Help With Overclocking Phenom II X4 965BE

[jasonp12]

So I have read the guide and very much understand how to do it.....

but i cant seem to get a clear answer on the best way to do it? (should i do it through bios or AMD Overdrive?)

anyways my system is

Phenom II X4 965 BE (currently at stock settings)
ASUS M489GTD 890gx Mobo
Patriot G-Series sector 5 2x2gb 1600mhz (its 1600mhz but mobo only reads upto 1333mhz but actually tells you just to goto bios and set it to 1600 which i did and it auot adjusts the voltage accordinly... stock voltage is 1.65v its now at like 1.6532v)
Nvidia 9800GTX+ 1gb (gonna be grabbing a 6850/6870 soon)

now as for cooling
HAF 922 case
Hyper 212+

I am going to be adding another 200mm fan for intake on my 922 and another CM 120mm Bladerunner on my Hyper 212+ for push pull...

currently with my setup as it is i idle around 26C or so (though its gonna keep dropping a bit i heard, as i installed the Hyper 212+ yesterday, and as of yesterday it was idling around 28-29 and its already dropped to 26-27 idle)

anyways so my questions

1) best way to OC and AMD Black edition 965, through bios or AMD Overdrive
2) What are average safeish/stable temps for a 965? Ive heard some say it shouldnt go over 60C others say a lil less around 57-58C and ive heard others say upwards of 65C (and from what most overclockers are saying dont go over 1.55v on the CPU even less to be safer)

 

[alyoshka]

The Safest way to OC it for a Newbie is to use Overdrive.....
It's a great way to learn and to experiment.....

Average safe temps for the 965 anything less than 80C( Under Load) if fine..... going above it..... is in the long run harmful..

Voltages to the CPU are something that are pretty harmful, so exceeding the processors stated power requirement can cause a burnout inside the billions of transistors which you'll never be able to find it's only safe to work between the specified voltages..... for long times. But if it's something like once in a blue moon, you can exceed the voltage requirements for testing.... but no guarantees there for the processor.....

 

[simon12]

80C is way to high and will kill it quick, 60C maximum at full load is good 65C is extreme, CPU voltage under 1.5 is OK 1.55 is extreme.

 

[alyoshka]

I have all my processors running at 80C for years since the ambient temps here are high.... and I haven't killed a single processor till date...
Maybe I'm Lucky......

 

[Wisecracker]

Max Temps: 62c // Voltages: 0.825-1.40v // C3 Stepping

Your best OC will be found by adjusting the clock and CPU multiplier in the BIOS

Return to the BIOS and change your memory settings back to 1333MHz. Verify that your timings and voltages are correct. By dropping the memory back this will allow you to OC using the clock

In your case under the Ai Tweaker Menu ...

Switch *Ai OverClocking Tuner* from 'Auto' to 'Manual' and lock the PCIe Freq to 100MHz.


Because you dropped the memory from 800MHz to 667MHz you may now adjust the CPU/HT Reference Clock from 200MHz to as high as 240MHz. Because of the inter-relationships between components and the clock, a setting of 240MHz will return your RAMs to spec 1600MHz even though you dropped the memory ratio. It works like this ...

200MHz reference clock x 8(.00MHz memory ratio) = 1600MHz RAMs
240MHz reference clock x 6(.67MHz memory ratio) = 1600MHz RAMs

Make sense?


At first you should drop the CPU ratio (the 'multiplier') from stock *17* to *15*. This will give you a slight overclock, but more importantly will allow you to stress the system for stability and temps. When you are comfortable you may then begin to bump the CPU multiplier and continue your monitoring for stability and temps.

A slight warning: Some motherboards tend to raise voltage settings if you leave them at *Auto*. This is a good thing for simple OC'ing but when you get 'serious' about your OC you are better off adjusting these settings manually (so that the voltages do not climb too high, raising your temps and effecting stability). Reading, understanding and following an OC guide will help you a great deal, here.

The PhIIs like a little volt tweaking, but not too much.

 

[simon12]

I have all my processors running at 80C for years since the ambient temps here are high.... and I haven't killed a single processor till date...
Maybe I'm Lucky......

You have not run a 965 at 80C for years, many intel chips can run at that but not a phenom 2

 

[alyoshka]

My 965 has been on for more then a year now.... a little more....

 

[simon12]

62C is the official maximum temp from AMD and I have never heard anyone recommend over this or 1 surviving 80C

 

[alyoshka]

I know it's not recommended, but it does work...... I must've touched 98C when I was over clocking on a bad cooler..... in the peaks of summer, but it still survived.....
When I get into doing it, I can usually smell the varnish of the PCB.... so you can imagine the kind of heat that must be coming out.....
But like I said, I must be lucky.....
I have blown burnt out HDDs and Mobo but never the processor..... not even with insane temps.....Here's a Screen right now from my work comp....

And this processor has been on for like 4 years under the same bleeding conditions, it's survived two Mobo burnouts already....

 

[Wisecracker]

alyoshka ...

No offense intended, but ...

I've seen some lame and pathetic excuses in my lifetime, but this one is Top 3 material. There is nothing wrong with admitting you made a mistake.

I make them all the time

 

[alyoshka]

alyoshka ...

No offense intended, but ...

I've seen some lame and pathetic excuses in my lifetime, but this one is Top 3 material. There is nothing wrong with admitting you made a mistake.

I make them all the time

I still don't the the screens .......
I don't see any mistake made in what was said....
And I certainly gave no excuse.....
No offense taken....
I am just stating a fact that has been so , on my rigs till date.....I also posted the screen right there and then, and gave the chap who said it'll kill quick the peek into a fact, that's it's not necessarily so....
The Phenoms are at home, so I couldn't post an immediate pic, but, presently, I don't think they're running at that high a temp 'cos I put in the H50s sometime back.....

If you guys still feel , there's a mistake somewhere..... then ok Sorry for the mistake, to the OP stick to the below 65C temps and it'll all be ok....
But I wouldn't be afraid to go to the 80C limits......

 

[4Ryan6]

I still don't the the screens .......
I don't see any mistake made in what was said....
And I certainly gave no excuse.....
No offense taken....
I am just stating a fact that has been so , on my rigs till date.....I also posted the screen right there and then, and gave the chap who said it'll kill quick the peek into a fact, that's it's not necessarily so....
The Phenoms are at home, so I couldn't post an immediate pic, but, presently, I don't think they're running at that high a temp 'cos I put in the H50s sometime back.....

If you guys still feel , there's a mistake somewhere..... then ok Sorry for the mistake, to the OP stick to the below 65C temps and it'll all be ok....
But I wouldn't be afraid to go to the 80C limits......

If it's functioning properly, the 965s thermal overload should have kicked in way before you got anywhere even close to 80c and shut down, the thermal limit of a 965BE is 62c, advising someone they should run their CPUs past recommended specifications as far as thermal limits is total irresponsibility. It also is a violation of THGF Terms of Use that falls into the category of supplying false information, since AMD does not back your claim, so I suggest to you before advising this type of thing you research each CPU you decide to give out this type information on in the future. Whether you've been lucky or not is irrelevant, if you post these recommendations again, action will be taken against you, consider this a Warning! Ryan

 

[4Ryan6]

This topic has been closed by 4ryan6

 

[jasonp12]

Best answer selected by jasonp12.