tyring to O/C an Phenom II X2 545

[DVL]

Hello forum, I recently decided to give AMD another go and got an AM3 phenom II x2 545 Calisto stock core is 3.0GHZ. I've been playing around in the bios and I've dropped all the values, cpu multiplier x5, HT x3, mem clock down all the way to x4.0 which is still 1000mhz, DCT's unganged, ram timings I've left alone as it's reported as CL-9, which I take for 9-9-9-24, but I can play around with them later, pretty high though, I guess that's what the cheep stuff gets ya, it's DDR3 though. Back on track, I've started pushing the FSB at 200, and worked my way up to 255, but now prime 95 is throwing rounding errors. So I'm figuring my FSB is not stable above 250. I went into the voltages portion of my bios to push the Northbridge .01 and it failed to boot. The obvious settings for the voltages are auto, and manual, but as soon as I check manual it starts flashing system voltages are not correct, however all the options are set to normal, so I tried pushing the northbridge +0.1, and it failed to boot. I've checked my mobo user manual and nothing on default voltages, but even then what do you do when your options are normal, or +, -?. I'm not an advanced overclocker but I'm learning, and seeking advice here, as it's always top notch. I do know if I can't increase my voltages without a catastrophic failure occurring, I won't see much and O/C. So any advice out there would be of great benefit and greatly appreciated.



CPU: AM3 Phenom II X2 545 3.0GHZ
MOBO: Gigabyte MA785GMT-UD2H
RAM: 4GB, 2x2GB 1333

 

[QuietIce]

Personally I'd let it go and start OC'ing for real. At 255 you'd have a pretty high OC and there are other things that can get in the way before then. Also note, the NB (chipset) and cpuNB are different. Increasing the NB (chipset) voltage probably won't help much. Did you decrease the cpuNB multiplier when you turned everything else down? If not that's most likely the problem. It could also be the on-board video since you're also increasing it's speed when you increase the clock. Are you using the on-board video?

OC'ing a Phenom II is about balance, not individual components like previous CPU's. Set everything back to stock (on manual) including the cpuNB voltage and multiplier and the RAM settings listed under the SPD tab in CPU-Z. Then you can start by increasing the clock speed from there.

Remember - on an AMD system the clock is only a speed regulator (and it regulates everything), it's not an actual "bus" like the FSB on Intel systems ...

 

[87dtna]

Why did you set all the multipliers that far down?

Set the north bridge and HT multipliers to 8. Leave the CPU multiplier maxxed at 15. The ram needs set to 5.33. Take the bus speed to 230 to start with and see if it boots. If it's successful, take it to 240. If thats successful, try 250 but you may need to increase CPU voltage for that to be stable.

 

[DVL]

Why did you set all the multipliers that far down?

Set the north bridge and HT multipliers to 8. Leave the CPU multiplier maxxed at 15. The ram needs set to 5.33. Take the bus speed to 230 to start with and see if it boots. If it's successful, take it to 240. If thats successful, try 250 but you may need to increase CPU voltage for that to be stable.

I was just trying to figure my max FSB. My main issues is the voltage problem, as soon as I take if off of auto, all the volts are incorrect, even though the values say normal, and the bios is flashing red screaming at me, and if I go with it anyway, it fails to boot.

 

[DVL]

Personally I'd let it go and start OC'ing for real. At 255 you'd have a pretty high OC and there are other things that can get in the way before then. Also note, the NB (chipset) and cpuNB are different. Increasing the NB (chipset) voltage probably won't help much. Did you decrease the cpuNB multiplier when you turned everything else down? If not that's most likely the problem. It could also be the on-board video since you're also increasing it's speed when you increase the clock. Are you using the on-board video?

OC'ing a Phenom II is about balance, not individual components like previous CPU's. Set everything back to stock (on manual) including the cpuNB voltage and multiplier and the RAM settings listed under the SPD tab in CPU-Z. Then you can start by increasing the clock speed from there.

Remember - on an AMD system the clock is only a speed regulator (and it regulates everything), it's not an actual "bus" like the FSB on Intel systems ...

Ok, thanks for the info, which is always very good, btw. It just seems like a FSB of 250 is way to low. What does that mean the highest I'll get this chip is 3.7, at x15?

 

[87dtna]

Ok, thanks for the info, which is always very good, btw. It just seems like a FSB of 250 is way to low. What does that mean the highest I'll get this chip is 3.7, at x15?

It's your motherboard mostly. The 785g is pretty much the same as the 780g, not as good at overclocking as the 790gx.

Upgrade your motherboard an you'd be able to overclock higher. I'm happy with 3.8 with my 550, it's more than enough for me even as a dual core. It also maxxes out at 250 bus speed if I overclock that way.

BTW, you should be able to attempt to unlock your CPU to a quad. Go into the ACC and select ''hybrid'' and then set the CPU to ''All cores'' and select 0% (since you are manually overclocking). If your CPU doesn't have defective cores, it should boot as a quad.

 

[QuietIce]

Ok, thanks for the info, which is always very good, btw. It just seems like a FSB of 250 is way to low. What does that mean the highest I'll get this chip is 3.7, at x15?

Not necessarily.

Did you turn down the cpuNB?
Did you change the cpuNB voltage or the NB chipset voltage?
Is the on-board video enabled?




Edit:
545 CPU 1.20-1.45v
cpuNB 1.05-1.15v
HT Link 1.20v
NB chipset 1.10v (for other 7xx chipsets - not 100% sure about this one)
SB chipset 1.20v

No idea what nominal sideport memory voltage is ...

 

[ginja117]

Hi i have the same proc. as you and i have had it stable at 3.81 ghz with CPU voltage at 1.4v and cpuNB voltage at 1.3v i still havent pushed it to the max yet either. my multiplier is set to 15x.