Over-clocking Specs plzz

[willdav]

hey peeps i'm sorta new to this. i have a msi 790fx-gd70 motherboard,amd 955 black edition,4gb corsair 1600mhz ddr3 ram and msi r6870 gpu.
i wanna overclock this baby but i keep getting stuck when trying,so i'm consulting the experience of u overclockers here in attempting to get the very best out of my rig.
your responses and assistance will b greatly appreciated

 

[acer0169]

You've got an AMD Black Edition so overclocking couldn't be any easier .

You go into your BIOS, find where is says AI Tuner or Overclocking or whatever (normally second page in BIOS) where all your CPU settings are.

Sometimes you need to set something to "manual" before seeing options for overclocking.

You simply then increase your CPU Multiplier to get a better clock.

You're currently at 3.2GHz, which means you've got a 200 FSB and 16x multiplier. 200 x 16 = 3200 / 3.2GHz. If you increase your multiplier to 18x you'll have 200 x 18 = 3600 / 3.6GHz.

Because you're now running at a faster speed, you'll often need to increase your core voltage to keep it stable.

Best way to do this is to increase your CPU Multiplier by a single point (sometimes half a point) and then boot into windows. Once in windows, run a stress test such as Prime95 (with the option "round off checking" turned on). If you can run Prime95 for say an hour or two without any errors - you're stable.

If you do get an error you have two choices, lower your CPU clock speed, or add voltage to it. You should add voltage the same as you did your multiplier - go into bios and increase by a single increment. Once you've added a little volts to your OC, boot into windows again and now see if you can run Prime95 without errors.

Once you're stable at your new speed, you can push your multiplier again, then your volts and keep doing this untill it doesn't matter how many volts you put to your chip, you just can't get stable - now you've found your maximum speed.

Once you can't get stable, you need to lower your clock speed just a little until stable again - that's the fastest you're going.

Done.

Sorry if this is a bit rushed, I'm kinda' tired lol.
If you need more help post again and I'll do what I can to help.

 

[simon12]

^+1 also keep an eye on the temperature when running Prime 95 you really want to stay under 55C with 62C as total max. You don't say what cooler you have if its the stock one then I recommend not increasing the voltage (if you do watch the temps very closely). Also disable cool & quiet before you start.

 

[acer0169]

Ahh yes sorry, I missed a few things.

Disable all "auto" settings in your BIOS. AMD's Cool 'n' Quiet needs to be disabled. Also disable C1E if you have it.

If you're on the stock cooler as simon said (lol) you probably shouldn't go any further than around 3.3 or 3.4GHz. If you're on a good cooler then you should be fine up to 3.6 or 3.8GHz, and if you're on water or have a high-end cooler 4.0GHz isn't unrealistic.

 

[solidliquid]

Don't forget to download CPU-z from http://www.cpuid.com it is a great thing to have.

 

[acer0169]

Don't forget to download CPU-z from http://www.cpuid.com it is a great thing to have.

Yeah handy tool. Wont really help you overclock, but it'll let you keep an eye on your speed and voltage while stressing the CPU.

 

[willdav]

current cooler i am using is Zalman 9700 and i achieved 4.0ghz with an overall core temp of 43 degrees.
thanks for the info since i wasnt aware of the voltage increasing which was to be done,i'll make the necessary adjustments and report back.
thanks guys

 

[solidliquid]

current cooler i am using is Zalman 9700 and i achieved 4.0ghz with an overall core temp of 43 degrees.
thanks for the info since i wasnt aware of the voltage increasing which was to be done,i'll make the necessary adjustments and report back.
thanks guys

Yeah make sure you do that in very small increments