AMD 965BE temps question *update 9-21-2010**

[trents]

How did you lower the voltage if you didn't use bios? Asus Probe or something? Those temps are acceptable but do you need 1.4 vcore just to be stable at stock speeds? Is that the factory recommend vcore at stock speed? It seems rather high. If I were you I'd back down the vcore a little more and see if you can squeeze any stable overclock out of it at a reduced vcore. Try 1.35 or 1.375. Your core temp is at the max we recommend already (mid 50s) so if you can get away with it, reduce your vcore manually in bios. Keep in mind that increasing vcore adds heat faster than increasing CPU frequency.

 

[shatterpoints]

How did you lower the voltage if you didn't use bios? Asus Probe or something?

This Mobo has another piece of software (TurboV EVO) it works very well and gives me access or any voltage I need and allows me to change the multiplier as well. Only things I need the BIOS for are fans and RAM timings

 

[trents]

I looked your CPU specs up and 1.4 is the high end of the factory rated vcore operating range (.825-1.4). Try lowering it in bios to 1.375 and see if it is still stable.

Do you feel comfortable with changing settings in bios?

 

[shatterpoints]

I looked your CPU specs up and 1.4 is the high end of the factory rated vcore operating range (.825-1.4). Try lowering it in bios to 1.375 and see if it is still stable.

Do you feel comfortable with changing settings in bios?

I backed the voltage down to 1.375 and now idle @ 37C... still high for me but now I can run the prime95 blend test and stay under 55c. Looks like a shiny new cpu cooler is in order.

To get the cpu off the heat sink do I just hit it with a blow dryer?

 

[QuietIce]

That's a new one on me. Usually we just give the heatsink a slight twisting motion to break the contact with the CPU ...

 

[shatterpoints]

That's a new one on me. Usually we just give the heatsink a slight twisting motion to break the contact with the CPU ...

Yea it takes forever but if you warm up the heatsink enough the thermal compound will loosen enough to separate the cpu/heatsink. I am deathly afraid of any twisting motion as I dont want to break anything.


So I left Prime95 running all night and stayed at 53C however one core failed while the other 3 kept on truckin. What should I do? here are the voltages

CPU freq-200
Vcore- 1.4 (Had to move it back here because multiple cores failed the blended test (consistently cores 2 and 4)
NB- 1.1
DRAM 1.55

anything that I can bump up to help the failed blend test?

ps. Running small FFT right now to see if I can even pass that.

 

[trents]

Yeah, it is apparent that you need better cooling as you are needing to give it more vccore to get stability and to overclock. What case are you using? How wide is it from side to side (outside measurement). You don't want to buy a heat sink that is too tall to fit in the case.

Still don't understand about the blow drier thing. Did you build this system and what kind of thermal interface material did you use?

 

[QuietIce]

Yea it takes forever but if you warm up the heatsink enough the thermal compound will loosen enough to separate the cpu/heatsink. I am deathly afraid of any twisting motion as I dont want to break anything.


So I left Prime95 running all night and stayed at 53C however one core failed while the other 3 kept on truckin. What should I do? here are the voltages

CPU freq-200
Vcore- 1.4 (Had to move it back here because multiple cores failed the blended test (consistently cores 2 and 4)
NB- 1.1
DRAM 1.55

anything that I can bump up to help the failed blend test?

ps. Running small FFT right now to see if I can even pass that.

Whether you pass the small FFTs test will influence what you need to adjust for stability. If small FFTs pass then it's probably related to cpuNB/RAM. If it doesn't pass then you may need better cooling and/or a vCore bump.


BTW - It would really help if you went to UserCP (at top of page) and added your system to your sig (CPU, heatsink, board, RAM, video, PSU). At his point it's quite a trip to the first post to see what we're dealing with here ...

 

[trents]

Yes, please put your system info in a "Sig". That is very helpful as the strings get long so we don't have to keep referring back to an early post. Include things such as: Make and model of CPU, motherboard, make and model, amount of memroy, make and model of CPU cooler, Make and model of case and # of fans, Operatiing system. Room temp is also a helpful peace of info.

 

[shatterpoints]

Updated my sig.

This was a build I did on my own, its been a while since I've built a complete PC like this though. I used cooler master mx2 thermal compound for the cpu.

So far I've bought everything I need except a PS (I'm using an old 480W PS from an older tower of mine) so after all is said and done total cost will be around $650-$700

The fans are as follows:
3 stock case fans + 1 after market for a total of 4 fans

200MM fan on the front of the PC pulling in air
200mm fan on top (exhaust fan)
140mm fan in rear (exhaust fan)
140mm Aftermarket 80cfm fan blowing air directly onto the cup cooler/mobo on the side of the case

*edit* so far there have been no errors in the small FFT

 

[trents]

Thanks for the sig and update. I would really look at upgrading that PSU as soon as possible. 480w isn't much for powering a rig with a 965 cpu. What video card are you using or are you using the onboard video? What make is the PSU? If its a quality one it may be enough but if its a cheapo . . . Unstable voltages from the PSU can be a major cause of instability, especially when overclocking.

 

[mxthunder]

What brand of PSU is the 480W? For overclocking I would strongly recommend getting a high quality unit from Corsair or Silverstone, etc.

 

[shatterpoints]

What brand of PSU is the 480W? For overclocking I would strongly recommend getting a high quality unit from Corsair or Silverstone, etc.

Will be getting a 750w cooler master. The 480w PS thats in there now was from my old amd 3400 build where that was OC'ed quite a bit. The graphics card for now is only a 7800GT. I'm waiting for my 2 ati cards to get here (ordered them over the weekend) then I'll have an SLI setup and obviously need more then 480w. I am for right now very well inside my PS' limits

 

[trents]

No, you won't have an sli setup using ATI cards or with an AMD chipset. SLI is Nvidia technology. Crossfire is the AMD equivalent.

 

[shatterpoints]

No, you won't have an sli setup using ATI cards or with an AMD chipset. SLI is Nvidia technology. Crossfire is the AMD equivalent.

Yea, same difference... My habit is to refer to any dual card setup as SLI lol

 

[DragoXT]

Your chip and temps are normal so stop stressing. I had a 125w 945 in a build that with the crappy stock cooler, same as what comes with the 965 or 955, it would hit core temps up around 58c running prime 95 blend. With the side of the case off and a cyclone floor fan blowing in the side of the case the core temps only lowered 1c to 57c. No amount of case cooling will help your core temps. If you want better temps, get a better cooler period.

 

[shatterpoints]

Your chip and temps are normal so stop stressing. I had a 125w 945 in a build that with the crappy stock cooler, same as what comes with the 965 or 955, it would hit core temps up around 58c running prime 95 blend. With the side of the case off and a cyclone floor fan blowing in the side of the case the core temps only lowered 1c to 57c. No amount of case cooling will help your core temps. If you want better temps, get a better cooler period.

Wonderful ! After doing some tinkering and following advise from the previous posts I've decided to do just that. Thanks for a straight answer on this experience though. I'm glad its a shoddy stock cpu cooler and will never use one again! I'm planning on a corsair H50.

 

[beenthere]

Folks - Prime 95, OCCT, IntelBurn etc. all stress the CPU to the max. Most CPUs never operate at this stress level continuously even when playing games. The AMD boxed fan/heatsink keeps the CPU running in the specified temp range by design which for a 965 BE is 62C.

The OE fan/heatsink is not intended for OC'ing. With quad and hex core CPUs the thermal load increases dramatically with increased voltage and substantially with just increased frequency at the default voltage. If you're gonna play you need to address the system cooling needs. If you're running at default CPU voltage and frequency the box fan/heatsink is fine unless your ambient temp is 40C... then you need air-conditioning. The PC will like it too!

 

[dannypo]

I have the same motherboard and cpu that you do.
I'm running my cpu with a 20X multiplier. The stock heatsink is really bad! Change that right away.
I'm using a OCZ Vendetta II and I have an open case in order to keep it cool enough.
My highest temps during heavy gaming are 51. That's warmer than I like to see.
I'm looking at the Cool Master cases. HAF922 or 932. I haven't decided yet.
I think you should look at a different cpu cooler. The Corsair H70 looks interesting.
I also am going to change from the Vendetta II to something better.
I'm looking for suggestions on that. Thinking about the Noctua NH-C14.