Will AMD Cool'n'Quiet still work with a simple multiplier overclock?

[Dankk]

I'm generally satisfied with my Phenom II x4 965 running at stock speed (3.4Ghz), but I'm curious as to how it will behave if I overclock it to 3.6 or something. It's a black edition so I just do it with the multiplier.

I think I tried overclocking it to 3.8 a few weeks ago, and I think I remember CnQ not working, but who knows. My computer immediately shut down when I started a Prime95 load test anyway, which I guess was a result of the cpu not having enough voltage (?). I'm curious to try 3.6 this time to see what happens. I don't want my computer to shut itself off again though.

I like Cool 'n' Quiet because it keeps my Phenom idling nicely in the low 30's. If overclocking means having to sacrifice this feature, then that's fine, I'll just keep running at stock speeds. But I'm curious what people know about using CnQ while raising the multiplier.

 

[LoneNinja]

Unfortunatly CnQ disables itself on all 3 of the motherboards I own. I still have my computers overclocked in the BIOS, than I use a program called K10stat to manually lower the multiplier/voltage within windows becuase I don't even need stock performance 90% of the time.

 

[heyheybooboo]

I believe C&Q will work if you drop the cpu multi; it will disable if you raise the cpu multi. So ... here is what I would do:

Drop the memory ratio from 6.67 to 5.33. Drop the cpu multi to 16x. Up the clock frequency from 200MHz to 220MHz. That should get you 3.5GHz+ with C&Q enabled at 4x220MHz.

Stress for stability and monitor your temps. If everything looks good, go for 230MHz and test again.

I haven't had the pleasure of the Biostar 785g so I'm not up to speed on how much it will 'play'. You have headroom to 250MHz with the RAMs at 533 (250MHz x 5.33 = 1333MHz).

This will effect your RAMs speed with the clock below 250MHz but the side benefit is for each 10 percent you increase the clock freq, memory bandwidth is increased 3-4 percent and latency is reduced 3-4 percent.

The 'stock' multi on the NB/IMC is 10x (10 x 200MHz = 2000MHz) so ...

cpu multi: 16 x 230MHz = 3.68GHz
NB/IMC multi: 10 x 230MHz = 2300MHz
Memory: 5.33 x 230MHz = 1226MHz
C&Q @ Idle: 4 x 230MHz = 920MHz

You will be tested later




--

 

[Jovec]

For what it's worth on my 955 c3 and 1090t, both with a stock 16 multi, CNQ works up to 18.5.

 

[LoneNinja]

Guess I should mention, my Gigabyte board the moment I adjust anything, CnQ is disabled. I know CnQ worked on 1 of my BIOSTAR boards but no longer will, I think upping the cpu vcore is what disables it because I know I had increased the mutliplier.

In any case, how I'm currently clocked on all 3 of my boards, CnQ got disabled.

 

[Dankk]

Alright, so I tried it. I upped the multiplier so my CPU speed is now 3.6Ghz, left everything else as-is including Cool'n'Quiet on. I logged into Windows, opened the SIW monitoring program, and after a moment I saw my core voltage drop from 1.49v to 0.99v. I also saw my CPU temperature cool down to 33 C, which is right-on. I can only assume this is the CnQ feature in motion.

I am happy to say it looks like it worked.

I ran Prime95 for a little bit, and it's completely stable at full load. Temperature never went past 60. I guess the Phenom II 965 doesn't have much headroom for overclocking unless you overvolt too, but it's no big deal to me. The extra 200Mhz is pretty cool I guess. I hope this doesn't affect gaming or anything else, but I'll let people know if any issues pop up.

Unfortunatly CnQ disables itself on all 3 of the motherboards I own.

Darn. That's a bit discouraging, but now it looks like it just depends on the board, eh?

Drop the memory ratio from 6.67 to 5.33. Drop the cpu multi to 16x. Up the clock frequency from 200MHz to 220MHz. That should get you 3.5GHz+ with C&Q enabled at 4x220MHz.

Stress for stability and monitor your temps. If everything looks good, go for 230MHz and test again.

I haven't had the pleasure of the Biostar 785g so I'm not up to speed on how much it will 'play'. You have headroom to 250MHz with the RAMs at 533 (250MHz x 5.33 = 1333MHz).

This will effect your RAMs speed with the clock below 250MHz but the side benefit is for each 10 percent you increase the clock freq, memory bandwidth is increased 3-4 percent and latency is reduced 3-4 percent.

The 'stock' multi on the NB/IMC is 10x (10 x 200MHz = 2000MHz) so ...

cpu multi: 16 x 230MHz = 3.68GHz
NB/IMC multi: 10 x 230MHz = 2300MHz
Memory: 5.33 x 230MHz = 1226MHz
C&Q @ Idle: 4 x 230MHz = 920MHz

That's a lot of stuff. I'll take note of it just in case. Thanks!

Guess I should mention, my Gigabyte board the moment I adjust anything, CnQ is disabled. I know CnQ worked on 1 of my BIOSTAR boards but no longer will, I think upping the cpu vcore is what disables it because I know I had increased the mutliplier.

In any case, how I'm currently clocked on all 3 of my boards, CnQ got disabled.

I'm pleasantly surprised at my BIOSTAR board. For a $64 MicroATX mobo, it's certainly very solid and feature-filled. I think Newegg discontinued it like a week after I bought it too. Should've been expected I guess, it's not that new and the chipset isn't the best out there... but I'm certainly satisfied.

As a sidenote, my powerful hardware is admittedly housed in a cheap $30 case, with only a single rear 92mm exhaust fan. My temperatures are still pretty good in spite of this though. Tomorrow I'm gonna install a 120mm front intake fan, which should definitely boost the airflow. I'm excited.

 

[Dankk]

Alright, so I tried it. I upped the multiplier so my CPU speed is now 3.6Ghz, left everything else as-is including Cool'n'Quiet on. I logged into Windows, opened the SIW monitoring program, and after a moment I saw my core voltage drop from 1.49v to 0.99v. I also saw my CPU temperature cool down to 33 C, which is right-on. I can only assume this is the CnQ feature in motion.

I am happy to say it looks like it worked.

I ran Prime95 for a little bit, and it's completely stable at full load. Temperature never went past 60. I guess the Phenom II 965 doesn't have much headroom for overclocking unless you overvolt too, but it's no big deal to me. The extra 200Mhz is pretty cool I guess. I hope this doesn't affect gaming or anything else, but I'll let people know if any issues pop up.

Unfortunatly CnQ disables itself on all 3 of the motherboards I own.

Darn. That's a bit discouraging, but now it looks like it just depends on the board, eh?

Drop the memory ratio from 6.67 to 5.33. Drop the cpu multi to 16x. Up the clock frequency from 200MHz to 220MHz. That should get you 3.5GHz+ with C&Q enabled at 4x220MHz.

Stress for stability and monitor your temps. If everything looks good, go for 230MHz and test again.

I haven't had the pleasure of the Biostar 785g so I'm not up to speed on how much it will 'play'. You have headroom to 250MHz with the RAMs at 533 (250MHz x 5.33 = 1333MHz).

This will effect your RAMs speed with the clock below 250MHz but the side benefit is for each 10 percent you increase the clock freq, memory bandwidth is increased 3-4 percent and latency is reduced 3-4 percent.

The 'stock' multi on the NB/IMC is 10x (10 x 200MHz = 2000MHz) so ...

cpu multi: 16 x 230MHz = 3.68GHz
NB/IMC multi: 10 x 230MHz = 2300MHz
Memory: 5.33 x 230MHz = 1226MHz
C&Q @ Idle: 4 x 230MHz = 920MHz

That's a lot of stuff. I'll take note of it just in case. Thanks!

Guess I should mention, my Gigabyte board the moment I adjust anything, CnQ is disabled. I know CnQ worked on 1 of my BIOSTAR boards but no longer will, I think upping the cpu vcore is what disables it because I know I had increased the mutliplier.

In any case, how I'm currently clocked on all 3 of my boards, CnQ got disabled.

I'm pleasantly surprised at my BIOSTAR board. For a $64 MicroATX mobo, it's certainly very solid and feature-filled. I think Newegg discontinued it like a week after I bought it too. Should've been expected I guess, it's not that new and the chipset isn't the best out there... but I'm certainly satisfied.

As a sidenote, my powerful hardware is admittedly housed in a cheap $30 case, with only a single rear 92mm exhaust fan. My temperatures are still pretty good in spite of this though. Tomorrow I'm gonna install a 120mm front intake fan, which should definitely boost the airflow. I'm excited.

 

[BD231]

C&Q should work on any board up to a 17x/18x multi, I guess that's simply not the case for some but there was a big deal made when the Phenom II's came out in regards to C&Q/overclocking.

It was said that the multiplier was the only deciding factor on most all boards so I'd keep that in mind. C&Q can significantly increase the life of your CPU if you're one to over volt heavily so don't overclock to the point of disabling it if at all possible.

 

[Dankk]

C&Q can significantly increase the life of your CPU if you're one to over volt heavily so don't overclock to the point of disabling it if at all possible.

Yup, like I said, I don't plan on doing this. Don't need it that powerful. Thanks for the info.