Overclock Phenom II x3 720 BE & Visiontek 4870x2

[Finnman]

Hey all,

As my header suggests, I need help overclocking my rig. I'm a n00b when it comes to OC'ing, I've messed with it a little bit based on some reccommendations on the web but nothing beyond that. Obviously I'd like to get my system running at top performance, with as few bottlenecks as possible so I'd like a little advice.

My specs are:

CPU: Phenom II x3 720 BE (can unlock the 4th core in the bios)
MOBO: Asus M4A79T Deluxe
RAM: 8gb (4 x 2gb) PC3-12800 Corsair XMS3 9-9-9-24 (TW3X4G1600C9DHX G)
VID: Visiontek Radeon 4870x2 (overclockable in ATI Overdrive)
HD: Intel x25-m 80gb SSD
OS: Windows 7 64 bit

PSU: OCZ Fatal1ty 700w
Sound: Razer Baraccuda AC-1
Case: Coolermaster 932
CPU HS: Coolermaster v8
VID HS: Arctic Cooling Accelero XTREME 4870X2

So as you can see, there's good potential for OCing, and plenty of cooling, I just don't know how to set the bus and ram timings and all that so that it all functions optimally. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Also as a side note I am able to do a soft OC for both the cpu and video in my OS, so I can quickly test stability without going into the BIOS.

Cheers!

-Finn

 

[Finnman]

Bump

 

[RazberyBandit]

Tom's did an article on easy overclocking of AMD and Intel CPUs on a Budget. I highly suggest reading it. It's very informative and details all the steps involved. I'll link directly to the page where it begins with AMD CPUs, starting with the PhII X2 550. The steps shown apply to all Phenom II's.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overclock-phenom-pentium,2366-6.html

Though, I do prefer the step-by-step method of increasing multipliers and voltage as necessary, which is outlined in this article:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/phenom-overclock-athlon,2161.html

As far as the video card is concerned, ATI Overdrive in the Catalyst Control Center has an Auto-Clock feature that will find a solid and stable OC for your GPU. You might be able to get more than it recommends, but it's a great start and a very simple "1-click" method.

 

[Finnman]

Best answer selected by Finnman.

 

[RazberyBandit]

Finnman, were you able to find answers you needed regarding the CPU within those guides? If you've got any questions, let 'em rip.