phenom x4 II 965 overclock help...!

[ebenezerscrooge]

Hi, i would like to rev up my old amd cpu a bit more to about 4Ghz but since i dont have a clue when it comes to how to adjust the settings in bios i wondered if could get any help from here. The motherboard is MSI 790fx-gd70. Atm im running at full load on 54C so i think i could take a bit more out of it. Putting some screen pics from the bios settings here down under.

 

[Zerileous]

This stickie is a good place to start. You'll notice you have a bus speed (200mhz) and CPU ratio (x18), these numbers are multiplied to get the clock speed your CPU runs at (3600mhz). By adjusting them you get an overclock (increased clock speed), which may require more voltage and generate more heat. Make small incremental changes and test for stability along the way.

If you're not familiar with stability testing, the first step to any overclock is to test for stability at stock settings. That way if the system becomes unstable later you know it was the changes you made, and can confidently undo them. Also write down each change you make and the result (unstable, etc.). This post is a good place to learn how to stability test.

Overclocking is rarely a plug and play activity. It takes hours of research and more hours of testing and tweaking. Only way to know if your system will go to 4Ghz is to follow the process and try it. Hopefully these pages get you off to a decent start. Once you get going we can look into what might be holding you back, motherboard, cooling etc. As well it will benefit you to ensure that you have a clean and well ventilated case, with ample case fans installed and good cable management, before beginning your endeavors. Especially on an older system.

 

[Robert17]

As above. I had one that I OC'd to 3.8 stable; after that the heat generated would throttle the chip. This was using an AIO (H60 IIRC). But at 3.8GHz it was stable at 53-54°C. AT 55°C is where the trouble started. Silicon can vary in many ways so YMMV.

 

[trents]

If you are already at mid 50's C for temps you have no head room to overclock. What are you cooling the CPU with?

 

[storm-chaser]

Don't forget to look into CPU-NB overclocking. This directly effects level three cache and memory performance. Most 965s will run 2800=3000 on the CPU NB at approximately 1.25-1.3volts.

And as trents mentioned you need to be concerned with your temps if they are already in the mid 50s. You don't want to go much higher than that. A good budget cooler for the 965 would be something like the Hyper 212 and that should allow for a decent overclock to 4Ghz without thermal concerns.

I would recommend real time temp monitoring with something like Core temp.
Also recommend installing CPU-z which will show us how your system ticks and all the specific overclock details.
Both programs are free.

 

[knoober]

If you are already at mid 50's C for temps you have no head room to overclock. What are you cooling the CPU with?

2 (if not 3) samples I have had from this family of cpus has been at the thermal limit out of the box due to overvolting. Im surprised I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere else because almost every PII 9xx I've had ran at thermal limits before proper tuning. OP has all voltages on Auto so I am not sure if his chip is similar to my experience or not.

Having said that, sufficient cooling is necessary and is a valid question. I hope this chip runs all the way up to 4.2 on air

 

[ShrimpBrime]

Gotta see a cpu-z screen shot. If it's a C2 chip, it's not going to clock as high. C3 will pretty much do 4Ghz plus in the right conditions. C2 is 140W and C3 is 125W. Colder it better.

I dont have a clue when it comes to how to adjust the settings in bios i wondered if could get any help from here.

Well.... There's 2 ways to overclock these unlocked processors. The easiest way is to Increase the Cpu multiplier past 18x. You would start small and test. Raise one half multiplier and stress test, as mentioned above watch temps and try not to exceed 65c under a full load. Testing time differs from opinion to opinion, but the point is you need to stress test to ensure stability. When the processor fails a stress test, it's a good indicator you need to increase cpu voltage. With small increments of increased Cpu-voltage like 0.0500 increase. Restart at failed attempt multiplier with increased voltage and stress test.

 

[ebenezerscrooge]

Thanks for the answers...Actually installed a Hyper 212 evo recently and with that i got current temperature on 54C when i ran the aida64s stability test.Gonna install CPU-z and send some screens from the specific overclock details.

 

[knoober]

C2 stepping then. Should still be able to get some love from that chip with that cooler. You might eventually want a second fan if you are only running one fan on your cooler.

Having the voltage on Auto in the bios is giving you artificially high Temps (IMO). My chip will do 3.8-4.0ghz on the voltage cpuz is showing. Only time and tuning will show what your particular chip will actually top out at though