Disappointing Results Phenom II X4 955

[meverha1]

I'm VERY new to Overclocking and as such I'm getting some fairly disappointing results with my 955. I'm hoping someone here can help me out.

First, my rig:

AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE
8 GB G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
ASUS M4A78 Plus AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
2X Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 (Crossfired)

I can set the modifier on my MB to 17x or 18x and run stable at 3.4 or 3.6 using basic computer functions such as Word, Firefox, Photoshop, Indesign, etc... Even watching video. However I run into a couple of different problems:

1) If I set the modifier above stock and load test the PC it will lock up within 1-2 minutes of starting the load test. Temps are stable in the mid 40s with the cooler.

2) If I set the modifier above stock and try to play a game the computer will lock up within 10 minutes of starting the game. Assume high to max settings on games like MW2, Borderlands, etc... The computer should be able to run these games on high settings and be stable. Again, the temps hover in the mid-40s

3) If I'm at STOCK settings and I don't MANUALLY increase fan speed for my video cards to 60 - 80% games will lock up within 10 minutes or so of starting them.

So, two problems I need to solve:

1) I'd like to OC the processor a little bit. Nothing too fancy. I'd be happy at 3.6 stable in all games, etc...

2) There's something going on with the Video cards. I haven't really touched anything, other than increasing fan speed to play games. Again, I'm not sure why fan speed wouldn't scale automatically.

Like I said, I'm new to OCing and I'd be happy with minimal gains. Anyone have any thoughts or solutions to my problems?

 

[cgintz]

Its possible that you have hit the max on your chip without altering voltages. What PSU do you have?

 

[4Ryan6]

No offense but getting OC stable with 8G of system memory is going to be a challenge for an experienced OCer, a novice to OCing may be better off reducing the memory to 4G in the primary slots.

Your memory kits were bought in paired sets meaning they were tested to run the timings as 4G, that doesn't mean they'll do the same with 8G, if you're determined to run the full 8G, I'd suggest running stock CPU speeds, you don't have the skill to get a good OC.

You can Google some guides on overclocking the AMD BE [Unlocked Multiplier Line of CPUs], and if you're determined to continue your OCing adventure, I suggest you educate yourself on what you're doing.

If you know what you're doing you should be able to take that CPU to 4Ghz, with the proper cooling to keep it cool, however I seriously doubt you'll do it with 8G of system memory, but feel free to prove me wrong.

Again No Offense.

 

[roonj]

Sounds like the problem exists regardless if you're overclocked or not to me.
Quick question are all the ram chips identical?
What is the required voltage of your ram when running at 800mhz as we all know it's not whats applied by the motherboard typically.
Example at 533 or 667 mine requires 1.8v the standard, at 800mhz 2.1v. Also that is based on 2 modules installed, from what I've read it's common to require another 0.1v added to support 4 chips/ in my case that would be 2.2v. Since the video cards have to address the system memory lets hope the issue lies there.