Need help overclocking my AMD Phenom ii x4 965 BE

[joelcen52]

So i am having a tiny bit of a difficulty overclocking my AMD Phenom ii 3.4ghz x4 965 processor. Can anyone suggest several tweaking options so i can get 3.4ghz bumped up to a 3.8ghz OC?

Here are my specs:
CPU- AMD Phenom ii 3.4ghz 965
MOBO- ASUS M4A88T-V EVO/USB3
RAM- 16 GB (4x4) G-SKILL RAM 1333 (a little unnecessary i know..)
GRPHX CARD- XFX RADEON HD6870 1GB 256-BIT
CPU COOLER- 120mm ZALMAN CNPS9900ALED with RC33P 800rpm ~ 1,300rpm

Please help.

 

[ocmusicjunkie]

With your board it should be no problem leaving all the default settings in place, other than the multiplier for the CPU. If you hit delete and go into BIOS during startup, just enter "19"x for the CPU multiplier value and try leaving the rest alone. I would say there is a 90% chance that will be all you need to do. If you have any bumps along the way for whatever reason, I can go into far more detail, but short and simple should be all you need for now. Let me know if you have a more specific issue I'm missing. Cheers!

 

[joelcen52]

With your board it should be no problem leaving all the default settings in place, other than the multiplier for the CPU. If you hit delete and go into BIOS during startup, just enter "19"x for the CPU multiplier value and try leaving the rest alone. I would say there is a 90% chance that will be all you need to do. If you have any bumps along the way for whatever reason, I can go into far more detail, but short and simple should be all you need for now. Let me know if you have a more specific issue I'm missing. Cheers!

i see. that sounds really simple, at least i know how to do that lol. but thats really all i have to do? i also hear of other variables such as northbridge and voltage. should i also run a Prime95 stress test? i just want to make sure i have perfectly stable system that will last me awhile. and what if i wanted to jump to 4.0ghz?? i hear of people accomplishing that. sorry for pestering. im barely starting to get into overclocking. lol

 

[holdingholder]

with Phenom cpu's every one is different so you really have to change the settings incrementally and test it for yourself. I would start with the multiplier like junkie said and then slightly raise the northbridge ratio by 5% or so. It really is a question of how far you want to take it if you want to take it but there is no set in stone way to overclock these chips.

 

[ocmusicjunkie]

i see. that sounds really simple, at least i know how to do that lol. but thats really all i have to do? i also hear of other variables such as northbridge and voltage. should i also run a Prime95 stress test? i just want to make sure i have perfectly stable system that will last me awhile. and what if i wanted to jump to 4.0ghz?? i hear of people accomplishing that. sorry for pestering. im barely starting to get into overclocking. lol

Haha, I knew that you'd probably have a few follow-up questions after I gave that simple of answer. I'll take them on one at a time.

Our 965's on a good motherboard with a stable power supply will easily hit 3.8ghz with only the adjustment to the multiplier. Your board is very solid with 8+2 power phasing (I know that's probably unfamiliar, but 3+1 or 4+2 is typical; the more phases, generally speaking the better OC ability). I would be curious what model power supply you are using. The only snag I can see is if you have some unit that's known to cause lots of ripple in the voltage delivery.

The NB and voltages are definitely worthwhile areas to explore, but they aren't really issues that need manual tuning to achieve a CPU overclock at the scale you are considering. There is a point at which the CPU needs to be balanced with optimal NB, HT, and RAM speeds to allow stability. There is also a point at which the auto settings won't be effective at knowing how to properly dial in the voltages for a given speed. That would generally start to become a thought no sooner than 4ghz though. Those of us who tinker around with pushing to 4.2ghz or even 4.5ghz know that there are at least a dozen settings to get just right before you have a stable system. You should just start out seeing how you feel about performance at 3.8 for now. Along the way you'll start picking up enough knowledge on your own to answer a lot of the questions you'd have right now if trying to push further.

I personally use OCCT version 4.3.2 for stability testing. Programming the CPU test for 2 hours and setting a maximum temp of 60c in the preference tab for the CPU and each core is a good start. You can then just let it run and know it'll stop if the heat starts to approach the 62c danger area. If you don't throw an error in 2 hours there, it's as stable a you could possibly need.

 

[joelcen52]

Haha, I knew that you'd probably have a few follow-up questions after I gave that simple of answer. I'll take them on one at a time.

Our 965's on a good motherboard with a stable power supply will easily hit 3.8ghz with only the adjustment to the multiplier. Your board is very solid with 8+2 power phasing (I know that's probably unfamiliar, but 3+1 or 4+2 is typical; the more phases, generally speaking the better OC ability). I would be curious what model power supply you are using. The only snag I can see is if you have some unit that's known to cause lots of ripple in the voltage delivery.

The NB and voltages are definitely worthwhile areas to explore, but they aren't really issues that need manual tuning to achieve a CPU overclock at the scale you are considering. There is a point at which the CPU needs to be balanced with optimal NB, HT, and RAM speeds to allow stability. There is also a point at which the auto settings won't be effective at knowing how to properly dial in the voltages for a given speed. That would generally start to become a thought no sooner than 4ghz though. Those of us who tinker around with pushing to 4.2ghz or even 4.5ghz know that there are at least a dozen settings to get just right before you have a stable system. You should just start out seeing how you feel about performance at 3.8 for now. Along the way you'll start picking up enough knowledge on your own to answer a lot of the questions you'd have right now if trying to push further.

I personally use OCCT version 4.3.2 for stability testing. Programming the CPU test for 2 hours and setting a maximum temp of 60c in the preference tab for the CPU and each core is a good start. You can then just let it run and know it'll stop if the heat starts to approach the 62c danger area. If you don't throw an error in 2 hours there, it's as stable a you could possibly need.

wow this is very enlightening! thanks a lot junkie! oh and here is my PSU just for your curiosity:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371049
i am actually feeling quite comfortable with my CPU at 3.8ghz. I probably wont push further than that if i dont really need to. But i will check out that stability tester you recommended just for my learning experience.
thanks again!

 

[joelcen52]

Best answer selected by joelcen52.