Phenom II X4 upgrade

V

Valkyrie

Weaksauce
Joined
Aug 31, 2009
Messages
118
I am looking to upgrade to either a Phenom II X4 955 or 965 and was wondering if anyone has had any experience with using and overclocking these?
 
they overclock great.. go with the 955 unless you can get the 965 C3 stepping which is 125w TDP.. the 140w version is just an overclocked 955 so its pointless to buy that one.. they overclock easily just using the cpu multiplier and voltage.. just make sure your motherboard supports the phenom II and you should be good..
 
I am looking at the 125W versions of the 965 and 955, but the 965 is $30 more ($195).
 
Well, I'm running my 955 at 18.5 multi with 206 fsb to give me 3.811 at 1.5375 volts.
I know I could push it further, but I'm happy where it's at.
 
Valkyrie said:
I am looking at the 125W versions of the 965 and 955, but the 965 is $30 more ($195).
Click to expand...


they are both good chips.. the 125w 965 C3 will give you a tad bit better overclocking.. should be able to hit 4 ghz easier then the 955.. just remember temp is very important when overclocking the phenom II.. cooler you can get them to run the lower the voltage needs to be to get the same overclock..
 
I read something that the 955 only supports two 1333 RAM chips whereas the 965 supports four 1333 chips. Is that correct?
 
Also, has anyone had experience with these chips on an ASUS M4A79XTD EVO motherboard? Is that a good board?
 
I have the 955 with a M479T Deluxe but I don't overclock. I have played with the new BIOS and enabled All Cores with ACC and have noticed some small increases. For what I do, overclocking isn't needed but I have friends with the same MB and chip and they've had great luck. Stays pretty cool with stock coolers but I always feel better with an after market cooler.
 
Valkyrie said:
I read something that the 955 only supports two 1333 RAM chips whereas the 965 supports four 1333 chips. Is that correct?
Click to expand...

not true.. the 965 C3 has a better memory controller though.. they fixed a lot of the problems with the DDR3 IMC that the older stepping had.. so you get better performance/bandwidth with ddr3 on it.. but its still very minimum compared to the cost of going with ddr3 if you already have a rig that can support the phenom II w/ ddr2.. but all phenom II's/athlon II's can handle 4 sticks of ddr3 1333 and some motherboards will allow you to run 4 stick of ddr3 1600 with no problems.. it just may require a little more voltage to the IMC(northbridge) in some cases..
 
I am upgrading from an opteron 170 on an asus a89-sli premium board, so both of these are major improvements. I am just a bit confused on the differences between the 965 and 955 besides the speeds.
 
Valkyrie said:
I read something that the 955 only supports two 1333 RAM chips whereas the 965 supports four 1333 chips. Is that correct?
Click to expand...

I'm running an Asus m4a79t deluxe with 4 x 2gig sticks of Corsair xms3 at 1648mhz
Having absolutely no problems. I did raise my northbridge voltage a little bit though, to 1.2 or 1.22.

Valkyrie said:
I am just a bit confused on the differences between the 965 and 955 besides the speeds.
Click to expand...

As stated above, the C3 stepping of the 965 has a better memory controller, but other than that speed is the only difference.
 
I have the older 965 and I undervolt it to 1.3 and it runs rock solid at rated 3.4. Much cooler and the extra 400mhz from OC'ing won't make enough difference to run it there due to the voltage bump necessary. I got mine for $140 with a Gigabyte motherboard the day after BF. I can use AMD's utility to OC when I need it but I doubt I use it very often. My guess is that with a better cooler I could run it lower even.
 
Last edited:
Valkyrie said:
Also, has anyone had experience with these chips on an ASUS M4A79XTD EVO motherboard? Is that a good board?
Click to expand...

I have the 955 w/ that board and i love it. Its just as good as the FX models without dual 16X PCIE. I was able to boot to windows and run 3dmark @ 3.9 ghz on 1.48 vcore. I had to revert to 3.6ghz afterwards cuz i'm using stock cooler. Make sure you get a good heatsink to unleash its full OC potential.
 
All of the ASUS Phenom II boards sporting the AMD/ATI chipset (not the nvidia ones) are the same with a few features added/subtracted to separate them. You'll have good results with any of them.
 
Thanks all. I think I am going to get the 125W 965 given the better memory controller.
 
Theres not a lot of difference. I dont know if the 965 c3 is worth the extra 30 bucks, depends on how tight money is I guess.
The C3 965 has an upgraded memory controller that can supposedly handle faster memory speed/timings, and it will overclock better too.

So if any of that is worth 30 bucks to you, then go for the 125w 965, otherwise the 955 will do the trick just fine, it just probably will not hit 4ghz at a reasonable voltage, whereas the 965 will.
 
I'm also considering the 955 (AMD Phenom II X4 955 C3 AM3). I have DDR2 board and DFI lists the 955 as the fastest compatible, but I am sure it was because at the time it was all there was. I have the Evga Freezer 64 pro cooler for cooling. If I can get a lower wattage CPU I will pay a little more for it.
I will try and upgrade the MB and Memory as soon as I can next year, but for now the 955 is the best I can do.
 
I have a 965 (C3) on the way, but can't decide on a motherboard. I've narrowed it down to ASUS M4A79XTD EVO or Crosshair III. Any reason to get one over the other?
 
Crosshair all the way. I have it and love it. Have a plethora of bios choices and have had no issues at all with overclocking. I can get a pII 550 to 3.6 stable at stock voltage on mine Jot to mention MemOK has saved me a few times
 
I was debating between the same two cards and opted for the M4A79XTD EVO given that it cost half the price of the Crosshair III and does most of the same things. Now if you have the extra cash, or really want to do a lot of overclocking, the Crosshair III might be the better choice for you.
 
I went with the Crosshair III. I figured it's Christmas and I haven't upgraded in a long time. I'm going form an Abit AV8/Opteron 170 to Crosshair III/Phenom II 965.
 
congrats :) hope you arnt disapointed in it :) i love mine lol, just wish i could afford a 965 for it
 
bbs1 said:
I went with the Crosshair III. I figured it's Christmas and I haven't upgraded in a long time. I'm going form an Abit AV8/Opteron 170 to Crosshair III/Phenom II 965.
Click to expand...

great classic setup to an even better current setup. love it~ :D
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
they are both good chips.. the 125w 965 C3 will give you a tad bit better overclocking.. should be able to hit 4 ghz easier then the 955.. just remember temp is very important when overclocking the phenom II.. cooler you can get them to run the lower the voltage needs to be to get the same overclock..
Click to expand...

That's for sure. I just picked up the 965 c3 and it runs hot. Using a corsair H50, idle temp is 39C and using OCCT at max load produces 55-57C. That's at stock speed. Maybe a true rev c might make it cooler, IDK. It will boot at 4 ghz but can't maintain the core below 62C on a full load. Bottom line get a good cooler. I would not recommend the H50 for overclocking IMO.
 
madcap magician said:
That's for sure. I just picked up the 965 c3 and it runs hot. Using a corsair H50, idle temp is 39C and using OCCT at max load produces 55-57C. That's at stock speed. Maybe a true rev c might make it cooler, IDK. It will boot at 4 ghz but can't maintain the core below 62C on a full load. Bottom line get a good cooler. I would not recommend the H50 for overclocking IMO.
Click to expand...

I would indeed look towards a megahelms or a true. The H50 isn't doing you to well I get better temps than that on my 3 year old Enzotech Ultra-X. If you slap a true or a mh on that baby you'll most likely hit 4ghz or higher. :D
 
The Megahalems is a great cooler. My overclocked and over-volted 940 maxes out at 52C, with a room temp of 24C. Of course, this is using a push/pull with two Scythe Slipstreams at 1600r.p.m.
 
madcap magician said:
That's for sure. I just picked up the 965 c3 and it runs hot. Using a corsair H50, idle temp is 39C and using OCCT at max load produces 55-57C. That's at stock speed. Maybe a true rev c might make it cooler, IDK. It will boot at 4 ghz but can't maintain the core below 62C on a full load. Bottom line get a good cooler. I would not recommend the H50 for overclocking IMO.
Click to expand...

I also got a corsair H50 for my 965 125W setup. I will be doing the build after the holidays, but I was wondering if you used a single fan with the H50 or two fans sandwiching the radiator? Just trying to figure out the best plan for my setup. Thanks.
 
Valkyrie said:
I also got a corsair H50 for my 965 125W setup. I will be doing the build after the holidays, but I was wondering if you used a single fan with the H50 or two fans sandwiching the radiator? Just trying to figure out the best plan for my setup. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Using push/pull (two fans) plenty of air flow as I also have a fan in the top of my case to help pull the hit air hot.

If your wanting to do any O/C I would not use the H50 (IMOH) I'm going to get a high performance HSF probably the true rev C. to see if it cools better. I would really like to get to 4Ghz stable.

As with everything, YMMV.
 
Valkyrie said:
I also got a corsair H50 for my 965 125W setup. I will be doing the build after the holidays, but I was wondering if you used a single fan with the H50 or two fans sandwiching the radiator? Just trying to figure out the best plan for my setup. Thanks.
Click to expand...


it really depends more on the air flow of the fan your using.. since the H50 isnt that restrictive of a radiator a mid range CFM fan will do fine on its own.. adding the second fan wont do that much..
 
UPDATE: Got tired of fiddle fuckin around with the H50 system and ordered the TRUE REV C. Went to install it and the base was shape like a "V". It spun very nicely on a flat surface so ended up lapping it flat. Max load temp is 54C using OCCT. Wish I would of just picked this up the first time, would of saved a lot of hassle.

Chip did not like 4ghz under load using OCCT BSOD everytime. I tried pretty much everything. Gonna research a little more see if I can tweak it a little.
 
Valkyrie said:
Also, has anyone had experience with these chips on an ASUS M4A79XTD EVO motherboard? Is that a good board?
Click to expand...
i sure hope its a good board.... imo.... i got one for xmas and just ordered the phen II X4 955 for it... i plan on using the 1600 speed ram rather than the 1333......

as for overclocks on the phen II X4 955 people seem to be getting 3.4 to 3.5 Ghz on air and up to 3.8Ghz on water... however i has seen unsubstantiated data of someone getting at least 6.0Ghz...... however i suspect this may have been done with liquid nitrogen.....
 
the Phenom II's can do 6.0 GHz, but it is under Liquid Nitrogen or Liquid Helium....however, on air you should be able to hit 3.7(for the c2's) with reasonable temps, and the c3's should hit the high 3's to 4.0 GHz range on air alone....my c2 550(yes i know its the dual core..but its really a quad with 2 disabled cores), will hit 3.75 stable on stock aircooling with a vcore of 1.35(1.325 will get me 3.6 stable), i just dont like an idle temp of 50 and a load of 60.......


so as long as you ordered the c3 version of any of the chips, your OC should be decent.
 
madcap magician said:
That's for sure. I just picked up the 965 c3 and it runs hot. Using a corsair H50, idle temp is 39C and using OCCT at max load produces 55-57C. That's at stock speed. Maybe a true rev c might make it cooler, IDK. It will boot at 4 ghz but can't maintain the core below 62C on a full load. Bottom line get a good cooler. I would not recommend the H50 for overclocking IMO.
Click to expand...

The 120mm heatpipe heatercore looking heatsinks (Sunbeam Core Contact 120 which I have, added scythe slipstream 110cfm fan which made it even quieter and cool much better), or several Xigmatek models, are cheaper and offer superior cooling.

My CPU @+1.5v (1.5vcore) idles at 0-4c above ambient and while I dont have the exact +ambient at load right now, it stays well under 60c in cooler weather and 60 max in summer.

Make sure you have good case cooling (I have 4 120mm and a 140mm ala antec 300 fully loaded) and a good efficient heatsink+fan and you will get better temps. Check the sunbeam and xigmateks, the sunbeam is better (4 heatpipes vs 3) but has a crappier fan, but if you replace the fan with a 110cfm slipstream its better all around. And its cheap, 30-40usd depending on if its on sale or not. A C3 965 at stock should be putting out WAY way less heat than mine @3.8ghz 1.5v, and my temps are way way better. =) My mobo maintains fan speed, it usually runs at 800-1200rpm unless @full load, and the slipstream is quieter at idle and load than the stock fan was at mid idle!

Im not gloating, just trying to help. The antec 300 case and sunbeam 120mm are both very cheap.
 
@Malakai

Check out my update post #35. Rev C made a huge difference max temp is 54C at max load at 3.8Ghz 1.42 volts. I'm very happy now with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top