Phenom II 955 Overclocks

[Sponchae]

What is everyone's luck with overclocking the Phenom II 955 with just using the stock HSF? I have one on it's way to me right now, along with some Arctic Silver 5, but don't feel the need to get a new HSF, at least right away. Just wondering if anyone has had amazing luck getting it to go close to 4ghz using the stuck HSF, or if 3.4-3.6 is the best you've seen.

 

[loneninja]

Personally I got to 3.5Ghz with the 940 using the stock heatsink. I need 1.375V to get there, and hit about 58C in prime95. Can't go any higher due to an unknown increase of voltage needed for 3.6, I know 1.45V isn't enough and even at that the stock cooler isn't efficient enough anyways.

 

[smithereen]

That sucks man, they usually go ~3.8-4 at 1.45.

Edit: Didn't mean to imply that should be doable with a stock cooler

 

[OvrClkr]

You will not be able to get 4Ghz with stock cooling, many have not been able to reach 4Ghz with an aftermarket cooler.

3.5/3.6Ghz is as far as I would go with the stock cooler. Ambient temp plays a huge roll as well when it comes to pushing your CPU with a stock cooler...

 

[xAPOCALYPSEx]

With a slight voltage increase you may be able to pull off 3.7. I have, though it will run hot. However, I have tried 3.6 on the stock cooler and without running any benchmarks, just playing a few games (MW2, Empire: Total War, Dragon Age, Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance) and I had no trouble, max recorded temp while playing any of those was around 62 (which is also it's max safe temp) I am a heat freak, so I freaked out anyways and unoverclocked it. Its a fast processor anyways, and I don't really see the need for it to go any faster, especially if your risking it with the stock cooler.

 

[OvrClkr]

It all depends on your ambient temp, cable management and airflow, personally I don't let any AMD CPU hit 60c, but that is just me. Just monitor temps and make sure you don't fry the CPU....

 

[Sponchae]

For those that have overclocked, have you noticed any difference? Is getting another 200Mhz on each core worth it, considering how fast this processor already is?

 

[OvrClkr]

You might not see a difference with a 200Mhz OC unless you are bechmarking, I normally see a big difference after a 400/500Mhz increase.