is my cpu toast

[tornadog]

Two days back i got the opteron 165 with ccbbe 0617fpmw stepping. Taking it thru its steps I got to 2700 Mhz stable on stock cooling but the temps were 65+. I immediately downclocked but still temps were still hovering over the 50s

So I took out the stock cooler and removed the thermal goop that came with the cooler and put some zalman stg. Now my processor will not boot up if I overclock beyond 255 x 9. I even tried my other cooler , a Zalman 7000 CuAl but it didnt help either. Did I roast something inside the cpu that is preventing me from rasing the fsb? Right I am running at 255 x 9 and temps are in mid 30s.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Ok, it still boots, correct? So in short, no, it's not fried.

If the ONLY THING you changed was the thermal paste and cooler (no BIOS updates, no additional hardware, etc.) chances are you didn't install the thermal paste or heatsink properly. Try remounting and using the thermal paste and heatsink mounting directions to a pin point. Keep in mind that many pastes also have a slight curing period, you may need to give it a few days of being on / being off before it reaches its full cooling potential.

 

[Regalk]

I agree - your HS/thermal paste is not properly applied. What is the power supply you are using?
My opty 165 (just received from Tigersucks) runs at 2970(330x9) with an Arctic Freezer pro and OCZ powerstream600W Idle are 36/35 load 52C.

 

[tornadog]

I have the OCZ Gamexstream 700W...I am gonna try it one more time to be sure...

 

[tornadog]

ok really strange, cleaning and reseating HS didnt help...i tried every goddamn thing but FSB wont go beyond 260...finally in frustration I reduced the HTT from 3x to 2.5x and it booted at 260 x 9..feeling lucky I kept upping the FSB till I hit 300 x 9, stock voltage and ram at 4:5 multiplier..buts thats my ram's limit(250Mhz)...I tried lowering the divider to 3:4 and 3:5 but it wont boot. Finally set divider to 1:2 and fsb went upto 330 at 1.5V...right now I am running at 325 x 9, 1.5V and RAM at 162.5 Mhz, temps are at 35 degrees idle...do you think running the ram at higher speeds will be better than my current setting???

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: tornadog
do you think running the ram at higher speeds will be better than my current setting???

Definitely not. CPU speed is king. It only requires 100-150 Mhz more CPU speed to overcome not running your RAM 1:1, at least with A64's.