-NB and the HTT need to be the same speed with Thubans.

There is no exact ratio between the CPU and CPU-NB in terms of speed. It is best to keep it around 2200 - 2400 MHz for easy OCs. You can go higher, but you may see a degrade in performance, like I have mentioned above.

 

[cmkmstephens]

Hello, oh mighty font of Phenom OC wisdom.

Currently trying to squeeze a wee bit extra out of my processor, a 955 BE with a 212 Evo Cooler Master on it - unfortunately it's a C2 stepping. I thought I had it stable at 3.7ghz, 1.5v (temps of 52/58 CPU/Core - on the edge), but apparently not. It did not like dropping the voltage to 1.475 at all, and I'm wondering if I'm missing something by not touching other values.

Dropping it down to 3.6 @ 1.475v is far better for temperature (45/50 CPU/Core) and so far seems stable, but I'd love to get 3.7 or 3.8 (3.6 is better than nothing of course).

As it stands, I've changed the following values:

CPU Multiplier 18x
CPU-VID 1.475v
CPU-NB multiplier 12x (2400)
NB-VID 1.25v
NB 1.3v

All other values unchanged.

I haven't touched the RAM (Corsair CM3X2G1600C9DHX, 9-9-9-24 1600, rated to 1.8v). The mobo has it defaulted at 1.5v, 1333, but I really wouldn't know what I'm doing here.

 

[tikithorsen]

Hi all,
I read the guide but I was left with some doubts;
My CPU is @ 3.8GHz 1.400V. What I'm wondering is what speed should my CPU-NB and HT Link should be at for that CPU speed, they are currently both at 2000Mhz. ¿Should I increase the CPU-NB to 2400Mhz even though my RAM is @ 1333MHz?
Thanks in advance.

 

[manu2b]

CPU-NB to 2400MHz and HT link@2000MHz.

You might need a little bump in CPU-NB voltage (1.2/1.25v)

 

[tikithorsen]

CPU-NB to 2400MHz and HT link@2000MHz.

You might need a little bump in CPU-NB voltage (1.2/1.25v)

Alright, thank you, I'll try that right now and post how it goes.

Edit: Setted the CPU-NB to 2400MHz and the voltage to 1.25v, been gaming for an hour and no crash so far. If this is stable I'll try trial and error lowering the CPU-NB voltage.

Edit: 1.25v (1.2500v) is the lowest I can set it too. Thanks again.

 

[Wolfsnack]

I read through this guide and tried my hand at overclocking (1100t + H80). Right now , I have it set to 200 x 20 (4000 MHz @ 1.64v) , 2600 MHz NB/CPU Frequency (1.36v) , 1600 MHz HT Link ; RAM (DDR3) is at 1600 MHz , 9-9-9-24 , 2t , 1.7v . The weird thing is , I'm using two sticks of 4GB RAM on an Asus m5a97 EVO motherboard but whenever I try to overclock , only one stick of RAM shoes up in CPU-Z and only 4GB shoes up in task manager . I know that this board is finicky with RAM (Both sticks can boot by themselves, when both sticks are in the board, it will only boot when one of the sticks is in the first slot; when the other stick is in the first slot , it wont boot). I'm not sure if it's an overclock that's causing this , my motherboard , or faulty RAM .

 

[Gereti]

Im littlebit worryed about my prosessor's voltages :/
i putted 1.55v that,to i took 4Ghz x6 to stable,and i raised the next woltage (NB?) i think i raised it to 1.25V
now it's stable,and cpu is in idle 35*C warm with Scythe Mugen 3

Here's one pic of my cpu-z:



I just want to know,is it safe to keep voltages on 1.55V ?
E:My motherboard is Asrock Extreme 4 970

 

[RGone]

CPUz shoiws 1.616 Vcore and that is more than I want on thuban on air.

 

[manu2b]

^I believe the max vCore on air/water is 1.5v for a Thuban.

 

[Gereti]

well,i'am interested,i putted 1.55V voltage on cpu in bios,but cpu-z show 1.616...
i'am interested...

 

[manu2b]

That's the Load Line Calibration.
Set it to level 2 in the Bios. I believe it's 1 to 5, 5 being the highest overvoltage (same as Extreme on Asus Boards) and 1 Disabled.

 

[Arcanegrinarc]

Hello Please help me i need to overclock mine PC my details configuration are in configuration

 

[RGone]

Hello Please help me i need to overclock mine PC my details configuration are in configuration

Double posting the same question is not polite in a forum. Others are already answering your first thread.

You are in too big a hurry and we are not paid to do this helping. It is on a free work basis.

 

[Arcanegrinarc]

Double posting the same question is not polite in a forum. Others are already answering your first thread.

You are in too big a hurry and we are not paid to do this helping. It is on a free work basis.

Sorry Sir wont happen next time

 

[Propama]

Excellent guide - thank you!

 

[SuperNewB]

Total Newbie

Hi guys,

Just read this topic and found this to be the most informative online. I have personally built my PC from scratch and I just wanted to get it stable at 4.0GHz.

Umm.. My PC specs are:

AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition Thuban 3.3GHz (Overclocked to 4.01GHz)
XFX FX-785A-CNFC Radeon HD 7850 Core Edition 2GB 256-bit
MSI 880G-E45 AM3 AMD 880G
CORSAIR XMS3 16GB DDR3 1333
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
700W Power Supply Unit

I also attached some tests that I ran. I can't get this stable for some reason. I checked everything that a newbie can, but can't figure out what is wrong. I can run some programs, but only for a few minutes until BSOD comes up. I use this rig for gaming, and some games will run and some others will just crash into BSOD. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm not in a rush, just need to know what I'm doing wrong and if you guys can educate me a little! Thnx guys!!

 

[Paramite Pie]

Hi, I'm new to overclocking but this looks like an ideal guide. I have a Phenom II x4 965 BE which I'd like to clock up to 4.0 ghz if it's possible with my system, as well as adjusting my RAM if it's more efficient to do so. Is it worth using AMD overdrive to adjust these settings? It seems comprehensive and I imagine it would be more convenient than the BIOS for making multiple gradual tweaks if it works properly.

Could someone also explain the Excel spreadsheet in the OP a bit more? I'm confused about what the "score" represents.

Specs are below.

 

[tikithorsen]

Hi guys,

Just read this topic and found this to be the most informative online. I have personally built my PC from scratch and I just wanted to get it stable at 4.0GHz.

Umm.. My PC specs are:

AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition Thuban 3.3GHz (Overclocked to 4.01GHz)
XFX FX-785A-CNFC Radeon HD 7850 Core Edition 2GB 256-bit
MSI 880G-E45 AM3 AMD 880G
CORSAIR XMS3 16GB DDR3 1333
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
700W Power Supply Unit

I also attached some tests that I ran. I can't get this stable for some reason. I checked everything that a newbie can, but can't figure out what is wrong. I can run some programs, but only for a few minutes until BSOD comes up. I use this rig for gaming, and some games will run and some others will just crash into BSOD. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm not in a rush, just need to know what I'm doing wrong and if you guys can educate me a little! Thnx guys!!

My humble suggestion would be to OC the CPU-NB to around 2.6/2.8MHz to stabilize the OC. I'm not sure but the voltage should be around 1.250v for the CPU-NB. It wouldn't hurt to set your ram to 1600MHz aswell.

 

[tikithorsen]

Hi, I'm new to overclocking but this looks like an ideal guide. I have a Phenom II x4 965 BE which I'd like to clock up to 4.0 ghz if it's possible with my system, as well as adjusting my RAM if it's more efficient to do so. Is it worth using AMD overdrive to adjust these settings? It seems comprehensive and I imagine it would be more convenient than the BIOS for making multiple gradual tweaks if it works properly.

Could someone also explain the Excel spreadsheet in the OP a bit more? I'm confused about what the "score" represents.

Specs are below.

Most the folks here (including me) are going to nag you and tell you off for using AMD Overdrive, with good reason.
Is highly recommendable to use directly the BIOS for proper overclocking.

You can try this settings as a starting point, though I can't guarantee you they will work perfectly:

CPU: 3.8GHz 1.350v/1.375v
CPU-NB: 2400MHz 1.200v/1.225v
HT Link: 2000Mhz (Default)
RAM: 1600MHz 9-9-9-24-1T (the voltage should be 1.5v or whatever your ram is meant to run at)

Then run Prime95 on blend atleast 1 hour, the more the better though.

 

[SuperNewB]

My humble suggestion would be to OC the CPU-NB to around 2.6/2.8MHz to stabilize the OC. I'm not sure but the voltage should be around 1.250v for the CPU-NB. It wouldn't hurt to set your ram to 1600MHz aswell.

Most the folks here (including me) are going to nag you and tell you off for using AMD Overdrive, with good reason.
Is highly recommendable to use directly the BIOS for proper overclocking.

You can try this settings as a starting point, though I can't guarantee you they will work perfectly:

CPU: 3.8GHz 1.350v/1.375v
CPU-NB: 2400MHz 1.200v/1.225v
HT Link: 2000Mhz (Default)
RAM: 1600MHz 9-9-9-24-1T (the voltage should be 1.5v or whatever your ram is meant to run at)

Then run Prime95 on blend atleast 1 hour, the more the better though.

Hmmm... Ok, thanks guys I will try this right now since I'm home still still messing around with it. I really appreciate how helpful everyone is to a newbie like me I'll keep you guys updated on what happens and how my rig is holding up!!