Trying to get athlon II X3 425 stable at 4ghz

[keny]

Hopeing some has an idea how to get this processor stable at just over 4ghz , ive tried loads of extra voltage and when i get up tp 4.75v it gets to 55deg before prime has been running 5 mins , ive upped the nb voltage a notch also still to no avail i keep getting rounding errors in prime after less than ten mins , yet it runs stable at 3.9ghz at only 1.376v with a top temp of around the 44 deg mark, im stuck at a wall and hopeing i can get it up to 4ghz.

Stable shots of cpuz @3.9ghz , it will prime all day long on these settings.



These are where im at now and stuck , the voltage shows the lower end of where i started , i did raise it up to 4.75 but could not tame the heat at that high,and prime still gave rounding error.

 

[TorqueRanger]

I not sure but why is your memory at 1.8 v ,That seems a little high???

 

[davedree]

Thats very impressive with what you have achieved on standard voltage.
To be honest with such a low cpu multi like my 620 =13 yours = 13.5, pushing the ht ref past 300 makes overclocking hardwork.

One thing I'd try is using 2x ddr2 ram sticks in dual channel, instead of all 4.
Just to see if the imc is being stressed at the cpu freq +nb speed/voltage.

In all honesty though I think with the low voltage required to run at 3.9 i'd be more than happy to leave it at that, Theres little to be achieved from an extra 100-150 mhz overclock.
You could try upgrading your cooling to a titan fenrir or equivalent and try and find some stability with the vcore set from 1.475 to 1.55v.
I'd be happy with what you've achieved though just that your ram is slightly underclocked at this setting

 

[keny]

I not sure but why is your memory at 1.8 v ,That seems a little high???

Stock voltage according to the manufacturers website , and it was what the mobo had it set on as auto to start of with.There website says it can go up a notch but dont want to stress the ram too much .

 

[keny]

I not sure but why is your memory at 1.8 v ,That seems a little high???

Thats very impressive with what you have achieved on standard voltage.
To be honest with such a low cpu multi like my 620 =13 yours = 13.5, pushing the ht ref past 300 makes overclocking hardwork.

One thing I'd try is using 2x ddr2 ram sticks in dual channel, instead of all 4.
Just to see if the imc is being stressed at the cpu freq +nb speed/voltage.

In all honesty though I think with the low voltage required to run at 3.9 i'd be more than happy to leave it at that, Theres little to be achieved from an extra 100-150 mhz overclock.
You could try upgrading your cooling to a titan fenrir or equivalent and try and find some stability with the vcore set from 1.475 to 1.55v.
I'd be happy with what you've achieved though just that your ram is slightly underclocked at this setting

Thanks for your reply, im happy with 3.9ghz but would love to crack the 4gig mark , would lowering the ht link freq acheive anything ?. my ram would be running a perfect 800mhz if i could get the damn thing to run stable at 300 as of now as you stated it runs slightly underclocked,.i just cant understand why it would need such a big jump in vcore to get it run 100mhz faster

 

[davedree]

Your ddr2 ram voltage is fine Keny, it's mean to be at 1.8.

 

[davedree]

Your ht clock is low anyway and so shouldn't make much difference in stability as it's below 2000mhz, you've done everything right in overclocking you've just reached the wall of your processor, where it now requires extra vcore and your hitting thermal limits when increasing vcore due to your cpu cooler.

Thats the thing with these amds they can require massive vcore and scale very poorly after the brick wall, for example my athlon x4 can use 1.20v upto 3.2ghz, 1.40v upto 3.6ghz, then blam 3.7ghz it requires 1.50 and 3.8ghz 1.57v.

 

[keny]

Your ht clock is low anyway and so shouldn't make much difference in stability as it's below 2000mhz, you've done everything right in overclocking you've just reached the wall of your processor, where it now requires extra vcore and your hitting thermal limits when increasing vcore due to your cpu cooler.

Thats the thing with these amds they can require massive vcore and scale very poorly after the brick wall, for example my athlon x4 can use 1.20v upto 3.2ghz, 1.40v upto 3.6ghz, then blam 3.7ghz it requires 1.50 and 3.8ghz 1.57v.

Looks like a new cooler is on the cards then, lol .

 

[davedree]

Thats upto you lol, I'd be well happy with the 3.9 overclock, but if you feel it's worth spending the money for a cooler and compound then I just hope it gets you to 4.0ghz.

The titan fenrir on my x2 555 keeps all 4 cores at 1.50v 46-48c max load using prime.

 

[keny]

Thats upto you lol, I'd be well happy with the 3.9 overclock, but if you feel it's worth spending the money for a cooler and compound then I just hope it gets you to 4.0ghz.

The titan fenrir on my x2 555 keeps all 4 cores at 1.50v 46-48c max load using prime.

It probanly isn't worth the money for 100mhz but for future overclocks maybe it is . ive not had this one long , i got it for just over ten quid from expansys ," bargain". but would like to get my hands on the noctua dh14 ,im sure that would keep it cool.

 

[davedree]

that is one bad boy cooler

 

[QuietIce]

You might try bumping the RAM voltage to 1.85v, maybe even 1.90v. I always add 0.05v to RAM voltage even if it's not overclocked since I'd rather have a hair too much than a hair too little.

What voltage did you say you were giving the cpuNB?


Have you tried running the HT Link faster? Some CPUs like the cpuNB and HT Link to be the same, others one notch below the same, and others real low like you're using. You might experiment with it a little if you haven't already.

 

[keny]

You might try bumping the RAM voltage to 1.85v, maybe even 1.90v. I always add 0.05v to RAM voltage even if it's not overclocked since I'd rather have a hair too much than a hair too little.

What voltage did you say you were giving the cpuNB?


Have you tried running the HT Link faster? Some CPUs like the cpuNB and HT Link to be the same, others one notch below the same, and others real low like you're using. You might experiment with it a little if you haven't already.

Ive left the northbridge voltage at +0.1 volt above stock, and ive tried loads of different combinations for the ht link , but nothing over 2000.Going of dolks guide i cant seem to get my NB Freq near his recommended of approx2500 where as mine is sitting at 2320 as the bus speed is 290 x8 on the multiplier , if i nock it up another notch it goes way over 2600 , is it wise to run it that high ?

 

[QuietIce]

Are you talking about the NB (chipset) voltage or the cpuNB voltage? Those are two different and unrelated things. NB voltage can usually stay at default settings, cpuNB often needs extra.


Like all things a high cpuNB can cause instability but if it's stable it doesn't hurt anything to run it faster.

 

[keny]

Are you talking about the NB (chipset) voltage or the cpuNB voltage? Those are two different and unrelated things. NB voltage can usually stay at default settings, cpuNB often needs extra.


Like all things a high cpuNB can cause instability but if it's stable it doesn't hurt anything to run it faster.

I have NBvoltage ans SBvoltage , i havnt messed with the SB and NB is running 1.3v after raising that up .1 , it doesnt seem to have changed anything . If i up the vcore to around 1.475 it nearly allways crashes the pc after a few minuites and when i restart it gives me an error of shutdown durin vga clock setting , i dont know if this has anything to do with my graphics card but thats not overclocked at all

 

[QuietIce]

You don't have a cpuNB voltage option???

 

[keny]

Yeah , i have cpuNB and cpuSB the SB seems to be set a little higher on stock voltage than the NB and i als have a pci-e option which changes the mhz delivered to the pci slot , but i dare not change it as i dont want to dammage my graphics card and im not sure what setting it should be seeing asthough i keep getting the vga clock setting error when i up the voltage on the cpu core over 1.45v .I appreciate your help with help with this , and your patience in trying to understand wtf im on about.

 

[Angry]

Does it say CPU-NB or just NB voltage?
Alot of 785g boards do not have the CPU-NB voltage option.

At 300fsb, you should have the options for I think, 1500,1800,2100,2400, and then 2600 Nb speeds. At 300fsb, mine will run 2400 happily.

Are you adjusting the HT link or the CPU-NB speeds?
Would it be possible to post a pic of your OC options in the BIOS?

Also, manually set the 400mhz (DDR2) memory timing in the BIOS for your memory, your board isnt quiet setting the timings right, you need the JEDEC#3 timings, your memory might be picky about it.
And do like QuietIce suggested and bump the voltage a bit, 1.9 wouldnt even hurt DDR2.

:edit:
Use the latest version of CPU-Z (1.56) according the memory tab you posted, your are running a 2400mhz NB. Which should have locked the HTlink in at the same speed by default...

 

[keny]

Does it say CPU-NB or just NB voltage?
Alot of 785g boards do not have the CPU-NB voltage option.

At 300fsb, you should have the options for I think, 1500,1800,2100,2400, and then 2600 Nb speeds. At 300fsb, mine will run 2400 happily.

Are you adjusting the HT link or the CPU-NB speeds?
Would it be possible to post a pic of your OC options in the BIOS?

Also, manually set the 400mhz (DDR2) memory timing in the BIOS for your memory, your board isnt quiet setting the timings right, you need the JEDEC#3 timings, your memory might be picky about it.
And do like QuietIce suggested and bump the voltage a bit, 1.9 wouldnt even hurt DDR2.

:edit:
Use the latest version of CPU-Z (1.56) according the memory tab you posted, your are running a 2400mhz NB. Which should have locked the HTlink in at the same speed by default...

Ok . This seems to be my fault for not stating the correct setting (sorry) Ive upped some bios shots , the settings i am on about are the few at the bottom of the screen , according to my ram the settings are correct at 6-6-6-18 , but if thats wrong with it being clocked down to 400 (instead of 800) please let me know , i took shots of just about everything so you have an idea of my options , its not set for 4ghz as i cant get it stable so take no notice of the settings they are for my stable 3.9ghz which im on at the moment (stuck)

 

[QuietIce]

is the CPU NB voltage and what you should be adjusting. Try +0.025 to start so you'll know what the board thinks is "normal". Once you figure that out it may need a different setting.
(I really dislike boards that do voltage options that way! )

The NB and SB voltage should be left on Auto.

I wouldn't change the PCIe speed at all. Generally, that's left at 100 MHz.