Making Lemonade: Overclocking Your Locked AMD Processor

[pauldh]

[citation][nom]tkgclimb[/nom]been waiting for this article for a while, I actually OC my black edition proccesor like this so I can have CnQ enabled.I do have one question thoughIf I OC by changing the reference clock and the CPU Voltage (board cpu voltage like in article because CnQ is enabled)But I don't touch the Ram settings, HT multiplier, NB multi, or any of their voltages. Their speed does go up do to the raising of the reference clock. IS this OK, (I know I might be able to reach A higher CPU overclock if I lower their settings, but I can't do to CPU temps right now).[/citation]
You likely won't get far without lowering the HT multiplier and keeping your memory frequency in check.

It's best to lower these while dialing in your CPU OC and then raise each back up individually to find the best usable settings. Don't push the HT Link Speed much over stock. To avoid potential data corruption, test any memory overclocks with a memtest 86+ boot CD.

 

[volks1470]

Well that sucks for me, My gigabyte MA790FXT-UD5P can't even keep a X3 720 BE stable at 3.7Ghz. I'm stuck at 3.6...grr...

 

[nachowarrior]

biggest mistake i made when building for an OC rig (not buying faster ram than required)...

 

[doron]

Great article! Especially useful for me - I have almost the same rig (gigabyte 790fxt) - and for some of your questions, I chose this "High end" motherboard in order to be able to crossfire on x16x16 and had to spend a little less on cpu and that's why i chose this 710.

One question though - All of the benchmarks mentioned here are running just fine on my overclocked cpu-nb-ram, except AOD "Stability test" which returns an error no matter what i do. Anyone have this problem?

 

[pauldh]

[citation][nom]volks1470[/nom]Well that sucks for me, My gigabyte MA790FXT-UD5P can't even keep a X3 720 BE stable at 3.7Ghz. I'm stuck at 3.6...grr...[/citation]
Could be the limit of your particular chip. The 720BE sample I received from AMD wasn't fully stable at 3.7Ghz either, while a 940BE on the same mobo was at almost 3.8GHz. See here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-cpu-overclock,2304-3.html

 

[salem80]

I have Phenom II 710 And i reach 3.3GHZ (unstable ) and 3.25GHZ(Stable)
Frequency ..
when i reach 3.25GHz i couldn't believe it specially it was on Stock Cooler and MOBO with SB700 ChipSet No ACC Feature .

 

[brisingamen]

this processor is also less than half the cost of an i7 for all those intel lovers, . . and can be run on a motherboard thats half the cost, and i bet, in any of the games, it gives over half the performance, so what? that processor is like 50 bucks.
even in a third of games the kuma dual core was par for par with an i7,

intel is a nasty company btw. . .

 

[brisingamen]

obviously i meant the kuma processor is around 50 bucks. not the triple core.

 

[enayet_redeemer]

I had no idea about that AMD CPUs with locked multiplier could be overclocked this far by tweaking of reference clock, CPU voltage, NB. The CPU gave a stable performance with a mobo very fexible on changing the values.

I also agreed that a review should be done with some value mobos which have limited capability of tweaking those values.

Nice article....

 

[pauldh]

[citation][nom]brisingamen[/nom]this processor is also less than half the cost of an i7 for all those intel lovers, . . and can be run on a motherboard thats half the cost, and i bet, in any of the games, it gives over half the performance, so what? that processor is like 50 bucks. even in a third of games the kuma dual core was par for par with an i7, intel is a nasty company btw. . .[/citation]
A Kuma has less performance and OC headroom compared to the X3 710, so it surely isn't going to keep up with i7 except in GPU limited situations. Example: GPU limited with HD4870 in the tops charts, but paired with the 4870X2 in the lower charts, the Kuma didn't fair so well. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-cpu-overclock,2304-7.html

 

[brisingamen]

ive personally used an i7920 overclocked past 4ghz next to a black edition x3 720 phenom2 watercooled and i think the i7's are all hype.

 

[rambo117]

great article! i think it would have been nice to see OCing results of the 710 and 810 though. i wish my MA790XUD4P mobo had that nifty clear CMOS button

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Saw the article, didnt read it til now, better late than never.
Excellent article, and nicely done, a far cry from firing squad heheh
And finally some better explanations on the how tos for the AMD chips, good to see it, and to see you writing Paul, excellent job

 

[pauldh]

Thanks JDJ, glad your read/liked it.

 

[pauldh]

[citation][nom]doron[/nom]Great article! Especially useful for me - I have almost the same rig (gigabyte 790fxt) - and for some of your questions, I chose this "High end" motherboard in order to be able to crossfire on x16x16 and had to spend a little less on cpu and that's why i chose this 710.One question though - All of the benchmarks mentioned here are running just fine on my overclocked cpu-nb-ram, except AOD "Stability test" which returns an error no matter what i do. Anyone have this problem?[/citation]
In some cases, the extra money may just go into a crossfire mobo period, such as a 790X or 790GX vs. a cheaper 770. Valid points that the $20 CPU savings could be put towards mobo features or better graphics.

On the AOD stability test issue, just use Prime95 small FFT instead. I've found P95 is a more stressful test that will push cpu temps higher. One PII passed an hour of the AOD stability test at 3.9GHz, but failed Prime 95 at 3.8 GHz and a higher temp.

 

[Guest]

OK, I've just found another great reason to boycott Intel:

http://thespec.com/News/Business/article/626011


Apparently Intel wants to be the thought police, and enforce propaganda and quell political dissent. The point of freedom is to allow you to see all information, and decide what is correct on your own, not to have Intel and the CIA tell you what to think. If somebody can find an instance where AMD has done similar, I will eat my hat.

PS: Phenom II performs well enough for anybody's needs.

 

[Guest]

Right, and 512kb of memory should be enough for anyone.

 

[kalmquist]

What's the point of using a high-end mobo to overclock a mainstream/value cpu?

In my case, it's because I don't really know how much CPU power I'll want a few years from now. So I bought a good quality motherboard and a CPU that is fast enough for my current needs. A few years from now, I may upgrade the CPU, but I'll keep the motherboard.


So I bought a good quality motherboard, with the intention of keeping it for a long time.
, and a CPU relatively inexpensive CPU. A couple of years from now, I may decide to upgrade the CPU, but I'll keep the motherboard.

 

[kerdika]

Motherboards are not the place to skimp, than and psu's because if either of these fail it could cost you your entire setup. great article!