Overclocking AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz

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OneEyeWilly

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I built this system last year.On stock speeds it idled at 30C / LOAD 42C.I wanted to do a small overclock,so I decided to just raise the multiplier in the bios.The only other settings I changed manually was my ram speed and timings.I raised the multiplier to 17.5, so the overclock is 3.5GHz.I used the Stability test in amd overdrive,and with all cores at 100% it never went above 44C.The test was weird it did not say pass or fail.I ran it for 1 hour,and only indicated start and stop.I did not understand the chart for min and max.


@ 3.5GHz i it idles at 32C/load 42-44C.

My concern is the core voltage for the cpu.It is set on auto in the bios,and CPU-Z is reading 1.456.Based on my temps I'm happy,but should I be concerned with the voltage.


Here are my specs.

Antec 900

ASUS VH236HL-P Black 23" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen Full HD 1080P LCD Monitor w/height & swivel adjustment 300 cd/m2 ASCR 20000 :1

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor

GIGABYTE GA-MA790GPT-UD3H AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ - Retail

EVGA 01G-P3-1373-AR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Superclocked EE 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm -Use 2 fans for push and pull. CPU idles at 27 degees celsis.Load 38-40.

Rosewill RC-401-EX 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI-Express Gigabit Low Profile Network Card - Retail

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W

(2) LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model

(2) Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive

(1) Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive
 
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did you up the voltage or is it set at default in BIOS? if default i wouldn't worry about it. I am running 1.4v i think in the BIOS and CPU-Z reports it pretty close, 1.36v-1.37v so it reports a little off sometimes, it fluctuates, if i load it up with CPU-Z in the foreground it goes from 1.31v to 1.35v....varying, at least according to CPU-Z, which i dont think is completely true because that kind of swing should cause instability and it's not unstable

i ended up with a 3.7Ghz daily stable overclock (206Mhz x 18 multi with a x12 NB multi for 2400Mhz NB) but depending on room temp im starting to get around the 50*c mark or better fully loaded so im looking to get one of those Hyper 212+ HSF's like you have for summer.
 
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max recommended voltage is 1.5v,so you are safe in that respect,but those volts seem way high for the minor OC you have,If I were you I would drop the voltage until it becomes unstable then add a notch or two,it will help your temps,don't forget to test between each voltage drop.

I use intel burn test on maximum to test my OC's with a minimum of 10 runs to check initial stability then 100,usually overnight to test for overall stability

my 955 did 3.6 on stock volts and is currently at 3.8 with 1.42v.its folding right now at 45C since one of the fans on my heat sink decided it wanted to fly out of its housing.
 
nobody_here said:
did you up the voltage or is it set at default in BIOS? if default i wouldn't worry about it. I am running 1.25v i think and CPU-Z reports it pretty close, 1.36v-1.37v so it reports a little high sometimes

i ended up with a 3.7Ghz daily stable overclock but depending on room temp im starting to get around the 50*c mark or better fully loaded so im looking to get one of those Hyper 212+ HSF's like you have for summer.
Click to expand...

stock voltage is usually around 1.35v,something is wrong if you set your voltage to 1.25v and are getting 1.37v in cpuz,

If you got 3.7 stable with 1.37 volts,you have a very good chip might as well see how high you can push it.
 
StewieTheGreat said:
stock voltage is usually around 1.35v,something is wrong if you set your voltage to 1.25v and are getting 1.37v in cpuz,if you got 3.7 stable with 1.37 volts,you have a very good chip.
Click to expand...

it was a typo, i had to go back and run a Prime 95 test and recheck to correct it.......

it's set to either 1.375 or 1.4v in the BIOS and runs this way, see post above.....i do plan on pushing it more but current cooling is allowing it to hit 55*C and it's pretty cool in here, around 68*F, the other day it was maybe 74 degrees in my pc room and i was nearly hitting 60*C fully loaded...gotta upgrade HSF
 
1.4v is the default voltage for the older C2 Phenom II processors. The new C3 and Thuban processors lowered the default voltage to 1.35. The Phenom II 955 existed as both the C2 and C3 revision processors, so without more information, we can't know what the default voltage is for your processor. By the looks of it, you have a C2 processor.
 
StewieTheGreat said:
max recommended voltage is 1.5v,so you are safe in that respect,but those volts seem way high for the minor OC you have,If I were you I would drop the voltage until it becomes unstable then add a notch or two,it will help your temps,don't forget to test between each voltage drop.

I use intel burn test on maximum to test my OC's with a minimum of 10 runs to check initial stability then 100,usually overnight to test for overall stability

my 955 did 3.6 on stock volts and is currently at 3.8 with 1.42v.its folding right now at 45C since one of the fans on my heat sink decided it wanted to fly out of its housing.
Click to expand...

The cpu voltage was set on auto in the bios.I always had the voltage set on auto in the bios,so it was getting 1.4v at the lower clock speeds.It wont anymore:)

I went in the bios and dropped the voltage down by .025V,which lowered my cpu volts to 1.37v in my bios..CPUID reports 1.36v.I like that alot better.Now I need to do some stability testing ,and ticker around after each voltage drop.Thank-You!
 
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My old Phenom 2 955 BE managed to clock comfortably to 3.8 no problems with something around 51 Degrees Celsius in typical Brisbane Australia weather. I also got it stable to 4.0Ghz with temps never going above 61 Degrees Celsius under Prime95. Both speeds also had the usual cool n quiet and other power savings features left on, and both running on AIR (temps kept in check with either a Prolimatech Megahalems or Zalman CNPS 10x Extreme) . However, I only ever kept it at 3.8Ghz for everyday use.

Don't ask me what volts or bios settings as I sold my AMD build long ago. I just remember the speed and temps.

Motherboard used: Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H
Ram used: Corsair *forgets model* 1600Mhz.
 
I lowered my cpu voltage to 1.33v and upped the multiplier x18. Idle 29C / load 40C @3.6GHz.I'm sure I could lower,but I'm really pleased with these results.I love these BE cpu's.I only had to mess around with the multiplier,and cpu voltage.I had to set my speed and timings @1600Mhz for ram,but that was it. I did some torture testing on prime 95,and all seems in order.
 
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Nice. My Phenom II 1090T does 3.6 ghz at 1.3v set in bios, 1.277v in CPU-Z under stress. This is coming from a default vcore of 1.35.
 
Tsumi said:
1.4v is the default voltage for the older C2 Phenom II processors. The new C3 and Thuban processors lowered the default voltage to 1.35. The Phenom II 955 existed as both the C2 and C3 revision processors, so without more information, we can't know what the default voltage is for your processor. By the looks of it, you have a C2 processor.
Click to expand...


This version does have the C3 stepping.The Motherboard was just supplying unnecessary voltage using the auto feature in the bios. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808


Had trouble linking my image.This should work! http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/1377/newlv.jpg
 
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Tsumi said:
1.4v is the default voltage for the older C2 Phenom II processors. The new C3 and Thuban processors lowered the default voltage to 1.35. The Phenom II 955 existed as both the C2 and C3 revision processors, so without more information, we can't know what the default voltage is for your processor. By the looks of it, you have a C2 processor.
Click to expand...

AMD processors don't all use the same default voltage, it varies per-CPU. Yes many of them are at 1.35, but it can vary between ~1.325 - 1.4V
 
I paid 160.00 10 months ago for a 955.The 955 and 965 are the same price on NewEgg @140.00 dollars..The difference between C2 & C3 in these chips are the model numbers GM and GI.The GM version have the C3.

I have the cpu voltage down to 1.33v @3.6GHz,and it runs cool.I wonder How you determine the best v-core voltage for overall stability.My system seems to run fine,but is the 1.33v supplying enough voltage.How can I determine that?The auto function in the bios that controlled the voltage was supplying 1.457 [email protected] let it run like this since my build,until I decided to overclock.Now its running on less voltage with a higher clock speed.

What chip would have a longer life span using my overclock - before and after?

The 970 -975 chips are u$170 -$190 dollars with a base clock of 3.5 and 3.6. I read reviews of people oc-ing these chips to 4 gigs@ 1.45 -1.5 volts.Cant you do the same thing with a 955 or 965 for less money.What is the advantage.Certainly not price.



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103808

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

Last .edited by toostrike at 2011-03-25 23:32:15 GMT
 
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So I just dropped a Cooler Master Hyper 212+ on it and while messing around in the BIOS I found out my voltages are actually all set to default......so im running 206Mhz x 18...or 3.7Ghz, 2400MHz NB clock and 1650Mhz DDR3 memory speed all at stock voltages (1.325v for mine)
 
Adding my $.02..

Got a 955 C3 currently at 3.8 with 1.4v. If I try for anything higher, I gotta raise the voltage a significant amount that it impacts my temps way too much for too little over the 3.8. Seems like the stories about 3.8 being the sweet spot for the 955 are right.

Cool thing about my chip though is that it'll get to 3.6 while being undervolted at 1.325ish. Temps at that point is really good at 29/45c idle/load. I plan on running it that way once the weather gets hotter. But for now I can live with 1.4 volts and 32/50c idle/load.

I should also add I'm using a Zalman CNPS 10X Performa with AS5. Case is PC-9F with 2x intake scythe sflex 1000rpm and 1x exhaust sflex at 1200rpm and 1x exhaust thermalright x-silent at 700rpm.
 
I got a Phenom II X4 BE 955 rev c a couple weeks ago from Fry's for $129. Hyper 212+ cooler in Antec 300. 4ghz @ 1.45v (which it reads as the stock temp) with x20 multi. CnQ enabled. I like it.

Tried 4.1ghz and locked up. Can probably get there with a voltage bump but I'm happy with 4ghz. I use the Asus Turbo-V to go back to stock settings when I am just surfing, working, etc... but honestly I could probably leave it OC as CnQ is working fine. But I'm paranoid.

Civ 5 is notably faster now than the P2 X2 BE 560 I was running at 3.8 - 4ghz... I had to get that one up to 1.6v for it to be stable at 4ghz so usually left it at 3.8.
 
You guys have me curious to see what the top end on mine is. I'm still running stock 1.325v with one tiny bump in line compensation to prevent too much vdroop on load.
 
Most C3 processors are capable of hitting at least 4ghz, and a few 955's will hit 4.1 or 4.2 at a reasonable voltage. Any higher than that, you want to get a Thuban processor, or the newer 970.
 
1.45v is not really pushing it, 1.5v would be pushing it, and 1.55v is AMD's recommended limit. It really depends on the temps you're getting.
 
try 3.84ghz, 1.375volts. northbridge 1.215volts. leave ram at stock

works
 
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