Athlon II X3 Unlocked & Overclocked - Does these numbers look safe?

[dannyboy3210]

I recently bought a new computer after a lot of data gathering (here) and have been loving how fast it runs everything compared to my old computer.

As a human being, I could not resist the temptation to see if the third core could unlock and so I used the motherboard's core unlocker to try and unlock it. It worked and I was glad to see that for about 80$ I had bought a quadcore cpu. The temps had been a bit on the high side so I bought a Thermaltake Contac 29 hsf from a local store (it was what they had in stock).

After I got the new hsf, I became curious as to whether I could overclock my new cpu, and how much I could overclock it (having never overclocked anything before).

Currently I have it running at:

Core Clock Speed: ~3505 mhz
Bus Speed: 233 mhz
Multiplier: X 15
HT Link: ~1870 mhz
Ram: ~1558 mhz @ 7-8-7-24 - 1 T (not sure what it does and am unsure about whether I should change it or not...) (@1.5 volts I believe atm)
VCore: 1.45v (Set to manual)

Cool'n Quiet is off.
Other voltages are all on auto.

I know I've probably forgotten to mention a few numbers, but its my first time ever overclocking

I ran Prime 95 blend test for 10 hours, max temp was 54 degrees with fan on standard, 52 degrees on 100% fan speed.
I then ran about 1.25 hours on the high fft? (high heat mode) and hit the same max temps.

Does anyone have any comments or suggestions on what I should do to make sure its as stable as can be and what I can do to make it more stable, etc. I used Dolk's gude to the Phenom II to do it because it explained how to overclock safely and it was easy to do so.

My main components are:

Cpu: Athlon II X3 440

Motherboard: ASUS M4A87TD/USB3

Ram: G.SKILL F3-12800CL7D-4GBECO

I am currently doing more research on what I can/should lower in order to make this overclock as stable as possible and thereby make the system last as long as possible.

Oh yes, I had almost forgotten, I backed up and then flashed my bios to 0801 (The second most recent bios released), and used the Oc Profile saver to save my bios settings for the OC.

Any input is welcome, I'm a newbie to overclocking and am learning.

 

[simon12]

All looks good if you can lower the voltage and its still stable its worth it but 1.45 is fine.

 

[dannyboy3210]

Well, it had been at 1.425v but came up with errors in prime95 blend test so I upped it to 1.45 and it became stable.

My concern is that it's rated to run @ 0.85 - 1.425. Would running it at 1.45 be risky?

What I will probable do though is for 24/7 use, just have the fourth core unlocked, but for heavy gaming or something that could use the speed boost, I can just use the OC profile to get it back.

 

[green300]

Looks real good.

Nice memory

 

[simon12]

Up to 1.5V is fine

 

[MadGoat1979]

Looks really good!

Green300 is right, that is some nice memory you've got there.

Now the real test would be to see if you can get the overclock stable with cool and quiet enabled. Keep the meter from running too many circles ;-)

For your first time OC'ing, Thumbs up!

 

[hasappra]

I'm a little bit worried about your voltage ... 1.45V is high.
I'm using Athlon II X3 435 on stock HSF.
my stable overclock (and unlocked) is:
Bus Speed: 240 MHz
Core Speed: 240x14.5=3480 MHz
HT and NB: 2160 MHz
Core Voltage: 1.397 V
Max temp: 57 C.

 

[dannyboy3210]

This is exactly the sort of info I was looking for, thank you very much for posting it.
I am worried a bit about the voltage myself, I had it at 1.425 but it came up with errors in prime 95 so I just bumped it to 1.45. I'm running it in Prime 95 all day to make sure its 100% stable at this, and then I'll try tweaking my voltages down, bit by bit, in order to find a lower stable voltage. Keeping in mind that my max temp is currently 54 C (Although this might change as it runs prime 95 today).
Once again, thanks for the input hasappra and everyone else.

 

[green300]

1.45 is nothing to be concerned about. As simon12 pointed out, amd says 1.5 to1.55 is safe on air cooloing. Voltage=heat, but it's the heat that degrades and damages. Keep your max. temps below 62c ish.

1.4 (1.392) has been shown to be enough for up to 3.5. And 1.45,1.47 enough for 3.6,3.7 with some chips and board combos. Some chips require more. (every combo is different)

If your looking for your absolute lowest vcore while priming, set your Loadline Calibration to 12.90% in your bios. That will prevent your vcore from dropping below what you've set it to and still allow it to draw a little more if needed while stressing. If your stable and done stressing you can lower it to what ever is needed for work load or gaming.

Personally, I would leave at 1.45 and up your fsb to 240 givng you 3.6 and putting your mem back at 1600. If that's stable with safe temps go back and try to lower v down.

At 1.5v those eco's scale excellent.

 

[dannyboy3210]

I had tried to get my ram running @ 1600mhz with the timings at 7-8-7-24, but it either: crashed, wouldn't boot properly or would come up with errors in prime 95 blend test. I kept this in mind when overclocking and made sure to lower the ram speed to lower the chance of instability due to the ram. I'll do some research when I get a chance to figure out how to find the ideal timings vs speed. (I've heard that better timing is more important than speed when the ram is used with an amd system (chipset, whatever.))

I used Dolk's guide to determine my max fsb with all four cores enabled and determined it to be about 240 (MAYBE up to 242.)

Also, after I flashed my bios to 0801, when using the manual overclock feature, I can no longer enable Cool'n'Quiet. The box just grayed out.

 

[green300]

Are both of your sticks of memory in the blue slots only? Would be a good idea to run 2T until you get it sorted.

Was your NB Frequency at 2400 or higher when you tried running 1600 ? You may need to bump your CPU_NB and or NB voltages one or two notches, but your board may need you to get your NB Freq. up first.

Like you say, when you get time..know how that is...

0801 they list is for the non-usb3 m4a87td ? They have 1005 for the usb3 you listed earlier...I think..check it out ! If not, try lowering cpu multiplier and or vcore back to defaults to see if that is why your new bios has c'n'q grayed...

 

[dannyboy3210]

Ah, I hadn't noticed 0801 didn't have a usb3 part whereas the 1005 did...

Yes, I have the two sticks of ram in the two blue slots, I can switch it to 2T.

My NB frequency was... Good question, I'll have to check what it was, but it was on stock settings that 1600 @ 7-8-7-24 wouldn't work, 1600 @ 9-9-9-24 did though.

I'll check if the Coolnquiet is disabled when overclocking or increasing the voltage.

 

[green300]

Here is one short review of the eco's in an amd platform.

http://www.techreaction.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1365

 

[dannyboy3210]

Yeah, Chew*'s results are pretty much consistant with what I had to do; lower the multiplier and then I could achieve 7-8-7-24 @ 1553mhz. I had been running it at 1333 9-9-9-24, then 1333 7-8-7-24 and then 1600 9-9-9-24 before the overclock, and 1553 7-8-7-24 seems good. (I don't really do anything yet that requires me to really make use of my ram)
(Yes, they really are some nice looking sticks of ram, I'm glad my favourite colour is green!)

Oh yes, I tried last night to raise the fsb from 233 to 240 without changing anything. It almost loaded windows, but crashed part way through. I wasn't really expecting it to make it (I've read that you can go to about 3.5 by only changing the vcore, but higher clocks require tuning with other voltages) so I'm not dissapointed; 3.5ghz is a nice enough speed anyways (And I rarely need it that high anyways...).

I'm going to experiment with AMD Overdrive, trying something that might be more beneficial for games, ie: Lowering the multiplier on cores 3&4, and then boosting the fsb. I figure since most (pretty much all) of the games I play don't use more than 1-2 cores really, it will still have the same performance and potentially generate less heat. It will also give me some practice fiddling around with AMD Overdrive and learn I'll learn more. Even if it doesn't do much, its still worth a shot, even if its just to see if its possible.

When I flashed it I did not manually reset the CMOS, maybe this is why the coolnquiet is grayed out...

Also, what can I use to measure my ram's temperature, I keep forgetting to ask if anyone know's of a program that does that.

 

[dannyboy3210]

Best answer selected by dannyboy3210.

 

[dannyboy3210]

Before this thread dies off, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who replied.

Daniel.

Oh yes, and I thought I'd post this too in case anyone wanted to see it.

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1390906