Need Help OVERCLOCKING my Phenom 955! (please help)

[StrongPimp]

I am new to overclocking and would like to know if anyone can assist me on step by step instructions to overclock my phenom 955 to 3.6 or 3.8.

Here are my system specs incase you need them:
CPU: Phenom 955 3.2
MOTHERBOARD: Asus Crosshair III
CPU FAN: Coolermaster V8
RAM: 6GB Gskill ddr3 1600 at 9.9.9.24 1.6v
GPU: MSI Cyclone 4890 1gb

If you need any other info please let me know. If anyone can help me out I will highly appreciate it as I have tried several times with no luck.

 

[veri745]

1) Bump up the Vcore as far as you feel comfortable.

2) Bump up the multiplier in the BIOS. Try to boot. Repeat until fail.

3) Run a stress test at your fastest multiplier that booted. If it fails, either bump the voltage slightly or bump down the multiplier

4) profit.

This is all in the sticky on this topic...

 

[Yukmouth]

Check out my sig and go from there, only, don't mess with your CPU North Bridge voltage until you get unstable at 1.40v. That V8 will keep 1.40v cool with ease so no need to bother inching your way up, you might as well aim high then drop back; it saves a lot of time.

Being that I've overclocked a Phenom before, with that 955 my first step would be to bump up core voltage to 1.40v (the highest I'm comfortable with) and shoot for 3800mhz to start.

If I get into windows but I'm not stable, I'd up the cpu northbridge voltage in very small amounts. If I don't get into windows at all, I'd do the same.

I can get into windows on my chip at 3800mhz, but the voltage needed is not cool. I'm hoping for you, that won't be the case. I hear those 955s should be good for 3.8 to 3.9.

It would serve you well to read a phenom overclocking article on google, there are hundreds of them by now.

Let us know what you get out of that thing!

 

[StrongPimp]

Originally posted by: Yukmouth
Check out my sig and go from there, only, don't mess with your CPU North Bridge voltage until you get unstable at 1.40v. That V8 will keep 1.40v cool with ease so no need to bother inching your way up, you might as well aim high then drop back; it saves a lot of time.

Being that I've overclocked a Phenom before, with that 955 my first step would be to bump up core voltage to 1.40v (the highest I'm comfortable with) and shoot for 3800mhz to start.

If I get into windows but I'm not stable, I'd up the cpu northbridge voltage in very small amounts. If I don't get into windows at all, I'd do the same.

I can get into windows on my chip at 3800mhz, but the voltage needed is not cool. I'm hoping for you, that won't be the case. I hear those 955s should be good for 3.8 to 3.9.

It would serve you well to read a phenom overclocking article on google, there are hundreds of them by now.

Let us know what you get out of that thing!

thanks for the reply. how can i change the cpu northbridge voltage?

 

[Yukmouth]

No problem.

You can adjust the northbridge right along with the CPU voltage. All voltage option's should be grouped together in your bios.

If 3.8ghz gives you an issue, just start at 3.5ghz. 1.4v on the CPU @ 3.5ghz is a sure thing, you can work your way up from there.

 

[StrongPimp]

Originally posted by: Yukmouth
No problem.

You can adjust the northbridge right along with the CPU voltage. All voltage option's should be grouped together in your bios.

If 3.8ghz gives you an issue, just start at 3.5ghz. 1.4v on the CPU @ 3.5ghz is a sure thing, you can work your way up from there.

Ok i tried running tests at stock (3.2) to see if my system is stable with OCCT, intelburntest and Prime95 and the temps heat up fast.

With intelburntest and prime95 my computer shutdown itself after a few minutes because temps reached 62c+. Is their a way I can fix this? I have a coolermaster v8 in my cpu with arctic silver 5 and lots of case fans. Not really sure what is causing this.

All settings are in default except for ram which i changed to 1600 instead of 1333. If anyone can show me how to fix this error I would highly appreciate it. I want it to be stable at stock settings before overclocking.

 

[Rhoxed]

check CPU-Z at what voltage it is running, somtimes AUTO in bios overvolts bad

also it might be heatsink mount issue, definately check that out, and make sure all heatsink fans are plugged in

 

[Yukmouth]

Wow ..., temp problems on a 180 watt capacity cooler? That's about the last thing I'd expect to be wrong . I rarely see over 38C full load temps at even 1.4v on my thermal take V1 rated @ 150watt capcity.

There's a strong chance you just need to take a look at the heatsink install, it might not be applying enough pressure to the surface of the CPU. Be sure the CPU fan is running also.
You should be getting temps around 20-30c idle, 40-50c load max. I know those V8's are a bit of a pain to get installed due to the fact that you have to mount the sink to the motherboard.

If it's not the install, check to make sure your voltage is @ 1.350v default in the bios as Rhoxed said. Some people have reported that some Phenom II motherboards overvolt which could cause temp issue's.

 

[schenley101]

I have found that using AMD Overdrive is a lot faster/easier to overclock with. on my 955 just changing the multiplier put it to 3.6GHz no problem with my old arctic freezer 64. temps under load are max 51 or 52

 

[StrongPimp]

Do you mind posting a screenshot of amd overdrive so I can see your voltages? (performance control - clock/voltage)



thanks!