Phenom II X6 OCing

[Crayon Shin Chan]

A lazy HT reference clock bump to 265MHz resulted in a rock solid stable 3709MHz Phenom II X6. The motherboard (M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3) automatically bumped the voltages up from 1.368V at load to 1.536V at load. Temperatures are manageable (60C) with the stock cooler at ~17C ambient. Barely. The cooler has to work rather hard, to be honest, spinning at around 3600-4000rpm depending on the ambient temperature. Which is why I have a heatsink from EKL on the way.

For reference, at stock speeds, the CPU is still capable of reaching 60C, but it seems to be a limit, and reaches it rather slowly whereas at 3709MHz and 1.536V it gets to 60C very quickly and the cooler has to start working hard. 3867MHz is doable, but the motherboard saw fit to increase the voltage to 1.608V, which sent temperatures through the roof at 70C. Windows 7 paused slightly, and suddenly CPU-Z reported that it was running at 2GHz. The CPU was throttling.

I heard however that most Thubans hit 4GHz at ~1.4 or 1.5V. I don't know how to turn off automatic voltage adjustment in the BIOS, but the fact that the motherboard saw fit to increase the voltage to 1.536V even when I'm at 3.709, with a sharp increase to 1.6V to run at 3.86GHz, means that my sample isn't exactly the cream of the crop In any case, I will have to turn off auto voltage adjustment to find out what's really going on.

[flip-mode]

Is AMD still putting the 70mm fan on the stock cooler? If so:

As you were saying, though, I'll be interested to see what you find out about the auto voltage. It would not surprise me if it was giving more than necessary.

I still can't be bothered to overclock my 955 BE I just don't have anything that needs it :shrug: I'm fine with that.

[Crayon Shin Chan]

I don't know about the exact dimensions, but yes, the fan is a bit small. I put it back on stock speeds so that the cooler wouldn't be so annoyingly loud when it's bedtime. My Folding PPD has dropped down to about 5000 from 8000. I'm getting low PPD numbers because I'm using the computer.

BTW I forgot to mention, I'm folding for the [H] team now. Before you cry traitor, know that I will be back sometime next year, with a shiny little GTX470 to boost my PPD. It's the giveaway, and the really tight community spirit. I have to say, it's rather obvious why they're one of the top teams on the planet. They have a lot of folding related events, and the community is always one upping itself. The folding forum here is a bit... quiet. EVGA also has a lot of events, which help drum up community enthusiasm. The bucks program must've gotten them a lot of points.

[Crayon Shin Chan]

I've put CPU voltage and CPU/NB voltage on 1.475V manual, not just offset, and overclocking to manual mode. It's still increasing to 1.536V. I even turned off C&Q. What on earth could be causing this? I really appreciate it, but I also want to balance noise/heat with performance... and it's just not helping.

EDIT: flip-mode, what about folding?

[Fragnificent]

dood u haz a 3700 mhz 6 core cpu and you're not happy? You made my E8400 sad, look he is actually crying. Bad Crayon BAD!

[kamikaziechameleon]

I have the 1090T on the Asus crosair 890FX mobo. I to plan to OC my processor, and hope to make it to 4.0 Ghz at the very least. I'm curius to see what you find here. I'm curious what kind of ram are you using, please include frequency, timings, and voltage.

[Crayon Shin Chan]

My mom was right - she was the one who advised getting the 6 core because she knew I would salivate for the 6 core if she got me the quad core Humans can never have enough. I was just browsing Hardforum's photos of their SR-2 rigs too. It seems most TR folders use old hardware? The top 20 producers don't make much daily.

kamikaziechameleon: I know this will be hard to believe, so put your seatbelt on.

I'm using Kingston ValuRAM. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, ValuRAM. I think the fastest I"ve ever run it is 1466MHz, and that was around 1.7V. Right now I'm at 1418MHz with 1.65V. My overclocking potential is limited by how hot my CPU gets, not my el cheapo RAM. Hard to believe, I know. But it's true. As a bonus, it's running with slightly tighter timings than the SPD recommends for 1333MHz operation - 9-9-9-24-27 1T.

[flip-mode]

I don't fold. I put my computer to sleep when I'm not using it. Less power used (ergo less money), less fans wear, less hdd wear, less dust in the case. I've got nothing against folding, but it's not for me.

[kamikaziechameleon]

kamikaziechameleon: I know this will be hard to believe, so put your seatbelt on.

I'm using Kingston ValuRAM. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, ValuRAM. I think the fastest I"ve ever run it is 1466MHz, and that was around 1.7V. Right now I'm at 1418MHz with 1.65V. My overclocking potential is limited by how hot my CPU gets, not my el cheapo RAM. Hard to believe, I know. But it's true. As a bonus, it's running with slightly tighter timings than the SPD recommends for 1333MHz operation - 9-9-9-24-27 1T.

WOW!

[ChangWang]

Funny you should mention this. I just finished dialing in my X6 rig just last night. I topped out stable at 3.9Ghz. Couldn't make it to 4 without a BSOD to save my life. Of course YMMV, but here are the main specs and BIOS settings


1050T @ 3.9Ghz
Asus M4A89GTD Pro/USB3
8GB Corsair XMS DDR3 1600 (4x2GB sticks)


FSB/Multiplier: 300/13
CPU Speed: 3900
NB Speed: 2700
HT Speed: 2100
CPU Voltage: 1.4625
CPU-NB Voltage: 1.275
RAM Speed: 1600
Model: 95w

[Crayon Shin Chan]

Does your voltage change from 1.4625V at all when you load the CPU? I see you got the 95W version, that's nice. I booted into Win7 at 286*14=4GHz once, but LinX and Prime95 both reported errors, so I backpedaled. I think I ran memtest86+ with the CPU at 4GHz, with almost 1.8V on the RAM at 1900MHz. It passed, although I'm not sure how trustworthy those results are since the 4GHz CPU didn't calculate LinX or P95 correctly.

[flip-mode]

Did some one say this already: what's the top voltage that Thuban / Deneb are good for? For some reason I recall 1.55. Is that too much? Is there any difference in voltage tolerance between Thuban and Deneb?

[flip-mode]

I'm using Kingston ValuRAM. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, ValuRAM. I think the fastest I"ve ever run it is 1466MHz, and that was around 1.7V. Right now I'm at 1418MHz with 1.65V. My overclocking potential is limited by how hot my CPU gets, not my el cheapo RAM. Hard to believe, I know. But it's true. As a bonus, it's running with slightly tighter timings than the SPD recommends for 1333MHz operation - 9-9-9-24-27 1T.

I'm right there with you buddy. I've not bothered with tweaker ram for several builds now. It's a complete waste IMO.

[ChangWang]

Does your voltage change from 1.4625V at all when you load the CPU? I see you got the 95W version, that's nice. I booted into Win7 at 286*14=4GHz once, but LinX and Prime95 both reported errors, so I backpedaled. I think I ran memtest86+ with the CPU at 4GHz, with almost 1.8V on the RAM at 1900MHz. It passed, although I'm not sure how trustworthy those results are since the 4GHz CPU didn't calculate LinX or P95 correctly.

It varies just a little bit. I left Load Line Calibration on Auto (I think its actually on), which may be the reason there is little variance.

I've read all kinds of ranges on the voltage thing. For example check out this nifty spreadsheet I found:

http://www.overclock.net/amd-cpus/72050 ... -club.html

[flip-mode]

I've read all kinds of ranges on the voltage thing. For example check out this nifty spreadsheet I found: http://www.overclock.net/amd-cpus/72050 ... -club.html

That's handy. Looks like many people are comfortable with 1.5 and a few with 1.55. Well, if I end up fiddling with my 955 (definitely no promises), will it bother anyone if I post in this thread?

[Crayon Shin Chan]

I wouldn't be bothered. I read about rare cases where more than 1.6V on a Thuban would slowly kill the thing, but those were supposedly very rare.

[yuriylsh]

I'm just running my 1090T at 3.6GHz with Vcore at 1.325V (Turbo Core is off). Everything else is at stock settings. Max temperature I've seen (prime 95 + 7-zip bench at the same time) was 38C using CoolerMaster Hyper N-520 (but ambient temperature is quite low too). So far I do not see any reason to go higher than that...

[kamikaziechameleon]

Its funny to me that intel processors have tons of OC walk throughs on how to tweak and twist them for every ounce of preformance, but if you search how to overclock 1090T you get a bunch of forum threads like this one, not saying that this processor doesn't overclock I'm sayin that websites immediately relegate it to a kinda underground status and don't support it with enthusiast articles even though the 1090T and 1050 are very uniquely positioned since the last round of price cuts.

[flip-mode]

Its funny to me that intel processors have tons of OC walk throughs on how to tweak and twist them for every ounce of preformance, but if you search how to overclock 1090T you get a bunch of forum threads like this one, not saying that this processor doesn't overclock I'm sayin that websites immediately relegate it to a kinda underground status and don't support it with enthusiast articles even though the 1090T and 1050 are very uniquely positioned since the last round of price cuts.

Well, it was almost the inverse before the Core 2 Duo - AMD got most of the love - but it seems like it was not quite this lopsided. Intel still got some love.

Still, there are sources out there. Theres this: http://game.amd.com/es-es/content/pdf/A ... _Guide.pdf

And there's this: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/di ... html#sect0

[flip-mode]

Here's from page 10 of the "AMD Dragon Platform Performance Tuning Guide":

The key BIOS settings to adjust before proceeding with CPU Performance tuning:
 Disable “Cool „n‟ Quiet” –power saving item from the BIOS menu
 Disable “C1E” –item from the BIOS menu
 Disable “CPU Fan Control” –item from the BIOS menu (allows max cooling)
 Ensure that CPU NB, Memory or HT Link values are running at default stable values

The key settings in the Windows® XP or Windows Vista® operating system to adjust before overclocking the
CPU:
 Close all major applications and background tools and save any open documents
 Set OS to “High performance” mode via “Control Panel / Power Options”
 Close any third party hardware / clock monitoring and system information programs

Those seem like pretty important things that would easily get overlooked.

[mmmmmdonuts21]

I am most of the way done overclocking my 1055T (125W). Maybe just little voltage tweaks on the CPU / RAM and RAM timings still left.

Here is where I am at: (I have a wall at about 3900MHz it seems, because I have tried very very similar settings (same timings, just different voltages) ChangWang had and I can only get it to 3750 stable)

MB: Gigabyte 870a-ud3
RAM: 4x4GB GSkill RipJaws 1600

CPU: 275*14 (3850) @ 1.5V
NB: 2750 @1.35V
RAM: 1466 (9-9-9-24-2T)
HT: 2000

Nice OC ChangWang btw

[ChangWang]

Thank ya!

That guy on the [H] forums, ccityinstaller, really seems to know his stuff eh?

[Crayon Shin Chan]

Changwang, got a link to what ccityinstaller said?

3780MHz
I set the voltage to something low like 1.45V (well it's low compared to what it set before). Then it seems the motherboard adds 0.5V to that when under load, +0.75V when it's something like Prime95 torture. Without CnQ enabled, the frequency stays the same in idle and under load, but the voltage changes from 1.46 to around 1.525 under load. The stock heatsink is working hard at 4200rpm but temps are much lower, 56C down from 62-63C. I don't want to increase voltage any higher, so I'm stuck at 3.78 since 275*14=3.85 boots but doesn't pass LinX.

So that seems like it's the only way to actually maintain some modicum of control over the voltage. Oh BTW it would crash while booting into Windows unless I upped the CPU/NB voltage from 1.175V to ~1.225V I think.

[Crayon Shin Chan]

A HUGE REVELATION:
By turning up the speed of the huge 140mm fan in my Three Hundred, the CPU heatsink drops down from 4400rpm to around 3500rpm. The noise reduction is much larger than the additional noise from the 140mm fan! Plus the 140mm fan has a nice... oh ****, it's ramping up again. The additional airflow gets me 1C cooler.
EDIT: The +0.75V increase may be due to CPU Load Line Calibration. I'll disable it sometime and see.

[StuG]

Crayon, just get a cheap aftermarket CPU cooler and stop worrying about it.

[Crayon Shin Chan]

It was supposed to be delivered to me yesterday - except the lazy bastard never rang my doorbell and just left. Now I have to wait til Monday to get my GTX470 and EKL Brocken CPU cooler.

[ChangWang]

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1569216

Notice how he takes the noob to school and continues to drop knowledge

[mmmmmdonuts21]

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1569216

Notice how he takes the noob to school and continues to drop knowledge

I started that thread over there and it was a tremendous help in clearing up some issues I was having overclocking (NB and HT) because much like the OP in this thread I was hitting a wall much earlier (3.9) than I thought I should and I still wanted to maximize the performance. (A high NB is a tremendous help in folding and BOINC projects)

[Crayon Shin Chan]

Hmm, the northbridge frequency eh... I'll check on that by dropping the core multiplier sometime. Actually I haven't lost a lot of flexibility by going the locked multiplier route. X Bit Labs says that the northbridge frequency doesn't help anything though.

I tried turning CPU Load Calibration off. At the desktop, idle, voltage was around 1.4625. Then I turned on Folding@Home. CPU-Z suddenly reported the voltage was 1.3625V. That wasn't right. I was about to reach for Task Manager when the system BSODed. Since then I've kept Load Calibration on. I think a lot of people online report their CPU voltage as the setting they set in the BIOS, which doesn't include their motherboard's compensation for voltage droop. For instance, I set my core voltage to 1.4625V in the BIOS, but under load, the voltage goes up to 1.512V. Therefore actually my CPU's stable with 1.512V at 3780MHz, not 1.4625V.

In other news, the GTX470 and EKL Alpenfoehn "Brocken" CPU heatsink just arrived. The heatsink is light, much lighter than its volume would have you think. When it gets hot, it usually gets hot near the base, the top wasn't even lukewarm for obvious reasons. But it also means that the heatsink didn't have to be that tall. Also, the fan points upwards. This means the 140mm fan on the Antec Three Hundred case is now useful.
I don't know what's up with the LEDs on the Brocken's fan, but they make the edges of my GTX470's PCB glow green. It looks freaking cool. The GTX470 is my second dedicated graphics card since the Geforce 4 Ti4200. Whoo! what a difference!!

Temperatures with Prime95's Torture test reach 55C. The 120mm fan rotates around 1500rpm then. With just Folding@Home, temperatures are around 37-44C, the lowest being with the window open. There is obviously a lot of thermal headroom for me now, although I don't know if the cooler can do better. Cabling was a nightmare, I'd rather not take the heatsink off and check the thermal grease spread (Arctic Silver Ceramique) to see if that was the limiting factor at this point.

[mmmmmdonuts21]

Here is a link to Anandtech that benches an X6 with different NB frequencies at the same clock. http://www.anandtech.com/show/3877/asrock-890fx-deluxe-full-review-and-an-investigation-of-thuban-performance-scaling/7