Phenom II X2 vs x3 vs x4 and overclocking it

[ChRiZo]

I built a PC there yesterday, and I put an 550 black edition into it. Found out I can unlock the other two cores, and they run stable on 3.2ghz.

Firstly, do I really need a quad vs a dual? I don't game, the most common thing i'd be doing is playing music while surfing the internet. Is it really even worth keeping it in quad mode? The biggest thing i'd be doing is burning movies off.

Also, I am not familiar with AMD and overclocking, but when I was in dual core mode, on stock voltage I pushed it to 3.5ghz and it froze. I was wondering why it did this. Any input? I didn't touch the bus speed, just the multiplier.

my specs:
AMD Phenom II 550
AS Pro 64 cooler
2 gig gskill DDR3 PC10666 memory
650 watt antec psu
ga-ma770t-ud3p
evga 7600 gts (next upgrade)
500 gig sata hdd

 

[nzaneb]

Firstly, do I really need a quad vs a dual? I don't game, the most common thing i'd be doing is playing music while surfing the internet. Is it really even worth keeping it in quad mode? The biggest thing i'd be doing is burning movies off.

For the uses you listed you don't need a quad. I would set it back to dual, and overclock it higher. You'll like the increase in speed, more than the additional cores.

Also, I am not familiar with AMD and overclocking, but when I was in dual core mode, on stock voltage I pushed it to 3.5ghz and it froze. I was wondering why it did this. Any input? I didn't touch the bus speed, just the multiplier.

As you increase the speed of the CPU, you will need to increase the voltage supplied to it. You simply tried to run it faster than it could go with the voltage you are supplying it. Increase the vCore, and try again

 

[ChRiZo]

Gotta increase it already? Hmm.. thats a lot different then my old c2d, lol. I thought these chips could hit like 3.6-3.7ghz stable on stock voltage? I thought the problem woulda been something else. What is a safe voltage to run 24/7? My temps are excellent for the cooler i'm using.

 

[ChRiZo]

Hm. There is something wrong. In my bios, I can adjust my overclock to anything just fine, but when I go to windows, its like it won't let me past 3.5ghz. I would set it to 18x multi (3.6ghz) but it would only show 17.5 in windows. Even when I put it to 18.5. The weird thing is, is that it would freeze within a minute of loading windows, even with voltage increase.

 

[Dolk]

This is something I have been trying to figure out. The only problem is I am simulating it with a 940 BE and downcoring it. Does it work the same as say i would to use a 550 rather than a 2 cored 940? I think so, my results show a couple interesting things.

As far as the OCing of the Phenom IIs they follow rules that I have defined in my guide. That is they can increase up to 30-40% using Air cooling techniques, and up to 45% using WC, and much futher once in extreme cooling techniques. The Phenom IIs are very linear when it comes to the OC proccess.

 

[nzaneb]

Personally, my 720 BE would do 3.2 on stock voltage, 3.4 with a slight bump, and 3.7 took 1.5125V.

 

[ChRiZo]

i don't understand nb or ht at all in amd.. ive after reading up on it but i just don't get it.

i think i'll just have it at 3.5ghz on two cores 24.7 and not mess around with anything else.

 

[Marshmallow64]

Every chip is different. My 720 can only go 3.2 on stock, 3.5 took a big jump to 1.45, and 3.6 took 1.5 volts, and 3.7 took 1.55 to get it stable.

 

[Dolk]

Que the music:

So the NB can be referred to two things in an AMD system: Either the CPU-NB or the NB. The CPU-NB is the northbridge that is essentially the first block of the CPU. It will collect the information from in coming traffic, send it to the X-Bar, and then that information will be split up to the different cores of the CPU and processesed and spat out the way it came in. All of this information is done on the bus called the HT (Hyper Transport) or FSB (Front Side Bus). The NB is your standard Northbride that comminicates directly with the CPU to PCI-E buses. Normally the NB has no other job except to deal with the graphics end of the motherboard. The rest of tasks given to it usually are sent to the Southbridge.

EDIT: Got my terms mixed up

The HT is also known as the FSB. This is the link between the Cores of the CPU and the CPU-NB. The HTT is whats outside the CPU and connects the CPU to everything else: ie CPU-> NB -> SB.

BUT Everything is based off the refrence clock of the HTT. If you increase the HTT everything is effected.

Better?

 

[GrimX9]

Chrizo, you can get it up higher without raising the voltages. I got mine up to 3.9Ghz stable.

 

[Giz]

Chrizo, you can get it up higher without raising the voltages. I got mine up to 3.9Ghz stable.

Wow! 3.9 on stock voltage? You got any screenies Grim?

 

[ChanceCoats123]

No, that is with a voltage bump...

I was recently testing this with my chip. I would set a voltage in K10Stat and then run P95 for 20minutes, if it made it, I would lower the voltage one notch and then let it continue to run. Turns out I need 1.4+ volts to keep 3.5ghz stable.

 

[ChRiZo]

Thanks for all the replies. However my main problem nobody seen lol, here it was:

Hm. There is something wrong. In my bios, I can adjust my overclock to anything just fine, but when I go to windows, its like it won't let me past 3.5ghz. I would set it to 18x multi (3.6ghz) but it would only show 17.5 in windows. Even when I put it to 18.5. The weird thing is, is that it would freeze within a minute of loading windows, even with voltage increase.

Any idea why its doing that?

 

[Dolk]

Sounds like a CPU-NB problem, start doing small FFT tests with Prime95

 

[ChRiZo]

Sounds like a CPU-NB problem, start doing small FFT tests with Prime95

Been running that test now for almost 10 hours no problem at 3.5ghz, temps never over 40 on full load.

Would increasing the voltage to the NB be the problem? Its still stock

 

[Dolk]

No, that sounds like the CPU-NB is stable, now try Large FFTs

 

[ChRiZo]

No, that sounds like the CPU-NB is stable, now try Large FFTs

Kk, i stopped the test and now i'm running that.

Any reason why my CPU won't go past 3.5ghz in windows? In the bios it shows 3.6 fine, but in windows, it only shows 3.5 then crashes after a minute or two.

 

[QuietIce]

Which program in Windows are you using that's showing a max of 17.5x200 ...???

 

[ChRiZo]

Which program in Windows are you using that's showing a max of 17.5x200 ...???

Everything, cpu-z, amd overdrive, etc.. nothing will show it more then that.

Also, I woke up this morning with a "system recovered from serious system problem", so the large ffts crashed last night I guess. I put the overclock from 3.5 down to 3.4.

 

[nzaneb]

Are you on the latest BIOS release?