965BE - Stable? Kind of... maybe too hot?

[mkb 58]

Hi all, just completed my first rig yesterday, and now that it's my work weekend I am working on the OC portion of this.

Under Prime95 I hit a max temp of 62C and it varies during the load between 59-62C.

20x Multiplier
200 FSB
1.5 VCore (Won't dare go higher as this seems to be hot enough as is)

My Memory is G.Skill Eco set to 7-8-7-24-2 and 1600 w/ 1.41 Volts (Won't let me go to 1.35)

I am using a Gigabyte 890FXA-UD5 (2.0) with the F4 Bios.

Does anybody have suggestions or input on the current stats? Possibly make it faster without bumping volts, or decrease multiplier and increase FSB (even possible? I dont know...)

The task of the rig is to play games, nothing more. Final Fantasy XIV to be specific @ 1080P Resolution.

If you need anymore info please let me know. Thanks for your time!

 

[JofaMang]

Since you didn't mention it, I would assume you are using the stock CPU cooler that came with the CPU. I would personally consider 62c too hot, and it is a common belief that the phenom II chips should not operate past that temp, or risk damage, especially for extended periods of operation at high temps. There are some great performing and cost effective coolers (usual recommondation is to find a CM 212 Plus for about $30) that will dramatically drop your temps, if you are indeed using the stock cooler.

I found the performance difference between 3.8 and 4.0ghz was not significant enough to justify the volts to stabilize at 4.0, compared to 3.8. I can run 3.8ghz at only 1.41v stable, but need 1.5v to stabilize at 4.0. The Temp difference between the two was significant, while the gaming dividends were not.

You must understand the relation of the FSB to the rest of your computer before you start Overclocking in that way. using just the multiplier will allow you to isolate the CPU in the process, but obviously increases the gaps between available settings.

Your memory timings look strong, and if those settings have passed stability testing, further tweaking will not pay dividends.

FFXIV will be a demanding game, but playabilty will not be decided by the difference between 2.8 and 4.0. It is also looking to be a more GPU dependent game. Being able to play at 1080p will be decided by your GPU more than your CPU.

In the end, I would recommend dropping to 3.8 or 3.9 with minimum stable voltages to save heat fatigue on the chip, or invest in a decent HSF. Since you indicate you are using it for gaming (and not hardcore benchmarking) the differences in performances will not outweigh the risk to your hardware. Harcore Benchmarkers will fight for every point in 3Dmark and other benchmarking software, while gamers will not experience as noticeable an effect.

Also important to note, is that NB overclocking is a strong component to OCing an AMD system. 3.8ghz w/2400 NB will generally outperform 4.0ghz w/ 2000 NB in general gaming and PC usage.

If the things I have mentioned are foreign to you, spend some time perusing the available guides sticked at the top of the OC forum, and become good friends with google. There is too much to go through in a single post, and without dedication to understanding the whole process, you will never achieve you goals.

 

[mkb 58]

Thank you very much for that detailed response. I can't believe I neglected the HSF, I am using a Hyper 212 + with a 2nd fan in push pull config. (Just changed it). I reran Prime95 and only had a 2C drop

To put it into realistic settings, or as close to as I can right now, I ran the benchmark and the CPU temps never jumped over 53C on high res.

As you mentioned it is time for more reading. I guess I am just burned out and was looking for a quick answer to get through this point. Thanks again for the help!

 

[marco324]

try using easytune 6 to lower your memory whn you load windows make your settings and check auto run next boot and autoload last save next reboot nice little utility for over-under clocking cpu ram fans

http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3519#dl