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Overclocked AMD 955BE to 3.8, stock voltage

B

B00M123

Member
Hi guys. Just overclocked my 955 for the first time. Its being cooled by a 'Be Quiet Dark Rock Advanced'. I used the catalyst control center as it was very simple. All I did was run auto tune which seemed like it did nothing then manually up the speed from 3.2 to 3.8. I didn't touch the voltage. I then ran Prime95 for 2 hours to see temperatures and stability. It idles at about 33C then loads at 49-51C. I think these temps are ok? Also, the voltage is at 1.44 when running Prime95 but goes up to 1.476 when not using Prime95. It fluctuates slightly. I haven't done anything to the voltage and don't really want to. There were no errors or issues when running Prime95. Just wanting to know if this is a safe overclock and whether I'd actually see any more fps in games? Cheers in advance 😉
 
Yes, you will probably see more fps in games depending on your card/resolution.

I would definitely get that voltage locked down somewhere and set things in the BIOS, vs having CCC do it. You'll be able to tighten the voltage down, and you won't have any spiking.

That being said, that is a great out-of-the-box OC, and I would feel comfortable leaving it there if I didn't want to go into the BIOS
 
Yeh I dont really wanna mess about in the bios just yet. What would be the benefits of tightening the voltage down and not having any spiking?
 
Also 1.44 seems like a high voltage for 3.8 especially since I haven't changed the voltage. Runs at 1.47 when its idling. Will this damage anything? I guess it should be fine as I haven't changed it.
 
Right this is strange. I benched heaven with OC and without. With an OC to 3.8 I got 43.3 average. With no OC so a stock speed of 3.2 I got 44.1 average. I then went on BF3 and in the same exact place on a map with everything the same, the OC result was down 1-2FPS. Think Ill just keep it at 3.2ghz, about 9C lower in temp and 1-2fps higher.
 
Your voltage is to high, 1.35 to 1.4v should be all you need as HDFXST stated which should do a lot for your temps. At 3.8ghz you should definitely consider overclocking your northbridge if you want the memory controller to keep up sufficiently with your core overclock. You don't need much more than 240mhz, but you definitely OC both in tandem for best performance results.

Just remember, if you're GPU limited mhz don't count beyond a certain point. That 1 to 2 fps variation is more than likely just a GPU bottleneck.
 
Yep its the C3 version. My GPU is the 6970 so is that really bottlenecking it? In Skyrim with the OC I get about 4 more fps but in other games and benches I get slightly less. How do I change the voltage in the bios or any other way?
 
What is your motherboard?

Also, maybe walk us through what you have been changing, maybe you are accidentally changing something else that is somehow conflicting with or limiting your overclock?
 
My mobo is the Asus m4a87td usb3. All I did was change the clock speed from 3.2 to 3.8 in the AMD catalyst control center. I then tested with Prime95 for 2 hours and it never went above 52C on load. The voltage changes quite a bit. Would like to keep the voltage stable and fix it down in the bios somehow.
 
B00M123 said:
Right this is strange. I benched heaven with OC and without. With an OC to 3.8 I got 43.3 average. With no OC so a stock speed of 3.2 I got 44.1 average. I then went on BF3 and in the same exact place on a map with everything the same, the OC result was down 1-2FPS. Think Ill just keep it at 3.2ghz, about 9C lower in temp and 1-2fps higher.
Click to expand...

Heaven is a GPU benchmark, not a CPU benchmark. It doesn't respond at all to CPU clock speed.

As for BF3, you're probably GPU-limited, depending on your settings. The higher CPU clock speed will only affect minimums with a single 6970 at high or ultra. You can check that by using FRAPS to record min/avg/max.

All that being said, I agree with others that the voltage looked a bit high, but I haven't worked with AMD CPUs. Aren't AMD processors supposed to reduce voltage at idle? That's what I'd be most concerned about.
 
Termie said:
Aren't AMD processors supposed to reduce voltage at idle? That's what I'd be most concerned about.
Click to expand...

From my experience, AMD CPUs will only use CnQ if the CPU multi is 18 (or 18.5 if the mobo supports it). At 19 (x200 = 3.8) and above, it will not automatically drop down to the 4x200@1.0v CnQ mode.

Regarding stock voltage, AMD really sets it too high. At stock clocks, you can easily undervolt, so it's no surprise that you can OC at stock volts.
 
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Upping a 955 from 3.2 to 3.8 is going to give some extra FPS in Oblivion. My son's rig is a 955be based system and he is running around 215 on the fsb with a multiplier of 17.5 on 1.4 volts. Gains at least 5fps.
 
When I used any windows programs to set all the overclocking parameters on my Asus, it only lowered my scores. After I set them in the BIOS, my scores for benchmarks rose significantly from stock.

Try the bios.
 
I agree with allenk09. My newest Asus 1155 Intel mb has software to overclock that sets the new BIOS settings so that works. However, programs that run new settings in Windows probably are not as efficient. In the BIOS you manually adjust the clock multiplier AND you can bump up the FSB from 200 to a slightly higher number if you have good memory. If voltage is running at 1.47 when idle but only at 1.44 when running prime95 something isn't correct. It should be the other way around!
 
No idea how to oc it in the bios. Atm I have just returned it to its stock clock speed. I do get 4 fps more in Skyrim but to be fair I dont really need it. I'd rather not lose the 2 fps in Battlefield 3. What programmes and games would run faster with it overclocked?
 
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