OCing a Phenom X4 9750

[1st DUke]

Current System:

Phenom X4 9750@2.4 Ghz

ASRock 780GXE/128M

8Gb DDR2 @800Mhz

Asus Radeon 4870 1Gb

Sunbeam CR-CCTF Core Contact Freezer CPU Cooler

Back in September, after having one motherboard short out on me--on account of my stupidity--and another one die on me--unstable Gigabyte from a different computer--I decided to actually learn how all this computer stuff worked, rather than have my tech savvy friends do all the work for me. As a result, I am now really interested in OCing my Phenom X4. Now, I know the first generation Phenoms weren't very good, the comp it originally came with was a Christmas present, which i combined with my older comp this past summer to yield the build I currently have, yet that gives me all the more reason to OC it so as to get the most out of what I have.

Now, I know a little about OCing, but have never successfully done it. I attempted to OC my CPU last month after getting some help from TomsHardware forums, but I could not get the comp to post, and so had to reset the BIOS and call it quits.

So I guess my request is twofold: 1) could someone explain exactly what the difference is between OCing with an unlocked multiplier and OCing without one and 2) I would greatly appreciate guidance on how to OC my Phenom; I read on one review site that they got it to 2.83Ghz, and I would really like to get around there!

Your help is most appreciated!

Regards,

1st Duke.

[1st DUke]

Here are the CPUZ screen shots, hope they help!

[travy25]

I think I might be one of the few guys around here that has abused this particular chip. It's a great chip, I was able to get to 3+ GHz, and 2.9 GHz 24/7. I wish I had kept it for some further bot rapage with my current water setup.

You should be able to get 2.8 stable with that cooler and some decent case air flow. Your chip has a upward locke cpu multi at 12x. So you can only clock your cpu beyond 2.4 GHz by increasing the FSB/HTT from 200 up. So IIRC, my best clocks were 12x252 for 3034 GHz. It is a reference clock so other parts of your systems speed are based on it, meaning you may also have to decrease your ram, HT, and NB multipliers in order to maintain system stability. Black Edition cpus have an unlocked upward multiplier so you can overclock the cpu only without affecting the other parts of your system.

[thisisgoose]

Welcome to the forum!

I think travy means you should get 2.8 stable because these Phenom I's don't like to OC to much, I had the 9600BE and could only get it to 2.7 stable and that was with the unlocked multiplier.

How to start oc'ing is as travy said, raise the fsb from 200, start with small increments like 205 and so on, until it doesn't pass the stability tests any more. (Also try to keep your ram around 800 with the fsb:ram ratio)

Once it won't pass a stability test then you should go back in to the bios and add a little bit of voltage. (may not help since these chips don't seem to like to much vcore)

Another thing you can try is to actually lower the multiplier on the cpu and raise the fsb(worked better for me that way idk why just did)

also try to read the guides for OC'ing which are in this section at the top of the page.

[jjjc_93]

Originally Posted by thisisgoose

Welcome to the forum!

I think travy means you should get 2.8 stable because these Phenom I's don't like to OC to much, I had the 9600BE and could only get it to 2.7 stable and that was with the unlocked multiplier.

How to start oc'ing is as travy said, raise the fsb from 200, start with small increments like 205 and so on, until it doesn't pass the stability tests any more. (Also try to keep your ram around 800 with the fsb:ram ratio)

Once it won't pass a stability test then you should go back in to the bios and add a little bit of voltage. (may not help since these chips don't seem to like to much vcore)

Another thing you can try is to actually lower the multiplier on the cpu and raise the fsb(worked better for me that way idk why just did)

also try to read the guides for OC'ing which are in this section at the top of the page.

Umm no what travy said was right... I had a 9950BE (yes different chip again) and was able to get 3.2ghz stable and boot at 3.4ghz, thats 600mhz 24/7 overclock. As for non BE processors they can go just as far as BE processors the time and patience.

[travy25]

Corrected, thanks Goose. I should also point out that for 2.8+ I had to run 1.5-1.55v. Something not everyone is comfortable with, but I let the temperatures determine that.

Additional Comment:

Originally Posted by jjjc_93

Umm no what travy said was right... I had a 9950BE (yes different chip again) and was able to get 3.2ghz stable and boot at 3.4ghz, thats 600mhz 24/7 overclock. As for non BE processors they can go just as far as BE processors the time and patience.

Exactly, I got 600+ MHz out of my 9750, but it took lots of time and patience.

[jjjc_93]

Originally Posted by travy25

Corrected, thanks Goose. I should also point out that for 2.8+ I had to run 1.5-1.55v. Something not everyone is comfortable with, but I let the temperatures determine that.

WOW...My mistake...they are quite bad chips then? 1.55v for a 400mhz overclock is very bad.

[travy25]

Originally Posted by jjjc_93

WOW...My mistake...they are quite bad chips then? 1.55v for a 400mhz overclock is very bad.

Yep, 1.5v for 2.8 GHz. They are a challenge to be certain, but doable.

[jjjc_93]

Originally Posted by travy25

Corrected, thanks Goose. I should also point out that for 2.8+ I had to run 1.5-1.55v. Something not everyone is comfortable with, but I let the temperatures determine that.

Additional Comment:



Exactly, I got 600+ MHz out of my 9750, but it took lots of time and patience.

Yeah takes some work, but will leave the OP satisfied in the end.. I thought maxing out at 400mhz was too bad to be true.

[thisisgoose]

Yea, it was a real pain to OC the one I had, wouldn't even boot at anything above 2.8, and for me giving it extra volts past stock had no effect at all... very disappointing chip to OC but still... a cheap quad that runs pretty much everything with great performance even if the numbers say they are way outclassed I still liked it and it never slowed down.

[travy25]

I was running mine at 2.9 with a 4870 as well and it gamed like a champ @ 1920x1080. I think the OP will really like what the rig will do with a little OC.

[1st DUke]

Ok, I read the guids for OCing a Phenom and Athlon, but ther terminology still confuses me. I don't get what these separate things I'm fiddling with do, and I don't want to fiddle with things I don't really understand, last thing I want to do is blow my system, lol.

Additional Comment:

Tell me how I'm doing: I upped the HT ref. Clock to 225, increasing the clock speed to 2.7Ghz. I ran a 15 minute stress test and the cpu temp never went above 43. I am now running Prime95 stress test and thus far, 15 minutes into that one, the temps haven't gone over 43. They idle at 30 by the way.

Additional Comment:

Update: running overdrive stress test and prime 95, will be running for 2 hours. Will let ya know how that goes.

[thisisgoose]

Sounds like your doing just fine, I personally never run prime 95 and just use the AOD but a lot of people don't like to do that. Just preference I suppose.

As long as you stay under 60C load with that cpu you should be ok so 43 sounds pretty good.

When increasing the HT ref. clock make sure to keep your ram speeds around 800 since that is what the ram is rated for(i'm sure it can go over but it creates less stability problems initially if you keep it around there)

Also with increasing the HT make sure to keep the NB and HT multipliers such that the speeds on those are around 1800-2000(same logic as the ram), for example, with you HT at 225 the multi on both of those is probably 9x making them at 2025, which isn't bad and if you have stability it is fine, but if you start getting BSOD you should start by decreasing those to 8x but until then just keep stability testing.
Good Luck

[1st DUke]

Ok I raised the HT to 230, making the clock@2.76 Ghz and it has been running good for about an hour, idling at 31. I then raised it to 245 to see how far I could push it and the system froze up. I rebooted and set it back to 2.76Ghz and it's fine. I think I've reached the limit of just increasing the HT, but I don't really understand how to increase it further. Does it involve increasing the speed of my RAM or what? Sorry if someone above answered this, but this is something I am really having a hard time grasping.

Also, I have 4 Gbs of RAM that can go up to 1066 and 4 Gbs that are only rated at 800--the result of canibalizing two computers. Would it be better to take out the slower RAM so I can up my faster RAM, or leave the 8Gbs in but at a slower clock?

[1st DUke]

Here's a screenshot of my faster RAM and slower RAM in CPUZ

[thisisgoose]

I would probably take out the slower ram as it could be limiting the other ram and in turn dropping your max OC. So take out the 800 ram and try to raise the HT more.

Additional Comment:

also there is no other way to increase cpu speed other than to raise the HT because your cpu isn't a BE, meaning your cpu multiplier is locked.

So to get the max OC you will have to lower your other settings to keep them near stock values and just keep raising the HT

[Deluded]

Mismatched RAM is the #1 killer of overclocking. Want any decent overclocks? Use identical RAM or lower the FSB:RAM ratio.

Also make sure your HTT speed is below 2200 Mhz.

[1st DUke]

Where do I find the HTT speed?

Also, what exactly is the FSB:RAM ration? Is it a specific number I can see in AMD Overdrive, or an actual ratio of the FSB and RAM, in which case, where would I find those two numbers? Again, sorry if that's a stupid question, but this is tough to rap one's mind around, I'm a history major not an engineer

Additional Comment:

Also, with my faster RAM, could I use the AMD OD to change the timings to get it to 1066 Mhz, if so, how would I go about doing it? The CPUZ for my RAM is located above.

[thisisgoose]

I would recommend you OC in the bios, I have used both and the bios seems much more stable and easier once you get use to it.

The FSB:Ram will be in the bios and will most likely be on auto like everything else. you will have to change it accordingly.

The HTT speed should be in the cpuz screen under bus speed, and to change that there is a multiplier in the bios for it. I like to keep the HTT multi and the nb multi at the same speeds but im not sure it makes a difference, just have to keep them both under 2200 and you should be fine.

[1st DUke]

Ok I took out the slower RAM, but I'm not entirely sure how to get it to 1066Mhz. Is there anything I need to do other than change the clock speed in the bios to 533? Do I need to screw with the timings, and if so, what should I change them to?