Phenom II OC guide. (790FX chipset based) (140W)

[kipper]

I have gotten enough from this forum that there are users here who want advice and would love to be able to achieve high OC's on their AMD Phenom II CPU's.

So here goes.

 

Also please be advised, my AMD hardware is now over 5 years old, it has been through it all

 

CPU's i have used -

 

Phenom II x4 955BE (4.0ghz stable (4.2ghz max bench)

Phenom II x2 555 BE Unlocked 3/4 core B55 (4.0ghz stable (4.5ghz max bench) (4.3ghz on latest bios)

 

 

 

Today i will be basing my research around the MSI 790FX-GD70

 

Here is a review for my board, it was once one of the best in it's class, and you should think so too.

 

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/790fx-socket-am3,review-31561-6.html

 

DO NOT PROCEED WITH THIS IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A 140W CPU RATED MOTHERBOARD!

 

Heed that warning^ please do take the time to find out if it is capable of a high overclock, we do not want blown motherboards today.

 

 

VOLTAGE - CPU Some information.

 

 

Voltage is very important for Phenom II CPU's when going passed a certain core speed, unlike some newer technology, the Phenom will play ball until you over volt too far (VDDC) high VDDC can hurt your overall overclock in my experience.

 

For example, for 4.3ghz, 1.55VDDC made it unstable, but at 1.4875 VDDC and 1.635v directly on the core logic, it was stable.

 

For my motherboard there are some very extensive voltage options, even PLL (never use this)

 

VOLTAGE LIMITS

 

The Phenom II is a very TOUGH chip, and is very flexible when it comes down to voltages, however, high voltage needs a good CPU cooler, so be warned! the Phenom II CPU's HATE high temperatures.

You will be looking at a thermal limit of 62c for these CPU's, however they are not THAT hard to cool

 

For air cooling (most tower based CPU coolers) Noctua D14/D15 and similar may be an exception!

Do not go over 1.62V for Core voltage, and stay under 1.5 VDDC.

 

Temperature is also dependable on what your motherboard is capable of, it can sometimes vary wildly, such as CPU Phase control.

 

 

Phase control helps keep power exceptionally clean and will dial back when the power is not needed.

 

I can understand that not everyone will have a board with such advanced features, and we shall work around that when it comes to it.

 

MEMORY (DDR3)

 

Phenom II is not massively flexible when it comes to memory, high speeds are rare, however tight timings.... it does really well with.

 

For example my GEIL Black Dragon kit is rated at 1600 9-9-9-29-40, but i can run it at 7-8-7-29-40 which is marginal, but it is still better!

 

For those with 1600mhz kit's, i recommend you to run the command rate at T2, Phenom's seem to struggle with T1 on anything higher than 1333mhz (Phenom II's max rated clock)

 

 

 

THERMAL PASTE

 

Ok i gather that most know this already, but this is what get's me epic results every time.

 

I use Arctic MX-2.

 

I use the blob method, however slightly larger than a Pea, the Phenom II is a rather large chip with a big surface area, use it to it's best!

 

 

 

STABILITY TESTING

 

For stability i use a mixture of things.

 

OCCT CPU Linpack for 1 hour make sure it does not exceed 64c (it's a high temp but Linpack is the worst case scenario)

 

Battlefield Bad Company 2 (This game found instability where Linpack did not)

 

Use a game with good CPU utilization.

 

 

 

I can add more to this if it is needed, please do feel free to add anything you wish to see in this guide, thanks.

[WereCat]

Nice. Can you also maybe post benchmark scores from these overclocks? Cinebench for example.

[kipper]

Nice. Can you also maybe post benchmark scores from these overclocks? Cinebench for example.

[WereCat]

-image-

Very nice. That is actualy quite good considering how old that CPU is.

[Mr.Dingle]

Ty alot for this @kipper

 

Tho im afraid , my ASrock M3A770DE wont do more than the current 3.7Ghz @ 4 cores .

 

If i go higher , the system isnt stable under Prime , and the VRMs get real hot to the touch even tho i have a fan above the socket blowing at it + below it in the font of the case ..

 

I guess its just a motherboard limitation , or maybe i got a bad bin ?

 

 

[kipper]

Ty alot for this @kipper

 

Tho im afraid , my ASrock M3A770DE wont do more than the current 3.7Ghz @ 4 cores .

 

If i go higher , the system isnt stable under Prime , and the VRMs get real hot to the touch even tho i have a fan above the socket blowing at it + below it in the font of the case ..

 

I guess its just a motherboard limitation , or maybe i got a bad bin ?

I will put all my money on it being the motherboard.

 

The VRM's have ZERO cooling, and overall the board looks quite basic, but 3.7ghz is not a bad result!

 

[kipper]

Some results of my B55 Quad at 4.0ghz (memory 1600MHZ CL9 2T)

 

CPU limited game: CSGO.

 

This game never falters from 144FPS (Capped MSI AB)

It does really well with recording too!

 

[Mr.Dingle]

I will put all my money on it being the motherboard.

 

The VRM's have ZERO cooling, and overall the board looks quite basic, but 3.7ghz is not a bad result!

 

 

Even 2 fans blowing at the VRMs still dont help C1E is disabled , Spread spectrum is disabled ...

 

Tho , 3.7 is already 500Mhz higher than stock , so im happy .

 

Also CB score is 383 , not too shaggy i guess

[kipper]

Even 2 fans blowing at the VRMs still dont help C1E is disabled , Spread spectrum is disabled ...

 

Tho , 3.7 is already 500Mhz higher than stock , so im happy .

 

Also CB score is 383 , not too shaggy i guess

Very respectable for 3.7ghz, i had a feeling though that my CB score was a bit off at 4.3ghz.

[kipper]

Also worth noting, Phenom six core owners will have to watch their temps more than a quad core owner, plus mega high OC's will hurt VRM's faster than any Quad.

[IateMApoo]

Nice post KUDOS from me.

[Mr.Dingle]

Here is a AIDA64 run ....  + added the memory test too

Also , i noticed quite some changes for relatively small clock changes @ 4 cores . 3.2 Ghz yielded around 7800MB/s memory copy , while on 3.6 its 10789 and 11758MB/s ...

 

I guess @kipper you are getting around 20k at 4.3 ?

[Nena Trinity]

Awesome!

[Jumper118]

might be better if its moved to this section http://linustechtips.com/main/forum/30-guides-and-tutorials/

 

edit: it has been moved now