Overclocking phenom x4 955BE

[smokey197]

So I built my computer just this last summer with the cm690 case and never left stock cooling. Ive recently upgraded to an Antec 1200 and a Zalman 9900 cpu fan. The only over clocking ive done was increasing the cpu frequency to 220.

So right now the cpu is showing 3.520 Ghz and it idles at 26C. Overclocking is really new to me and i really want to get the most out of this computer. So im not really sure what all i need to adjust. I know i can go alot higher with my cooling.

Heres what ive got:

Amd phenom II x4 955 BE
GIGABYTE GA-MA790FXT-UD5P
CORSAIR XMS3 DHX 1600 4GB
Corsair 750 watt psu
2 sapphire hd 4890's

 

[andy5174]

Why did you increase the frequency? This is a Black Edition, so all you need to do for OCing is increasing the multiplier. For example, you will get 3.6GHz if you increase the multiplier by two.

 

[daft]

press f1 in the bios, this will unlock the more advanced features. you will be able to select the multiplier and raise it. i would estimate that you could raise it +2 before you need to up the voltage. if you want more speed, you will need to up the voltage.

warning, raising the voltage will increase power and heat along with a possibility of lowering the life of the cpu. pending on how much voltage, the life time can vary. i would not go above 1.4v.

the multiplier is good for large jumps in frequency, but the FSB/reference clock is good for fine tuning. just for safety, i would either increase the FSB by 4 or 5 or increase the multi by 1 and then do a 1 hour prime 95 test for stability and heat.

 

[hundredislandsboy]

My 955 BE is overclock to 3.6 with one change in the BIOS - set the multi to 18. Left everything else on auto and completely stable. Idles at 31 C.

 

[hundredislandsboy]

Life of the CPU? I bought mine retail boxed MBOX C3 revision with 3 years manufacture warranty. If it dies one day after the warranty expires I'll be happy it lasted that long.

I'm at 3.6 Ghz because at 3.8 I have to raise vcore to 1.38 - 1.39 for it to be stable Prime95. For my video editing work 3.6 Ghz is good enough.

 

[smokey197]

ok wasnt really sure if i needed to raise the multiplier or fsb. Thanks for that. Is there anything i need to do with the north bridge?

 

[andy5174]

You can forget about everything else(including NB) if you OC by raising the multiplier instead of bus, because everything else will remain unchanged by doing so.

 

[smokey197]

Best answer selected by smokey197.