Overclocking AMD Phenom II X3 720 BE

[Johnmorrin]

Hi there , first post so ill make it a good one

Im trying to overclock my AMD 720 x3 , Specs of my system are as follows.

Msi 770-c45 , V1.3b2 bios
720 X3 (Wont Unlock )
4gb Ocz Platinum 1600mhz @ 1.8v
Ati Radeon 4850 512mb @ Stock (For Now)
550W enermax , 36 amp rails.
Spire Thermax II Cpu cooler.

Ok so the story so far is that I can get the chip to 3.2ghz absolutely stable with prime . Settings are 200 x 16 , 1.3375v @ 29°C under load.

Once I knew that was stable I tried for 3.4ghz , 200x17 1.4V 32°C under load
Ive tried setting the HT link to 1800mhz and NB to 2000mhz but it still wont improve stability for any longer than 20 mins on prime. Ive tried lower and higher voltages on the cpu but still cant get it stable for more than 20 mins on prime. Worst was 3400mhz 200X17 1.385v , lasted 2 mins in prime

I have CnQ turned off , C1E is disabled , ram is running unganged and only at 1066mhz @ 1.76v while OCing.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

John

 

[krisnad]

I've never used an MSI board, but do you have any "Spread Spectrum" settings in your bios? If so, they must all be disabled except for those that deal with graphics. If this is common knowledge to you, just ignore this post. If it is not, here is my OC for your piece of mind ->

Don't let the Phenom 2 X4 20 reading trouble you. The device manager lists the three cores that I paid for as Phenom 2 X3 720 and the unlocked core is listed as Phenom 2 X4 20. I guess it's just a bios thing.

Back to your cause: I think you would benefit from a higher front side bus and a lower multiplier (my method) since you've got decent ram and mobo to help out the CPU. At the end of this post is a link to a table you can use to experiment with.

This is the table that helped me achieve my overclock. It probably eliminated many inevitable BSOD's and autorestarts. But you must first find out the following information before you proceed:

1) what the maximum FSB speed is on your motherboard. Whatever it is you should go lower for best stability. I'm using 2340 when my max is 2600.

2) if your FSB speed and your HT link speed are connected (they use the same multiplier and are incremented and decremented simultaneously in bios when you change them) This is huge because if your HT link speed is faster than your FSB, you're not going anywhere!

I would experiment, with a piece of paper and pen handy. First open up CPUID and record your HT link speed in the "general" tab and your Northbridge (FSB) speed in the "memory" tab.

Then reboot and enter your bios. Just find the Northbridge multiplier and lower it by one. Save changes to bios and reboot. Once you've booted up, open up CPUID and see if the HT link speed and the Northbridge speed are the same. If they are, carry on and just have fun using this table. If not, then you will have to find your HT multiplier setting in the bios (check your mobo manual or google to find this setting and what it's default setting is). Once you find this setting you will likely have to decrease this setting to the next lowest setting for stability.

Please make sure you stay in the yellow sections of this table. Happy hunting, newbie krisnad.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=605187