Phenom X4 965 BE stock voltage

michaelc87

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Oct 21, 2012
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Hey guys, i thought i should register here so i could try and find some answers as ive not been sure if the info ive found else where applys to me exactly so here goes. I just built my first rig, owned a few pc's before but they were built by others as i had no clue at the time, my hardware is as follows:

ASUS M5A990X EVO R2.0
Phenom X4 965 BE (RB-C3 revision)(Stock Cooling)
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB DDR3 PC3-12800C9 running at 1333mhz atm says 1600mhz (but ive read that that requires me to manually change to)
Sapphire Radeon 7770 vapor-x
OCZ 650w bronze PSU

So i've been trying to learn some stuff about my components and i was finding mainly that the vcore for a phenom 965 BE is around 1.35v to 1.4v stock i believe at 3.4ghz, my confusion comes from the fact as on auto with everything stock i havent touched the bios my vcore is 1.45 in cpu-z and bios and core temp has my VID at 1.475, which i though was the hard wrote value that the CPU asks for from the manufacturer (i could be wrong) and all in all this seems excessive for the chip i have, idle temperatures range from 33-35c and under full load prime 95 i hit 59-60c after around 10minutes all on stock cooling, should i just leave it be at auto as this is correct for my chip or has something happened and i should try manually setting my voltage lower and seeing how it goes from there, ive read alot of motherboards over volt but this seems quite large and the VID is 1.475. Sorry if its a little long winded or wrote poorly im still a beginner when it comes to expressing myself with more technical details thanks in advance for any help :) PS, i do get some slightly high pitched scratching from around the cpu area cant tell if its a fan noise or a electronic noise and im not even sure its a problem but thought it may be due to voltages or current of some sort.
 

socialfox

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I wouldn't worry too much about the temperatures, my phenom II X4 955 Black edition used to have similar temperatures and mine just needed a good cooler, now it doesn't go over 48 on prime 95. You voltage core on the other hand seems to be a bit high for stock speeds my friend has his around 1.375 and overclocked to a stable 3.6ghz. It may be a faulty voltage controller on your motherboard, try going in the bios and setting it manually to a lower voltage, I suggest by small increments and the run prime 95 to ensure stability.
 

michaelc87

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Oct 21, 2012
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back again, i manually dropped the voltage down to 1.375 and it was smooth and stable, but now cool and quiet wont kick in properly, my cpu speed will eventually throttle to 800mhz when idle but i get a constant 1.375 to 1.380 volts instead of 1.092v that it used to drop to, the only other option is offset value which is what i have to use and that sets my voltage to 1.45 with + and - options but im really unsure on how that works exactly
 

socialfox

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I had a throttling issue before but mine was a result of the power plan in windows 7, under windows 7 go to power plans and use the high performance power plan, when I used the power savings plan my cpu was stuck at 800mhz. Also did you run prime 95? If so did it reach its stock speed of 3.4ghz? Go into your bios and check the cool'n quiet configuration and see if its disabled. If your processor is stuck at 800 mhz after all that I believe your problem belongs to your motherboard or you may have gotten a lemon for your cpu (bad batch, unlikely though). I know there are bad batches of cpu because there are some black edition AMD CPUs that can barely overclock to what most people can get.

So bottom line, if it is stuck at 800 mhz and you tried all the things I have mentioned above then raise your Vcore again but with Small increments (1.38, 1.39 etc.) Also do you have another motherboard that is am3 compatible, you may want to try it on there as well.
 

michaelc87

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Oct 21, 2012
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its working well atm as far as i can tell, basically it seems for whatever reason my CPU is asking for 1.475v according to the VID, and the motherboard on auto is giving it 1.45v, i have however managed to work out the offset options as manual voltage was just sticking me at 1.375v whether at idle or load, so i just used offset -0.1 and it dropped me down to around 1.380 at full load and now i sit at around 0.9 when idle with cool n quiet, maybe i have one of those chips i guess that needs more power than others, or its just a qwerk between the mobo and CPU im not entirely sure but all seems well atm fingers crossed, sadly i dont have another am3 board as i came across from intel Q6600, and this chip is only really ment to last me until i can afford piledriver CPUS around the end of the year if there out or maybes early next year
 

socialfox

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How are the temperatures now, if the voltages are still a problem you can simply remove the issues with it by installing a aftermarket cooler to combat temperature issues as a result of a Vcore.
 

michaelc87

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Oct 21, 2012
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im sitting at 31c idle, and highest 56c in prime95 but i can hear and see the rpm of the stock fan busting its balls to keep it there so i think you will be right that i should get a aftermarket cooler before i even consider overclocking if i decide to do any
 

socialfox

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Your idle temps are quite good, my phenom 955 Black edition idles at the same temperature, but my load it 48 under prime 95, that said if you get the kuhler 620 or something as good like it such as the hyper 212 plus expect lower temperatures than mine.
 

BuddiLuva

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Aug 17, 2012
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I had the same problem when i first built my rig with the Phenom 965 BE
The Vcore was so high (around 1.44v) for stock at only 3.4ghz.
I was getting temps of 63-64 on stock cooling and got worried
Since my case couldn't fit a 212 plus/evo i went with the Tx3 instead(IF YOUR CASE CAN FIT THE 212 DONT GET THE TX3!)
So i managed to OC the CPU to 3.6Ghz and lower the voltage to 1.375 and it works perfectly. Could maybe even get a lower vcore if you left the CPU clock at stock
 

socialfox

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Yes if your computer case measures less than 7.5 inches wide including cable management then forget the hyper 212 plus but if you still need the same performance of cooling go for the Kuhler 620 or if your not into overclocking it go for the TX-3.
 

gladbag2005

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Nov 30, 2012
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stock cpu voltages for the phenom be's are set too be overclocked you can get a stable stock 3.4 ghz on 1.25 volts which will reduce your load temps by 15 - 20 percent 60c will drop to 50-52c you just have to manually set the cpu voltage and manually set cool and quiet too enabled not auto.