OC Stability for 960T

[dani-salv-dsc]

Well, this is my first post in this forum so, I'll be as much as clear as I can.
I have a 960T and a Noctua NH12 SE2 cooler, my room temps are between 25-30 ºC now (it's summer and I want to overclock this processor to reach 4.0ghz, I've read a lot abour possibles configurations but I'm not sure what's the correct and what won't hurt my CPU, now this is my configuration:
MOBO: AsRock870 Extreme 3 R 2.0
CPU 960T @ 3.6 GHZ vCore=1.288V
NB 2400Mhz CPUNBv=1.3V
HT 2000Mhz
RAM 8GB Corsair DDR3 1333Mhz, rated at 1600Mhz

Those are idle temps but if I pu it to 4.0 Ghz and run Battlefield after 1 hour I often get a BSOD. I'd like to know what are the correct NB freqs and if I should raise them up a bit.

I expect your comments. Thanksss

 

[keny]

It looks like youre vcore is too low for the clocks you want, dissable coolnquiet and c1e in youre bios and raise youre vcore to 1.4v and stress test it with prime95 making sure youre core temps dont exceed 55c during the test, then once you have passed the stress test at 3.6 you can up the multiplier to 3.8 and stress test again, keep doing this until the test fails or throws up a error then you will need to add more vcore to keep it stable.The prime95 test needs to be run for about 20 mins before advancing to the next step, some people may say more but prime normaly throws up a error within the first 20 mins if its going to cause you any stability problems. you are fine leaving youre NB where it is for now and focus on reaching youre max cpu speed before messing with anything else.You are ok up to 1.5v vcore if youre cooler can handle the heat, hope this helps get you on yore way

Also, could you add youre mobo to the details in youre first post ? as it helps people know what hardware you are running, this can be put in youre sig later once you have enough posts to create one.

 

[dani-salv-dsc]

You mean, raise the voltage up to 1.4V even if it's at 3.6Ghz. Isn't too much for this frequency?

 

[keny]

You will need to raise it past there anyway, so may as well start somewhere, otherwise you will need to adjust it all the time, and looking at you're vcore now I would say that you have not stressed it with prime95 as it would probably fail at that low vcore, also if you are on auto vcore with coolnquiet enabled you will notice that it will more than likely got to about 1.45v when under load anyway.

 

[dani-salv-dsc]

I run Prime95 for 17 minutes like you said and I'm afraid of these temps, i think it's not normal, I'll try to invert the cooler cause I think there is no space to evacuate the air, but I think at 3.6 Ghz with 1.42vCore reach 55ºC isn't good.
Any ideas if there is any voltage there which is causing elevated temps?
You also said C1E, I don't know what's this but I have cool'n quiet disabled.

 

[dani-salv-dsc]

Also, in HWMonitor is necessary to add +10ºc to these temps ?

 

[keny]

Vcore is the main culprit for heat, you can try lowering the vcore down to say 1.38 and see if it passes prime but you're cooler should be able to handle 1.4v without breaking a sweat, have you got a good mount on the CPU with the cooler?

 

[keny]

Also, in HWMonitor is necessary to add +10ºc to these temps ?

No! That's only if you have unlocked the cores to 6 and in turn lose the ability to monitor core temps, so you use the skt temp -10c (roughly)

 

[bigben6]

my 955 does 3.7ghz on stock voltages and multiplier alone.... and while it wont pass p95 @ 3.8 it handles most tasks fine at that speed....

 

[dani-salv-dsc]

have you got a good mount on the CPU with the cooler?

What do you mean? I'm thinking it could be thermal paste buti thinks it's very improbable cause I changed it when I put the cooler.

 

[bigben6]

What do you mean? I'm thinking it could be thermal paste buti thinks it's very improbable cause I changed it when I put the cooler.

1: Put your entire rig in your signature
2: Leave voltages alone and just bump multi until you crash, once you have hit that then start paying with voltages
3: Follow the link in MY sig concerning overheating if voltages give you heat problems

 

[dani-salv-dsc]

Do you think raising NB up to 2600Mhz with 1.3v could help with stability?
Should I overclock my BE leaving mult at x16 and playing around with FSB?

 

[bigben6]

Also read this in your free time: http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=596023

 

[Aberration]

I'm running 1.50V on the CPU core without issue... Been that way for a long while now. The motherboard, I fear, is keeping me from moving to and beyond the 4GHZ mark.

 

[keny]

Leave you're NB at stock clocks and voltages, as all the NB does is help with memory performance and seeing as though you're not overclocking you're memory yet, there is no need to mess with it yet. As for using the fsb, there is no need to use it as you have a BE with unlocked multiplier, you use the fsb to scrape the last few MHz out of it after you're multiplier won't boot any higher, but if you want 4ghz you are going to in the region of 1.4v at least so if you can't tame the heat of that vcore then I would lower you're expectations, I would also check you're cooler mount as that cooler should handle 1.4v no problem. When you mounted the cooler did you only use a small blob of paste, as less is more when it comes to thermal paste, you don't want too much on the CPU, just enough to cover it with a thin film when the cooler is applied, also try taking the side of you're case as you may have poor case ventilation leading to a build up of heat inside the case making it hard for the cooler to do its job, just a few ideas to try.

OMG I've just read its 30c in you're house. That is probably the culprit of you're high heat.maybe now is not the best time of the year to go for a max overclock lol

 

[dani-salv-dsc]

Leave you're NB at stock clocks and voltages, as all the NB does is help with memory performance and seeing as though you're not overclocking you're memory yet, there is no need to mess with it yet. As for using the fsb, there is no need to use it as you have a BE with unlocked multiplier, you use the fsb to scrape the last few MHz out of it after you're multiplier won't boot any higher, but if you want 4ghz you are going to in the region of 1.4v at least so if you can't tame the heat of that vcore then I would lower you're expectations, I would also check you're cooler mount as that cooler should handle 1.4v no problem. When you mounted the cooler did you only use a small blob of paste, as less is more when it comes to thermal paste, you don't want too much on the CPU, just enough to cover it with a thin film when the cooler is applied, also try taking the side of you're case as you may have poor case ventilation leading to a build up of heat inside the case making it hard for the cooler to do its job, just a few ideas to try.

OMG I've just read its 30c in you're house. That is probably the culprit of you're high heat.maybe now is not the best time of the year to go for a max overclock lol

No, 30ºC at home was only last two days, now it's 22-25ºC (normal). I run again prime 95 for an hour and the core temps didn't raise more than 48ºC, i think it's better but a little bit high for these clock. Also, I'll check and remove the current thermal compund and put less.
Another question, i've notice the BIOS shows me a "CPU TEMP" of 46ºC when booting, but in HWMonitor with full load, shows 48ºC. What do you think?

 

[Mandrake4565]

You may want to drop the nb volts to 1.25 - 1.3 may be a little high for only 2400. See if that helps the temps a bit. Also what case do you have?

 

[dani-salv-dsc]

You may want to drop the nb volts to 1.25 - 1.3 may be a little high for only 2400. See if that helps the temps a bit.

Ok understood, I'll try with some voltage between 1.25 and 1.3V, now it's at 1.3, I'll post later. Thanks and now passing prime at 3.8 Ghz

 

[trents]

I would even drop it to 1.225. My 960T exhibited instability with the CPUNB at anything higher than 1.225 with a CPUNB frequency of 2600. Maybe that's atypical, though.

 

[keny]

No, 30ºC at home was only last two days, now it's 22-25ºC (normal). I run again prime 95 for an hour and the core temps didn't raise more than 48ºC, i think it's better but a little bit high for these clock. Also, I'll check and remove the current thermal compund and put less.
Another question, i've notice the BIOS shows me a "CPU TEMP" of 46ºC when booting, but in HWMonitor with full load, shows 48ºC. What do you think?

The cpu temp in your'e bios is the socket temp which is "roughly" 10c higher than core temp, and the core temp you are reading in HWMonitor is the actual core temp so it looks fine to me so your'e core temp in HWMonitor should be IRO 60c when under load, also you could run your'e NB at stock 2000 on auto voltage for now and it wont affect your'e overclock but may reduce you're temps a little