A little advise for a newb please

[NickCapolupo]

I just did my first build with the following..

Phenom II x4 965 BE
2 X 2gb Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600
GTX460 (EVGA)
Samsung Spinpoint 1 TB HDD
ASRock 770 Xtreme Mobo
Fatal1ty 550 W PSU
Antec 600 Case (1 back fan, 1 big top fan, 2 front fans)

Im new to overclocking. I dont want to wear the life of my computer down fast, I dont want much extra power. I just see that they have a fairly simple looking menu in BIOS with this CPU and Mobo. It has the option to AutoOC, so I did it just to 5% (the lowest you can autoOC). It sent me to 3570 MHz. Is there anything else I need to do? Did I do any harm to anything? Did it do any good? Im still a little nervous about tweeking volts and whatnot. Does anybody know about this AutoOC stuff? Let me know.

Also, do I have to do something with my memory sticks? I just stuck em in there and powered the thing on. It reads 4GB of memory (says only 3.25 available, is this normal on a brand new build?) Also, it registered as 1333 on some program that shows all your system components) But It says right on the stick its DDR3 1600.. Do I have to manually do something to make my memory work properly? And do I need to do something with it since I overclocked by 5%??


Any advise/pointers would be appreciated. Like I said, Im not looking for a crazy boost in performance. Should I set things back to default or whats your opinion? BTW, computer will be for music, surfing/videos, and starcraft 2

 

[aberchonbie]

the BE editions of AMD cpu's have an unlocked multiplier. You can easily just change the multiplier to a higher value and get an easy increase in speeds.

you bought 1600 rated RAM but you're running at 1333 because in order to increase the speed to 1600, you need to overclock your RAM.

Been a while since I overclocked AMD cpu's but you basically have to change the processor frequency and mess with the CPU/RAM divider to hit 1600 speeds. There is no SIGNIFICANT difference between 1333 and 1600 speeds but since you spent more money for the 1600 might as well use it at that speed.

 

[mrtoesterman]

all i can think is, run the stress test, see if it is stable, and making sure the temp stays pretty cool. if it doesn't stay cool, take your vcore off auto and manually adjust it, start with what your program, CPUz, shows for the value, then go down 0.50V until it not stable then you will find that "sweet point" and then stress test it for 1hour to 2 hour to make sure its stable WITH lower heat of course.


in my case, i have a i5, left everything on auto and OC to 3.4, my temp was running 76*C, i manually tuned my Vcore and Dram, and now my temp is lows 60*C and OC it again to 3.82ghz

 

[saint19]

1- If you really want overclock, you will not do it with "AutoOC" or things like that.
2- What cooler are you using? Because if you don't want down the life or you CPU, a good cooler is the 1st thing that you need for overclock.
3- If you want 1600, you need go to the BIOS and set all the specifications of your RAM manually, and trust me you will see a BIG difference between 1333 and 1600, more if your set your NB to 2500-2700.

 

[NickCapolupo]

saint... is it simple to change? what is NB and what is 2500-2700? Sorry, this is just new to me, but yeah, i want my Memory to use its full potential

 

[saint19]

Check this two links:

1- http://slappablog.wordpress.com/reviewsbenchmarks/phenom-ii-am3-overclocking-essentials-guide/
2- http://slappablog.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/phenom-ii-imc-ram-overclocking-guide/

Will give you a lot of think to understand what is what and what do, with that you can start to overclock your 965.

 

[mrtoesterman]

Its better to get a a good Ram that has a Pc 20000 or above. then you can overclock it with a lower ratio and then tighten up the speed..... pretty sure you want more speed with teh ram?

 

[NickCapolupo]

Best answer selected by NickCapolupo.

 

[NickCapolupo]

well, saints links look like they have alot of info im about to get deep into. I figured out how to get my memory up to 1600 from 1333, so Im happy about that. I feel like my CPU Fan is a little loud and sounds like its working hard, im thinking i should upgrade that before i try to overclock too much. Also, is there any other programs I should get to make sure my computer is running at its maxium safest potential? This is my first build, I just want to make sure everything is running good. So far Ive just ran a free trial version of Everest, used it to stress test for maybe 30 minutes, temp never seemed to rise above 40-something on any cores.. I believe thats okay, right? I got a program called speedfan to check temps also, and it says Im a little hot if things get to 45 degrees, but I thought you were good under 60..

Anyhow, is there anything else I should be stressing/testing/checking to see if my comp is truely running well?

 

[saint19]

If you are using the stock cooler don't go above 3.6GHz or the temps will rise a lot.

I recommend buy a CPU cooler if you really want overclock the CPU at max and keep the temps below 60ºC.