Need some help overclocking Phenom II

[DarkManX4lf]

I need some help overclocking my Phenom II. I cant seem to achieve a stable overclock.

The mother board I'm using is an Asus M3A78-T and I updated the bios to the latest version which I think is v802. In the bios there are a few settings that I am not familiar with since after updating the bios. I'm pretty sure it wasnt there before when I was using my AMD x2 5400BE.

I took a screenshot of what settings I'm talking about. Dont mind the settings that are already in there I just started to play around with stuff just to see what I can overclock to.

I dont know what the default values are or what I should set them to for overclocking for these settings:

Processor-NB Frequency Multiplier
CPU-NB HT Link Speed
Processor-NB Voltage
Southbrige Voltage
HyperTransport Voltage
Core/PCIe Voltage
CPU Tweak

What are these at default and what should I set them to for overclocking?

One more thing, the vcore setting in mybios does not correspond to what the power monitor in the bios shows. If I set my vcore to 1.5v in bios, after a reboot the bios shows 1.45v. It usually always 0.05v lower than what I set it to. Is this normal?

 

[SunnyD]

Still 100% valid for Phenom II's.

 

[DarkManX4lf]

So after doing some reading the Processor-NB Frequency Multiplier is what sets the NB frequency and this is a default of 10?

The CPU-NB HT Link Speed thats the HT frequency and it has to be less than or equal to the NB frequency so I'm guessing its default is 2Ghz.

Still not sure what the default values for the voltages are and what I should set them to while overclocking.

 

[SunnyD]

A quick search shows that most people are in the 1.35v range for overclocking.

 

[DarkManX4lf]

1.35v for Vcore? Or for SB voltage, Processor-NB voltage, HT Voltage or Core/PCIe voltage?

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: DarkManX4lf
1.35v for Vcore? Or for SB voltage, Processor-NB voltage, HT Voltage or Core/PCIe voltage?

vcore. (Unless I'm reading wrong)

 

[DarkManX4lf]

Ok what about the rest of the voltages? What should those be set to ?

 

[heyheybooboo]

From what I've seen you may well hit 3.4GHz(+?) simply by raising the cpu multiplier and leaving voltages at stock (you may have to ungang your RAMS). Some folks disable CnQ - some don't.

For serious voltage and other system tweaks check the AMD thread over at Xtreme Systems. Not sure what the safe operating range is but 1.4-1.45v cpu voltage seems acceptable to some folks.

What RAMs are you running?

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: DarkManX4lf
Ok what about the rest of the voltages? What should those be set to ?

I personally wouldn't be playing with voltages until I found out where the limits at stock were.

 

[BLaber]

lol 1.35v is the stock vcore , and on good air cooling you can push upto 1.5v on PII's for 24/7 usage @ 3.7gHZ ~ 4,0gHZ over cLK SPEED.

Remember to push NB speed also along with core speed , as higher the NB runs its much better for performance , not too sure about NB voltage.

Go and check out xtremesystems forum amd section , there u can find lots of info and help on overclocking PII's.

 

[DarkManX4lf]

Thanks ! One more question came to mind i"m gonig to use OCZ Reaper 4x2gb DDR2 1066 ram will this be an issue with overclocking compared to using just 2x2gb ?

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: DarkManX4lf
Thanks ! One more question came to mind i"m gonig to use OCZ Reaper 4x2gb DDR2 1066 ram will this be an issue with overclocking compared to using just 2x2gb ?

Might be - I believe the RAM will be forced to running at DDR2-800 using 4 sticks, and of course it stresses the memory controller more. 2 sticks generally overclocks better.

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: SunnyD

Originally posted by: DarkManX4lf
Thanks ! One more question came to mind i"m gonig to use OCZ Reaper 4x2gb DDR2 1066 ram will this be an issue with overclocking compared to using just 2x2gb ?

Might be - I believe the RAM will be forced to running at DDR2-800 using 4 sticks, and of course it stresses the memory controller more. 2 sticks generally overclocks better.

I heard lots of Phenom users complain about this...is it true for Phenom II as well?

Is it a CPU/IMC limitation or is it an AM2/AM2+ limitation? Do we expect similiar dimm-population effects on AM3/DDR3 platforms?

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: Idontcare

Originally posted by: SunnyD

Originally posted by: DarkManX4lf
Thanks ! One more question came to mind i"m gonig to use OCZ Reaper 4x2gb DDR2 1066 ram will this be an issue with overclocking compared to using just 2x2gb ?

Might be - I believe the RAM will be forced to running at DDR2-800 using 4 sticks, and of course it stresses the memory controller more. 2 sticks generally overclocks better.

I heard lots of Phenom users complain about this...is it true for Phenom II as well?

Is it a CPU/IMC limitation or is it an AM2/AM2+ limitation? Do we expect similiar dimm-population effects on AM3/DDR3 platforms?

IMC limitation I believe - Gigabyte says that on my board (MA-790GP-DS4H) the Phenom II will be limited to DDR2-800 with all four slots populated (Says it's a CPU limitation). I think Asus says the same thing, I checked a couple other mobo makers, a couple said it, a couple didn't.

As far as the AM3 boards, I'm not seeing any sort of limitation for dual-channel on Gigabyte's list, though it looks like the max "supported" speed for the CPU is 1666MHz (By default anything faster clocks to 1666).

 

[DarkManX4lf]

So basically even if I manually set it to the 533 setting it will ignore the setting and default it to 400?

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: DarkManX4lf
So basically even if I manually set it to the 533 setting it will ignore the setting and default it to 400?

From past experience, yes. Most motherboards will do that. The only way to clock the ram higher then becomes raising your "CPU-NB HT Link Speed" setting manually.

 

[batmang]

I'm a fan of pushing the ht. I kinda HAVE to be since I have a 920.
clicky

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: BLaber
lol 1.35v is the stock vcore , and on good air cooling you can push upto 1.5v on PII's for 24/7 usage @ 3.7gHZ ~ 4,0gHZ over cLK SPEED.

Remember to push NB speed also along with core speed , as higher the NB runs its much better for performance , not too sure about NB voltage.

Go and check out xtremesystems forum amd section , there u can find lots of info and help on overclocking PII's.

How do you OC the NB ?

 

[batmang]

Originally posted by: Markfw900

Originally posted by: BLaber
lol 1.35v is the stock vcore , and on good air cooling you can push upto 1.5v on PII's for 24/7 usage @ 3.7gHZ ~ 4,0gHZ over cLK SPEED.

Remember to push NB speed also along with core speed , as higher the NB runs its much better for performance , not too sure about NB voltage.

Go and check out xtremesystems forum amd section , there u can find lots of info and help on overclocking PII's.

How do you OC the NB ?

Easy, up the NB Multiplier.

 

[formulav8]

Actually, raising the htt clocks can give decent performance improvements since raising the htt also raises the speed of the L3 Cache. Its been said by AMD that performance can be improved by 10% or so by raising the clocks to a certain point. But I don't know at what point though.



Jason

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: batmang

Originally posted by: Markfw900

Originally posted by: BLaber
lol 1.35v is the stock vcore , and on good air cooling you can push upto 1.5v on PII's for 24/7 usage @ 3.7gHZ ~ 4,0gHZ over cLK SPEED.

Remember to push NB speed also along with core speed , as higher the NB runs its much better for performance , not too sure about NB voltage.

Go and check out xtremesystems forum amd section , there u can find lots of info and help on overclocking PII's.

How do you OC the NB ?

Easy, up the NB Multiplier.

What should I set it to ? isn;t there a limit ? Unlike OC'ing the CPU core ?

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: Markfw900

Originally posted by: batmang

Originally posted by: Markfw900

Originally posted by: BLaber
lol 1.35v is the stock vcore , and on good air cooling you can push upto 1.5v on PII's for 24/7 usage @ 3.7gHZ ~ 4,0gHZ over cLK SPEED.

Remember to push NB speed also along with core speed , as higher the NB runs its much better for performance , not too sure about NB voltage.

Go and check out xtremesystems forum amd section , there u can find lots of info and help on overclocking PII's.

How do you OC the NB ?

Easy, up the NB Multiplier.

What should I set it to ? isn;t there a limit ? Unlike OC'ing the CPU core ?

I think the 'technical' limit is 2600MHz but I saw a guy over at XS at 2700MHz+.

The guys at XS have really played this out. The key is your voltage. If you crank it too high on the NB/IMC you don't just Blue Screen you fry the memory controller - at least that was the case with the original Phenom. The II's may be less susceptible to this phenom-ena.

edit: I fergit .... Just remember that your NB/IMC speed cannot exceed your HT speed ...

 

[DarkManX4lf]

I thought it was the other way around....that your HT speed cannot exceed your NB speed? Or am I mistaken?

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: DarkManX4lf
I thought it was the other way around....that your HT speed cannot exceed your NB speed? Or am I mistaken?

No - you are correct. The hypertransport speed can be equal or less than IMC/NB clock speed.

Sorry - brain faht

I've got a file with Phenom OC stuff -including NB voltage settings - but I can't find it. And I'm startin' to get really p'd about it ...

 

[BLaber]

Originally posted by: Markfw900

Originally posted by: batmang

Originally posted by: Markfw900

Originally posted by: BLaber
lol 1.35v is the stock vcore , and on good air cooling you can push upto 1.5v on PII's for 24/7 usage @ 3.7gHZ ~ 4,0gHZ over cLK SPEED.

Remember to push NB speed also along with core speed , as higher the NB runs its much better for performance , not too sure about NB voltage.

Go and check out xtremesystems forum amd section , there u can find lots of info and help on overclocking PII's.

How do you OC the NB ?

Easy, up the NB Multiplier.

What should I set it to ? isn;t there a limit ? Unlike OC'ing the CPU core ?

Push it to as high as you can , theres no limit i.e I have seen PII NB running at 4.0Ghz+ , but that was done on ln2 cooling , just to give you an idea.

Phenom II X4: Northbridge @ 4,5 GHz

The concept is easy , NB speed = NB Multiplier x Ht speed
And u already know , CPU speed = CPU Multiplier x Ht speed

To begin NB overclocking raise NB multi by 1 let the NB voltage be at STOCK , test for stability and keep doing the same thing till u find the limit for NB overclock at stock volts, then start adding little more NB volts , keep doin the same process again till u reach possible results on your TYPE OF CPU cooling. I ve seen ppl running NB at 2.6 Ghz using 1.32+/- volts , but even on air 2.8 ~ 3.0 Ghz should be possible with more volatge i.e 1.4v+/-.

Also you can use HT speed as final tweak to your NB,Memory and CPU speeds.After you have reached max stable speed by using CPU multiplier and NB multiplier for overclocking and if you think you can get out little bit more from your Ram and CPU , just slowly up the HT reference speed (which is 200 @ stock) by 1Mhz each time, this will raise core clock and NB clock and Memory speed at the same time so be careful , test a lot and find the sweet spot for your CPU+MOBO+RAM COMBO.You may have to raise Mobo NB core voltage (SB600/SB750 voltage)on some Mobo's to get stable.

Ull see more gains in performance with NB overclocking along with core overclocking on Phenom II.And better cool your MOBO's PMW secion or else you know what happens to chicken in TAN DOOR OWEN if left for longer time than desired. :evil: