Maxed out?! Phenom II

[DRaZZ]

Hey guys, I have a Phenom II x2 555be running on Asus Crosshair 4 Formula.
I have it running at 4Ghz. 240x16.5 @ 1.475V
I cant seem to push past 4Ghz though, I have it water cooled and my idle temps are 32C at the moment due to the heat wave here in England!

I haven't messed around with any other settings, just overclocked by Voltage increase and ramping up the FSB. At these temps should I not be able to head up to 4.2, 4.3 ish without too much trouble?

I haven't messed with HT or anything as I don't fully understand that bit yet. Been a lazy overclocker the last 5 years or so lol.
Maybe my chip is maxed out, I cant complain as I have 2 free cores and 800Mhz increase from stock. I would like to hit 4.3Ghz if possible though.
Any ideas?

 

[Lvcoyote]

Idle temps are not what's imortant, the temps with the system under load is what you care most about. You may have hit the FSB limit, so it may be time to grasp how to use the HT to keep FSB stable.

 

[Johan45]

Have a read of Dolk's guide.
This will help you understand the different parts of your system a bit better. Also there are a few things we need to make it easier for us to help you.
Some CPU-z shots namely the main, spd and memory tabs. Also a shot of HWmonitor(free) with prime95 running in the back ground for 20 mins.
This will give us a very good idea of where your system stands ATM.

 

[RGone]

Makes answering about overclocking an AMD cpu easier.

CPU Tab in CPUz from CPUID com

Memory Tab in CPUz from CPUID com

SPD Tab in CPUz from CPUID com

And this is screen capture of HWMonitor (free version) from CPUID com
HWMonitor has been scrolled enough and large enough to show Min/Max of Voltages and includes the CPU Core Temps; which are n0w called Package Temps, fully visible.

This capture is made of HWMonitor after it has been open on the desktop logging Min/Max temps and voltages while Prime 95 was running Blend Mode test on all cores for at least 20 mins and then the capture of HWMonitor was made and it shows the Min/Max temps and voltages before P95 Blend was started and while running P95 Blend mode and gives much greater insight into how the system is performing without guessing.

In order to attach screenshots of INDIVIDUAL images as suggested, first crop and capture the images with Snipping Tool found in Windows Accessories or equivalent. Then click on Go Advanced, a button at the bottom of every new post window. Then click on the little paperclip tool at the top of the Advanced post window when it opens. Clicking on the paperclip tool brings up the file browser/upload tool and the rest is fairly obvious.

 

[DRaZZ]

Hey guys, my temps under load are around 50C. That's after an hour of prime and also after a good 6 hours gaming. I will upload some pics of CPU-Z. I know im pretty much maxed on the fsb and im fine with that, any higher and although my board can take it, its everything else that gets pushed up that causes problems but 240 is fine for me. I don't need the power, I haven't found a game I cant run at 1920x1080 at full settings, just wanted to see how high I can go with this cpu cuz they are fantastic value when used properly.

 

[DRaZZ]

Cpu-Z Pics

 

[DRaZZ]

Oh my memory is a bit slower now, bumped it down to 1600Mhz as I have added 2Gb more but not as good as my 8gb of Gskill, this is just a temp measure, wanted to see if another 2gb would increase anything...... it doesn't, the faster ram speed I assume would be more useful than an additional 2gb

 

[DRaZZ]

47C is the most it hit at full load on all 4 cores for about 20 mins. Its unusually hot here in England atm so these temps would usually be around 5-10C cooler. Im quite impressed with my temps from this rather cheap WC Kit. As for my mobo, I have a 120mm fan blowing directly on to the south bridge, its just a temp thing, if I don't have the fan, my north and south bridges would be 20C higher. I have removed the heatpipes and applied Arctic silver 5 to the bridges as id read how C4F's have **** cooling. With the fan temps stay ideal but eventually I will water cool them, its just 80quid is a lot for a water block, I can afford it, just cant justify it lol

 

[Johan45]

Like I said in post#3 read doklks guide. At these speeds you're going to need to raise the NB speed to keep it stable.

 

[Tech Tweaker]

I'd use CPUID Hardware Monitor for monitoring temperatures.

I've used Asus PC Probe in the past and found it to be really inaccurate a lot of the time.

 

[RGone]

I'd use CPUID Hardware Monitor for monitoring temperatures.

I've used Asus PC Probe in the past and found it to be really inaccurate a lot of the time.

I agree TT. I showed him in post #4 what we really wanted to see and we get everything but what was in Post #4 really. Have no real need to see GPUz since we are not worrying with the Vid card.
Bobert...

 

[DRaZZ]

I posted everything u asked to see, all the cpu-z info and the loaded cpu temp after 20 mins of prime. The reason I have no hardware monitor is because for some reason it wont recognize my mobo so I have to use pc probe. I don't understand how iv given u everything but what u asked for?! The only thing I haven't put that u did is temps via the software ur using, I put the temps using the software im forced to use.

 

[DRaZZ]

Temps, voltages etc.

 

[DRaZZ]

I have upped the voltage slightly, dropped the FSB back to stock and just increased ram speed and proc multi. Im going to see how far I can get with the processor just using the voltage and multiplier, im guessing the simplest way will show me the upper limit of this processor.

 

[keny]

Looks pretty good to me, the only things I can see are the CPU/NB freq could do with bumping up and for some reason it looks like you're putting a lot of voltage into the CPU/NB (possibly under load) 1.5v+...... I don't know if you have some sort of CPU/NB LLC active or if its just a poor reading. The easiest and fastest way to max your CPU is work out what voltage your cooling can take (probably around 1.5v looking at yours) then max your CPU multi (~20 usually) then after that walk the last few MHz up using the fsb/reference clock, adjusting other settings ram/HT/CPUnb to suit, literally a half hour job :thub: