Overclocking AMD X4 975 Phemon II On M5A97

JaymesD0ve

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Hello,
i am tryinto get a perfornce peak/ stable peformance up to 4.2 Ghz .but for some odd reason it will only go up to 3.8 i have let it auto tune it self but no results any advice on how to get up to 4.2 Ghz
 
Solution
I actually have this exact model board and a Phenom X4 965 on it.... reading this thread has been a nice chance to reaffirm some of my settings and reconsider others- but man, if there is one thing I can say, it's that this board is the MOST user-friendly BIOS interface I have ever seen. You navigate the freakin' BIOS screens with the mouse and have the option of picking values from a drop-down or using the keyboard. If there is a basic understanding of concepts like base frequency, multipliers and CPU/NB/Memory relationship, you should be able to almost fiddle with the settings for an hour and come up with something from trial and error.

I think that my advice to the OP would be to read up on the dozens of thread about overclocking...

proffet

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take it off of auto tune....
set your BIOS back to defaults and then start over.
leave all power saving features enabled like C1E, QnQ and all others.
simply raise your multiplier to 4.0GHz first (x20) I think your motherboard will show.
that's all for now.
save it like that and then attempt to boot into windows.

4.2GHz especially on that board might take a voltage tweak so first let's see how far the multiplier will take you.

let us know what happens.
also what is your RAM specs.?
 

JaymesD0ve

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(1333 16 gig corsair XMS3 is the ram) as for as the power savings..cant get into that because i changed the logo an now i am stuck with the new change ..dont know really how to get back the default on that also
 


Something as high as 4.2 on these Phenom II's C1E needs to be disabled, 4ghz its hit or miss, but C1E for sure needs to be off, Cool n Quiet is nice when your idling, it will lower the clock to around 800mhz - 1200mhz during low load, This probably wont be an issue, but can cause some stability problems in the voltage area on some boards.

The 965 I OC for a friend could hit 4.1ghz with Cool n Quiet enabled as well as my 1100T at 4.2 http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=2461122

4.2 is sometimes hard to get on a Phenom II CPU, some times you can get lucky and get 4.5 or so on them, But let me tell ya, these things warm up when the volts get past 1.4v. Best Overall OC would be to raise the CPU-NB no lower then 2500mhz and voltage no higher then 1.3 on the CPU-NB and keep it at 4ghz(This give a really noticeable performance boost on Desktop and on games). I lowered my OC to get my CPU-NB to 2912mhz, Im sitting at 4ghz right now but with a higher CPU-NB. Just make sure you have the cooling for it, like I said, these things get hot after 1.4v. Max temp on these are 62c, Use Prime95 to stress the CPU for a few hours, make sure you don't pass 62c, system will lock up at 70c to prevent it from hurting the CPU.
 

abbadon_34

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if you can get 4.0 on air then i would be happy. chaulk it up bins or specimens
and disable cool n quiet, overclocking almost by definition is neither cool nor quiet
and windows util are good for a guess, but bios always give the best results
 

proffet

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not mine, I leave it on...
 

JaymesD0ve

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As resetting the asus bios logo the manual doesnt say nothin about it
 

JaymesD0ve

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ok what i have done is loaded up the update file for the bios an it set the bios logo back to the way it was...now i went into the main part of the menu i enabled the core unlocker also set the memory to 1333 (Acorrding to the ram) now i can go into the bios an manually set the voltages to the cpu if need be
 

proffet

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why enable core unlocker...?
I didn't even mention anything about that.
it's pointless since you have a quad core processor with no hidden cores to unlock..
so your basically having your motherboard perform an extra step upon booting for no reason..

also no need to set RAM since it's 1333MHz, just leave it be..
 
Personally I wouldn't shoot for 4.2 right off the bat, your chip might not like it. Shoot for 4ghz and make sure its stable, if so then shoot for 4.1 - 4.2.

Also the Multiplier is a function of the CPU of which yours has and its unlocked to make things simple, I noticed on AMD Systems they don't tend to OC far with just the FSB/Bus clock, Kinda have to mix.

Your CPU has a default multi of x18 giving you 3.6ghz with a 200fsb. Set the multi to x18.5 then x19, then x19.5 and x20 to get 4ghz, x21 with get ya 4.2 but can't say it will be stable. Also for 4ghz set your voltage to 1.45v and see where it gets ya, If it isn't stable, add more volts, but you will have to have a good cooler. you have never mentioned what cooler you are using. That alone can be a difference between 4 and 4.2ghz. 4.2ghz you may need 1.5 to 1.55v depending on how lucky the chip is.

Disable C1E and Cool 'n' Quiet just to be on the safe side, you can enable that later. Always turn Spread Spectrum off Always! If you board has LLC (Load Line Calibration) that can be useful or it can be a real pain in the rear on some motherboards.

Good Luck!
-Viking-
 

proffet

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get off the 4.2GHz for now...
multi = multiplier
let's try for 4.0GHz but hitting the multi only and then go from there..

I still say leave everything enabled and just hit the multi.
this is where a few people disagree.
CnQ, C1E, I leave them all enabled.
 

JaymesD0ve

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And there is no multiplier in the bios
 

proffet

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first you need to be in advanced mode.
AI Tweaker tab second from left.

AI Overclock Tuner - take off auto and set to manual,
then change CPU Ratio - from auto to 20 (4.0GHz)

LEAVE EVERYTHING ELSE ALONE AND/OR SET TO AUTO..

EPU Power Saving Mode - disabled..
Speed Spectrum - disabled

procedd to Advanced tab, next over from AI Tweaker
check your CnQ, C1E and ENABLE them.

save and exit.
boot into windows and monitor temps.

 
proffet, I don't really disagree with you, but do you know what C1E is on an AMD system? C1E Lowers the volts of the CPU when idle, 80% of time it will lower it to far even when just sitting there, and will cause a blue screen (Of course thats when its Overclocked) If hes shooting for even just 4ghz, he will have to raise the voltage, thats where C1E can be an issue, if he doesn't have to bump the volts to high from stock, C1E more then likely wont cause an issue. As we both can see "JaymesD0ve" is new to Overclocking, or well at least to the phenom line. Wouldn't be wise to disable C1E until you know you have things stable? Then enable it and see if its still stable? C1E enabled on my 1100T will not even allow windows 7 to boot, Same with the 955 I have on an Asus 970 board.

I would disable anything that has to do with power saving that is KNOWN to cause instability, If you have C1E enabled and it does cause a BSOD, hes going to think that his CPU can't do even 4ghz. CnQ is fine most of the time, but I would disabled that at 1st as well just to get that out of the way, it isn't hard to enable both C1E and CnQ. Some board/CPU's don't care if they are enabled, some do. Better to get that out of the way so you know that the CPU is the cause of a BSOD if there is any.

Overclocked enough AMD systems to know C1E most of the time will cause a problem. C1E and other Info that better describes it better than I http://www.masterslair.com/should-you-overclock-with-speedstep-c1e-or-turbo-boost-enabled/ (This is on an intel board, C1E is the same on both platforms) Do a quick google search and take note of all the OC's that were done with C1E, They were lucky to brake the 3.9ghz wall on the phenom II's.

Anyway Good luck.
 

JaymesD0ve

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now it wont let me switch the cpu raio from auto but the cpu frequency is 216 and the speed spetrum is disabled i tried going from 3.9 up to 4.0 but no results it is stuck on the 3.9