How I overclocked my Athlon II X3 445 Rana/Biostar A885G+

[hamlet_jones]

How I overclocked my Athlon II X3 445 Rana/Biostar A885G+

Maybe this will help someone:

This is my first overclock. I couldn't figure out the bios on my BioStar A885G+;
every tiny change I made required me to clear the cmos. I finally broke down
and installed AMD OverDrive.


In newbie mode, I put the slider all the way over, for a whopping
3177 MHz overclock. Yawn.

On the second try, I used the "AUTOCLOCK" button, & it got me to 3484 MHz.
Not bad, but I thought it was rather weak, as I was hoping for at least 3500.

I then got the idea to change the voltage in the bios, as AOD was only using
1.4v on V-core. In the bios, I increased the Vcore by one step, .05v.
When I rebooted and loaded AOD, this voltage increase was not displayed
in AutoClock. It was as if the program didn't see the change I made in the
bios, although, I was prepared that it was displayed in error, or that AOD
jerked with my bios setting, knocking off my voltage increase. Anyway, In CPUID,
the voltage increase was regestering, so who knows.

So, I initiated AutoClock, and waited, monitering temps on CHM, as AOD temps
registered at least 10c lower that what made sense. Let me add I'm using aftermarket
CPU cooler, (MasterCooler) & Artic Silver 5.

Sure enough, with 1.46v-core, AOD had the stability to get me over the hump,
and I'm now at 3538 MHz. Temps on CPUID Hardware Monitor read 28c right now,
and no more than 46c when running the AOD stability test.

After this last AOD AutoClock run, I changed the V-Core back to back to stock, 1.4v.
It's running stable, so we'll see. I'd still like to get at least 3700 MHz, but who knows
if my Rana has the legs for that.


I'm using AData, 2x2, 1600, 9-9-9-9 24.
This is all on a Win7 64bit new install.
I couldn't unlock to a 4-core, but I'd be
happy enough if I could just get to 3700 on
air. I have no idea how to change memory timings,
or any of that.

Let me know what I should try next. I might try bumping the vcore
up a little more, and rerun AOD. It's the only trick I have right now.

If I could figure out how to read all the data on AOD, I'd ultimately
like to transplant those settings into the bios, and be rid of AOD.


Cheers, hopes this helps someone. A big thanks to everyone who helped me in getting this far
on my new build.

 

[DDRXT23]

I have the same processor and a Biostar TA880GB+ motherboard. Yours might have similar BIOS features.

First of all, I'd recommend you do all overclocking in BIOS instead of AOD and use manual settings instead of any BIOS 'auto overclocking'.

These are the settings I used to get my Athlon II X3 445 to 3.9GHz with 6MB L3 cache.

Advanced Tab
CPU Configuration
Cool N Quiet [Disabled]
Advanced Clock Calibration [Auto] (Unlocks extra cores/cache)
Core Leveling [Manual]
- Core 0 [Enabled by default]
- Core 1 [Disabled] (This core was defective)
- Core 2 [Enabled]
- Core 3 [Enabled]

SmartFan - [Disabled]

Power Configuration
- ACPI Version [ACPI v2.0] (If I set it to ACPI v3.0 my system became unstable.)

T-Series Tab
CPU/HT Ref Clock [252]
Spread Spectrum [Disabled]

Over Voltage Config
- CPU Vcore [+0.150V] (= 1.467V to 1.500V)
- CPU-NB [Auto]
- Memory [1.55V]
- NB [1.20V]
- HT [1.25V]

CPU FID/VID Control
- Custom P-States [Enabled]
- Core FID [x15.5] (15.5 x 252 CPU/HT Ref Clock = 3906MHz)
- Core VID [1.3000V]
- Core DID [Divided by 1]
- NB VID [1.2375V]
- NB FID [2000MHz] (x10 multiplier, 252 x 10 = 2520MHz CPU-NB)

- Hyper Transport
- HT Link Speed [1.8GHz] (9x multiplier, 252 x 9 = 2268 MHz HT Link)
- HT Link Width [Auto]

DRAM Timing Config
- MemClock Mode [Manual]
- MemClock Value [DDR3-1066] (i.e. 8:3 ratio, 252 * 8/3 = 672 or DDR3-1344)
- DRAM Timing Mode [Both] (Use your rated RAM timings that coordinate with its speed. My RAM is 2 x 2GB Mushkin DDR3-1333 9,9,9,24)
- CAS Latency (CL) [9]
- 2T Command [1T]
- TRCD [9]
- TRP [9]
- tRTP [5]
- TRAS [24]
- TRC [33]
- tWR [10]
- TRRD [4]
- tWTR [5]
- tRFC0 to tRFC3 [Auto]

With those settings, my system was 24+ hours stable in Prime95 blend test, and passed IntelBurnTest 50 times max stress level.

For cooling, I use the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 plus and max load temp is 48C

I can reach 4.0GHz stable, but the added voltage and heat with minimal performance gains isn't worth it.

Anyway, good luck OC'ing

 

[hamlet_jones]

Thank you! That's a really sweet OC. Using the bios for OC is my next project. Your values will help me get a good start. Will post back when I get more data.

 

[hamlet_jones]

I realize this thread is 6 months old. I had to put this OC on hold as life intercedes. Much thanks to DDRXT23 for sharing
experience OCing their Biostar mb.

Using DDRXT23's OC as a guide, I attempted an OC from within the BIOS, but nothing I tried was working. Ultimately, under the ADVANCED/CPU Configuration-tab, enabling ACC (Advanced Clock Calibration) resulted in a failure to boot, and nessesitated clearing the CMOS and resetting defaults. I disabled SmartFan, and ACPI, and a few other things in different combinations, but
the sole item that was causing boot-failure was ticking ACC. I also discovered while using BIOS defaults, that punching F4 during
boot also caused failure. No cores unlocked, no extra cache. My BIOS was up-to-date the last time I checked.

I installed OVERDRIVE again, and this time, was able to get an OC of 3482GHz with the aid of AMD's autopilot. I had to back down a little to achieve that figure, stable in prime95, with no artifacts or lockups in my games.

I don't know if it is my RANA or my BIOSTAR that's giving me the trouble. Admittedly, this version of MB is not an enthusiast model. Still, enabling ACC shouldn't cause a problem just by itself if I'm not actually touching anything else within the BIOS...?

 

[Motopsychojdn]

it will if you are unlocking a core thats faulty....
😛
for brags btw, 3484 is close enough to call 3.5Ghz
Moto

 

[hamlet_jones]

Thanks for the brags! F4 is dicey that way. I'd like to OC without fooling with the bad core. I'm not sure if I can touch the good cores without first enabling ACC...

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Thats what acc does, if you have a 710 or newer chipset, it allows you to access 'hidden' cores,
but people aften forget that they could have been hidden becaue they are faulty or not quite up to spec,
My asRock plate has an Ez overclock thing in bios, maybe your board has?
if not, just use the overdrivel, it seems to be setting you ok, on mine it limited me to a 3.2 O/c, manually I get 3.5 on a dodgy psu 😛
Moto

 

[hamlet_jones]

I wish I went with the ASRock, no easy OC with biostar, even with 710, which I made sure it had before I bought it. It's interesting that Overdrive can do my OC, but no touching it with with manual settings. Nice, but it limits my monkey-fun. I am now doubtful about this board supporting core-multiplier changes with a black edition processor. At $120, the 955 quad is cheep and seductive.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

I'd be more tempted to try the existing chip in a better board tbh,
and its a slightly cheaper option, putting the 955 in there would be akin to pirelli slicks on a mini metro
Moto

 

[hamlet_jones]

Thanks, you are correct, I forget these things. Of course, with a new MO, I'd need to reload my OS, so I might wait, and enjoy my Overdrive OC in the meanwhile. +.4 bibs is noticeable.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

You may get lucky and just have to re-activate windows,
but yes, bask in the glow for now of what you HAVE accomplished, you earned it, enjoy it
Moto