AMD 965BE / 770-C45 Overclock

[teh187]

Hi all fairly new member here. I know there are many threads created already on how to do a general overclock on amd, etc. However the motherboard i have isn't known very well to overclock that good due do its mosfets overheating/or something like that.

Its a MSI 770-C45. My graphics card will come next week so untill then i cannot do anything but would like to hear what you have to say for now. I have a amd 965 and 8gb of corsair lp ram. How should i go about doing a 'light' overclock on stock cooling? If its a must then i will go for an artic 7 rev 2 or similar.

Thanks

 

[teh187]

Here is a link where they overclocked a 965 with this board, but its is a little much to take in and a little complicated, remember im on air cooling at the moment. Thanks.
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=835086

 

[abegnale]

For me, I disabled CnQ and other power saver features and just used Phenom Msr Tweaker. I made two states (low state, 2d desktop and high state 3d, games, etc) and just didn't bother with the CnQ multi-stepping/power phases.

Since you're using a BE, I'd suggest setting memory timing loosely first to make sure that the memory isn't going to be a factor when you push your CPU. Try staying at 2000 NB/HT first and mess with it later on, you want to get your Max CPU clock first.

Just keep the voltage stock first, and then try raising the multiplier in +1 increments and run your benchmarks/stress tests. rinse and repeat until it comes to a point you freeze (note temps on your CPU though!).

Once you have an idea how high you can clock the CPU, get into the BIOS and try tightening the memory settings until you freeze. When you do, try upping the NB voltage and try running your tests again. If it still freezes, either back down on memory timings or up the NB a little more to see if it just needs more voltage. The farthest I went with my NB was 1.35.

When done dialing in memory timing, try upping NB/HT from 2000 to 2200 to 2400 and see which doesn't freeze. Generally, anywhere between 2000-2400 is good. At this point, when you run benches, you might want to take down notes/results so you have comparison as to which NB/HT nets you the better result.

HTH

 

[teh187]

For me, I disabled CnQ and other power saver features and just used Phenom Msr Tweaker. I made two states (low state, 2d desktop and high state 3d, games, etc) and just didn't bother with the CnQ multi-stepping/power phases.

Since you're using a BE, I'd suggest setting memory timing loosely first to make sure that the memory isn't going to be a factor when you push your CPU. Try staying at 2000 NB/HT first and mess with it later on, you want to get your Max CPU clock first.

Just keep the voltage stock first, and then try raising the multiplier in +1 increments and run your benchmarks/stress tests. rinse and repeat until it comes to a point you freeze (note temps on your CPU though!).

Once you have an idea how high you can clock the CPU, get into the BIOS and try tightening the memory settings until you freeze. When you do, try upping the NB voltage and try running your tests again. If it still freezes, either back down on memory timings or up the NB a little more to see if it just needs more voltage. The farthest I went with my NB was 1.35.

When done dialing in memory timing, try upping NB/HT from 2000 to 2200 to 2400 and see which doesn't freeze. Generally, anywhere between 2000-2400 is good. At this point, when you run benches, you might want to take down notes/results so you have comparison as to which NB/HT nets you the better result.

HTH

I've been at 3.8 ghz for the past few days on an arctic freezing 7 rev 2, just below auto voltage which is about 1.47/1.46 i believe, (this msi board has odd rounding numbers) anyway as you mentioned there may be some lock ups which i did experience also during prime, as for tightening the timings its on the default of 9 9 9 24 / 2t at the moment. So i should raise the ht to 2200 first? Thanks..

 

[abegnale]

OK, we're both at 3.8 (I'm on a 955 btw). For reference, I'm at 19x200, CPU VID 1.375 NB VID 1.200. My NB is at 2400 and HT at 2000 (I tried HT at 2200 and 2400 but I did'nt get any improvement on benches so I left it at 2000).

Try upping NB to 2200 then eventually to 2400 but drop the voltage on the CPU. 1.45 got me to 4.1 so you might want to try dropping it down until it reads 1.4, that way, you have some breathing room in terms of temperature.

 

[teh187]

OK, we're both at 3.8 (I'm on a 955 btw). For reference, I'm at 19x200, CPU VID 1.375 NB VID 1.200. My NB is at 2400 and HT at 2000 (I tried HT at 2200 and 2400 but I did'nt get any improvement on benches so I left it at 2000).

Try upping NB to 2200 then eventually to 2400 but drop the voltage on the CPU. 1.45 got me to 4.1 so you might want to try dropping it down until it reads 1.4, that way, you have some breathing room in terms of temperature.

Thanks, i will try that soon and see how it goes, i did up the NB earlier on to 2200 but prime95 just freaks out when i do that, instantly failed on one of (or two) the cores. Also had a few blue screens. Perhaps its because i didnt raise the nb voltage. Im surprised you can have your voltage so low while mines has been all the way up at 1.46, i did have it around 1.375/1.3 but put it back a few days ago as i thought that was the reason why i was failing with prime95.

 

[abegnale]

Prime is merciless Try something else. I had fails on Prime. Try a LinX run instead. 5 pass with half your total system memory should do after which try using the PC as you would normally do. Try 1.4 CPU, 1.3 NB and see if it'll pass. It's just a matter of dialing the settings in.

Drop your mem speed to 1333 8-8-8-24-2T and then try slamming it with Prime afterwards. I used to be a purist and wouldn't accept my OC settings if it didn't pass Prime but tuning it with LinX is much faster and issues show up quicker. Usually dropping down to 1333 on mem relieves the pressure Prime exerts on the CPU.

 

[teh187]

Prime is merciless Try something else. I had fails on Prime. Try a LinX run instead. 5 pass with half your total system memory should do after which try using the PC as you would normally do. Try 1.4 CPU, 1.3 NB and see if it'll pass. It's just a matter of dialing the settings in.

Drop your mem speed to 1333 8-8-8-24-2T and then try slamming it with Prime afterwards. I used to be a purist and wouldn't accept my OC settings if it didn't pass Prime but tuning it with LinX is much faster and issues show up quicker. Usually dropping down to 1333 on mem relieves the pressure Prime exerts on the CPU.

Thats known as 'tightening' up the timings right? i have some corsair lp vengance ram timings currently set to 9-9-9-24-2T, (stock).. should it handle it ok

 

[teh187]

got this after 21 seconds or so =/
i did 1.375 vid and nv vid 1.2.... also tried other onc suggested with was 1.4cpu/1.3nb, failed also kept crashing any application i decided to open, maybe my motherboard is just complete rubbish? cool and quiet is enabled but should be the reason its failing right

 

[abegnale]

Prime is merciless Try something else. I had fails on Prime. Try a LinX run instead. 5 pass with half your total system memory should do after which try using the PC as you would normally do. Try 1.4 CPU, 1.3 NB and see if it'll pass. It's just a matter of dialing the settings in.

Drop your mem speed to 1333 8-8-8-24-2T and then try slamming it with Prime afterwards. I used to be a purist and wouldn't accept my OC settings if it didn't pass Prime but tuning it with LinX is much faster and issues show up quicker. Usually dropping down to 1333 on mem relieves the pressure Prime exerts on the CPU.

Thats known as 'tightening' up the timings right? i have some corsair lp vengance ram timings currently set to 9-9-9-24-2T, (stock).. should it handle it ok

got this after 21 seconds or so =/
i did 1.375 vid and nv vid 1.2.... also tried other onc suggested with was 1.4cpu/1.3nb, failed also kept crashing any application i decided to open, maybe my motherboard is just complete rubbish? cool and quiet is enabled but should be the reason its failing right

Running too hot man, max temp 63 on Core Temp. Back off 3.8. Try 3.7 first with 1.4/1.3 and mem speed at 1333 9-9-9-24 just for testing.

Disable CnQ and any other power saver feature like EIST or others you see on the BIOS. I'd really suggest Phenom Msr Tweaker having to manage your pstates.

Just a reminder, dial things in one at a time I had a very bad habit of tweaking everything on the BIOS and I ended up with a lot of guesswork. Let's focus on the CPU first.

*I wouldn't say the motherboard is rubbish, it's really just a matter of getting the balance of settings for everything*

 

[teh187]

Ok thanks alot i will start again tommorrow, ive restarted my computer about 20-30 times today trying different things with prime crashing on me (ive got linx now also)..lol. i just assumed it was the board as its reviews said its vrms overheat easily (which doesnt sound good) but im willing to risk it for a 3.8 which i would be happy with, im at 3.8 now on auto volt but like you said temps are very high. I have a noctua cooler coming soon hopefully which should make that a little better

 

[abegnale]

Yes, i know the drill bro... boot to BIOS - dial settings - boot to OS - test - reboot

If it's worth anything, I'm only on a Deep Cool Ice Blade Pro V1 but I lapped both the CPU and HSF. Gives you a lot more room for temps.

Don't rush it, you'll get the settings right; just one at a time....

For voltage, try manually setting it until it reads 1.4250? That should give you a little more temp overhead. Please don't run it over 60C.

 

[teh187]

Yes, i know the drill bro... boot to BIOS - dial settings - boot to OS - test - reboot

If it's worth anything, I'm only on a Deep Cool Ice Blade Pro V1 but I lapped both the CPU and HSF. Gives you a lot more room for temps.

Don't rush it, you'll get the settings right; just one at a time....

For voltage, try manually setting it until it reads 1.4250? That should give you a little more temp overhead. Please don't run it over 60C.

Hi; tried what you said and put voltage to 1.429.. (mobo doesnt do 1.4250)...i did not touch the nb yet, i was unsure which to change as ive read many threads and it seems many people confuse cpu nb voltage with nb voltage so that confused me even more. so i just would like to confirm which you were referring to

Anyway i ran Linx and i was surprised its probabally the first test ive passed..usually would fail within seconds, anyway still a while to go, still the temps are a problem as you mentioned it actually reached 70 ish this time =/

Here are my existing settings:
ram on default timings 9 9 9 24 2t / 1333 mhz as you said
1.429 cpu voltage
nb and rest = auto
Like you said lower cpu, so it is at 3.7ghz now with cool and quiet also turned off.

Hopefully i can make some progress somehow thanks

 

[teh187]

Just another update, after some more reading of forum posts it seems its the cpu nb you were referring to so i bravely took the risk... Put it to just under 1.3v as you said (1.295 ish). This time got to 70 degrees though, however it still passed linx; What steps to take now..
Thanks.

 

[abegnale]

Awesome, but why 20 runs? I only did 5 with half the total system memory. I doubt a game slams the CPU that hard

Try:
CPU VID 1.41250 then retest with LinX; if good, then keep that setting. If not, revert to old setting.
Then...
NB VID 1.300 and up the NB clock to 2400. Retest with LinX, if good, then keep that setting. If not, back down to 2200, and retest. If good at 2200, keep that setting. If not, go back to 2000. It's only an small + in performance upping the NB Clock from 2000 to 2400.

When all that's done, try setting memory to 1600 8-8-8-24-2T; run LinX then see if it works. If it chokes, set to 1333 7-7-7-21-2T. If it still fails, go back to 1333 8-8-8-24-2T. BTW, I get better benches at 1333 8-8-8-24-2T vs setting it at 1600 9-9-9-27-2T and 1600 9-9-9-27-1T. Must be so much pressure on the CPU IMC that's why it keeps bogging down.

With better cooling (or lapping) you can get to 3.8, but getting to 3.9 onwards require a lot more voltage than necessary. For reference, I was gaming a bit and my max was 48C (ambient 28C). CPU+HSF lapped. Are you using the stock cooler?

 

[teh187]

Awesome, but why 20 runs? I only did 5 with half the total system memory. I doubt a game slams the CPU that hard

Try:
CPU VID 1.41250 then retest with LinX; if good, then keep that setting. If not, revert to old setting.
Then...
NB VID 1.300 and up the NB clock to 2400. Retest with LinX, if good, then keep that setting. If not, back down to 2200, and retest. If good at 2200, keep that setting. If not, go back to 2000. It's only an small + in performance upping the NB Clock from 2000 to 2400.

When all that's done, try setting memory to 1600 8-8-8-24-2T; run LinX then see if it works. If it chokes, set to 1333 7-7-7-21-2T. If it still fails, go back to 1333 8-8-8-24-2T. BTW, I get better benches at 1333 8-8-8-24-2T vs setting it at 1600 9-9-9-27-2T and 1600 9-9-9-27-1T. Must be so much pressure on the CPU IMC that's why it keeps bogging down.

With better cooling (or lapping) you can get to 3.8, but getting to 3.9 onwards require a lot more voltage than necessary. For reference, I was gaming a bit and my max was 48C (ambient 28C). CPU+HSF lapped. Are you using the stock cooler?

Great, will try that once im home; and you would think im on stock cooling right because of my ridiculous temps, lol. Im using an arctic freezer 7 rev 2 (cheap), thoughit has many decent/good reviews for its price. Id like to be at 3.8 stable perm / 3.9 i wouldnt mind but only if it will remain stable. Like you mentioned earlier a game may not slam the cpu hard but now and again i do use sony vegas for video rendering, would that get things a bit too heated? Rendering only takes a few hours max but still curious.

Oh and about the ram being downed to 1333, is that how you have yours now? Although benchmarks may be better for you isnt actual application performance slower due to the lower mhz?

Thanks

 

[abegnale]

Awesome, but why 20 runs? I only did 5 with half the total system memory. I doubt a game slams the CPU that hard

Try:
CPU VID 1.41250 then retest with LinX; if good, then keep that setting. If not, revert to old setting.
Then...
NB VID 1.300 and up the NB clock to 2400. Retest with LinX, if good, then keep that setting. If not, back down to 2200, and retest. If good at 2200, keep that setting. If not, go back to 2000. It's only an small + in performance upping the NB Clock from 2000 to 2400.

When all that's done, try setting memory to 1600 8-8-8-24-2T; run LinX then see if it works. If it chokes, set to 1333 7-7-7-21-2T. If it still fails, go back to 1333 8-8-8-24-2T. BTW, I get better benches at 1333 8-8-8-24-2T vs setting it at 1600 9-9-9-27-2T and 1600 9-9-9-27-1T. Must be so much pressure on the CPU IMC that's why it keeps bogging down.

With better cooling (or lapping) you can get to 3.8, but getting to 3.9 onwards require a lot more voltage than necessary. For reference, I was gaming a bit and my max was 48C (ambient 28C). CPU+HSF lapped. Are you using the stock cooler?

Great, will try that once im home; and you would think im on stock cooling right because of my ridiculous temps, lol. Im using an arctic freezer 7 rev 2 (cheap), thoughit has many decent/good reviews for its price. Id like to be at 3.8 stable perm / 3.9 i wouldnt mind but only if it will remain stable. Like you mentioned earlier a game may not slam the cpu hard but now and again i do use sony vegas for video rendering, would that get things a bit too heated? Rendering only takes a few hours max but still curious.

Oh and about the ram being downed to 1333, is that how you have yours now? Although benchmarks may be better for you isnt actual application performance slower due to the lower mhz?

Thanks

RE: HSF - I'd have it lapped, or if you can, lap it yourself. It's a very easy process. It just takes a little time (I've done 4 lappings over the course of me upgrading and switching CPUs/builds and I've averaged around 2 hours doing it).

Initially, I wanted to stay at absolute max I could with the CPU but it's such an effort to keep 4.0GHz let alone 4.1... I had to settle at a balance where my CPU VID was at 1.4 or below (to keep temps and power draw down) and at a good OC speed. I settled for 3.8 with 1.3750 CPU VID (which works very well no matter what I do on the PC).

I'm not familiar with the CPU usage on Sony Vegas as the only taxing stuff I do is game and bench (and I work through a virtual machine if that's taxing at all - on memory perhaps). Check to see if your CPU doesn't flake at 3.7 with Sony Vegas (and watch the temps).

For mem speeds, I only use game benches so whichever nets me the best FPS works for me. I'm not interested in theoretical performance so I quit bencing synthetics. I know it sounds like a downgrade but our CPU is capped at 1333 (natively on the memory controller) and it was designed to run optimally at 1333. I know it works at 1600, and I've ran it at 1600 but when I tried 1333 and game-benched, there was a small improvement so since then, I stuck with 1333.

Just to test, pull the side panels out and see if the temps improve while stress testing?

 

[teh187]

Awesome, but why 20 runs? I only did 5 with half the total system memory. I doubt a game slams the CPU that hard

Try:
CPU VID 1.41250 then retest with LinX; if good, then keep that setting. If not, revert to old setting.
Then...
NB VID 1.300 and up the NB clock to 2400. Retest with LinX, if good, then keep that setting. If not, back down to 2200, and retest. If good at 2200, keep that setting. If not, go back to 2000. It's only an small + in performance upping the NB Clock from 2000 to 2400.

When all that's done, try setting memory to 1600 8-8-8-24-2T; run LinX then see if it works. If it chokes, set to 1333 7-7-7-21-2T. If it still fails, go back to 1333 8-8-8-24-2T. BTW, I get better benches at 1333 8-8-8-24-2T vs setting it at 1600 9-9-9-27-2T and 1600 9-9-9-27-1T. Must be so much pressure on the CPU IMC that's why it keeps bogging down.

With better cooling (or lapping) you can get to 3.8, but getting to 3.9 onwards require a lot more voltage than necessary. For reference, I was gaming a bit and my max was 48C (ambient 28C). CPU+HSF lapped. Are you using the stock cooler?

Great, will try that once im home; and you would think im on stock cooling right because of my ridiculous temps, lol. Im using an arctic freezer 7 rev 2 (cheap), thoughit has many decent/good reviews for its price. Id like to be at 3.8 stable perm / 3.9 i wouldnt mind but only if it will remain stable. Like you mentioned earlier a game may not slam the cpu hard but now and again i do use sony vegas for video rendering, would that get things a bit too heated? Rendering only takes a few hours max but still curious.

Oh and about the ram being downed to 1333, is that how you have yours now? Although benchmarks may be better for you isnt actual application performance slower due to the lower mhz?

Thanks

RE: HSF - I'd have it lapped, or if you can, lap it yourself. It's a very easy process. It just takes a little time (I've done 4 lappings over the course of me upgrading and switching CPUs/builds and I've averaged around 2 hours doing it).

Initially, I wanted to stay at absolute max I could with the CPU but it's such an effort to keep 4.0GHz let alone 4.1... I had to settle at a balance where my CPU VID was at 1.4 or below (to keep temps and power draw down) and at a good OC speed. I settled for 3.8 with 1.3750 CPU VID (which works very well no matter what I do on the PC).

I'm not familiar with the CPU usage on Sony Vegas as the only taxing stuff I do is game and bench (and I work through a virtual machine if that's taxing at all - on memory perhaps). Check to see if your CPU doesn't flake at 3.7 with Sony Vegas (and watch the temps).

For mem speeds, I only use game benches so whichever nets me the best FPS works for me. I'm not interested in theoretical performance so I quit bencing synthetics. I know it sounds like a downgrade but our CPU is capped at 1333 (natively on the memory controller) and it was designed to run optimally at 1333. I know it works at 1600, and I've ran it at 1600 but when I tried 1333 and game-benched, there was a small improvement so since then, I stuck with 1333.

Just to test, pull the side panels out and see if the temps improve while stress testing?

Changes i have done so far...

1.412v - cpu voltage (may be a few 0.005/10's under or over)
1.3b - cpu nb
nb speed - 2200 mhz
ram at 1600 seems to freak out any tests, so i've got it at 1333mhz 7-7-7-24-2T at the moment.

Still running at same temps but seems to be stable? I ran 5 passes of linx like you mentioned a few posts ago. It passed for 5. Then decided to run it again for the full linx test and passed again. Below is a screenshot of what i did earlier with these settings i have now

So basically all i need now is to get my temps lower?

Thanks, appreciate the help!

 

[teh187]

Quick Update: Few crashes on gta iv which never used to happen before, so what i've done is put nb back to 2000 (i tried both 2200 and 2400). Ram timings are 1333 7-7-7-21-2t now from 1333 8-8-8-24-2t. Will run again later and see how gta goes if still not stable, not sure what to do.

 

[abegnale]

Sorry double posted.

Hm, crashed. Keep NB and HT at 2000. Mem at 1333, 8-8-8-24-2T sounds good.

How are the temps on GTA?

 

[teh187]

Sorry double posted.

Hm, crashed. Keep NB and HT at 2000. Mem at 1333, 8-8-8-24-2T sounds good.

How are the temps on GTA?

Ok, looks like i got my hopes up a little too soon. GTA is now constantly crashing, well it plays fine (actually only played for about 20 seconds), but the second i minimize out of it, and go back in to it, the windows message comes up saying 'gtaiv has now stopped working' something like that. im almost certain that did not happen before, Tried both ram timings 1333 7-7-7-21 and 8-8-8-24, no difference in terms of that. Despite this im passing the linx tests though. And should add last night 8 hours of prime 95 was passed (before bumping up northbridge cpu voltage) However i dont think its the cpu nb thats causing gta to lock up like that?

 

[abegnale]

Sorry double posted.

Hm, crashed. Keep NB and HT at 2000. Mem at 1333, 8-8-8-24-2T sounds good.

How are the temps on GTA?

Ok, looks like i got my hopes up a little too soon. GTA is now constantly crashing, well it plays fine but the second i minimize out of it, and go back in to it, the windows message comes up saying 'gtaiv has now stopped working' something like that. im almost certain that did not happen before, Tried both ram timings 1333 7-7-7-21 and 8-8-8-24, no difference in terms of that. Despite this im passing the linx tests though. And should add last night 8 hours of prime 95 was passed (before bumping up northbridge cpu voltage) However i dont think its the cpu nb thats causing gta to lock up like that?

Hm, go 1333 9-9-9-27-2T first and see. GTA might be sensitive to memory flukes but Prime ran for 8 hours so

It should be okay already... How about other programs you use? everything ok?

 

[teh187]

Sorry double posted.

Hm, crashed. Keep NB and HT at 2000. Mem at 1333, 8-8-8-24-2T sounds good.

How are the temps on GTA?

Ok, looks like i got my hopes up a little too soon. GTA is now constantly crashing, well it plays fine but the second i minimize out of it, and go back in to it, the windows message comes up saying 'gtaiv has now stopped working' something like that. im almost certain that did not happen before, Tried both ram timings 1333 7-7-7-21 and 8-8-8-24, no difference in terms of that. Despite this im passing the linx tests though. And should add last night 8 hours of prime 95 was passed (before bumping up northbridge cpu voltage) However i dont think its the cpu nb thats causing gta to lock up like that?

Hm, go 1333 9-9-9-27-2T first and see. GTA might be sensitive to memory flukes but Prime ran for 8 hours so

It should be okay already... How about other programs you use? everything ok?

Gta iv does have a rep for having horrible coding for pc, not sure if thats the reason though. Yes all other applications seem to be working fine, well all i use is google chrome and a media player for music so not much to test by, but so far it has been running fine for the past few hours. Ill change those ram timings now. thanks.

Yes prime ran last night, ill run it again perhaps overnight

 

[teh187]

Ok it crashed again, do you think its my cpu voltage /cpu nb volt? Ive lowered the nb from 1.3 to about 1.28 im not sure if it would make any difference, or perhaps the cpu needs more voltage? its already at 1.4v

edit: nope, still same problem with lower nb volt at 1.28

 

[abegnale]

Ok it crashed again, do you think its my cpu voltage /cpu nb volt? Ive lowered the nb from 1.3 to about 1.28 im not sure if it would make any difference, or perhaps the cpu needs more voltage? its already at 1.4v

edit: nope, still same problem with lower nb volt at 1.28

Blech... try CPU 1.4375~1.4500V, NB 1.3V (NB clock 2000), mem at 1333 9-9-9-27-2T 1.55V.

Let's see if we can get away with that OR try reinstalling the game (but please back up your save file, just to be sure).

Try Sony Vegas and see if it conks out as well?