Utilizing phenomx4 820 in a am2 MB

[nick3501]

ok, i was looking to upgrade the old 64x2 3800+ and found tht with a bios update, my asus MB could support certain phenom x4 models. Actually managed to pull a compatible chip out of a PC with a fried MB, a x4 820 phenom 2.8ghz.

Dropped it in and it works! But, it us using 200mhz with a x14 multiplier, my question is how do i best utilize this processor? I know the RAM and MB are limiting factors, but it seems like the bus should be higher?

ram is DDR2 667 MB is asus m2npv-vm




thanks for any input, appreciated

 

[mammut]

The bus is correct at 200MHz, that board supports the older Hyper Transport version so the link will show 1000MHz. On an AM2+ board it would show as 2000MHz.
The processor runs correctly, 200x14 = 2800MHz. The memory 667MHz DDR2.

This processor has an extra 2MB of L3 cache that can be unlocked if the BIOS supports the unlock.

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K10/AMD-Phenom II X4 820 - HDX820WFK4FGI.html

 

[nick3501]

thanks for the tip. what should I be looking for in the BIOS that might relate to unlocking extra l3 cache?

 

[mammut]

I had a look at the manual of the board you mentioned, does not have unlock feature unfortunately. However, some possibilities for overclock do exist in BIOS. Would try the "manual" mode first, turn up the bus some 10-15MHz, that should work without any other tweaks. Also if you do a search in this forum with search tag m2npv-vm you will find tips on overclock.

 

[nick3501]

I tried the "AI OVERCLOCK" feature..set it to 10%, once i fired up a game it got too hot and locked up the system. I used some cheap eBay thermal paste, grey stuff. can't remember when i got it. Knowing its from china it wouldn't surprise me if it was made out of a cocktail of toxic waste, but it worked for a year on the old 64x2 3800 O/C @ 10%.

actually not too sure about temperatures currently sitting at 36c idle, stock speeds, cool n' quiet enabled. climbs to about 54c under load. 22c ambient temp. original Athlon heat sink.

 

[RGone]

What we usually do to get on the same page. That way we all glimpse temps we are used to seeing and voltages to the cpu etc.

These are the types of information that most users supply in order to be able to help them very much.

CPU Tab in CPUz from CPUID com

Memory Tab in CPUz from CPUID com

SPD Tab in CPUz from CPUID com

And this is screen capture of HWMonitor (free version) from CPUID com
HWMonitor has been scrolled enough and large enough to show Min/Max of Voltages and includes the CPU CORE TEMPS fully visible.

This capture is made of HWMonitor after it has been open on the desktop logging Min/Max temps and voltages while Prime 95 was running Blend Mode test on all cores for at least 20 mins and then the capture of HWMonitor was made and it shows the Min/Max temps and voltages before P95 Blend was started and while running P95 Blend mode and gives much greater insight into how the system is performing without guessing.

In order to attach screenshots of images as suggested, first crop and capture the images with Snipping Tool found in Windows Accessories or equivalent. Then click on Go Advanced, a button at the bottom of every new post window. Then click on the little paperclip tool at the top of the Advanced post window when it opens. Clicking on the paperclip tool brings up the file browser/upload tool and the rest is fairly obvious.

 

[trents]

200 mhz is the standard AMD FSB for most modern CPUs and has been for a good number of years. The HT Link will be somewhat of a limiting factor with that motherboard, however, at 1000 mhz. To overclock that CPU you will want to be lowering the starting memory divider and increasing the FSB and the CPU core voltage at certain points. That's the big picture, anyway. You will also want to monitor core and CPU socket temps as you overclock with HWMonitor and stress test the overclock with Prime 95 blend for 20 minutes after each change. Report back frequently with posted screenshots of CPU-z tabs: CPU, Memory and SPD. So download and install HWMonitor, CPU-z and Prime95. There is a built-in forum tool for attaching pics if you click on Go Advanced and then click on the little paperclip tool at the top of the advanced post window.

 

[nick3501]

well, I bumped up the FSB to 210 and its sitting at 2.94ghz, prime 95 got the cpu up to 62C (141F) after about 5 minutes, not entirely sure what the max stable temp is for a phenom ii x4 820 is, but it remained stable regardless. first time i ever heard the cpu fan speed up beyond baseline, games won't even do that to this rig on max settings...prime 95 is some intense torture!

 

[rescuetoaster]

That temp is far too high. First issue is to address your cooling - put some actual thermal paste on there like arctic cooling mx2. It's usually 10 bucks or less.

Second: You need to follow our advice and post the cpu-z screenshots requested earlier - it's far too difficult to help you without those.

 

[nick3501]

i found a little packet of thermal paste that came from a cooler i got for an Intel set up a few years back, cleaned, re-applied and as you can see by the screenshot it lowered my core temp by just 1 degree. That shot is after 10 minutes of prime95.

found the maximum temp for my chip is 71c, so i am getting to the upper end. Current idle temp is 34c, ambient is 21c.

 

[nick3501]

i guess there's always the very real possibility i'm getting wrong temperature readings, wouldn't be the first time..

 

[rescuetoaster]

Good lord, what is the ambient temp of the room and what is your case airflow situation? That is a relatively low clock speed, and a very high temperature. For reference, my 6 core thuban at 3.9 ghz and 1.47 volts maxes out at 52 degrees Celsius.

Let's sort out the cooling, then we'll move on to overclocking. How did you apply the thermal paste?

 

[nick3501]

the cooler was on the original AMD 64x2 3800. I had a look and it is a coolermaster, looks to be stock size. Has a copper pad (about the size of a penny) on the bottom. I applied one blot of paste, about the size of a pea in the center on that pad, (cleaned prior with alcohol) then i clamped it back in place. It is tight, and making contact (based on the way the previous paste looked when i took it apart)

fan is working, although it was plugged into PWR fan with 3 pins, so i switched it over to CPU fan (cpu fan on MB has 4 pins, fan plug only has 3? It still fit minus one exposed pin)

case is cool, with two fans one in front and a large one in the back of the case. there is a thermometer on the front of this case as well for case temperature.

the cpu fan only starts to increase speed at about 56c, which tells me the motherboard is seeing a different temperature than one hwmonitor is reading. with cool n' quiet enabled, i would expect baseline idle temperature to be close to ambient, but it stays at 34c, even right out of sleep mode.

if in fact these numbers are correct, the only explanation is an inadequate cooler

 

[rescuetoaster]

Strange, it does seem like you are getting incorrect readings. I guess you could see what your bios is saying the idle temp is just to confirm.

The only other thing I can think of if the core temps are wrong, is to go off of socket temp. Of course, you'd have to approximate the coretemp from that based off of someone else with a similar setup/or be brave and just overclock without knowing what temp it's at.

 

[nick3501]

just went through the bios, cant see any temperature readings. Kind of sucks. I hope its not overheating. Anyone know how good the thermal overload protection is on this phenom processor? I would hope the computer would just freeze up if it got too ht (or reboot) but i can remember burning my motherboard with an attempted Pentium D overclock (many years ago)

 

[trents]

just went through the bios, cant see any temperature readings. Kind of sucks. I hope its not overheating. Anyone know how good the thermal overload protection is on this phenom processor? I would hope the computer would just freeze up if it got too ht (or reboot) but i can remember burning my motherboard with an attempted Pentium D overclock (many years ago)

Do you have a bios tab called "PC Health"? If so, look there for CPU and motherboard temp readings.

 

[nick3501]

no, i went throughout and didn't see anything about pc health or temperature in the bios. i did notice Speedfan gives me 2c lower reading than HW monitor, kind of odd