Overclocking and Stability (955 Black Edition).

[Whitefang]

I recently installed my Hyper212+ and it works great. Overclocked at 4 GHz, Prime95 runs much below the rated temperature. Unfortunately, after about 15 minutes of Prime95, all my programs ****ed up (which I assume is due to instability).

I moved the clock down to 3.8GHz and it survived Prime95 for about 45 minutes at about 51C. Here's where I'm confused, though. Prime95 at 4 GHz maxed out at 47C (and average 46C). Is this because it was unstable and didn't run at the full 4 GHz or something? Was it reporting incorrect temperatures?

Also, is there a way to make the processor more stable? I have about 10C~ of room to the temperature cap, according to AMD. Could I up the voltage a bit and have it run more stably?

Thanks for your time .

 

[trents]

Please download and install CPU-z. When that is done, please run the program and capture screenshots of these three four tabs in the interface program: "CPU", "Memory" and "SPD" and "Motherboard" using your current settings. "Snipping Tool" in Windows Accessories is great for framing, capturing and saving desktop images. Then go to "Go Adanced" at the bottom of the new post window. When the Advanced post window appears, click on the little paperclip image at the top and you will see the file upload window pop up. The rest is obvious.

Many things can cause instability, not just high temps. The most most common problems are caused by HT Link or CPUNB or ram frequencies being to high or core voltage or CPUNB voltage being too low. CPU-z will tell us a lot about your system and your system settings.

 

[Whitefang]

Do you want me to do that while Prime95 is running the the background (at 4GHz, I assume)?

Also, as a side-note, it's always good to mount the heatsink properly. I just gained like 2C because I changed the screws and got all four of them in instead of just three (don't worry - it was quite solid with just three in there). Anyway!

 

[trents]

No. Just leave the bios settings like they were the last time you failed Prime. I may ask you to do something with Prime running later but not now.

Are you overclocking manually from bios or with some overclocking "genie" or software?

 

[Whitefang]

I was using the 'auto OC' feature in my ASRock BIOS. I moved my settings from when I failed Prime, but I'll put them back to what they were. Pictures in a couple minutes.

 

[Whitefang]

Here you go. I assume by 'Motherboard', you mean the 'Mainboard' tab?

 

[trents]

Your CPU core voltage is too low. That's the main thing causing instability. To get that CPU to do 4.0 ghz and be truly stable (passing at least 2 hrs. of Prime95 blend) you will need around 1.5 volts I'm guessing.

Your HT Link frequency is too high. You want to keep that one at the stock 2000 mhz.

Your ram speed is much too low. Look at the JEDEC columns in CPU-z. They give you the manufacturer's recommended voltages and timings for your ram at various frequencies it is capable of. Your ram is rated for 1600 mhtz and you are only running it at 1000 mhz. Note: CPU gives the ram bus speed. To get the actually DDR3 transfer speed, double it. You should be running your ram at 1333 mhz anyway.

Finally and most importantly, why are you using the system bus to overclock? You have a black edition CPU with an unlocked multiplier.

All of the above has happened because you relied on the ASRock overclocking genie in bios to overclock for you instead of doing it manually from the actual individual tools.

 

[Whitefang]

Because I don't actually have a good idea of what I'm doing, and I figured it would be better to use the automatic tool than accidentally **** something up.

In retrospect, it would've been better to do some reading, eh?

So I changed a few things (after examining the options in the BIOS, I think I figured them out), HT Link now shows 2000MHz. Bus Speed is at 200 MHz - should I put it up to 250 MHz again? Core voltage is up at 1.5XV, where X is generally 4-5. DRAM Frequency is showing 800 MHz, with FSBRAM at 1:4. The five numbers under that are 9/9/9/25/20 and command rate is 2T.

 

[trents]

No, don't mess with the system bus at all. There's no reason to. All the components of the data pipeline (ram frequency, CPU speed, HT Link frequency and CPUNB frequency) can be manipulated independently without them becoming sources of instability. Focus on the main thing first: CPU speed. Increase it using only the CPU multiplier.

Go into bios:
1. Set the CPU frequency to 200
2. Set the CPU voltage to 1.4
3. Set the memory frequency to 666 or 1333 depending on whether it is expressed in bus speed or DDR3 transfer rate (I think its in bus speed. I used to own that same motherboard).
3. Leave the HT Link at 10x and the CPUNB (may be just "NB") at 10x as well.
4. bump the CPUNB voltage to 1.225.
5. bump the ram voltage to 1.55.
6. disable Cool N Quiet and C1E

Now, post back with pics of CPU-z tabs: "CPU" and "Memory" so I can check the settings.

 

[Whitefang]

CPU Frequency meaning the multiplier? It's at x20.0. I tried running Prime95 with these settings and within two minutes, two of the tests had failed.

 

[trents]

Looks good. Set you CPU multiplier back to 18x for the time being. Run 20 minute Prime95 tests with HWMonitor open on the desktop to monitor core temps. You want core temps to not exceed mid 50s C. Run the test at 18x, then 18.5x, then 19x, etc. for 20 minutes monitoring core temps every time. Repeat this until you fail the test (core workers drop out or computer restarts or blue screen). Then post some pics of CPU-z tab "CPU" along with HWMonitor. Bed time. I'll check it in the morning. Later on we'll make some tweaks to the CPUNB and run longer Prime tests to confirm stability of settings when we close in on the overclock limit. Most people have gotten 3.8-4.0 with this chip on good air cooling.

 

[Whitefang]

I'll work on it tomorrow, too . Late here.

Edit:

I'm a dirty liar. It works fine at 3.8 GHz (18.5x, I believe), ran for 30 minutes. Max temp 53C. 19x crashed before 20 minutes was up, max temp 51-52C.

Obligatory picture.

 

[Whitefang]

:3c

 

[trents]

Bump the vcore up some. It needs more to be stable at those overclocks. 1.416 is not enough and your core temps in low 50s give you just a wee bit of room for more vcore.