Easy OC for Phenom X4 955 BE

cdr_74_premium

cdr_74_premium

[H]ard|Gawd
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Hello guys.

Back in the day(tm), I had a Duron. And they were famous to get 200MHz of OC easily just by unlocking the multiplier. I had a Duron 650MHz @ 850MHz. Easily, without even changing the voltage.

Now I want something like this with my current CPU. Is there any OC that's easily achieved? I don't have the gear to push for its limits right now, but something just for kicks would be nice.
 
thats a loaded question. an AMD 955 C3 is a pretty good overclocker. my last one ran 4.2ghz on stock voltage (corsair h60 cooler) -- but results may very -- especially based on your motherboard or ram.

the 955 is a black edition so usually even a cheap board you can still increase the multiplier. with a proper heatsink I think 3.8ghz is just about guaranteed minimum

I would go for a 970/990 motherboard. you may not like bulldozer today, but its nice to keep your options open for future improvements. Loved my asrock 970 extreme
 
like buttons said, if it's a c3, it's a pretty easy OC. if you're unlucky and your 955 is a C2 stepping, they can be a bit tougher to OC. both of my C2s required some voltage bumping to even hit 3.8GHz.

also, +1 to the suggestion to look at a 990 board. i'm running an asus sabertooth, and i've been pretty happy with it.
 
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My C2 Deneb topped out around 3.5 ghz with stock cooling and 3.6 ghz with aftermarket.

The C3 I picked up is solid at 4.2 ghz and has indications of being stable up to 4.5 ghz but I need water.

All I did was just incrementally raise the multiplier (by 0.5's) and benchmark with SuperPI followed by burn in. If it was stable for at least 10 minutes of full load work, I would increase the multiplier again and repeat the testing. Had to increase the core voltage to 1.4v to keep it stable for 24 hours full load with Orthos Blend but temperatures never go above 60C, usually hovers around 58C or 59C or so, which I think is ideal.
 
Hey guys, silly question, seeing as how I build and sell these things all day, but how does one tell the stepping number when purchasing new? I've never noticed a stepping level written on the retail box...
 
KazeoHin said:
Hey guys, silly question, seeing as how I build and sell these things all day, but how does one tell the stepping number when purchasing new? I've never noticed a stepping level written on the retail box...
Click to expand...

iirc, the stock code on the retail box would show one of the following (for a 955):

GMBOX - C3, 125w
GIBOX - C2, 140w

pretty sure this is accurate for 955s, but i could be wrong :D
 
Hdz955fbgmbox. I guess I got lucky. Stock cooling. I don't plan to change that... too broke right now.

Well, when I was search for parts for this build I considered a 9xx chipset. Danny Bui urged me to run away from the nForce chips far too common around here in Brazil. But I could only afford this board, as it was on a great price and I wanted to get a new PSU also.

SuperPI is a program to test the OC right? What about "burn in"? Is this another program or the process that SuperPI does? Yes it's been a while I messed with OC... can't remember too much.

I'll try to crank the mutiplier a little bit. I'll be happy when I get the highest MHz I can without messing with VCore. Just a little bit of OC'ing to honor the Black Edition monicker. =D
 
edit: nevermind. I was doing it wrong.

Currently running at 3.6GHz (200MHz x 18.0). HT 2GHz. NB 2GHz. 1.4V VCORE on BIOS, Cpu-Z says it's 1.376V. Go figure.

Now I just need some tools to stress-test it. Any pointers?
 
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seems like you have the Vcore high for 3.6

prime95 will stress it.
 
Actually I didn't mess with the VCORE when II oc'ed. It was at 1.4V, I left it at that. Isn't it the default?
 
Had to crank up the voltage a little bit, but it's stable after 1,5+ hours on Prime95.



Good enough? Can I go higher? :D
 
I had to mess with VCore somehow. I could get it to post after I messed with BIOS, but if I turned the PC off, when I turned it back on it won't post. It only started to post after I cranked the VCore up a bit.

ECS bios is totally weird. It says my processor is 1.4V stock VCore. I left it that way and just used the +something to add more voltage. Is that correct?
 
I've been running my 965 at 3.6GHz and you guys are making me think I can run it much higher without a voltage change...
 
I'm at a loss.

I'll post CPU-Z pictures of my processor running at stock voltages. I guess my MoBo is setting a high voltage to begin with.

Also my idle temps are 50ºC with stock settings. I have two fans at back, one 120mm fan blowing ar directly into the CPU... I thought that was normal, but after reading a lot it seems to be too hot.

Any pointers?
 
Both of my Phenom II BE chips are 1.425 VID, so 1.4 is not "high" ...
 
xorbe said:
Both of my Phenom II BE chips are 1.425 VID, so 1.4 is not "high" ...
Click to expand...

Your board sets the chips to 1.425. I think only the C2 revision chips had a VID of 1.35 - 1.4V, because most C3 chips have a VID range of 1.25 - 1.35V.
 
My board sets it to 1.4V if set to AUTO everything. CPU-Z however reports as 1.375V.

For the sake of consistency I'll report voltages as displayed by BIOS/CoreTemp.

Weird thing is, I can go easily to 3.6GHz, setting the VCore manually to 1.35V. It turns on and boot fine, but doesn't survive a Prime95 test. All I needed to do is bump the VCore to 1.375V. 3.6GHz stable. After that, I can go to the BIOS and set it to run at 3.7GHz, and boot into Windows and all, but if I turn the machine off, it doesn't come back up, unless I reset the BIOS. Didn't try to run Prime95, because unless I'm missing something it doesn't matter if it's stable or not when I have to reset the bios everytime I want to turn on my computer.

The only way around that is to set the VCore much higher, like almost 1.5V. At 1.5V I can go up to 4GHz without issue, and it turns on fine. But it's a lot more than 1.375V I'm currently on, for a 400MHz increase. I wonder if it's worth it, or if is anything I can do to solve this "won't turn on" problem. I tried to mess with Northbridge voltages, but it didn't seem to do much.

I'm new to that stuff, so I appreciate all ideas.

Thanks.
 
(@JMccovery - No, neither of my C3 BE chips would make their rated speeds at 1.35v much less 1.25v absolutely impossible.)

@cdr_74_premium - Since you said "easy OC", set core 3.8 @ 1.45v and cpu-nb 2.4 @ 1.25v (keep ht link 2000). Then set BCLK to 204 and see if it survives P95 and IBT for a couple hours ... if so, reset BCLK to 200 and call it a day.
 
cdr_74_premium said:
My board sets it to 1.4V if set to AUTO everything. CPU-Z however reports as 1.375V.

For the sake of consistency I'll report voltages as displayed by BIOS/CoreTemp.

Weird thing is, I can go easily to 3.6GHz, setting the VCore manually to 1.35V. It turns on and boot fine, but doesn't survive a Prime95 test. All I needed to do is bump the VCore to 1.375V. 3.6GHz stable. After that, I can go to the BIOS and set it to run at 3.7GHz, and boot into Windows and all, but if I turn the machine off, it doesn't come back up, unless I reset the BIOS. Didn't try to run Prime95, because unless I'm missing something it doesn't matter if it's stable or not when I have to reset the bios everytime I want to turn on my computer.

The only way around that is to set the VCore much higher, like almost 1.5V. At 1.5V I can go up to 4GHz without issue, and it turns on fine. But it's a lot more than 1.375V I'm currently on, for a 400MHz increase. I wonder if it's worth it, or if is anything I can do to solve this "won't turn on" problem. I tried to mess with Northbridge voltages, but it didn't seem to do much.

I'm new to that stuff, so I appreciate all ideas.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

That's ECS for ya. Sorry man, but putting your Phenom II in an ECS board is like putting a silver saddle on a pig.
 
He's saying the cpu will adjust oc and warm boot, but not cold boot. Bad memory overclocks do the exact same thing sometimes. It's not really the mainboard's fault. I wonder if he tried the reset button after the failed cold start -- that usually kick-starts a marginal memory oc failure.
 
xorbe said:
He's saying the cpu will adjust oc and warm boot, but not cold boot. Bad memory overclocks do the exact same thing sometimes. It's not really the mainboard's fault. I wonder if he tried the reset button after the failed cold start -- that usually kick-starts a marginal memory oc failure.
Click to expand...

Well, I've been warned about the ECS. I tried to swap it for an ASUS board, but it was already shipped. And it was really cheaper than all the others. As I said, I wanted to run away from the nForce chipsets that are dime a dozen here. I'll have to live with that, unfortunately.

It goes like this:

1) I adjust the OC in the BIOS;
2) Save settings
3) Boots normally.
4) Get into Windows, "Turn off".
5) PC turns off
6) Press the Power button
7) PC turns on, but won't do anything.
8) Reset BIOS
9) Now it turns on normally.

Pressing reset doesn't do anything. The only thing that helps is resetting the BIOS.

I can go up to 4GHz, but I have to set the VCore to 1.5V for it to turn on after a shut down.

What I find weird is that I got it stable @ 3.6GHz using a tiny VCore, turns on and off and Prime95 and stuff just fine. If I want 3.7GHz, suddenly it requires a HUGE VCore increase. I wonder if that's the board or my processor that is weird. Also, I want to know if it's worth it to do the huge VCore increase and push it to the limits.

I worry about the lifespan, because usually my old stuff pass to my family. It's not unusual for it to run around for 10 years. I don't want it to die because I went too far, but sure I want to have some fun. =)
 
xorbe said:
@cdr_74_premium - Since you said "easy OC", set core 3.8 @ 1.45v and cpu-nb 2.4 @ 1.25v (keep ht link 2000). Then set BCLK to 204 and see if it survives P95 and IBT for a couple hours ... if so, reset BCLK to 200 and call it a day.
Click to expand...

I did this, except for the 1.25v on the NB. Default voltage is 1.15V, I was too scared... LOL.



Here it is. Notice the highest temperature... this screenshot was taken just after I closed Prime95. It didn't report any errors after 40 minutes, but I think this temperature is way too high. From what I know, the max is 70ºC. It's warm around here sure, but I want to make sure I can get away with such a high temperature.



That's what I'm using for now. 200MHz OC, but using less VCore I would get if I set it to AUTO - my board gives 1.4V to the processor. Notice the highest temp... not that high. Also stable.

What do you guys think? I have this itch to push it to the limit, but I'm afraid my board will fry (ECS sucks, right?) or something like this.
 
My 955 is at 3.7 on the boards auto oc feature. No additional tweaking
 
Your 955 may be a real down-bin on speed, as the 1.15 NB-VID is higher than I've seen before. Mine are 1.1v and 1.0v ...
 
Or maybe it's my board that's wacky about setting voltages. I don't know.

Either way, if the default NB voltage is 1.1V, I'm extra scared about putting it at 1.25V.

...or is it OK? Damn I'm a noob.
 
Just dusted off my 965be that is housed in my "Aurora" case. I built it back in march of this year with a Thermaltake SpinQ cooler and a 450gts to be my Virtualization rig.

Well, after having to sell my i7 950/560ti desktop rig to pay the bills after I wrecked my car, it left me with my i7 lappy which is slowly falling further and further behind in games. I finally said "what the hell lets go for it" and pulled it out of storage, first order of business was to see what it was made of at stock speeds:
3.4ghz stocker:


Pushed it hard to see where I would top out, does 4.4ghz @ 1.51V but the temps are off the charts, this poor SpinQ can't keep up, needs WAY more!


I settled at 4.08ghz at 1.456V
4ghz:



only things I did to achieve my 4ghz is bump the vcore up and set the ram at 1.65V everything else is stock

Mobo is a Biostar A780L3G

 
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Beyond C2/C3 you also have to distinguish between those C3's made before/during the initial Thuban release (four letter code after the date), and those made later with a three letter code after the date. The latter borrowed some of the silicon improvements from Thuban. Early C3's were nowhere near as likely to hit 4.2-4.3 GHz Prime stable like current chips. This may also mean they are more sensitive to damage from excess voltage as well.
 
cdr_74_premium said:
Hey qb,

did you use the BIOS to OC or did you use the AMD Overclocking tool?
Click to expand...

Bios ocing


DedEmbryonicCe11 said:
Beyond C2/C3 you also have to distinguish between those C3's made before/during the initial Thuban release (four letter code after the date), and those made later with a three letter code after the date. The latter borrowed some of the silicon improvements from Thuban. Early C3's were nowhere near as likely to hit 4.2-4.3 GHz Prime stable like current chips. This may also mean they are more sensitive to damage from excess voltage as well.
Click to expand...

Bought mine back in February of this year, found a screenie of it before I put it in:

 
Gah... my CPU heats way too much. 60ºC isn't that uncommon, and I hear they run on full load around 53ºC.

Maybe my thermal paste suck. I used the stock one. Should I change?
 
Hey, I recently purchased a 955BE for my AM2 board. I have not really had the time to truly OC the chip, as I bough it for Skyrim, and not for babysitting Prime95 and I'm working 6-7 day weeks at the moment so free-time is of the essence. I've got it to a respectable 4.08ghz, temps never above 55c using an Antek 920, but the Vcore is around 1.4-1.45... I have a feeling that I will be able to pull a bit more out of this chip at that Vcore: but Skyrim awaits!
 
Im a bit afraid of going higher than my 4.2 Ghz , it never goes past 55C during stress test, so im gonna stay where i am.

And Kaze i run skyrim just fine at 4.2
 
Why OC it to past 4?
The 955Be shows not much increase in performance once you go past 3.6Ghz
 
BlackThought said:
Im a bit afraid of going higher than my 4.2 Ghz , it never goes past 55C during stress test, so im gonna stay where i am.

And Kaze i run skyrim just fine at 4.2
Click to expand...

Yeah, after a bit of tweaking, I'm running at 4.16 at a <1.5 vcore. Windows boots fine at 4.3 but prime95 shows immediate errors. I'm trying not to suck down too much power, so I don't want to go over 1.5v skyrim runs super solid at 4.16, so I'm more than happy.

From what I see on this thread I think 4.2 is about average limit for Deneb without extreme voltage/cooling.
 
I use CoreTemp

Win7 64 bit, has everything i need, light weight and will shut off my PC if it gets to 60c :)
 
SpeedFan. It's simple, and draws graphs for me. I like pudy pictures.
 
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