First Overclock - Unable to adjust settings

[bryceray]

Hello,

I have very little experience overclocking but understand the basic process. I am attempting to overclock my AMD Phenom X3 8550 Toliman 2.2GHz on my BIOSTAR MCP6P M2+ 6.X motherboard.

When I pull up BIOS and navigate to the CPU Settings I see the following options:
Virtualization: Enabled
AMD k8 Cool & Quiet Control: Enabled
CPU-NB FID: 1800MHz
CPU DID: CPU Freq/1
CPU FID x11 : 2200 MHz
AMD CPU Stepping

By default all the CPU* fields are disabled. I can enable them by disabling "Cool and Quiet".

The problem is, if I try to change CPU FID or CPU-NB FID they are by default set to the highest setting (1800/2200 respectively). They are option menus as opposed to textual inputs so I can't seem to increase these values.

Does this mean the CPU is not overclockable? Or am I missing something?

Thanks for the help.

 

[trents]

Your CPU has a locked multiplier meaning you can lower it but you cannot increase it. With a locked multiplier CPU the only way to overclock it is with what we call the FSB (front side bus). You probably won't find that term in your bios as it's an older term that AMD has abandoned but veteran overclockers still use it a lot. Look for a CPU-related frequency setting that is 200 mhz at stock. You may have to take some overclocking settings off of "Auto" to see hidden choices.