Help for OCing AMD Athlon II X4 640

[KaoBang]

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum and to overcloaking in general. I've made some research on internet to get some information for OCing my AMD Athlon II x4 640 but as i'm new in OCing, i'm a bit scared about doing wrong things that could hurt my processor.

I saw that this processor could be safe OCed up to 3.4 GHz resulting in a stable system. Is it true ? And what parameters in BIOS have to be changed ?

Here is my Config :

Windows 7 ‎(X64)‎
Processor : AMD Athlon II X4 640 3.0GHz
Motherboard : Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-MA770T-UD3
Memory : 3x2Go G.Skill PC3-12800
Graphic Card : Saphire Radeon HD 5770
Hard Drive : SAMSUNG HD103SJ de 931.51 Go SATA II
Supply : 650W

Thanks in advance

 

[trents]

Welcome!

Those CPUs generally overclock to 3.5-3.6 range if you have good cooling and other components of reasonable quality. But you do not mention what you are using to cool the CPU with when you give your system info. This is key component when overclocking. Are you using the stock cooler that came with the CPU or an aftermarket cooler? If the latter, what make and model? You mention that you have a 650W PSU but again, no make and model are given. A power supply that gives clean, steady power is also important. And you do not mention what make and model case you have. A case with good ventilation is important to keeping temps down when overclocking. Please supply these detail in your system info.

It looks like you are operating in single channel mode with your memory because you are using 3 sticks of ram instead of two or four sticks. This causes a performance penalty.

And the first thing you would need to do if you want to overclock is to download and install these three free programs:

CPU-z
HWMonitor
Prime95

 

[KaoBang]

Hi again et thanks for answering

Sorry for this lack of information, i wasn't aware that it could be important : ).

So here are they :

Suply : Advance Alimentation PC EA4G-650 650W ( http://www.pixmania.com/fr/fr/1385019/art/advance/alimentation-pc-ea4g-650.html )
Case : Advance Turboost +2 ventilators 120mm + ventilator 250mm ( http://www.ldlc.com/fiche/PB00085860.html )
About the CPU stock cooler, i didn't change anything since it got this computer (except DRAM), so i suppose it's using the original one.

I've installed the 3 programs you've recommanded, i checked CPU-Z and it's saying that the memory sticks are running in dual mode. I heard it was possible even with an impair number of ram sticks, i don't really know what to think about that

Anyway thanks again for helping

 

[RGone]

New Shortcut method for putting a Signature with your system information following your every post so people can know what is in the case that they are trying to assist with. You can use something like what is shown in my signature as a good template of needed information Thank you.

 

[RGone]

These are the types of information that most users supply in order to be able to help them very much. Of course beginning with a setting that is 'known' to pass P95 Blend mode makes good sense, because a failed P95 Blend test is not going to give a baseline of a configuration that 'does' work.

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]

RGone beat me to it. The point being you would do well to look at max core and CPU socket temps before trying to overclock to see if you have any headroom for overclocking since those temps go up in the process. Prime95 is our standard stress-testing tool that we use to check for temps and for stability of an overclock.

 

[KaoBang]

Okay i've edited my signature, and i've attached the screenshots you've required.

 

[trents]

Thank you for supplying the requested info and pictures.

As you can see, your max core temps are hitting 65c. That's about the temp limit for stability with that CPU running at stock frequencies and voltages. If it were to be significantly overclocked I doubt it would be stable when running that warm. Experience teaches us that significantly overclocked AMD CPUs of that family need to stay under a core temp of around 55-60c, generally speaking. You are in need of better CPU cooling in a big way if you want to overclock. What country do you live in? Is the ambient temperature quite high in the room where the PC is running?

Another suggestion I have if you are going to overclock is to disable Cool N Quiet and C1E in bios and go into Windows Control Panel Power Options and configure it to high performance. If you look at your pic of the CPU-z "CPU" tab you will see that your core voltage and your core speed are much lower than you would expect. That's because the "green" power saving, down-throttling technologies are in effect when the system is at idle. Under load it will jump up to what you expect. Those technologies sometimes cause instability when overclocking and they also mask your real bios settings which gets a little confusing.

 

[trents]

KaoBang, could you run that Prime95 stress test again but this time have HWMonitor open on the desktop before you start the test and leave it open until you finish the test. Looks like you didn't have HWMonitor opened until after Prime95 was chugging away and this prevents us from seeing what the idle temps were. When you are done please post the a pic of the HWMonitor interface.

 

[KaoBang]

Sorry for the last Hardware Monitor test, i guess i misunderstood what had to be done. Here is the new one.

Trent, to answer what you asked, i actually live in north France, and the ambiant temperature is generally not that high. Also, you said that i'll need a better CPU cooler if i want significantly to overcloack the processor : is it possible to overcloack it a little bit without having to get another one ? In fact, if it is possible, i would like to do it before thinking about buying a new one. If it's not, do you have any suggestions of what kind of CPU cooler i could get ?

You said in another post that the fact i had 3 memory sticks could have performances issues since they are running in dual-channel mode : do you recommand me to remove one/get a fourth one ?

Anyway thanks for helping me

 

[RGone]

The "problem" with posting captures of HWMonitor by itself without the three asked for CPUz Tab captures is that only about half the needed information is shown to us.

The HWM in your post above gives us no clue as to what speeds were being used during the run of P95 Blend mode.

IF those temps are showing for a n0n-st0ck speed system, then you have already reached the limit of your overclock. IF those temps are from a stock speeded system, your temps are 'already' too high.

Even casual or not persistent helpers in this forum section would agree your temp are now already too too high. Not too high later but temps are now too high,.

 

[trents]

At 68c your core temps are on the verge of being dangerously high, not just a stability issue. If would not recommend trying to overclock because of that. Overclocking just drives temps up. In addition, you would be frustrated in your attempt to learn the overclocking discipline because you have so little headroom to play with from a temperature perspective. There' just no room there to even get started.

One issue with selecting a new cooler would be that your case is only 190mm wide (I looked it up on line). The really good air coolers, the tower style ones with 120mm fans, are a little too tall for that and they would stick out beyond the side panel. You would need to move down to the coolers with 92mm fans which if chosen carefully would still give you considerably better cooling efficiency than the stock cooler you are now using.

How much would your budge allow you to spend on a new cooler? I also don't know what's available to you as product availability is not the same from one part of the world to the other and differing prices and shipping costs also complicate decisions.

Another option would be to move up to a self-contained water cooling kit like the Corsair H80 (about $89 US), more money but better cooling than any 92mm fan based air cooler.

Where do you buy from? Do you have access to good online computer parts vendors or would you be buying from a local retail store? Perhaps you could supply me with some vendor links that are available to you and a price range and I could make some recommendations.

 

[trents]

The "problem" with posting captures of HWMonitor by itself without the three asked for CPUz Tab captures is that only about half the needed information is shown to us.

The HWM in your post above gives us no clue as to what speeds were being used during the run of P95 Blend mode.

IF those temps are showing for a n0n-st0ck speed system, then you have already reached the limit of your overclock. IF those temps are from a stock speeded system, your temps are 'already' too high.

Even casual or not persistent helpers in this forum section would agree your temp are now already too too high. Not too high later but temps are now too high,.

I'm pretty sure he's at stock settings with no overclock yet, RGone. That's why I have so much concern about his temps. In post #10 he's asking about the possibility of "overclockng it a little bit".

KaoB, could you attach a screen shot of CPU-z "CPU" tab again but this time with Cool N Quiet and C1E turned off and the Windows Control Panel Power Options set to High Performance so we can see shat the true bios settings are for your CPU frequency and voltage?

 

[RGone]

I'm pretty sure he's at stock settings with no overclock yet, RGone. That's why I have so much concern about his temps. In post #10 he's asking about the possibility of "overclockng it a little bit".

I wish they would just post the captures at each step and remove any guesstimations.

IF that is stock speed >> HOT >> T00 HOT already. Wow.

Good luck with this cofiguration. Keep the fire extinguisher handy.

RGone...ster.

EDIT:
I found a case in the junk yard that had cpu and cooler etc in it. Looked close and saw that the thing had run so hot the little tab on cpu retainer had crystallized and broke and 'then' the cpu cooler really became useless. I am going to setup board and see if the CPU survived. Hehehe.
END EDIT.

 

[KaoBang]

Here are new screenshots of CPU-Z and HWM having put High performances settings and having turned Cool and Quiet and CE1 off.

Trent, considering what you said, i'm thinking about buying a new CPU cooler costing 40/50€. Could you advise me between the ones here : http://www.ldlc.com/informatique/piece/radiateur-processeur/c4712/.

http://www.rueducommerce.fr/index/ventilateur processeur

It's in french, sorry, but i will probably buy one here because of shipping cost.

 

[trents]

Kao, you don't want to run your ram at the full 1600 mhz it's rated for. I guess should explain that CPU-z will show the ram frequency at half of what you expect because it's reporting the DDR bus rate, not the DDR3 transfer rate. Just two different ways of measuring the ram speed. Turn your ram down to 666/1333 mhz for right now and when you get your new CPU cooler and start to overclock I'll probably ask you to turn it down to 533/1066 to give some headroom. I'll explain more about that later. The Athlon II 640 and that whole family of Athlon II's have a weak memory controller so that when you begin to overclock the CPU you will likely run into instability. Now here me, the problem is not the ram being inadequate, the problem is the IMC (Integrated Memory Controller) being not stout enough to support ram speeds of 1600 mhz, especially not when overclocked. All modern CPUs have the memory controller built into the CPU die. It might also run a little cooler if you do that.

Now lest you think you will loose performance by running the ram below 1600 let me assure you that is not the case. Testing shows that there is little to no gain in performance when running ram faster than 1333 mhz at this point in time. 1333 mhz seems to provide plenty of bandwidth for current processors in all but a few kinds of applications.