AMD Phenom X3 8450

[TDUEnthusiast]

Alright.. I need some help in overclocking this processor. My Mobo is a Gigabyte GA MA770 DS3 Rev 1.0.


Because I wanted to gain some extra performance, I decided to overclock my proc to prevent bottlenecking my gfx card, which is an ASUS 9800GT o/ced to 700 Core, 1750 Shader, And 1000 ( Memory ).

Without increasing voltage for my proc, it's able to be o/ced to 2.4GHz without any problem, and the sensor doesn't report much extra heat ( I'm using Everest Ultimate Edition ). NB voltage is not increased, the RAM voltage is at 1.90 ( from 1.80 ).

Here's the problem, when I try o/cing the proc to 2.5GHz, the comp would restart, but not accept the new changes and restarts again and resets everything to it's stock settings ( 2.1GHz ). There was once where I've managed to get it to 2.5GHz by increasing the volts to 1.28 and managed to get pass all the way into Windows. I'm able to do my usual stuffs, but at the end of the day, when I turn the comp off, and the next day it fails to boot up again and resets everything.


Kept trying to solve this by increasing voltage for the RAM, increasing volts for the proc, and etc, but it all does not seem to work. I went online looking for a solution but there wasn't much about the 8450. Then I found a web where they were talking about overclocking one of the Phenom X3 procs, and they were talking bout increasing the NB ( North Bridge Voltage ). I did that, increased it from 1.00 to 1.250V and changed the frequency to 2.5GHz ( 240 Bus Speed ) and it all works again.

And the next time I shut and turn it on again, it all fails again. What am I doing wrong here? Proc does not have a good overclock ability, or just the Mobo is not good? Or maybe it's my PSU? It's an Cooler Master PCAR 500 RS.

I would appreciate it if you guys can help me.

Thanks

 

[r_manic]

Hey OP, have you tried resetting the CMOS, then applying the settings that allowed you to boot at 2.5GHz? Maybe all your mobo needs is a clean slate to apply—and save—your settings properly.

 

[TDUEnthusiast]

Mmm... that might be a good idea. I will try it :3 Thanks. Still waitin' for more suggestions / solutions.

 

[TDUEnthusiast]

Aw.... Thanks for the info... I tried clearing the CMOS but doesn't help. So yeah, guess the proc is just lousy :3 Thanks.

 

[B-Unit]

When you get it to boot at 2.5, does it pass Prime95 stress testing, or only boot into Windows? If its prime stable with your settings, it sounds more like a motherboard/BIOS issue. Granted the PhenomI are not very good OCers, but that doesn't mean they WONT OC.

 

[TDUEnthusiast]

Well.. The time when I got it to 2.5 I could get into windows, go internet surfing, play games like COD4 and GTA IV and all the normal stuff.

 

[megamanx00]

1) Don't expect a high overclock with that CPU

2) Read the overclocking guides on AMD Phenoms.

3) Lower your HT multiplier and RAM speed manually in your BIOS. Also make sure to loosen all your RAM timings. Don't tighten them until you have reached your final CPU overclock to be sure that it's not your RAM holding you back.

 

[TDUEnthusiast]

I did try lowering the RAM speed to DDR2 667, while o/cing to 240 bus speed ( 2.5GHz ) makes it go back to the normal speed ( DDR2 800 ).

My stock timings are 5-5-5-18 for the ram. How much should I 'loosen' it to?