Phenom II X2 555 Unlock and Overclock To 4GHz

[peroludiarom]

Hi to all,

I know that most probably you have already read many articles about the topic, but I just wrote my first article about overclocking and unlocking Phenom II X2 555, and i want to share my knowledge with you. I get these results (Phenom II X4 @ 4GHz / NB 2,8GHz - i think that is the sweetest spot) with many time spent in tweaking the components, and reading articles over the internet.

For sure everybody will find it useful.


You can find the article on my blog:

[redacted]


And i will wait for your comments.

Thank you in advance,

Vladimir Iliev

p.s.:I just read the forum rules, where no advertising is allowed, but i cannot copy all the images from my blog, so i hope that is not a problem.

Unfortunately it is.🙁 Sorry man, but you aren't allowed to promote your blog here in this fashion. If you want have the article here you'll need to post the whole thing here.

-Thanks
ViRGE

 

[sm625]

The question is... how does an unlocked and overclocked 555 compare with an i3-3240? They both cost about the same when you factor in about 2 years of the 555 pulling an extra penny per hour from the wall socket. (30 hours a week = $40 over 2 years.)

 

[peroludiarom]

Hi,
I can't show you benchmarks with that processor, because I don't have it. I believe that for gaming they will be in tie, but when comes to multitasking, Phenom II B55 will dust out the i3.
You can search the internet and compare results with my benchmarks... 🙂

Bests,
Vladimir Iliev

 

[KingFatty]

Thanks for this, I enjoyed reading your article. It's really great that you actually cited various numbers/settings specifically, so that one could follow along and try this on their own very easily. Here are some questions/comments:

What fan speed control did you use for your CPU cooler (CoolerMaster 212 plus)? Did you set it to 100% speed? Can you enable quiet/variable fan at all, or do you need to run the CPU fan 100% all the time?

What CPU base Frequency and multiplier settings? I'm confused about what your base frequency and multiplier are - it seems you used 200 base frequency, and 20 multiplier? If so, I don't understand why your CPU-Z screenshots appear to show some Cool'n'Quiet power savings where the multiplier is reduced to save power at x4 and gives you ~800MHz total? Doesn't the CPU disable that CnQ feature when you raise the multiplier so high?

I got a smile from your claim that your 5850 got an amazing overclock (915 core/1215 memory) - why don't you try backing down the video card's memory speed, and raising its core speed? A higher core speed may provide higher FPS compared to the memory, and it's possible that you can raise the core speed if you drop the memory speed. So maybe you can get 950/1125 just as an example, which might get you more FPS.

Quick note, I believe you should change "climes" to "claims" in the following section of the 5th paragraph under the section Unlocking disabled cores: "which climes that most"

 

[peroludiarom]

Thanks for this, I enjoyed reading your article. It's really great that you actually cited various numbers/settings specifically, so that one could follow along and try this on their own very easily. Here are some questions/comments:

What fan speed control did you use for your CPU cooler (CoolerMaster 212 plus)? Did you set it to 100% speed? Can you enable quiet/variable fan at all, or do you need to run the CPU fan 100% all the time?

What CPU base Frequency and multiplier settings? I'm confused about what your base frequency and multiplier are - it seems you used 200 base frequency, and 20 multiplier? If so, I don't understand why your CPU-Z screenshots appear to show some Cool'n'Quiet power savings where the multiplier is reduced to save power at x4 and gives you ~800MHz total? Doesn't the CPU disable that CnQ feature when you raise the multiplier so high?

I got a smile from your claim that your 5850 got an amazing overclock (915 core/1215 memory) - why don't you try backing down the video card's memory speed, and raising its core speed? A higher core speed may provide higher FPS compared to the memory, and it's possible that you can raise the core speed if you drop the memory speed. So maybe you can get 950/1125 just as an example, which might get you more FPS.

Quick note, I believe you should change "climes" to "claims" in the following section of the 5th paragraph under the section Unlocking disabled cores: "which climes that most"

Hi again,

First of all i want to thank you for your questions, and for compliments 🙂

I will try to answer them:

1. FanSpeed - For daily use I set the CPU to 3,5GHz, and push it to 4GHz only for most demanding games (BF3 @ FullHD / All settings max). For both 4GHz and 3,5GHz i use User predefined fan control. I use this, because wrong readings of thermal sensor after CPU unlock. I set Fan full speed @ 52 degrees by Celsius. At 45 degrees = 60% fan speed. For benchmarks like Prime95 Torture tests, i set up the CPU fan speed to 100% @ 45 degrees, and case fan speed to 100% at 30 degrees (MB).

2. About the CnQ - i leave it like that, because for daily use, i think is too much for the processor to stay always at max clock. I think that the processor is still stable with CnQ because of Load Line calibration settings of my Asus M5A99X. These settings make the MB to be ready for fast voltage and power increases, after quiting CnQ mode.

3. About the 5850 - i never spend too much time in OCing the video. I will try your suggestions (Thanks).

4. About mistyping - my English is not so good, and my article needs redaction asap 🙂 Thank you for pointing this.

Bests,
Vladimir Iliev