Overclocking Athlon X4 640

[Pepie]

Hi everyone, I'm a bit new here..
I tried to overclock my X4 640, but I got stuck at 3,645GHz.
It's running stable now, I already tried to find some answers here in the forums but I couldn't really find anything. I'm thinking my Core Voltage or smth is too low.
I hope some of you have the time and want to share your knowledge how to overclock it better.

System:
CPU: AMD Athlon X4 640 (3,0 GHz) overclocked to 3,645GHz
GPU: XFX HD6870 Dual Fan
RAM: 2x Kingston 4GB DDR3 1333 CL9
Windows 7 64-bit.

My cooling is good enough, it doesn't reach higher than 36 celsius under stress test. (Using Orthos for stressing CPU and RAM)

It runs stable now, when I set it even 1 MHz higher it mostly crashes after 10-20 minuts stress test.
I don't know why, I tried to find some solutions but I didn't yet. Hope you guys have the knowledge to help me.

Ofcourse I made some screens, of my current BIOS settings, HWmonitor, CPU-Z.
Thanks in advance,
Pepie.

 

[trents]

If you will look at the CPU vcore line in HWMonitor you will see that the vcore maxes out at 1.54v. Definitely plenty of vcore there. I certainly would not increase that.

I suspect your ram frequency has gotten too high as you have increased the FSB the ram frequency tuned to the FSB.

What we need you to do is to supply the two missing pics from CPU-z, pics of these two tabs: "Memory" and "SPD".

Also, what is the make and model of your motherboard, your PSU (wattage, make, model) and your CPU cooler. Your "parts" info is pretty incomplete.

I also suspect you are getting a heavy dose of LLC because when I look at the differential between min vcore and max vcore in HWMOnitor the spread is from 1.31 at idle to 1.54 under load. Do you still have Cool N Quiet enabled? If so, disable it.

 

[Pepie]

Okay, I'm sorry.
I didn't really knew which specs of my PC I had to post.

I added the missing screens of my SPD and Memory
My CPU cooler is: Scythe Mugen 3 PC Games Hardware Edition
Power supply: Cooltek Value series CVS 650W
Motherboard: Gigabite MA770T-UD3

Thanks.

 

[trents]

Look at the Memory Clock line in your bios pic. Your memory is currently running at 1619 mhz when it's only rated for 1333. You need to lower the starting point frequency of the ram to compensate for the fact that the ram frequency increases as you raise the FSB. CPU-z tab, "Memory" this as well. Set the Memory Clock to x5.33

 

[trents]

If you are using the identical memory modules in all the slots it's not necessary to provide more than one pic of the "SPD" tab. The SPD tab shows the memory manufacturer's recommendations for timings and voltages at various common frequencies. The "Memory" tab shows what are the current bios settings of the ram, i.e., how you have it actually configured.

 

[Pepie]

Okay, thanks for helping me already.
I've set my memory clock on x5.33 and made some new screens of my memory and SPD.

 

[trents]

Have you disabled Cool N Quiet and C1E in bios yet?

 

[Pepie]

Was searching for a minut but I found and disabled it now.

 

[trents]

Compare the memory timings you are currently using ("Memory" tab) with what Kingston is recommending for the approximate frequency level you are running at. You will see your timings are way too aggressive now, i.e., the numbers are too small. Smaller timing numbers mean quicker timings. Try just putting the Memory Clock in bios on "Auto" instead of manual and then post back with a new CPU-z "Memory" pic attached.

 

[Pepie]

Okay thanks, I set my Memory clock to auto.

 

[trents]

Pepie, disregard my instructions to put the Memory Clock on "Auto". That will just cause the memory to default to x6.66 when again when you need it at x5.33.

What you do need to do is to go into DRAM Configuration and manually set the timings to what you see in the CPU-z SPD tab under JEDEC #4. You will see many more timings than are displayed in CPU-z but only concern yourself with the ones that appear in CPU-z as the other ones don't matter much and can be left on Auto. Be aware that the terminology may differ somewhat between what CPU-z and your bios with regard to the timing labels. What helps is to look at the magnitude of the numbers. Some of the timings have small numbers like 2 or 8 and others have large numbers like 34 or 40. That may help you line things up. If in doubt, make a change in bios and then go back into Windows and look at the CPU-z Memory tab to see if the change you made shows up in the correct place.

 

[Pepie]

Okay thanks for helping trents
I"ll try to manually set my DRAM configuration to JEDEC #4.
Will maybe take some minuts if I have to restart windows several times, my HDD isn't so fast.

Thanks again.

 

[Pepie]

I guess I did it right.
EDIT:
I think Command Rate should be 1T?
And maybe change Cyle Time(tRAS) to 25
Bank Cycle Time(tRC) to 34

 

[trents]

Change your tRAS to 25, your tRC to 34 and your CR to 1T and then repost that pic.

 

[Pepie]

Got it.

 

[trents]

There you go! Good job!

Now, go to the CPU NB VID control and manually set the voltage to 1.225. This is the chief component of the IMC (integrated memory controller) from an overclocking standpoint. As you increase the CPU NB (or just "NB") frequency over the stock 2000 mhz then you need to support that with a little extra voltage to that component. Can you add a pic of the bios section that comes after (below) what you show in post #1?

Also, look for a bios control called LLC (Load Line Calibration). Do you have it anywhere?

 

[Pepie]

Okay, I'll set it to 1,225 volt.
Also I'll make a screen and see if I can find LLC in my BIOS.
Thanks

 

[Pepie]

Mhmm, I guess I need a bit help with those volt settings.
When I put it to manual, it doesn't show how much volt the CPU NB VID control is running on.
I can only add voltages, like +0,025 or something like that.
So I don't know how much I need to add to get it on 1,225
When I set System Voltage Control on auto, it says that volts might be raised to have a good overclock. So should I even edit it manually?
Maybe it's a bit of a dumb question.

Btw, I couldn't find LLC. I went through everything.

 

[trents]

add .050 to that CPUNB VID. It may be waiting for you to take action before it displays the new voltage. Then post back with a pic of the bios.

I guess you are stuck with an automatic LLC so we won't worry about that.

 

[Pepie]

You were right.
EDIT:
There is a red text in screen saying that the System Voltage is NOT optimized when you set it on manual.
Does it matter?