Problems getting past 3.8GHz on 965BE

[theperfectshot]

Hello, I'm still new to over-clocking and am in need of some help. I read in multiple forums of ppl getting 4.2GHz stable on air cooling no problem. I would like to hit the 4GHz mark myself and cant seem to get past 3.8GHz. I have tried to up my voltages and still cant get it stable. Also, i bought some G.SKILL memory and it is said to run at 2000MHz at 9-9-9-27 and i cant seem to get it past 1600MHz. I went to the MSI website and bought this ram bc it was one of the ones they recommended. The MOBO supports up to 2133MHz. if anyone can give me some suggestions on where to start it would be appreciated. I have overclocked one other computer b4 but the MOBO was crap and so i decided to just update everything at once.

 

[schwizer]

I am also hitting a wall with my memory around 1700MHz with a 965BE and 2s2GB of patriot ram rated for 2000MHz. I suspect it might have something to do with the memory controller integrated on the 965BE itself.

 

[loneninja]

Not all Phenom II can hit 4.0, it's really hit or miss on how well your particular chip overclocks. Is your Phenom 965 the C2 or C3 stepping? C3 stepping tends to clock a little higher, and is more likely to reach/exceed 4.0Ghz.

Unless I'm mistaken, the Phenom II memory controller can only support up to DDR3 1600, that would explain why your memory won't run any faster.

 

[welshmousepk]

well you might want to tell us what voltage you are at?

to hit 4.0Ghz you may need the vCore around 1.51v.

what motherboard are you using also? i can try and help, but need more info.

 

[theperfectshot]

sorry new to the site i thought you would be able to see the info on my comp. ok first off not exactly sure but i believe its C3. thats what is in cpuz. also my mobo is a msi 790fx gd70. i tried to up the voltage to 1.5 and even as far as 1.52 vcore and still couldnt get it stable. another thing is i cant get my FSB to overclock anymore than 215 from the stock 200. right now i am OC at 2400Mhz on the HT and 2400MHz on the NB. the cpu is at 3.8GHz and it is stable at 1.4v vcore. i just wasnt sure as to what may be causing it. i have my bios with spread spectrum disables along with cool'and quiet. i mean i dont need to OC it more for what i am currently doing but i was just curious as to why i couldnt hit that mark most ppl can. also i am running the CORSAIR HX1000W psu. and have plenty of cooling for air.

 

[welshmousepk]

well you have a black edition CPU, so don;t bother raising the HT, just raise the multiplier.

raising the HT could mean the RAM is sub-par and stopping the OC from being stable. raise the multiplier and the only component being stressed is the CPU.

 

[megamanx00]

To hit the higher mem speeds, you need to overclock the baseclock or FSB (even tho it's not really an FSB). You should also set the HT link multiplyer to 5x (1GHz) in order to increase stability while overclocking. Slightly increasing the the voltage of the memory controller (CPU NB) would also help. I also hope you're using an aftermarket cooler since you're not going to break 4.0GHz on the stock cooler ^_^

 

[theperfectshot]

Ya. for sure i am using the aftermarket cooler. its a xigmatek dark knight s1283v. as for it being the Black edition cpu i know i should be useing the multiplier thats how i am able to hit 3.8GHz stable @1.4v or all stock voltages. i tried to drop the multiplier to raise the quote FSB, forgot the term for AMD, and it wont overclock anything past 215. the reason i was trying for that was bc that would up my memory. but even not touching the FSB and leaving it at 200 upping the multiplier to 18 is the best i can do. 18.5 or 3.9Ghz is unstable after 5 minutes on prime 95. and even with the voltages on the HT NB and cpu cranked up i cant get it stable. i was used to a shitty bios where the only option you had was to change the voltage barely and OC with the quote FSB. now that i have this mobo i figured i would be able to do it a lot easier. it supports speeds up to 2600 on the HT and NB and i have seen some ppl get it as high as 2800. i have been useing the msi amd and cupid hwmonitor to watch temps. at 1.5vcore on my cpu it only goes up 4C and is stable but my #4 core only tests for about 10 seconds b4 it goes red in prime95. where would i look up the info as to why it fails? i tried to slowly up the voltage but that is the first one where i can hit 4Ghz and it runs for hrs except for the #4 core.

 

[theperfectshot]

i also plan on going to liquid cooling. was looking at the swiftech parts. anyone got suggestions on a good layout.

 

[welshmousepk]

Ya. for sure i am using the aftermarket cooler. its a xigmatek dark knight s1283v. as for it being the Black edition cpu i know i should be useing the multiplier thats how i am able to hit 3.8GHz stable @1.4v or all stock voltages. i tried to drop the multiplier to raise the quote FSB, forgot the term for AMD, and it wont overclock anything past 215. the reason i was trying for that was bc that would up my memory. but even not touching the FSB and leaving it at 200 upping the multiplier to 18 is the best i can do. 18.5 or 3.9Ghz is unstable after 5 minutes on prime 95. and even with the voltages on the HT NB and cpu cranked up i cant get it stable. i was used to a shitty bios where the only option you had was to change the voltage barely and OC with the quote FSB. now that i have this mobo i figured i would be able to do it a lot easier. it supports speeds up to 2600 on the HT and NB and i have seen some ppl get it as high as 2800. i have been useing the msi amd and cupid hwmonitor to watch temps. at 1.5vcore on my cpu it only goes up 4C and is stable but my #4 core only tests for about 10 seconds b4 it goes red in prime95. where would i look up the info as to why it fails? i tried to slowly up the voltage but that is the first one where i can hit 4Ghz and it runs for hrs except for the #4 core.

when you simply upped the multiplier, what voltage where you at? how high did you try taking it?

 

[theperfectshot]

i tried it as far as 1.52vcore

 

[welshmousepk]

and what temps where you getting with that voltage?

it may be safe enough to bump it higher than that, provided the cooler is up to the task. (its temps that damage CPUs, not the voltage itself)
it may be that it requires more than that. if you can get a stable by bumping higher than that then you know you simply have a chip that doesn't overclock well, but as long as the temps are within limits, its still alright to run at higher voltages.
a watercooling rig, as you've said, could help with that.

tbh though, it looks to me like you have hit the limit with your chip. you may be able to hit a higher clockspeed, but it would be hot and power hungry. not all chips are the same, and some just don't overclock well.

 

[theperfectshot]

damn well that blows. ok i will try it probably later today. i run about 32C idle and 50C load on prime 95. i think my thermal compound that i used is *** so i plan on getting the arctic silver5 and redoing it. also what is the tmpin0 tmpin1 and tmpin2. the tmpin2 never goes above 32C and the tmpin0 on prime 95 goes to 56C

 

[welshmousepk]

dont get AS5, it stopped being the best compound a long time ago.

Tuniq TX3 is probably the best on the market right now. and has no cure time.

those 'tmpin' are unknown heat sensors. usually ambient internal and NB, or other sensors that HWmonitor can't identify.

 

[theperfectshot]

so should i worry about the temp on that one?

 

[theperfectshot]

currently i am on air cooling and have the amd edition CoolerMaster HAF932 case with 2 230mm fans and 3 120mm fans @85-90cfm. dont know what the 230s push but i seem to have great airflow compared to my old antec case

 

[theperfectshot]

also what cpu cooler would you go with. i have the xigmatek dark knight s1283v and i also have the zalman cpns9900. the zalman is the one i was useing on my old comp but i am giving it to my mom and just stuck the stock one back on.

 

[welshmousepk]

yeah the dark knight is a good cooler, it will do the job.

i have a tuniq tower 120, and it too is a great sync, with that case the airflow is fine, so temps shouldn't be too much of an issue for you.

 

[theperfectshot]

ya i still havent had any luck. been trying different settings even at 1.53volts i cant get past 3.8GHz. its a bummer but i think you may be right when you say i may have hit the max of my particular processor.

 

[welshmousepk]

if you cant stabilize it with 1.53, then i would imagine it won't stabilize.

unfortunately, you just didn't get a whole lot of headroom.

 

[theperfectshot]

at that point i am pushing 58C so i didnt feel like going to bed with it at that type of temp. it was stable for the 4 hrs i was around it but that aint long enough to really be able to tell. i am going to try to play with the voltages this weekend after i use the new tx3 thermal compund.

 

[theperfectshot]

ok.. just to double check, but my comp has 6 different cpu voltage adjustments. cpu VDD, cpu NB VDD, cpu voltage, cpu NB voltage, cpu PLL, and cpu DDR-PHY. ive been adjusting the cpu vdd which also adjust the cpu voltage automatically. do i need to adjust the other ones at all?

 

[welshmousepk]

you should only be adjusting CPU voltage as far as im aware.

if this is in the BIOS, thats the only one needed to adjust for the CPU. if you are using Overdrive, then its CPU VID you should be adjusting.

 

[theperfectshot]

no i am using the Bios. its a new menu on the msi mobo thats called cell menu i believe. it has all the stuff to OC in it. it has about 15-20 different voltages you can adjust. so should i try to keep the cpu VDD at auto and try to just adjust the cpu voltage that high? could the cpu VDD be why its unstable you think?

 

[welshmousepk]

possibly, ive never touched that setting before.

does the mobo not offer 'default' settings? unless thats actually what auto is, but usually auto means auto-adjusting.

but yes, try simply raising the CPU voltage that high, it may be the extra voltage into the other components is causing the instability.