Just need a little advice

[Bashiier]

Ok i just got so new **** and i need some help, i wanna oc my cpu but i dont know what its limits are its brand new well to me i just bought it less then 30 mins ago along with the mobo and ram so any help just little tips on what to do i dont wanna wreck my new stuff i mean its nothing special but u gotta deal with what u got


CPU Arch : 1 CPU - 2 Cores - 2 Threads
CPU PSN : AMD Phenom II X2 550 Processor
CPU EXT : MMX(+), 3DNow!(+), SSE (1, 2, 3, 4A), x86-64, AMD-V
CPUID : F.4.2 / Extended : 10.4
CPU Cache : L1 : 2 x 64 / 2 x 64 KB - L2 : 2 x 512 KB
CPU Cache : L3 : 6144 KB
Core : Callisto (45 nm) / Stepping : RB-C2

Freq : 800.05 MHz (200.01 * 4)
MB Brand : Biostar
MB Model : A785G3
NB : AMD 785G rev 00
SB : AMD SB700 rev 00

GPU Type : ATI Radeon HD 4200
GPU Clocks : Core 501 MHz / RAM 0 MHz
DirectX Version : 9.0c

RAM : 4096 MB DDR3 Single Channel
RAM Speed : 666.7 MHz (3:10) @ 9-9-9-24
Slot 1 : 4096MB (10700)
Slot 1 Manufacturer : SpecTek Incorporated

 

[trents]

Is the CPU a black edition processor?

What is the CPU cooler your are using?

What is the power supply you are using? Make, model, watts?

What is the make and model of your case? How many fans does it have? How large are the fans? Where are the fans located in the case?

What is your operating system?

 

[Bashiier]

yesir

 

[trents]

Please answer other questions added in my edited post.

 

[Bashiier]

i have a cool master hyper heatsink it has 2 120mm fans on it i have a 120mm rear fan the case is a stock compaq presiaro SR1000 power is BESTEC 350w its a small one till next week and im on windows xp pro sp1 oh i also have 2 more fans both 120mm running off batterys one above and below the cpu i think i have 2 many fans but u can never be too safe

 

[trents]

Before you overclock you should do some stess testing of the system at stock speeds and voltages and check the core temps. Please download and install CPU-z, Prime95 and HWMonitor. Open HWMonitor on the desktop and leave it open while you run the Prime95 blend test for 20 minutes. Then report back to us with what your maximum core temps as shown in HWMonitor were.

 

[Bashiier]

will do

 

[trents]

CPU-z will come in handy later.

 

[trents]

Is you CPU cooler the Hyper 212+ or he Hyper TX3?

 

[Bashiier]

THRM 95F
TMPIN0 95
TMPIN1 101
TMPIN2 96

Core 1 91
Core 2 91


Hyper N520

 

[trents]

Bashiier, those temperatures are extremely high if they are accurate! AMD specs call for a maximum safe CPU temperature of around 70 C and the overclocking community knows from experience that the max stable core temp for AMDs when overclocked is around 55 C. I am surprised the computer was stable enough to even run the Prime95 test for 20 minutes if those temperature readouts you report are anywhere close to correct.

What did HWMonitor report to be the minimum core temperature, at idle that is? What does bios say the CPU temperature is?

Let's do that same test again with another program, CoreTemp to check for the possibility of false interpretation by HWMonitor.

What is the temperature of the room where the computer is located?

 

[ZapTap]

Bashiier, those temperatures are extremely high if they are accurate! AMD specs call for a maximum safe CPU temperature of around 70 C and the overclocking community knows from experience that the max stable core temp for AMDs when overclocked is around 55 C. I am surprised the computer was stable enough to even run the Prime95 test for 20 minutes if those temperature readouts you report are anywhere close to correct.

What did HWMonitor report to be the minimum core temperature, at idle that is? What does bios say the CPU temperature is?

Let's do that same test again with another program, CoreTemp to check for the possibility of false interpretation by HWMonitor.

What is the temperature of the room where the computer is located?

It appears that he may have used Fahrenheit.. I actually don't see how it would run at that temperature at all if it were celcius

 

[trents]

It appears that he may have used Fahrenheit.. I actually don't see how it would run at that temperature at all if it were celcius

I hope your are correct. Good catch, we hope.

 

[trents]

Yes, now that I recheck his post about temps that is in fact what happened.

Bashiier, we work with temps expressed in Celcius around here. I'll get back to you later today when I'm home from work with some specific recommendations for overclocking.

91F=33C so those temps are pretty good. I would sitll like to know what HWMonitor reported the miniumum core temp to be.

 

[Bashiier]

yea sorry thats Fahrenheit lol i belive the minimum was around 29 c ill retest and let u know i also upgraded to win vista

 

[Bashiier]

ok well min for both cores is 16C (60F)

THRM 20c
TMPIN0 19c
TMPIN1 32c
TMPIN2 21c

 

[trents]

What was your room temperature when the testing was done? Your core temp readings are likely off a bit on the cool side as 16 C is cooler than most people have their room temperature/living environment. I'm guessing your core temp calibration is off by about 10C and really should be reading about 26-27C. With air coolers it would be impossible to cool the CPU cores below room temperature and most people keep their living environment about 20-21 C (approximately 70F). With good aftermarket air cooling core temps are usually around 5-6 higher than room temperature. Do you see what I'm grappling with?

 

[Bashiier]

its 55 F in my room

 

[trents]

its 55 F in my room

Are you serious? Do you live in a meat locker?

 

[trents]

If you're room temps are really that cool then you shouldn't have any problem with overheating.

So leave all frequencies and voltages on stock. Open HWMonitor and leave it open on desktop for every stress test to monitor core temps.

Begin overclocking by raising your CPU multiplier .5x and run a 20 minute Prime95 blend test. If it passes the test, increase the CPU multiplier another .5x and retest with Prime95 blend for 20 minutes. Failing the test means you will either get a blue screen of death or one or both Prime95 workers will drop out. Repeat these steps of increasing the mulitplier, core temp monitoring and testing with Prime95 blend for 20 minutes until you fail the test. This is to see how far you can get on stock CPU voltage.

Then bump up the CPU voltage a tad to be able to pass the test again. Repeat these cycles of testing and adding voltage to restore stability when you cannot pass the test. Don't allow CPU voltage to exceed 1.5v or the core temps to exceed 57 C. Ultimately, you will run a longer Prime95 blend test to confirm stability and your final CPU multiplier setting and voltage and core temp must all be working together to allow you to pass Prime for at least 2 hours. If you cannot pass the 2 hr. test then reduce the multiplier slightly.

So, in summary, at the outset with this approach you would 1. be seeing how far you could push the CPU in a tentatively stable overclock (determined by 20 minuted Prime95 stress tests) by increasing the CPU multiplier in small increments without any CPU voltage increase, 2. when instability begins to set in, restore the system to stability by adding CPU voltage, aka, "vcore", 3. alternate between increasing multiplier, testing for stability and adding vcore as necessary until you hit a maximum core temp of 57 C or a vcore of 1.5, 4. Confirm stability with a longer Prime95 blend test (at least 2 hr.). 5. If it won't pass the long test, either reduce the CPU multiplier a tad or increase the vcore a tad, watching core temps always.

Report back to us when you seem to hit a wall.