Phenom II x4 965 BE

[mclovits]

Hello, I have a Phenom x4 965 BE running at all stock settings (3.4GHz) on an Asus M4A87TD EVO motherboard. Last time I overclocked I was unable to reach a stable clock, and I later found out that my RAM was bad after I overclocked. I tried not to mess with the RAM speeds but the brands of the RAM were not very well known, and there was more than 1 brand in my PC at the same time. Anyways, now I have Corsair Vengeance LP RAM running at 1600MHz with 9-9-9-24 clocks. I really want to overclock to get more gaming and application performance, somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.8+ GHz. Has anyone using this configuration been successful? If so, what were you're exact settings in BIOS? I really don't want to risk ruining this new RAM.

Also, I have an H50 water cooler on my processor and pretty good ventilation as well as a fan controller to keep the temps down, so that shouldn't be an issue.

Thanks again and feel free to ask questions.

 

[rdc85]

I'm using 955be at 3.8, and low cost g skill 1600 c9... have u tries to o.c. with this new ram?? I got mine oc by up the multipier one at the time and use it for one day and up again in next day if it stable.

I think as long as not over volting, and keep eye on temp it will be fine. (actualy my 3,8 a little bit hot for my cooler to handle, but i'm noticing by using 3.6 my cpu hover around 80 -100% usage -> becoming hot averagely. but in 3.8 it hover around 60-80% -> cooler, i take the risk at 3,8)

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Other peoples settings whilst an indicator of the direction to go in, may not be guarenteed to work on your particular chip, check out the Black edition clocking guide up top, and work through it,
Basic caveats though imo,
ref clock stays at 200MHz
you may find lowering your ram to 1333 helps attain the clock, then try raising back to 1600 later
watch temps obviously and do as much as you can on as low a voltage as possible
you should get 4GHz on it with some work, patience and some learning, I'd advise adding another fan to that H50 though for pushpull
also check the Amd overclocking club thread, theres constant discussions on the 955/965/975/980's in there
Moto

 

[mclovits]

Ok, thanks, I'll try to overclock tonight.

 

[ilysaml]

Bump up multiplier to X20, Raise up VCore to 1.47V and leave everything else @ default settings.

 

[mclovits]

There's an offset voltage as well, is that something I'd need to change? And waht about C1E and Cool n' Quiet?

 

[ilysaml]

I always enable CnQ, turn off C1E.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

I disable any throttling functions like Cool and quiet/ thermal throttling etc until I get stable, then I reenable them to save power
Moto

 

[ilysaml]

Exactly.

 

[lowjack989]

No Offset voltage... Change to Manual....C1E and C-n-Q are automatically disabled when using manual voltage


For the most efficent clocks on the 965 I use these settings as a rule of thumb

Multi.=x19
CPU voltage=1.39v to 1.42v
FSB=200 MHz

This will give you 3.8 GHz which is the most efficient clock speed with the 965 BE ..I have used many 965 BE's in builds,its my favorite chip from AMD ... Cheap and Fast

 

[mclovits]

I was able to get to 3.7 GHz but at 3.8 I get a blue screen, my voltage is 1.428, any advice? It also crashes if I enable C1E or Cool n' Quiet too...

 

[lowjack989]

Try 1.45v and keep C1E and Cool - n - Quiet disabled

 

[mclovits]

At 1.452 volts at full load I'm still unstable at 3.8 GHz, I might just have to stay at 3.7 with this chip, my overclocking history hasn't been very successful with it. If you guys have any other tips regarding CPU/NB Link speed or possibly ram I'd like to hear them I just can't afford to ruin this new ram.

 

[mclovits]

Quick update, figured out the manual setting on my Mobo, set the Vcore at about 1.46 and was stable for the longest period of time so far in prime 95, I raised it a tad more and am awaiting the results, again any tips regarding the other setting for more stability would be great, lowering the ram speed isn't an option though, it just crashes.

 

[lowjack989]

I keep my nb voltage at 1.21v and run it at 2800 MHz....RAM just leave it at stock 1600 MHz ...If you feel comfortable with it try 1.475v@3.8v, i believe that you have a lot of vdroop causing it to crash under load.

 

[vh1atomicpunk]

Well I feel lucky...

ASrock 970 Extreme3 AM3+ board w/965BE and AMD brand DDR3-1333 memory. So far, no OC on the memory, but was able to tighten up timings to 7-8-7-21 at stock speed and voltage. Running the 965BE (C3 stepping) @3.9Ghz on stock voltage. Significant performance increase by doing these to things. On a decent board with the right CPU I suspect you can do the same. Just ordered a Cooler Master Evo 212 CPU heatsink and two 120mm Vantec Stealth fans to add the the Cooler Master 430 Elite RC case for better airflow. Hoping for 4.0 to 4.2Ghz with better temps and quieter operation.

Hope this helps!

 

[mclovits]

Best answer selected by mclovits.

 

[mclovits]

Hard to choose a best answer, but I just chose the one that initially helped me out the most. Thanks for the great responses guys, I got pretty stable @3.8 then got another random crash. I'll probably try 3.7 just because my chip seems to be what's limiting my ability to turn up the speeds. I also have some money for a new GPU, so hopefully, that upgrade will have a great performance gain.

 

[vh1atomicpunk]

Quick addition, the Cooler Master 212 Evo showed up, installed the two 120mm Vantec Stealth fans in a push-pull configuration. Temps dropped by 10c, but additional overclocks were not possible (1.375v-1.45v attempted). 3.9ghz runs stable on all apps and Prime95, 4Ghz fails Prime95. Tightened RAM timings again to 1T command rate and 32 RAS precharge (from 2T and 33), minor improvement. A stronger board with better VRM might improve this, but is not worth the cost.