Pushing an AMD Phenom X4 965 To The Limits On Air

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Ro-Tang Clan

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Jun 22, 2013
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Hi guys,

I'm running an AMD Phenom II X4 965 @4.1GHz on air fully stable, tested both in Prime95 and gaming for 5 hours, but everytime I try for 4.2GHz it BSOD's during a Prime95 test. I've tried numerous configurations but still can't get a stable OC. Can anyone help please?

Specs:
Mobo: MSI 990FXA-GD80
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965BE @4.1GHz (205x20 with Vcore@1.425200v)
CPU cooler: Cooler Master TPC-800 w/ 2x Corsair SP120 fans (push/pull)
RAM: Avexir Core White series @ 1640MHz (1T-9-9-9-24 @ 1.554v)
GPU: MSI GTX 770 Lightning
PSU: Cooler Master V850

I understand there have been numerous threads on this, but I felt the need to create my own to try and learn and apply things to my setup. How does the CPU-NB frequency affect overclocking? I have this set to 2255 at the moment and not too sure if this should be higher or lower. Also, the same question applies to the HT Link Speed which I have set to 2050 at the moment but unsure what the correct value of this should be for my setup.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Many thanks
 
Solution
E
Northbridge will need a smallish voltage bump to run at 2600, and I could never do it before on my cheapie mobo.
The Sabertooth gave me the stability I needed for a 24/7 4.1 Ghz # 1.435v 2600 NB OC with my 975.
I also have quite good airflow to keep the temps down.

If you run Intel burn or so, it gives results in Gflops. going from 2000 NB to 2600 yielded me something like a 35% increase in cpu thruput, AFTER I had the clock at 4.1

You have a nice 990fx board, so something approaching this should be doable, however I have been told in the AMD OC forums here on Tom's that my result was quite good at those voltages, so as always, your mileage may vary.

You will see a lot more performance gain from 200-400 ish NB increase than you...
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exroofer

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Jun 4, 2013
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Any time I tried for 4.2 or above, it wanted a VERY significant voltage bump, and thermals rose far too much for my tastes.
1.5v if you can keep the heat under control might do it for you, but that's not very much gain for how far you have to push the chip.
What is your NB running at? 2600, possibly 2800 should be doable.
 
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Ro-Tang Clan

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Jun 22, 2013
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Many thanks for the reply. So it's not just me then having to put a hell of a lot of voltage into it to get anywhere near stable for 4.2GHz? At my current voltage, it BSOD's within the first 30 or so seconds when going to 4.2GHz. I once tried increasing the voltage each time and I eventually got to the point where it was fine at 4.2GHz for the first 30minutes on prime95 then it would BSOD. The max voltage I tried was 1.456500 until temps got a little too high for comfort. I was hitting around 58C under full load and I'm sure I heard somewhere that these Phenom's aren't meant to go past 60 degrees Celsius.

As to the NB frequency, I have it set on 2255 at the moment, although I did try at 2400 too. I'm unsure whether this should be up or down. I figured down was better as going above 2400 made it unable to POST. I had to do a CMOS reset to boot up again. Thank goodness for MSI's overclocking profiles haha
 
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exroofer

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Northbridge will need a smallish voltage bump to run at 2600, and I could never do it before on my cheapie mobo.
The Sabertooth gave me the stability I needed for a 24/7 4.1 Ghz # 1.435v 2600 NB OC with my 975.
I also have quite good airflow to keep the temps down.

If you run Intel burn or so, it gives results in Gflops. going from 2000 NB to 2600 yielded me something like a 35% increase in cpu thruput, AFTER I had the clock at 4.1

You have a nice 990fx board, so something approaching this should be doable, however I have been told in the AMD OC forums here on Tom's that my result was quite good at those voltages, so as always, your mileage may vary.

You will see a lot more performance gain from 200-400 ish NB increase than you ever will from .1 Ghz clock increase.
 
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Solution
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Ro-Tang Clan

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Jun 22, 2013
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Many thanks dude, I'll have a play with it some more with regards to CPU-NB. As for the voltage increase, the mobo is at default on "auto" for the CPU-NB voltage and as such doesn't give me current value. Therefore without it's current operating value I'm unable to increase the voltage as I don't know what to increase it from.

Like you, I have good case airflow too with an NZXT Phantom 410 with 3x 120mm + 2x 140mm case fans paired with the 2x120mm Corsair fans on the CM TPC-800 heatsink so I should be fine with heat dissipation.

My main reason to squeeze more out of the CPU is because I feel the Phenom II X4 965 is bottlenecking the GTX 770 Lightning and yeah, the only way to eliminate this is to buy a new processor but on my current mobo I would need a BIOS update to use Bulldozer or Piledriver CPU's (UK customers didn't get the GD80V2) and I don't want to go through the kerfuffle of that.

I'll try and squeeze more out staying within the 4.1GHz clock speed, many thanks for the help :)
 
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Ro-Tang Clan

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Jun 22, 2013
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Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for the advice. I played around with the settings and by increasing the CPU-NB frequency to 2400MHz(something like 2465 with increased FSB) and a HT-Link speed of 2255MHz I was able to up my score in 3DMark Vantage which I'm pretty stoked about.

Before: http://www.3dmark.com/3dmv/4918481
After: http://www.3dmark.com/3dmv/4944517

Like you said, sometimes it's not just all about CPU clock speed so I'm pretty happy I've managed to squeeze more out without having to put a ridiculous amount of voltage into it on air :D I'll try putting the CPU-NB on 2600MHz again in this configuration to see if it's stable. Would you say that's a good 3DMark Vantage score for the hardware I have?
 
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exroofer

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Can't remember what I scored on that. However I bet that NB bumps gave you a very significant gain. Getting 2600 will probably want a bit of voltage, not a lot tho. and you will see another significant gain in cpu thruput. HT link will keep climbing with it, reset it manually back down to 2000 (stock HT I believe.) If you let it climb too high it can ah heck things up.

If you were to try an Intelburn benchmark at stock and OC'd clocks and NB, you would see a pretty massive gain. That benchmark gives results in Gflops of cpu thruput.
 
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