Phenom x4 955 BE overclocking

[ForceArcher]

Hello,

Last week I started having some heavy FPS issues in games and found out that my CPU fan sometimes wasn't spinning,
and afterwards it didn't do anything anymore.
So I attached my stock cooler wich I got when I bought my pc and it seemed
to work just fine, so I thought since I got to take the motherboard
out to replace the cooler (never did anything with hardware besides putting a new GPU in it) I might aswell buy something better.

So I bought this one REV. 2 TRANQUILLO and installed it.
Applying the thermal paste in pea size (everything went well except that when taking off my heatsink my CPU it self came off to, and was pretty solid attached to it, needed to use a hairdryer to get it off)
Luckily no bend pins

So now I would like to know if its possible to overclock it with these temps
After running Prime95 for 15min


Further pc specifiactions:
Gigabyte GA-770TA-UD3
HD5770 Powercolor
4GB DDR 1333
Bequiet 600W PSU
Case: Revoltec Sixty 3 (Hate this case the HDD noises get amplified by 20 and is ratteling all time, putting pressure on spots seems to help sometime but not much.)
Also no additional fans inside.

As for overclocking I understand that because it's a Black Edition CPU I should start by increasing the multiplier (by how much ?) until it crashes or temps go too high (60celcius as far I understand) and then go one step back. And if my temps allow it, I can overclock more by increasing the voltage that the CPU gets (by how much?) and than raising the multiplier again.

Thank you

 

[Mandrake4565]

Welcome ForceArcher. Could you post a pic of the following tabs in CPUID-Cpu-z, CPU, SPD and Memory. What are your ambient temps? How many fans do you have in the case? I'm asking because those temps seem a little high for stock clocks. On the 955be, 62 is said to be max on the cores, sometimes you'll find instability around 55c so you have about 6-13c headroom on your cpu.One thing that concerns me is your motherboard, see the area I highlighted in red. That is the area, which supplies the cpu with power. When overclocking it that area can get very hot, as you can see there are no heatsinks on your board there. You may want to put aftermarket heat sinks on it.

As far as overclocking goes on that cpu, as you said start out by upping the multiplier and stress it using prime. You are probably going to run out of cooling before you have to worry about too much V Core. Just watch that the Motherboards LLC doesn't give too much voltage under load. You can usually take that cpu to 1.55 CPU V core without problems at least that is what I have seen. I was able to get my 955 to 3.6 on stock volts.

 

[ForceArcher]

My temps when idle are around 29-30 degrees.
Also I have no additional fans beside the GPU and CPU fans.
I cant really see the highlighted area because I see no picture
But can you tell what search term I should use to find the aftermarket heat sinks.

I dont know if it matters, but the core speeds are changing while doing different thing. Or should have made screenshots when I'm running Prime95 ?

 

[Khan]

I'll throw this link out there for you. Dolk's guide

Your temps are close to the max most people start getting instability at, but you can still probably get 3.6/3.8 out of it, hell you never know you might get more as well.

You have cool n' quiet turned on, which is why stuff is changing, go into your bios and try to find cool n' quiet and C1E and and turn them off, then set your cpu voltage manually to 1.35, should give you a real baseline temp then we can take it from there.

 

[ForceArcher]

C1E was already turned off.
I turned cool and quiet off and set the cpu voltage to 1.35 (it said the normal value was 1.4v)
This are the results (The temp are raised because of my room temps, the room temps will not go higher than right now and will be usually lower)

 

[Khan]

then I'd probably just give the multiplier a bump or two, run prime for 20 minutes, if its stable rinse and repeat till it fails, would be hesitant to put more voltage on there without better cooling.

Also, check your CPU/NB voltage, sometimes the default is set too high as well, should be something like 1.18 or 1.2 or so, that tends to generate more heat as well if its too high.

 

[trents]

That's a pretty big cooler. You should be getting better load temps than you are. Makes me wonder of case ventilation is inadequate. Please try this: take the side panel off of your case and run the Prime95 blend test for 20 minutes again and see if temps improve. We know from experience that temp-related instability begins to set in when core temps exceed the 55-60c range for that family of CPUs so you don't have much headroom for overclocking at the present.

Please give us more info about your system: make and model of case, motherboard, memory, PSU (and wattage) and video card.

What part of the world are you in and what are your ambient temps like?

 

[ForceArcher]

So I upped the multiplier x2 like Khan said and this is the result (room temp didn't change as far I know)

Trents my side panel is actually already off my base, because it even makes more noise when it's attached. I said in my first post it's not really a solid case. I'm thinking of hanging my HDD in rubber bands
Most of the things you request are already in the first post I think, or is it not detailed enough ?
Gigabyte GA-770TA-UD3 (rev 1)
HD5770 Powercolor (1gb and not overclocked)
4GB DDR 1333 (from Team Elite)
Bequiet 600W PSU
Case: Revoltec Sixty 3

I live in Europe(Belgium) most of the time my room stays about 20 - 21 degrees except when its summer the temps can raise to about 32 degrees maximum.

I'm also really considering to buy a new case in the future with some fans in it maybe.
But I would like to stay under 100$ including fans. Any suggestions are welcome

 

[trents]

Case suggestion: Coolermaster HAF 912. Actually, it's difficult to make component suggestions internationally because availability and price vary tremendously from one part of the world to another. It might be more effective if you would give us links to vendors you might use so we could get an idea what is available to you in your price range.

 

[ForceArcher]

Antec One
Antec Three Hundred Two
Corsair Carbide 200R
Corsair Carbide 300R
Cooler Master HAF 912 Plus
Is there a big difference between for example the antec one and the CM HAF because there is a 35 dollar difference
This list is from the cheapest one to more expensive ones (u can look at this site for more)


Also would you recommend further overclocking, or should I leave it like this because of the temps ?

 

[RGone]

Also would you recommend further overclocking, or should I leave it like this because of the temps ?

Trents has already written this in a post above as relates to further overclocking.

We know from experience that temp-related instability begins to set in when core temps exceed the 55-60c range for that family of CPUs so you don't have much headroom for overclocking at the present.

 

[ForceArcher]

Yes you are right kind of overlooked that sorry.
Do you think that upgrading my case will make a difference thats worth it ?
Or only little difference in temps like around 2 degrees ?

 

[Mandrake4565]

Force if you already have the side of the case off, try putting a house fan next to it blowing in and see if the temps drop. That may give you a better indication of how much OC headroom you'll have. I'll put a link up for the heatsinks I spoke about when I get on my pc.

 

[trents]

If you have been testing for temps with the side panel already off then chances are a new case would not make that much impact. I would start looking at problems with the cooler mount or the thermal paste not being spread correctly. I would redo both of those things. Take the heat sink off and observe the pattern of contact between the heatsink base and the CPU. If there is a significant area where the two don't mate then you probably have your answer. Use a good quality paste like Arctic Silver 5 or Arctic Cooling MX2 or MX4. First, clean the two surfaces will. Paper coffee filters work best for this as they don't leave behind insulating fibers. Start with dry ones and finish up with one moistened with rubbing alcohol. Put a pea sized (no bigger) blob in the center of the CPU face but don't try to spread it. Then lower the cooler onto the CPU and clamp it down. Let the clamping pressure spread the paste. That way you don't introduce air bubbles.

 

[ForceArcher]

Mandrake I don't really have a housefan and I don't really know anyone that has one, so that's not really possible.
As for those heatsinks I have been searching a bit and I think your'e talking about mosfet heatsinks right ?
And I have looked at my motherboard and I see some screw holes next to the mosfets, do you think these will fit Thermalright Type 1 HR-09S Mosfet Cooler and Enzotech Mosfet MST-81
Trents I put my heatsink heat on exactly as you described except that I used the thermal paste that came with the cooler.
I guess I can try with another brand, but that means I will have to take my motherboard out again
So I'm thinking about ordering mosfet coolers, new case and thermal paste at the same time to save shipping costs. I'm guessing it will be around 150 dollars in total.
Adding all those things do you think it would make a difference ?

 

[trents]

No one can guarantee those purchases and the changes they represent will make the difference you need. I suspect it may get you where you need to be but I cannot guarantee it. At any rate, they are good changes and will probably bear fruit in the future when you go to upgrade of motherboard and CPU next time. A good case is a foundational purchase. It should be one of the first upgrades rather than a new motherboard or new CPU. Good case and good PSU are things you should start with when planning system builds.

I would also point out that often new cases come with more fan mount holes than fans so check that out. The Antec 300, for instance, which is great case will often not ship with fans mounted in the front panel. Check out the description closely before you buy and if necessary, buy some extra fans to fill all the fan mount holes in the back, top and front panels. You want to move as much air as possible with reasonable noise levels in order to keep board components cool. Yes, mosfet heatsinks are a good investment in your situation but I don't know if the heatsink you mention will fit the application. You can get individual copper heatsinks in a kit that will work for sure.

 

[Mandrake4565]

Something like these would work also. Though only as well as the airflow around them.