Suggested settings for Phenom II X4 955 and Asus M4N68T-T

[avadakedabra]

Hey everyone looking for some help overclocking my new rig.

I have AMD Phenom II X4 3.2Ghz 955 Black edition, with an Asus M4N68T-M2 V2 motherboard. Looking to try overclocking it. Because it has the Nvidia chipset, I can't run AMD Overdrive from Windows so I have to do everything from Bios. I find Bios is confusing because it has tons of options. Most people mention the multiplier, voltage etc, but I have about 4 different areas for voltage. My ram is 1 4GB chip of DDR3-1333 memory.

Does anyone have suggested settings? I'm going to get a water cool device like the Corsair H50 or H60. Someone in another forum mentioned 3.8ghz by doing 19x multipler, 250mhz and 1.4 volts. For some reason anything over 205Mhz my system won't boot it says overclocking failed, but maybe it's due to wrong voltage? Just wondering if anyone has tips where to go.

I'm at work and should have posted this at home so I don't have the list of the types of voltage it asks for. I remember something about CPU voltage, and then there's a HT voltage. Can write the list tonight but wondering if theres somewhere with recommended settings. Thanks!

 

[lowjack989]

3.8 GHz using the multi.. the settings would be 19x on the multi and leave the ref. clock alone @ 200 MHz...give it a slight bump in voltage..you want to be at 1.42-1.44v in most instances....So the settings would be:

Multi.= x19
BCLK=200MHz
Voltage=1.42...or a 50mA increase
Everything else can be on auto

 

[avadakedabra]

Thanks! I posted this in another thread but should I be able to achieve that using the stock fan? Just trying to make sure it all works before spending $70+ on a water cool device is all. Or is the reason I'm having issues due to cooling? It shows i"m only at 40 degrees mostly.

 

[lowjack989]

Stock cooling is not suffient for that OC...It will work for a bit but an overheat will be inevitable while OCing with the stock HSF...

 

[avadakedabra]

So just bought the Corsair H60 and it won't fit in my case grrr this thing is honkin. Same price as H50 so bought this one. IT's way too big for my case which really sucks.

 

[lowjack989]

Which case are you using?...it usually takes some modding to make the rad fit...unless you got a case made for LCS.

 

[cburke82]

Stock cooling is not suffient for that OC...It will work for a bit but an overheat will be inevitable while OCing with the stock HSF...

Are the coolers on the 955 and 965 the same? I ask because I have a 965 at 4.1ghz and the NB oc'ed to 2400mhz. I have the stock cooler that came with my cpu and it does just fine with the voltage at 1.438 or something like that. It never goes over 57c and I think the max is 65c right? Also thats the max wile gaimg Metro2033 and Crysis at max settings for the most part. I do have a HAF 922 with one 120mm side fan so I guess that helps but I would say at 3.8ghz no might not need the extra cooling unless yur case is cramped or you are expectting real hot room temps???

 

[lowjack989]

WOW ...a 4.1 OC on the stock cooler...I'd say your cooler is an execption to the rule as I OCed with stock cooler and got some unacceceptable temps. max temps @ 3.8-->1.42v
were 61c in a Lian-Li case with 3x140mm fans, 2x120mm fans...

 

[cburke82]

WOW ...a 4.1 OC on the stock cooler...I'd say your cooler is an execption to the rule as I OCed with stock cooler and got some unacceceptable temps. max temps @ 3.8-->1.42v
were 61c in a Lian-Li case with 3x140mm fans, 2x120mm fans...

Maybe they started shipping with different coolers? The one I got when I pulled it out looked quite beefy for a stock cooler lol. My cooler has a top mounted fan with fins like a reg cooler that I got with my Athlon. BUT then the fins are on a great looking set of copper heat pipes with the copper going all the way to where it hits the cpu. Thing even looks good in my case. Would that describe the stock Phenom cooler or no?

 

[lowjack989]

Mine was a dual heatpipe unit with a 60mm fan..AMD X4 965 BE 125-watt

 

[avadakedabra]

cburke that's what my stock cooler sounded like too. I just bought a new case though and installed the H60 fit perfectly, my case that I had was a bit too small. This was the stock cooler I had here http://techreport.com/r.x/phenom-ii-x4-955/stock-hsf.jpg

 

[lowjack989]

That the one I had I thought it sucked

 

[cburke82]

Thats the one lol Works like a champ for me. But then the HAF 922 is a beast and I have 3 case fans one extra side fan I added blowing directly on the cpu and cooler so I guess that helps. I will say for everyday use this set up is working great for me BUT if I try to run prime 95 its a no go. It will be stable for as long as I can run it but the temps will hit 65c after 2-3mins and I stop the test. So what I did was have a program that logs the CPU temp running and started playing a game for about an hour and saw the temp didnt ever go past 57c so Im happy with that. might still get a diff cooler this CPU seems to be a good OCer maybe with better cooling I can hit 4.3-4.5??? lol would be nice

 

[cburke82]

cburke that's what my stock cooler sounded like too. I just bought a new case though and installed the H60 fit perfectly, my case that I had was a bit too small. This was the stock cooler I had here http://techreport.com/r.x/phenom-ii-x4-955/stock-hsf.jpg

what temps are you getting with the h60???

 

[lowjack989]

I have an H50 on a 965 and my prime temp never exceeds 48c

 

[cburke82]

the h50-h60 are water coolers right?

 

[avadakedabra]

Yeah they are, I haven't overclocked yet but with the H60 I was just playing REsident Evil 5 for about 15 mins, quit and I'm at 30 degrees going to OC now.

 

[avadakedabra]

I'm having issues here. Earlier I swear I tried the above settings, 200mhz, 3.8Ghz and 1.4v and in Cinebench got like 4.07 for a score, normally it's 3.5. However now when I do it, I get like 3.2 much slower than standard. I"ve tried changing all the settings and it seems like overclocking makes it slower. Also it shows my CPU is always at 30 degrees, it's been there for an hour even after running a few cinebench tests which is odd. There's so many settings in bios to change I don't know what is what. I have:

CPU Overclocking, and I can pick standard, manual, auto, or profile
PCIe Overclocking same options
GPU Overclocking same options

Processor Frequency Multiplier
CPU/NB Frequency
HT Over Voltage
CPU Over Voltage
VDDNB Over Voltage
LoadLine Calibration

Memory Clock Mode
DRAM Timing Mode
Memory Over Voltage

Chipset over voltage


For the 1.4 volts I've been changing CPU Over Voltage, is that the right one?

 

[cburke82]

I'm having issues here. Earlier I swear I tried the above settings, 200mhz, 3.8Ghz and 1.4v and in Cinebench got like 4.07 for a score, normally it's 3.5. However now when I do it, I get like 3.2 much slower than standard. I"ve tried changing all the settings and it seems like overclocking makes it slower. Also it shows my CPU is always at 30 degrees, it's been there for an hour even after running a few cinebench tests which is odd. There's so many settings in bios to change I don't know what is what. I have:

CPU Overclocking, and I can pick standard, manual, auto, or profile
PCIe Overclocking same options
GPU Overclocking same options

Processor Frequency Multiplier
CPU/NB Frequency
HT Over Voltage
CPU Over Voltage
VDDNB Over Voltage
LoadLine Calibration

Memory Clock Mode
DRAM Timing Mode
Memory Over Voltage

Chipset over voltage


For the 1.4 volts I've been changing CPU Over Voltage, is that the right one?

I had an issue where I OCed my cpu and 3Dmark scores went down. I had to OC my Northbridge and then the scores went past the stock settings.

Were you see this : CPU/NB Frequency you should have settings in there for your NB settings. My mobo goes up 200mhz at a time. So stock its at 2000mhz then you can go 2200, 2400, 2600, 2800. I got my best scores and stability at 2600mhz. I did have to bump the voltage to keep stable. On my mobo the control for NB voltage is in the same area as the CPU voltage I only had to bump the NB voltage .1v to make it stable. Make sure not to adjust the NB voltage in 2 places. My mobo has a setting in the over clocking area close to the CPU setting and a separate one in another menu. Dont use the setting thats seperate from the CPU area use the one located with all the overclocking stuff.

My stock settings were Phenom II X4 965 3.4ghz 1.4v NB @ 2000mhz 1.1v I clocked to 4.1ghz at 1.43v NB @ 2600mhz at 1.201v. That was stable heat was under control and my benchmarks went up past stck by a good bit.

 

[avadakedabra]

Okay thanks I'll try. I'm just confused with all the voltage, when you say 1.43v for example, is that set under CPU Over Voltage? So like multiplier at 21x or whatever it is to make it 4.1Ghz, then CPU over voltage at 1.43v and CPU NB Frequency set to make it around 2600mhz? IT's the voltage I get confused with since theres HT Over Voltage, CPU Over Voltage and VDDNB Over Voltage so just not sure where the 1.43 goes...

 

[avadakedabra]

Btw the H60 is really awesome, haven't done much Overclocking yet but on stock settings even when playing games I can't really get it to ever go over 32 degrees.

 

[avadakedabra]

Just a quick update didn't have any luck. I don't have anywhere to set it to 2600mhz. The setting CPU/NB FREQUENCY has options like:

4x
5x
6x
7x

up to 11x. I tried 4x and when running Cinebench it just crashed. That was at 4.1Ghz which is a multiplier of 20.5, and I used CPU Over Voltage of 1.43v but no dice. There's not really anywhere that I can change the NB settings unless I'm missing something...

 

[cburke82]

Just a quick update didn't have any luck. I don't have anywhere to set it to 2600mhz. The setting CPU/NB FREQUENCY has options like:

4x
5x
6x
7x

up to 11x. I tried 4x and when running Cinebench it just crashed. That was at 4.1Ghz which is a multiplier of 20.5, and I used CPU Over Voltage of 1.43v but no dice. There's not really anywhere that I can change the NB settings unless I'm missing something...

Problem is every bios is different lol. If you can post some pics some how Ill try to see if there are any setting that look like they might be the ones to change

 

[avadakedabra]

I can try to, the thing above I posted though was all the options, it's basically:

CPU Overclocking, and I can pick standard, manual, auto, or profile
PCIe Overclocking same options
GPU Overclocking same options

Processor Frequency Multiplier - Standard, the multiplier to set the clock speed at ie 19x is 3.8ghz
CPU/NB Frequency this is 4x, 5x, 6x up to 11x
HT Over Voltage this is a voltage selection
CPU Over Voltage same as above
VDDNB Over Voltage also voltage selection but muchs maller like 0.7v, 0.8v etc
LoadLine Calibration forget what this one is

 

[cburke82]

I can try to, the thing above I posted though was all the options, it's basically:

CPU Overclocking, and I can pick standard, manual, auto, or profile
PCIe Overclocking same options
GPU Overclocking same options

Processor Frequency Multiplier - Standard, the multiplier to set the clock speed at ie 19x is 3.8ghz
CPU/NB Frequency this is 4x, 5x, 6x up to 11x
HT Over Voltage this is a voltage selection
CPU Over Voltage same as above
VDDNB Over Voltage also voltage selection but muchs maller like 0.7v, 0.8v etc
LoadLine Calibration forget what this one is

For CPU Overclocking are you selecting the manual option? If so what pops up at that point?? In my bios everything is greyed out If I select AUTO I get a few options as far as level of OC I want. If I select manual then I get a buch of options that open up. Everything I did to OC was in the options that open up once I turn on MAN OCing.