OC Advice on 960T BE

[Xaxinian]

Well I decided to start from scratch on my OC. Just doing one thing at a time. So I would like to post what I have got it at stable and see if any of you tweakers out there have some fine tune advice for me.

AMD 960t BE 6 Unlocked
Gigabyte 970a-UD3 Mobo
Gskill Ripjaw DDR3-1600 4gbx2 9-9-9-24 stock
Coolermaster Hyper 212 plus PSU
Raidmax RS 530SS heatsink
Radeon XFX 6770 GPU

CPU: x20 4000MHz
CPU NB: x14 2800MHz
Core Performance Boost: Disabled
CPU Host Clock Control: Manual
CPU Frequency: 200
HT Link Frequecy: 2400MHz
Memory Clock: 8.0 1600 mhz 9-9-9-24

Voltages
CPU NB vid control 1.3v
Cpu voltage control 1.425

Again its stable at 4Ghz and passing OCCT. but I want to open up the other 2 cores (Which I know to be good) and possibly fiddle with memory timings. But any suggestions or critique would be appreciated.

 

[RGone]

Procedure for testing.

The 960T BE is what is called a Zosma core cpu. Sold as 4 cores with 6MB shared cache. Voltage range from 0.825 to 1.4V to the cpu and rated at 95Watt TDP. Stock Frequency range is 3.0Ghz with Turbo Boost to 3.4Ghz.

While it is true that the 2 locked cores may in fact unlock, that does n0t mean both are truly any good and stable. You have now got the stock good cores stable to 4.0Ghz but you never were able to do so with the other two locked cores being unlocked. Those two cores maybe locked for good reason in that they are weak to the point of not being very stable nor able to keep up with the speed of the other four cores.

I would know in my mind that when the two locked cores are unlocked that the sensor for core temps will nO longer work, so I must then use the cpu socket temp to try and reference core temps. Generally speaking the cpu temps is showing a temp that is approximately 6 to 10 degrees higher in its' temp reading than the Cpu Core Temp reading. This means a Cpu Socket Temp of 60c should mean the Core Temp of the Cpu is approximately 50c to 54c and we have generally begun to see some instability as possible when Core Temps reach 55c and beyond. Not always but many users have.

The 960T BE is sold with 3.0Ghz as rated speed and that means its' default multiplier is 15 and 15 x 200 is 3.0Ghz. I would set the multiplier manually to 15. Set the Vcore to 1.40V to 1.425V and ram to its' rated speed and timings and voltages manually. Then go in an enable the two locked cores and then run Prime95 with HWMonitor running on the desktop with those manual settings for at least an hour. This should determine the value or viability of the two cores when overvolted but running at stock speed to see if they can be of any use at all. It is possible that the last core will fail since the last core in the 960T BE's has been failing and not good a number of times here lately.

If the 6 cores at 3.0 Ghz passes for at least and hour of Prime95 then up the multiplier to 16 and test with Prime95 for another hour with HWMonitor open and recording min/max temps and voltages in the background for capture and post to the forum. If the 16 multiplier passses up it to the 17 multiplier and test again for an hour. If it does not fail then up the multiplier to 18 and do the one hour test.

When it fails, back the multiplier back down to the LAST one passed and run Prime95 for at least 20 mins and Screen Capture the HWMonitor showing min/max voltages and temps. Capture HWMonitor for posting by attachment to the forum and INCLUDE a capture of CPUz "CPU TAB", CPUz "Memory Tab" and CPUz "SPD Tab".

That is the best all-around procedure to use when trying to test for overclock when you want somebody else to suggest changes as the speed increases.

PS: I went back and looked again at your post and you have elevated HT and CPU NB frequency, but I would return them to stock for testing to see if the two locked cores are worth anything. It is however okay to set the CPUNB voltage to 1.25V as that can help add stability when trying to run ram at DDR1600.

 

[Xaxinian]

Rgone you reminded me of another question I have. If I have the vcore voltage set to 1.425, I notice when I stress test it the voltages sometimes go as high as 1.55. Is this a normal flux? I have all turbo, cool and quiet etc functions turned off.

Also with 6 cores unlocked the temp seems to go up to 57c, is this because it cant accurately ready my temps with 6 unlocked?

 

[RGone]

Voltage rising could be because you do not have LLC for CPU enabled.

I would know in my mind that when the two locked cores are unlocked that the sensor for core temps will nO longer work,

Plus more cores equal more temps especially trying to overclock.

 

[keny]

I made a really quick vid a while back of how to unlock these chips and a super easy and fast way to overclock them, i just uploaded it to youtube earlier HERE is the link, have a look its a doddle to do

 

[Xaxinian]

So then, would you recommend systematically reducing my vcore voltage until I cannot pass stress tests or it crashes? To find how little heat I can get away with. Also Did anyone see anything with my settings that they didnt like or where it could use improvement?

AMD 960t BE 6 Unlocked
Gigabyte 970a-UD3 Mobo
Gskill Ripjaw DDR3-1600 4gbx2 9-9-9-24 stock
Coolermaster Hyper 212 plus PSU
Raidmax RS 530SS heatsink
Radeon XFX 6770 GPU

CPU: x20 4000MHz
CPU NB: x14 2800MHz
Core Performance Boost: Disabled
CPU Host Clock Control: Manual
CPU Frequency: 200
HT Link Frequecy: 2400MHz
Memory Clock: 8.0 1600 mhz 9-9-9-24
Voltages
CPU NB vid control 1.3v
Cpu voltage control 1.425

 

[tcclaviger]

I see one GLARING hole in that:

CPU Frequency: 200

Basically, your using multipliers to increase the speeds of everything, which is fine, however you are leaving a lot of performance on the table by doing so.

I suggest finding the max CPU freq that is stable and adjusting your CPU/RAM/CPUNB speed multipliers back to where you currently are, just with a higher base frequency.

For example:
4000mhz can be 20x200mhz or 16x250 or 15x266. All hit on or around 4GHZ, however, after adjusting all speed to be close to the 4ghzCPU/2800CPUNB/1600RAM the higher base clock settings will outperform the higher multiplier setting, both in pure bandwidth and latencies.

STEP 1:
Find the highest Base clock speed your motherboard can handle by reducing the other multipliers to stay at/near stock speeds.
STEP 2:
Find highest CPU speed using 200 base clock and raising mutliplier.
STEP 3:
Find highest stable RAM speed
STEP 4:
Find the balance of highest stable base clock with the multiplier that gets you to or just under the Step 2 speed. Also watch your RAM and NB speeds to stay at/near your known stable max speeds.

This technique has worked since the AMD K7 days, without fail, and has always put me at or ahead of the benchmarks at similar speeds I see on the internet from other people/review sites that only adjust multipliers and voltages.

My individual maxes for example, using an ASUS M4A88T-V EVO/USB3 are:

CPU Freq: 267
Core Speed: 4400
CPU NB: 3100
HT: 2750 (ish lol)
RAM: 1450ish

but when I put that all together I end up with the following as maxes, and it is WAY faster than running just the CPU or CPU+CPU/NB at their max:
CPU Freq: 261
Core Speed: 4306
CPU NB: 2800ish
HT: 2600ish
RAM: 1420ish

 

[scarface580]

Guys pls help me. I have 960t on my msi 990-xa gd55. I managed to get 3.6ghz stable.
I only set multiplier on 17 and vcore to 1.363. What can i change too to make it work faster, i mean DRAM,NB,CPU-NB etc ... ??? I have stock cooler and ram running at 1333mhz ...

 

[RGone]

There it all is on how to overclock that cpu you have. Learn some names and then the overclock procedure is laid out for you.

Overclock Phenom 2, Phenom 2 Thuban etc.

It is always suggested in general that you start your own thread instead of waking old ones from the dead. Just about everything written above is applicable, especially post #7, to overclocking your cpu so all you had to do was read the thread and start the overclock process.
RGone...

 

[Johan45]

to OCF scarface 580
First you should start your own thread. You'll get more help that way. When you do put up a proper sig like you see at the bottom of my post. You can find it through quicklinks at the top of the page click on edit signature.
Then download HWmonitor(non pro). CPUz and prime 95. Post snips of CPUz main tab.spd tab and memory tab. Run prime 95 with HWmonitor open and take a snip of HW while stressed so we can see your temps and voltages.

 

[Johan45]

Man I type way to slow RGone or you're way to fast.