Greetings community. This is my very first build, and of course, my first attempt at overclocking. I am inquiring as to if my current settings are reasonable/stable, and if I might be able to push my system a little further. I apologize in advance for its length. Im still learning, and have many questions.
System Specs:
Motherboard - ASUS M5A97
CPU - AMD Phenom II x4 970 Black Edition 3.5Ghz (currently overclocked to 3.97Ghz)
CPU Cooler - Thermaltake Frio
Memory - 8GB (2x4Gb) Patriot Viper Extreme DDR3 1600MHz
Graphics - PNY GTX 560 ti OC2
Power Supply - Corsair TX650M
Storage - Corsair Force 3 SSD 120Gb
OS - Windows Home Premium 64bit OEM
Case - Cooler Master HAF 922
I was little weary about diving in head first, and fortunately, my board came with the AI2 suite that can automatically overclock.
This is how I arrived at my current settings (when viewing from the main UEFI BIOS page or the first few tabs in advanced mode):
CPU - 3.97Ghz @ 1.48volts
5v - currently set at 5.035 (not entirely sure what this is)
3.3v - 3.288 (also, not entirely sure what this is)
12v - 11.8
CPU bus/peg frequency - 225
Ram timing - 5 5 5 15 (manually adjusted to specifications listed on package - it seems the auto overclock changed it)
Core unlocker disabled
Cool n Quiet mode disabled
The trouble that I'm having is that most of the guides I see online are either a few years old or for Intel processors. For example, the most common tip for new overclocker's is to raise the FSB. I'm assuming this is the CPU Bus/PEG Frequency setting in BIOS, however, I recall reading somewhere that AMD now uses something called an HT link instead (I could be mistaken).
Also, AMD's site states the max voltage for my CPU is 1.4v, yet the automatic overclocker set the voltage to 1.48v. I read an article here on Tom's that mentions this same issue with the voltage being higher than needed (which was for an Intel chip). So I decided to adjust it by lowering the voltage to 1.375 and up till I got back to 1.48. It BSOD'd until it was brought back to 1.48v. Does this max voltage still apply with an aftermarket cooler? Especially since I have yet to break 38 degrees (even after an hour and a half of Crysis 2). Again, I could be missing something here.
As for my ram, the package says 1600Mhz yet BIOS had it set at 900Mhz. I increased the CPU Bus/PEG to 229 so that my Target CPU Speed met my Current CPU Speed (that just seemed reasonable). This brought the ram to 916MHz. I would like to set the frequency to its rated 1600, but there is not an option for it. I think the settings jump from 1333 to 1800. And I lowered the timing from 6 6 6 18(I think it was 18) to 5 5 5 15 (per the packaging instructions) as I read the lower number, the faster. Again, I'm new, so I could be missing something.
Also, my video card comes overclocked out of the box. Can it be overclocked more?
So there are my questions that I have been unable to answer through my own research. Thanks in advance for any suggestions/feedback.
Additional note....after tweaking the voltage, my CPU now says its 4.02Ghz. This is after adjusting only the CPU's voltage, it BSOD'ing, and me slowing raising the voltage till windows would load.
System Specs:
Motherboard - ASUS M5A97
CPU - AMD Phenom II x4 970 Black Edition 3.5Ghz (currently overclocked to 3.97Ghz)
CPU Cooler - Thermaltake Frio
Memory - 8GB (2x4Gb) Patriot Viper Extreme DDR3 1600MHz
Graphics - PNY GTX 560 ti OC2
Power Supply - Corsair TX650M
Storage - Corsair Force 3 SSD 120Gb
OS - Windows Home Premium 64bit OEM
Case - Cooler Master HAF 922
I was little weary about diving in head first, and fortunately, my board came with the AI2 suite that can automatically overclock.
This is how I arrived at my current settings (when viewing from the main UEFI BIOS page or the first few tabs in advanced mode):
CPU - 3.97Ghz @ 1.48volts
5v - currently set at 5.035 (not entirely sure what this is)
3.3v - 3.288 (also, not entirely sure what this is)
12v - 11.8
CPU bus/peg frequency - 225
Ram timing - 5 5 5 15 (manually adjusted to specifications listed on package - it seems the auto overclock changed it)
Core unlocker disabled
Cool n Quiet mode disabled
The trouble that I'm having is that most of the guides I see online are either a few years old or for Intel processors. For example, the most common tip for new overclocker's is to raise the FSB. I'm assuming this is the CPU Bus/PEG Frequency setting in BIOS, however, I recall reading somewhere that AMD now uses something called an HT link instead (I could be mistaken).
Also, AMD's site states the max voltage for my CPU is 1.4v, yet the automatic overclocker set the voltage to 1.48v. I read an article here on Tom's that mentions this same issue with the voltage being higher than needed (which was for an Intel chip). So I decided to adjust it by lowering the voltage to 1.375 and up till I got back to 1.48. It BSOD'd until it was brought back to 1.48v. Does this max voltage still apply with an aftermarket cooler? Especially since I have yet to break 38 degrees (even after an hour and a half of Crysis 2). Again, I could be missing something here.
As for my ram, the package says 1600Mhz yet BIOS had it set at 900Mhz. I increased the CPU Bus/PEG to 229 so that my Target CPU Speed met my Current CPU Speed (that just seemed reasonable). This brought the ram to 916MHz. I would like to set the frequency to its rated 1600, but there is not an option for it. I think the settings jump from 1333 to 1800. And I lowered the timing from 6 6 6 18(I think it was 18) to 5 5 5 15 (per the packaging instructions) as I read the lower number, the faster. Again, I'm new, so I could be missing something.
Also, my video card comes overclocked out of the box. Can it be overclocked more?
So there are my questions that I have been unable to answer through my own research. Thanks in advance for any suggestions/feedback.
Additional note....after tweaking the voltage, my CPU now says its 4.02Ghz. This is after adjusting only the CPU's voltage, it BSOD'ing, and me slowing raising the voltage till windows would load.
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