Phenom II x4 925 Overclocking Potential

boofman

Distinguished
Aug 29, 2010
15
0
18,510
Hi Guys!

I have a PH II 925, and I wanna know its potential for OC. I tried it on stock CPU cooling and 3 case fans (and a 500W PSU, 2 sticks 2Gb DDR3, Sapphire HD4670 1Gb DDR3, on an Asus m4a7h-n mobo) and I can't get it stable at anything past 3.1Ghz on stock voltages (I can't crank the V's at this point due to cooling problems).

I am looking at getting a better cpu cooling (and case cooling)along with a 750W PSU, but I want to know if any of you guys here have had the PH II 925 OCced to around 3.7Ghz or maybe even the 4Ghz barrier?

Thanks!
 
Solution
I have my Phenom II X4 925 "Deneb" sitting at 3500Mhz (250x14) w/ vcore at 1.45v. That voltage seems to be within spec, and I am not having any cooling problems; what do you guys think? Chip is stable Prime95 +8hrs (it never did bsod).
I tried lowering it to 1.42 and It BSOD'd.

Currently it is 70F in my house and my CPU is running 30C(89F) at idle. Under load this goes up about 20 ~ 25F So I expect when summer hits here to see temps around 115F ~ 125F. I use aftermarket air cooling.

My MSI 790x - G45 Mobo would auto set voltages between 1.36v ~ 1.41v between 2.8Ghz and 3.2Ghz (230FSB), anything over 230Mhz ~ 235Mhz FSB would be unstable and crash. The Mobo would not raise the "auto volts" over 1.41v; however 1.45v is well within the...

boofman

Distinguished
Aug 29, 2010
15
0
18,510
Hi Slee,

I hit 60C at 3.1Ghz (222x14) at 100% all day with stock cooling (I'm at the tropics, ambient is at around 37C), and from what guys here at Tom's Hardware said, Phenom IIs should be OK if you don't hit 70C.

I think my problems come from my 4Gb DDR3 sticks (or voltages? - not sure). I get BSOD right after 226x14, anything higher and it won't post.
 

Slee_Stack

Distinguished
Jul 8, 2009
18
0
18,510
I've since replaced the 925 with a 965. The 965 runs a ton hotter...65ºC at 100%. I just added water cooling. Now it tops around 52ºC, stock voltage at 3.7GHz. In retrospect, the 925 was a pretty good chip for low temps...
 

boofman

Distinguished
Aug 29, 2010
15
0
18,510


Is there a significant increase in performance in going with 965? How's the price/performance ratio as with the 925? I mean in a real-world scenario, as I believe benchmarks are just stats on paper? Should you have moved on to the Thuban than another quad?

I've been considering going with Thuban after the 925, as iCores are out of the question - too expensive for my taste..
 

nyterage

Distinguished
Nov 19, 2010
127
0
18,710
I currently have my 925 running at 14x 225 (3.15ghz), tryed to get it up to 3.3 and got a BSOD when trying to run prime95, stock voltages, if i wanted to up the voltages i could probably get it higher, maxes at 56c while running prime95 at my current clock. its a great chip for overclocking! next ill probably try 14x229 to get it to 3.2, im sure it can handle that without more voltage.
 
Could you give us a little more info on that motherboard? I'm not familiar with that model --- and I haven't come across an Asus m4a AM3 board that wouldn't run 240-250MHz clock without breaking a sweat.

What speed are your RAMs at stock and with your OC ? A few screen shots from CPUz would help us a bunch
 

boofman

Distinguished
Aug 29, 2010
15
0
18,510
Will try to attach CPUz shots if I get the chance..been busy lately..

How far did anyone get to OC the 925 on stock cooling and voltages while remaining stable?
 
I got a PhII945 C2 125w on eBlast for $126. Seems to like 14x251 at 1.344v

PhII945-C2125w_load-14x251MHz_1-35v.jpg


PhII-945-C2125w-idle-4x251MHz_1-088v.jpg


Will do 15x250 at 1.45v but she gets a might warm with the stock cooler after ten minutes or so.
 

boofman

Distinguished
Aug 29, 2010
15
0
18,510


Mine won't even post after 229..
 

thirteenthcor

Distinguished
Jan 14, 2011
45
0
18,540
I have my Phenom II X4 925 "Deneb" sitting at 3500Mhz (250x14) w/ vcore at 1.45v. That voltage seems to be within spec, and I am not having any cooling problems; what do you guys think? Chip is stable Prime95 +8hrs (it never did bsod).
I tried lowering it to 1.42 and It BSOD'd.

Currently it is 70F in my house and my CPU is running 30C(89F) at idle. Under load this goes up about 20 ~ 25F So I expect when summer hits here to see temps around 115F ~ 125F. I use aftermarket air cooling.

My MSI 790x - G45 Mobo would auto set voltages between 1.36v ~ 1.41v between 2.8Ghz and 3.2Ghz (230FSB), anything over 230Mhz ~ 235Mhz FSB would be unstable and crash. The Mobo would not raise the "auto volts" over 1.41v; however 1.45v is well within the stated BIOS safety range (white = recommended safe settings). I have mine set to 1.45v which at Prime95 load tops at 1.51v (still within BIOS safety parameters).

HTT/NB/SB is at 1.366v (which is under 10% over-stock voltage)
DRAMv is at 1.71v (Which for Patriot 1600Mhz PC12800 says it's within spec; MAX 1.8v)

RAM is currently at 1333Mhz BIOS "Auto" Ratio

Voltages sound ok guys?

My Thermaltake ToughPower PSU @ 650w only shows me a Vcore volt fluctuation of .008 during load (Prime95 ~ 1.51v) and idle (1.45v), and I have a 1,2, and 3 percent volt fluctuation on my 3.3v 5v, and 12v rails respectively.

As of right now, this appears to be a GREAT chip for OC!

Also, could someone advise me on timings?
 
Solution

thirteenthcor

Distinguished
Jan 14, 2011
45
0
18,540



How were you able to get your vcore so low without BSOD? I couldn't get it below 1.42v @ 250x14/3500Mhz without a BSOD?

Excuse my post, I didn't see you had posted the results of a 945 @ 125w; my 925 is @ 104w.

Guess I answered my own question then?
 

Boydwazyup

Distinguished
Jan 22, 2011
1
0
18,510
I have been working on my system for a year now trying to get all the right parts and to make a sweet rig for my desktop \ gaming computer
i have the Amd Phenom II x4 925
ATI 5670 1GB GDDR5
4 GB OCZ 800 DDR2
Asus M4A78L-m Mainboard
and all these parts where able to Overclock to

AMD stock 2.8ghz Overclocked 3.43 245x14 stable
temps 45c-49c 49c-52c all under 100 load stock cooling NO lie i am cheap

it plays lost planet 1920x1080p setting on high but shadows on medium running Direct x 9 39.5 fps so for limited money you can overclock and from the post that i see on here it all depends on the make up of the mainboard and ram and the CPU so don't give upi on overclocking just do the research on the manufactures websites and you will find that some boards like certain configurations just have to chose the right one,. good luck to all you overclockers out there
 

thirteenthcor

Distinguished
Jan 14, 2011
45
0
18,540



What were you able to get your voltages to? Also, that Mobo will take OC DDR2 RAM up to 1200Mhz; You might be able to squeeze some more out of the OCZ Memory. OCZ makes good mem so It's likely that it would be stable.

Did your FSB lose stability at 250x14? If not, and you're concerned about your mem cap, You could go to 250x14 and set your FSB:RAM at 1:2, which would give you an even 1000Mhz on your OCZ mem.

If it's heat you're concerned about, it's unlikely that you will constantly have your comp under 100% load at all times, so you could go that little extra to get that 3.5Ghz.

All in all, great setup IMO, and yeah, please post your voltages!

Later,

J
 

boofman

Distinguished
Aug 29, 2010
15
0
18,510
I read somewhere that the max temp our Phenom IIs could take safely is around 55C, any higher and you will be risking burning up our proccies..well, I just noticed my CPU idles at around 40C already, so not much room on stock cooling..maybe I do have to get an aftermarket cooling after all.. ;(
 

thirteenthcor

Distinguished
Jan 14, 2011
45
0
18,540



Nothing to worry about though, my Thermaltake Spin Q CPU cooler uses air and at 3.5Ghz I've NEVER gone over 45C even at Prime95 max load.

My cooler was also around only 20 bucks, so no need to worry about dropping a c-note for cooling here.

If you WANT to do Liquid Cooling, Corsair makes the "H50" which is between 40-60 bucks depending on where you shop and has great benchmarking results for "pre-assembled" liquid cooling kits.

Also, I make it a point to toss out stock cooling as a personal principle. Even at stock voltages and Mhz the temps are always to high for my taste.

And of course don't forget a high air flow case.
 

boofman

Distinguished
Aug 29, 2010
15
0
18,510


Thanks for the info..now, it seems I do need to get aftermarket cooling AND a new case..already looked at some cooling solutions but none of them fit my case..if at worst-case, I'll get one and then have the side of my case open all the time..
 

thirteenthcor

Distinguished
Jan 14, 2011
45
0
18,540



I had a space issue as well, and liquid cooling is a good solution for people who don't have enough room for a massive fin radiator like you see on some Air Cooling setups. For me, Fry's was sold out of the H50's when I was doing my Comp Build, and the ONLY air system I could find that fit was the Thermaltake Spin Q. It had good top clearance for my case (Thermaltake Element G Series) and the heat tubes we're only on one side, so I could face the AWAY from my RAM modules.. Which I hear can be a big problem for many people. Often air cooling tubes bunch up against the memory.

The Corsair H50 doesn't take up ANY more space/profile on your mobo than your stock radiator/fan combo. The radiator on the H50 bolts onto the exhaust fan on the back of your comp, so the only change in size is effectively doubling your rear exhaust fan profile.

Corsair H50

http://media.bestofmicro.com/Corsair-H50-Liquid,U-K-217532-13.jpg
http://img.hexus.net/v2/cooling/Corsair/H50/IMG_1799-copy-big.jpg

Thermaltake Spin Q Series:

http://www.overclockersonline.net/images/articles/tt/spinq/large/21.jpg

You'll notice it offers more clearance than A LOT of the air cooling systems on the market, but with the integrated fan holds its own with the best of them (personal experience) and is only beaten by serious over-the-top setups like stuff Noctua puts out.
 

boofman

Distinguished
Aug 29, 2010
15
0
18,510


Nice looking setup on Thermaltake SpinQ! found one here, costs about $400..do you have positive or negative airflow? I got two case fans, the side one blowing towards the stock proccy fan and the back one blows out, PSU fan blowing out also..
 

thirteenthcor

Distinguished
Jan 14, 2011
45
0
18,540



I believe my case has a Positive airflow, but it could be close to neutral I suppose. I have a 240mm side door fan that blows fresh air in onto my GPU's, and a front 200mm fan that sucks fresh air in across my HDD's. I have a top 200mm fan that pulls air out, a 140mm on the back that pulls air out, and two little 60mm fans right next to my GPU's also pulling air out..

My GPU's are also ducted with rear vents exhausting out the back of my case.

The PSU I have has a 120mm or 140mm fan which appears to suck air in from under the case and exhaust it out the back of the PSU.

Basically I made it my goal to have as much throughput as possible, so I have almost as much CFM being pulled out as going in... On paper at least :p

The Spin Q is sandwiched right between the rear exhaust fan and the top exhaust fan, and the Spin Q fan isn't the typical "screw" type fan, it's a flat bladed fan seated in the middle of the cooling fins, so it appears to blow air in all directions. This appears to be ideal because it's surrounded by exhaust fans which pull out all that expelled exhaust.

Good case flow will improve the efficiency of any internal cooling systems in my opinion, but I think in the future I will look at non-ducted GPU's like the MSI HAWK design because with a Crossfire setup my top card pulls hot air right off the card below it and as a result runs about 15c hotter.

MSI Hawk:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127490&cm_re=MSI_Hawk-_-14-127-490-_-Product

My Card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447&cm_re=HD_5770-_-14-150-447-_-Product
 

boofman

Distinguished
Aug 29, 2010
15
0
18,510


Nice setup there..

I have a Sapphire HD4670 card right now, which seems to suffice all my gaming and movie watching needs..but I'm also considering getting a better card, probably a DDR5 unit, although Crossfire seems out of the question, as the Mobo I have supports only Hybrid Crossfire X..maybe if I decide to change Mobo's, I'd be building a different setup, probably something like a Thuban, and Crossfire support and two DDR5 ATI GPUs..

As for the case, I have a generic one, and I think I have negative airflow, with just two fans aside from the PSU..I'm looking to add a third fan, and choosing between having it blowing out the case, or sucking air in..I'll look into that deeper when I have the time - day job's killing me :(

The more sooner project I have in mind is OC, and only manage to run my 925 is at 3.2ghz, climbing more and I'm risking frying my proccy..so, two things: proccy cooling and case fans..maybe I'll mod the case itself for more cooling if time permits..

Thanks for your input guys..I really appreciate your help..and more inputs are always welcomed! ;)