# Phenom II 920 owners - What are your overclocking results?



## johnnyfiive (Jan 23, 2009)

Awesomeness.​

So many 940 related threads I figured its time for a 920 thread. To all you 920 owners, what is your setup? What are your overclocking results? Lets see em!


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## r9 (Jan 23, 2009)

Every one seems choosing 940 over 920 I guess it is BE thing.


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## PaulieG (Jan 23, 2009)

I believe Kei is using a PII 920, and is getting good results. He's been posting in a couple of different threads about it.


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## johnnyfiive (Jan 23, 2009)

I will be getting a 920 next week. I know Kei has posted his results, awesome results at that. I figured why not have a thread dedicated to just the 920. I'm hoping to get a decent overclock on my K9A2. My hopes are not too high though.


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## johnnyfiive (Jan 23, 2009)

920 on its way. $180 SHIPPED. Damn good deal IMO.


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## erocker (Jan 23, 2009)

Anyone have or try this board out yet with PII? 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131361

I'm wondering the performance difference between just upping the multiplier or raising the HTT with these chips.


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## PaulieG (Jan 23, 2009)

erocker said:


> Anyone have or try this board out yet with PII?
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131361
> 
> I'm wondering the performance difference between just upping the multiplier or raising the HTT with these chips.



I think I'm going to sell my 78-T and buy that board this evening. What I'm finding with the PII's is that the multiplier and NB speed mean significantly more than increasing the HTT.


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## 1Kurgan1 (Jan 23, 2009)

How do you raise the NB speed without raising the HTT? Also my guess on the amount of 940's vs 920's is the recent price drop. The 940's are going for what a 920 was just less than 2 weeks ago. So people had budgets to spend about $230 then they dropped the price so why not grab the 940. Not saying the 920 isn't a screaming deal at $180, because it is and is so tempting.


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## erocker (Jan 23, 2009)

Paulieg said:


> I think I'm going to sell my 78-T and buy that board this evening. What I'm finding with the PII's is that the multiplier and NB speed mean significantly more than increasing the HTT.



When I said HTT I meant the NB with it.  Obviously increasing the NB frequency for overclocking the CPU will result in better performance than just raising the multiplier, I'm just wondering by how much?  It's the deciding factor for me between the 920 and 940.


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## PaulieG (Jan 23, 2009)

1Kurgan1 said:


> How do you raise the NB speed without raising the HTT? Also my guess on the amount of 940's vs 920's is the recent price drop. The 940's are going for what a 920 was just less than 2 weeks ago. So people had budgets to spend about $230 then they dropped the price so why not grab the 940. Not saying the 920 isn't a screaming deal at $180, because it is and is so tempting.



My board has separate multipliers for the NB vs. the HTT. I have to agree about the chips though, I'd go with the 940. You just have more flexibility.


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## johnnyfiive (Jan 23, 2009)

1Kurgan1 said:


> *How do you raise the NB speed without raising the HTT*? Also my guess on the amount of 940's vs 920's is the recent price drop. The 940's are going for what a 920 was just less than 2 weeks ago. So people had budgets to spend about $230 then they dropped the price so why not grab the 940. Not saying the 920 isn't a screaming deal at $180, because it is and is so tempting.



NB Multiplier. 



erocker said:


> When I said HTT I meant the NB with it.  Obviously increasing the NB frequency for overclocking the CPU will result in better performance than just raising the multiplier, I'm just wondering by how much?  It's the deciding factor for me between the 920 and 940.



Well, the way I see it is this. If your whole intention is to overclock chances are you already have a motherboard and RAM that will play well. Either one is going to give you awesome results. We all know that upping the clock multiplier only is NOT going to give you the best results when it comes to benching. Overall clock speed you might see it higher with the 940, but thats not what overclocking is about with Phenoms. It's about raising everything, the NB frequency, the HT link and the CPU clock. I personally like the challenge of not being able to change the multiplier. I just think I will have a good time with it. I didn't want to spend over $200 so the 920 fit the bill. I can put the extra money elsewhere.


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## 1Kurgan1 (Jan 23, 2009)

Ah, I was getting it confused with HT Link. I'm looking through CPU-Z and I don't see NB clocks anywhere, am I missing this?



batmang said:


> I can put the extra money elsewhere.



I gotta agree, a brand new awesome processor and then going to get a lapdance with the money you saved, doesn't get much better than that


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## PaulieG (Jan 23, 2009)

1Kurgan1 said:


> Ah, I was getting it confused with HT Link. I'm looking through CPU-Z and I don't see NB clocks anywhere, am I missing this?



Look under the memory tab, in the top right corner.


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## johnnyfiive (Jan 23, 2009)

1Kurgan1 said:


> Ah, I was getting it confused with HT Link. *I'm looking through CPU-Z and I don't see NB clocks anywhere, am I missing this*?
> 
> I gotta agree, a brand new awesome processor and then going to get a lapdance with the money you saved, doesn't get much better than that



The NB frequency is listed under the memory information because its related to the memory transfer.


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## Kei (Jan 23, 2009)

*Check this*



erocker said:


> When I said HTT I meant the NB with it.  Obviously increasing the NB frequency for overclocking the CPU will result in better performance than just raising the multiplier, I'm just wondering by how much?  It's the deciding factor for me between the 920 and 940.



Obviously everyone knows that Northbridge is important but many people don't quite understand exactly HOW important it really is when it comes to the Phenom.

I'm attatching two screenshots of the Everest Memory & Cache benchmark for you to ponder on that will shed a huge light on why the northbridge clock is so important in relation to everything else with the Phenom.

We all know that the Phenom II is faster than the Phenom I when at the same clock speeds and by a nice margin so it's an absolute NO BRAINER which is faster if you give the PII a .5Ghz extra advantage.

1. Phenom 9850BE *3.0Ghz*

HTT 250Mhz
CPU 12.0x
Ram 1000Mhz 5-5-5-15 2T
HT Link 2000Mhz
*Northbridge 2500Mhz*


2. Phenom II 920 *3.5Ghz*

HTT 250Mhz
CPU 14.0X
Ram 1000Mhz 5-5-5-15 2T
HT Link 2000Mhz
*Northbridge 2250Mhz*


Now you'll see that the only differences in those two setups are the cpu multiplier and the northbridge multipliers. The PII gets a 500Mhz cpu clock advantage which is MASSIVE since clock for clock it's already hands down faster anyway. The PI gets a 250Mhz northbridge clock advantage which is a much smaller gap of course.

Look at the results and judge for yourself on how important the northbridge is...


Kei

Btw, of course I can go much much much faster on my Northbridge on the PII but I wanted to show how important it really is with just a small change in speed.


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## 1Kurgan1 (Jan 23, 2009)

Huh no wonder I cant find it, mine is greyed out :/


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## cdawall (Jan 23, 2009)

trust me it makes a difference i gained ~20 points in scm2 using a 2.6ghz vs 2.2ghz


http://img.techpowerup.org/090122/Capture020.jpg


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## johnnyfiive (Jan 23, 2009)

I too can vouche for NB making a huge difference. When I was quickly testing my results with my 9600BE I was gaining 100-200 kbs in the Winrar benchmark by having the NB at 2200+. High NB frequency's are awesome.


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## Baam (Jan 25, 2009)

Best i can get is 3.64 on my 920 so far. Not sure if i can get much higher with windows 7 64 bit


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## Kei (Jan 25, 2009)

Bam I use W7 as well and I've seen 3.8+ alresdy (3.7 on the stock heatsink) so just take your time. 

I put it in dual core mode and saw 3.93Ghz with the available 1.552v limit i can go too. Air cooling as usual.

Kei


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## johnnyfiive (Jan 27, 2009)

I JUST got mine installed 5-10 min ago. Heres where I'm at for now... this is too easy... it's kinda weirding me out. A Phenom taking 600mhz right off the bat with default vcore.. on a K9A2? WHHHAT?


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## johnnyfiive (Jan 27, 2009)

I wanna see if it will do 3.5 on stock vcore, brb.


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## johnnyfiive (Jan 28, 2009)

slight vcore increase. 3.6.






My HT link is 7 btw. Testing 3.7-3.8, brb.


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## johnnyfiive (Jan 28, 2009)

Hrmm.. can't get it to fully boot at 3.7. Can anyone tell me what a good NB voltage is for an air setup?


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## johnnyfiive (Jan 28, 2009)

Upped the vcore and nb voltage, im at 3.7 now.


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## johnnyfiive (Jan 28, 2009)

Aight, time to test for max oc that is actually stable. I'm thinking 3.5-3.6 will be this boards max stable limit. Really cruddy that I can't play with the NB multi.. properly.


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## johnnyfiive (Jan 30, 2009)

I'll post up some benchies tonight. I'm surprise so many people passed up the 920. It's a bargain imo.


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## Kei (Jan 30, 2009)

Most people buy whatever the highest priced/rated model they can afford is especially if it has a special name....like say Black Edition. 

I LOVE the black editions, but I don't buy them just to buy them I buy them when I actually need them. The 920 is one of the most insane bargains I've ever seen.

Kei


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## cdawall (Jan 30, 2009)

there is a cpu score to shot for


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## johnnyfiive (Jan 30, 2009)

I got 40k in Vantage. I'll run 3DMark 06 now.


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## johnnyfiive (Jan 30, 2009)




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## cdawall (Jan 30, 2009)

damn you only scored 600pts higher than me with a GTX260


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## johnnyfiive (Jan 30, 2009)

cdawall said:


> damn you only scored 600pts higher than me with a GTX260



I know! Your card is a monster!! I ran it twice because it had me second guessing if something was wrong with my setup


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## Kei (Jan 30, 2009)

cdawall said:


> damn you only scored 600pts higher than me with a GTX260



He only scored 600pts higher because of the graphics card at all.

His system was clock much lower than yours...

Him
3.5Ghz cpu
2.25Ghz NB
500Mhz ram

You
3.9Ghz cpu
2.85Ghz NB
633Mhz ram

That and of course the 8800 series benches really well even now. Pretty amazing I think what that card can still do.

I haven't had a cpu score as high as your insane score, but I have run 5,147 for cpu score at 3.542Ghz. I haven't done anymore benching since that day maybe I'll try for a 2nd run. I know I can beat the score without too much effort but I don't know how high I can go with the single 4850 yet. I am pretty happy about that cpu score though! Stock is something like 3,910 using the same card. 

Kei


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## 1Kurgan1 (Jan 30, 2009)

cdawall said:


> damn you only scored 600pts higher than me with a GTX260



His processor is almost 500mhz slower than yours and 3dmark06 is such a CPU dependant program. That kind of mhz diff will drop the videocard ratings also. A better comparison would be to see he got 1k less on the proc and still score 1k more than what you got. That say alot for the videocard in my mind.


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## Flyordie (Jan 31, 2009)

Ok batmang... you wunted pix... ;-)




Partially Empty...  with the new SeaSonic 550W PSU... 

The full setup... 





And there she is... Chugging along at 3.1Ghz on the stock HSF (which does a decent job imho... has yet to crack 50C @ full load.)
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=495939


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## johnnyfiive (Jan 31, 2009)

Looking good man! Bump that HT up, I wanna see 3.5-3.6! 
I'm using a Scythe Katana II with the Scythe fan. I went back to my original setup. I'm at 3.5 at 1.47v. Idle's at 40c, load is around 58c.


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## Kei (Feb 1, 2009)

Flyordie welcome to the club! Good to see another 920 owner joining us. Good temps too you guys, I had great results with the stock HSF as you already know and of course I have ridiculous results with the Xigmatek/Scythe combo I use. My stuff runs so cool I'm actually thinking about taking the big boy Xigmatek out and using the 964 cooler instead so that I can use any type of ram I want without blocking the slots anymore and still keeping my awesome temps. 

Kei  <--- off to 'Ceramique' his 4850 finally


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## johnnyfiive (Feb 2, 2009)

3.2GHz, default voltages, 720mhz on the 260.


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## R-Type (Feb 2, 2009)

Great thread, it got me to join to ask a bit of advice.  I haven't overclocked an AMD platform since the 939 days (good old Opty 165) but I was well versed back in the day and have been pushing my intel rigs in the meantime.  My main question is do I still need to drop the HT/NB multis to try and maintain the stock frequency to ensure stability?  I noticed most of you have been pushing the ht and NB frequencies over stock as well, so I guess I'm just looking for a couple of pointers.

Thanks
Ryan


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## johnnyfiive (Feb 2, 2009)

The HT and NB on the Phenom II's are MUCH more forgiving. I've been able to push the HT and NB up to 2,300+. Many people are having really nice clocks on the NB, 2,500+ isnt uncommon with the right cooling setup.


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## johnnyfiive (Feb 3, 2009)

got something in the mail today.


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## johnnyfiive (Feb 4, 2009)

3.6 validation:
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=499403


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## computertechy (Feb 4, 2009)

hehe http://www.techpowerup.com/gallery/1720.html


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## johnnyfiive (Feb 4, 2009)

Cool, but thats not a 920. So not as cool.


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## computertechy (Feb 4, 2009)

sorry lol

cheers anyway

should of got a 920, they are overclocking just as well


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## R-Type (Feb 5, 2009)

I must have gotten a pretty poor binning chip, it takes 1.41 volts just to be stable at 3.2.  I tried lowering the multi to 13.5 and using a higher htt to raise the NB a bit but that was failing even with 1.47 and reports of mosfets going on my biostar 790gx with 1.5 or higher kept me from pushing it.  I did have it running at 3.5 with 1.49v but it would fail prime within 10 minutes.  Oh well, for the $250 total I paid for the motherboard/processor/hsf, a 3.2ghz quad core is still a hell of a bargain!


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## johnnyfiive (Feb 6, 2009)

Damn, that is a bummer R-Type! But 3.2 is perfectly fine, I'm sure you are loving the chip at that speed, I know I am!


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## computertechy (Feb 6, 2009)

the 940 chip has improved my gaming so much compared to my 9950, this chip at stock is still perfect to work with!

the 920 being the same anyway, just got the misses a 920!


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## Ryo129 (Feb 9, 2009)

this is my first real overclock so 3.4 is as high as i'm going to go for now
validation:
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=503509

nevermind... disregard got ahead of myself prime95 killed me in about 10 min


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## Kei (Feb 9, 2009)

Ryo, how far can you go at 1.456v on your cpu? Leaving the rest of the voltages (Northbridge, HT Link, etc) I'd like to know how far you can get to.

Kei


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## Ryo129 (Feb 10, 2009)

well at 235 mhz FSB two of my worker threads on Prime95 fails after 5 hours. Nothing but the bus was changed


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## johnnyfiive (Feb 10, 2009)

Kei, the highest I'm able to go at 1.47v is 3.4GHz, OCCT 1 hour pass. 3.5GHz requires me to use 1.51v+ unfortunately. So on my current air setup 3.4GHz is the max I'll do 24/7 for now. Idle temps range from 35-38c, max full load is 55-58c. The cooling setup I'm using is a Scythe Katana II with a 120mm fan so its definitely far from the best. I'd get a better cooler but my water setup is my priority for now. Have any suggestions?


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## mordant80 (Feb 10, 2009)

Hey guys, my first post.  Just got a 920 and started overclocking it yesterday.  Really amazed how far I could go on stock voltage.  Here's a screenshot,  I plan on putting the NB and HT link up some when I get home.  I'll keep yall updated.


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## johnnyfiive (Feb 10, 2009)

very nice. what motherboard?


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## mordant80 (Feb 10, 2009)

batmang said:


> very nice. what motherboard?



Thanks.  I'm running a GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-US2H.


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## johnnyfiive (Feb 10, 2009)

Nice.


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## Kei (Feb 10, 2009)

batmang said:


> Kei, the highest I'm able to go at 1.47v is 3.4GHz, OCCT 1 hour pass. 3.5GHz requires me to use 1.51v+ unfortunately. So on my current air setup 3.4GHz is the max I'll do 24/7 for now. Idle temps range from 35-38c, max full load is 55-58c. The cooling setup I'm using is a Scythe Katana II with a 120mm fan so its definitely far from the best. I'd get a better cooler but my water setup is my priority for now. Have any suggestions?



That actually sounds about right for even my setup. I'm able to do 3.5Ghz  at 1.456v, but I don't think I can go any further than that on that same voltage. I'll try in a little bit to see what happens, and maybe later on I'll try to see if I can tweak the voltages to get the cpu voltage a little lower if possible.

Temp wise you're running the same temps as me except for the idle temps which I beat you by a pretty large amount. Your cooling might not be the best of the best, but remember that I only run my cooler on the most silent of silent settings which probably make it put out oeven less cooling power than yours does right now. When my cooler is running full blast (aka loud and strong enough to blow a house down) 110cfm the processor at the same 3.5Ghz setting touches only 49C which is pretty sweet for air cooling I'd say.

My chip/setup/fans/cooling is so well setup though that even when I set the fan speed to almost nothing (~570-670rpm) out of it's max speed (2000rpm) the temperature hits 55C but no further. Idle is way down in the 27-29C range which is pretty awesome. I've attatched two shots to show a quick load test with Orthos, the temps, and fan speeds.

The CPU fan is the Scythe 110cfm fan mounted to my Xigmatek HDT S-1283 which I always run on silent so it's barely on at all, the 2nd fan shown is one of the Scythe 40cfm fans I have mounted on the side of my case, and the Xigmatek fan is the original cpu fan that I have now mounted in the rear exhaust spot for my case as I can't use fan control on that fan and didn't need that much air (~62cfm).

Kei

Btw, Mang what is your CPU VDDA, Southbridge, and Northbridge voltage set to right now for that clock.

*mordant80* welcome to the club


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## Kei (Feb 10, 2009)

*Highest clock using only 2 cores?*

Oh, and for those that know how to do it already...

Have you taken your processor down to two cores and tested your max clocks already? If so what is your clock at the max voltage available? For mine I did a quick test and was able to go to 3.9Ghz using my max available 1.552v. I never tried to tweak it or see if it was stable but I ran a few SuperPi runs and Wprime as well without problems. I ran the SuperPi in 17.x seconds without the rest of the system clocked up to even stock settings so it was pretty freakin fast! 

The highest I went to was 3.93Ghz but I can't find my screenshot so here's the dual core run before it still at 3.9Ghz.

Kei


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## johnnyfiive (Feb 10, 2009)

Kei said:


> That actually sounds about right for even my setup. I'm able to do 3.5Ghz  at 1.456v, but I don't think I can go any further than that on that same voltage. I'll try in a little bit to see what happens, and maybe later on I'll try to see if I can tweak the voltages to get the cpu voltage a little lower if possible.
> 
> Temp wise you're running the same temps as me except for the idle temps which I beat you by a pretty large amount. Your cooling might not be the best of the best, but remember that I only run my cooler on the most silent of silent settings which probably make it put out oeven less cooling power than yours does right now. When my cooler is running full blast (aka loud and strong enough to blow a house down) 110cfm the processor at the same 3.5Ghz setting touches only 49C which is pretty sweet for air cooling I'd say.
> 
> ...



My voltages are all default except for the vcore on the 3.4GHz clock. I'm not so sure my motherboard is giving me correct temps though. In the BIOS it much lower. I'm not sure which one to believe. Maybe ANOTHER flaw with the K9A2? :shadedshu

Here is the fan im currently using with the Scythe Katana II:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209013

At the highest setting it reaches 79CFM @ 2,000rpm's, and its definitely loud. When running OCCT stability testing I put the fan at its highest speed and at 1.47v - 3.4GHz, it reaches 55C+ easily. Doesn't surpass 60C, but gets darn close. The Scythe Katana II is nothing like your Xigmatek or any tower design cooler. For being a $20 cooler is does a decent job. I really think my temps are incorrect.


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## Kei (Feb 10, 2009)

I see, your cooler is smaller than mine though it's slightly similar in design to my Xigmatek. I wonder on the temps as well considering like I said on the lowest setting I run the same temps as you do with your highest setting. Then again my cooler is very large so it's got more area to remove heat also I don't know what cooling paste you're using. I'm using "expertly applied"  Artic Silver Ceramique on my processor which is not lapped.

I don't remember the temps from the stock hsf at 3.5Ghz but I don't believe they were really much hotter if at all than what I'm running now. Maybe later on I'll swap coolers again to the stock one to see how my temps fare at 3.5Ghz. I never ran into any problems though cooling even with a stock fan. Also remember I have 2 side fans (120mm 40cfm and 80mm ~25cfm) which make huge differences in cooling, 2 exhaust fans (120mm 62cfm rear and 80mm ~25cfm top) so I've likely got more cooling than you and I'm in a full tower case right now.

I'll very likely be switching to a mid tower case very soon though with a smaller cooler considering I have 0 problems cooling right now anyway even on the lowest of settings. I don't expect much change at all when I switch since the stock hsf was already enough to keep my processor cooled nicely. 

I don't remember the bios fully on the MSI board, but try to change your CPU VDDA voltage from auto up to say 2.7v and see if you can go to 3.5Ghz again. Also I see you're running 2 hard drives like I am (non raid for me) so you may benefit from upping the Southbridge voltage to say 1.26v. For those with single hard drives and video cards don't worry about this just those of us with a lot of stuff running on the southbridge. You're also using all four slots on your board for memory like me so you may need a bump in NB voltage to keep things stable (try around 1.3v or so) with the overclock.

Try those one at a time of course and don't go overboard chasing a clock because as you're already fully aware....you WILL kill your system if you don't know what you're doing. 

Kei


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## johnnyfiive (Feb 10, 2009)

Thanks again for tips Kei. And yes, your rig has WAY better cooling. I have one 120mm intake fan, one 120mm exhaust, and the fan on the heatsink. Thats it.


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## Kei (Feb 10, 2009)

*My fan setup & New codenames for Phenom II X3 and X2 revealed?*

No problem mang, in total I have the following fans in my system...

120mm front fan ~40cfm
120mm side fan 40cfm (lined up with gpu and southbridge)
80mm side fan ~25cfm (lined up with memory)
120mm rear fan ~62cfm
80mm top fan ~25cfm (exhaust)

The cpu fan of course, gpu fan of course, and power supply fan. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In other news I upgraded my copy of Everest Ultimate a few days ago and I've noticed that just like with Phenom I you can find out what the codename for the next AMD processors should/will be when you downcore them.

We all know the X4 is the Deneb, and now I give you....Heka and Regor (X3 and X2).

In the previous Phenom I series you got the names Toliman and Kuma that I gave everyone by downcoring to find out and the names turned out to be correct once the X3 and X2 versions of the Phenom I processors arrived. We don't have word on what the X2 Phenom II will be called officially, but when I found the Kuma name we didn't have that either and it proved correct last time as well months before the announcements came.

This time we have Heka (X3) and Regor (X2) with the Phenom II lineup and it's already been confirmed that Heka is indeed the X3 codename if you look at the reviews for the AM3 X3 720/710 processors. Perhaps the X2 name will be correct too. 

The Kuma and Toliman names were cooler to me, but these work they're just harder for me to pronounce. 

Kei


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## johnnyfiive (Feb 11, 2009)

welp, at 3.5. Sadly, required above 1.47, at 1.505v now. NB at 1.3v. 100% stable. with window open, temps are 33c idle, about 55c full load. cannnot wait for the water setup!


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## cdawall (Feb 11, 2009)

i'm looking at getting a 925ES can i join here after


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## johnnyfiive (Feb 11, 2009)

sure


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## mordant80 (Feb 11, 2009)

Found out I wasn't prime stable.  Had to up the voltage just a tad.  Seems alright now with the NB and HT at around 2.1.  Ran prime for about an hour and played some games the rest of the evening.  Next few days I'll turn the voltage up some more and actually put this sunbeam heatsink to use and see what I can get out of it.  Couple pics for ya.


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## johnnyfiive (Feb 11, 2009)

Nice mord!


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## mordant80 (Feb 11, 2009)

Thanks Mang.

Buddy of mine that's in to overclocking did some research for me.  Apparently there's not really a performance increase turning the HT up, in fact there's not really a performance hit turning it down until around 600.  Said he found out that having it up much at all past the stock 1800 can cause some stability issues.  I'm going to turn it back down to as close to 1800 as I can without going over and see if maybe that's holding anything back.  Gonna leave the NB turned up though.  

Also, anyone know much about this ganged and unganged modes for the memory.  Buddy was sayin that in most situations and gaming it may be better to have it in ganged mode.  What are the requirements to get it in ganged mode?  Didn't see any options for it in bios.


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## johnnyfiive (Feb 11, 2009)

Should be an option to change the memory mode in the BIOS. As for the HT, usually keeping it around stock will give you the best stability, that was true with the first gen Phenom's, I'm not sure how that applies to the Deneb's though. The Deneb's area a lot more resilient. I'm at 2250 on both the HT and NB and I have no issues. My only issue is keeping my processor cool, I have to use 1.505v+ to have 100% stability at 3.5 (250HT link, 2250HT (default voltage), 2250NB (1.3v) ).


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## mordant80 (Feb 11, 2009)

Cool,  I'll have to go through my bios with a fine tooth comb and see if I can find that memory option.  Great info, thanks.


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## johnnyfiive (Feb 11, 2009)

Dropped the HT, changed memory mode to ganged, kept voltages the same. VCore is 1.505v in the BIOS, NB voltage is at 1.3v. I recall having to use 1.51v+ in the BIOS to get 3.6 to boot before... testing 3.7 now.


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## mordant80 (Feb 11, 2009)

Dude, that's awesome!


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## johnnyfiive (Feb 11, 2009)

3.7 is up, but I have no time to test for stability. Gotta head to work. But I will say this. When I first started overclocking my 920 I had a really hard time getting 3.7 to stay up for longer than 2-3 min. It's been up for over 5 min or so. I may be getting somewhere.

Same voltages as my 3.6 screenie above.:





Validation:
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=505203

I'll try for 3.8GHz when I get home. I'm pretty sure my limit was my temps. If those are my actual temps (Which I'm not buying), whenever I get the rest of my water setup 3.8-3.9 SHOULD be attainable. Only drawback after that is FSB, will my board let me run 280+ with stability... hrmmmm.

Hopefully Kei will chime in to let us know if Ganged vs Unganged yield's better stability and or better performance. I really have no clue.


----------



## R-Type (Feb 11, 2009)

Yes please do keep us updated, its very helpful to learn the intricacies of these chips so the rest of us can let them be all they can be.


----------



## mordant80 (Feb 11, 2009)

Just wow, I haven't been able to do 3.7 yet myself.  I'm going to give it a try when I get home.  I'll have to up the voltage for sure.  I'm not sure how far I can take my fsb either but 267 is good atleast.  I'm runnin a 13.5 muliplier though, so I'll see if I can make it run at 14 with a lower HT and more volts.  May have to back off the FSB though.  I'm going to have to figure out what my memory is capable of soon.


----------



## johnnyfiive (Feb 11, 2009)

Alright, I have some clarity on Ganged and Unganged memory modes.
Ganged mode is 1x128 Bit Dual Channel and Unganged mode is 2x64 Bit Dual Channel. Ganged sets the memory controllers to work in unison, synchronously. Ganged mode has a queue that it lines up for when data is accessed. Unganged mode separates the controllers to work independently, asynchronously. Unganged mode is faster  due to how it accesses data asynchronously. 

To put it in simple terms, ganged mode is like doing a science project with a partner. Instead of you and your partner splitting tasks, you both work on the same piece of the project. Unganged mode would be the same, except you split your tasks. You work on one piece, he/she works on the other. 

Back to computer terms. Ganged is better for single threaded applications and Unganged is best for multi-threaded applications and multi-tasking. In general, your going to see better results in unganged. Single threaded benchmarks will show a big difference in results when ganged mode is enabled, and vice versa. As for overclocking, I've yet to find out if ganged or unganged offers better stability. Kei may know this.


----------



## mordant80 (Feb 11, 2009)

Lol, great description...  I'm thinking with the way I use my computer that unganged probably would be the better option for me.  Would be interesting to know if one or the other offers better stability...  if there is a difference I have a feeling it'd be neglegable.


----------



## johnnyfiive (Feb 11, 2009)

mordant80 said:


> Lol, great description...  I'm thinking with the way I use my computer that unganged probably would be the better option for me.  Would be interesting to know if one or the other offers better stability...  if there is a difference I have a feeling it'd be neglegable.



I too would like to know about the stability part. I do know that Kei runs in ganged mode according to his screenshots so maybe stability is better in ganged? Either that, or Kei loves running single threaded apps?


----------



## mordant80 (Feb 11, 2009)

No tellin until he chimes in...  I did see somewhere one person was able to run tighter timing in ganged mode vs unganged.  Being that's just the results from one person, it's hard to tell.  Geez, can't wait to get back home and screw with this thing some more.


----------



## johnnyfiive (Feb 11, 2009)

Me too! I'm in the middle of random WebEx sessions with a vendor and I'm typing in here due to WebEx having a fit. I'm ready to go home!


----------



## Kei (Feb 11, 2009)

Quick answer, run unganged (AMD recommends that as well) because the Phenom loves it due to how they made it.

The screenshots with the ganged memory for mine are only there because I was running SuperPi which will give me a tick or two faster time overall, but I never run ganged mode for anything including single threaded applications. The "gain" you get from running ganged is FAR to small to worry about especially if you look at the "GAIN" you get from running unganged in everything else. Btw.....unganged really does give huge massive ridiculous gains over ganged in anything multithreaded. Just go try to encode a video or something using ganged.......I'll wait because it's gonna be a while. After that do the samething in unganged and I won't have to wait at all. Unganged is Fast with a capital "F" 

Stability wise unganged again is better.

Okay I said that'd be short and it kinda is (for me), now I need food and to shower to get out of here already. 

Kei

(remember ganged=fail, unganged= will get your more women)


----------



## mordant80 (Feb 11, 2009)

Nice..  noone likes to fail and more women is always a plus.. Unganged it is.


----------



## johnnyfiive (Feb 11, 2009)

lol, more woman!


----------



## johnnyfiive (Feb 12, 2009)

Inching towards 3.8GHz. 

1.505v in BIOS, NB voltage at 1.325v in BIOS. 







CPU Validation: http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=505562

I'm surprised by the K9A2 and gskill ddrii 800 memory (4x1GB too!)... doing a decent taking these overclocks.


----------



## Flyordie (Feb 12, 2009)

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=505843
The current 24/7 setup.
DRAM= 2.2V
CPU= 1.3V


----------



## Kei (Feb 12, 2009)

The AM3 chips have me curious now so I'm playing around with the X2 Regor and X3 Heka settings on my 920 to see what it takes to get them stable at 3.5Ghz as well. I already know that 3.5Ghz @ 1.456v is 100% stable on four cores though I think it could probably be a little bit lower (I did just run a quick 10 minute test at 1.44v and it passed).

Now I'm gonna play around with 2 and 3 cores only to see what I can come up with. I hope I can get some really great results just like with all four cores. 

Kei


----------



## johnnyfiive (Feb 12, 2009)

Kei, how are you disabling cores? Is it a BIOS feature on your motherboard or are you using AOD?


----------



## ASharp (Feb 12, 2009)

batmang said:


> Kei, how are you disabling cores? Is it a BIOS feature on your motherboard or are you using AOD?



If the M3A32-MVP's BIOS is like the M3A79-T then there should be an option in the CPU Configuration menu called Processor Downcore or something which allows you to select how many cores you want active.

Looks like this:


----------



## johnnyfiive (Feb 12, 2009)

Ahhh I see. I sadly don't have that option with the MSI K9A2 790FX Plat. That is a nice feature to have if you have no need to utilize all four cores.


----------



## Kei (Feb 12, 2009)

Yes, ASharp the M3A32-MVP has the same CPU Downcore option as the M3A79-T boards. It's extremely useful since there aren't too many times when you actually NEED to have all four cores running so you can save on power and heat just turning off 1 or 2 of them.

So far I'm still playing with the X3 Heka settings at 3.5Ghz and I just finished a few different stability tests with it.

Results

AOD Stability:  Pass
Everest Stability : Pass
SuperPi 1M: Pass
Wprime: Pass

During those tests the system was using a total of 215-218 total watts which is sweet especially when you consider that's 100% at such a high clock!

Maybe I can lower the cpu voltage another tick and it will be stable, but we'll see in a bit. I'd like to see what the 3DMark06 score will be though before I do that. 

Kei

*Edit: 3DMark06 score added with my standard gpu 690-1175Mhz clock.*

Validation (figure I should start posting these )
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=506143


----------



## Kei (Feb 12, 2009)

batmang said:


> Ahhh I see. I suck cuz I don't have that option with the meh okay MSI K9A2 790FX Plat. That is an awesome super feature to have since you don't need to utilize all four cores all the time.



Fixed  ^ 

---------------------------

Told you so....you need to get an ASUS awesome board. 

Kei = win


----------



## Kei (Feb 12, 2009)

*Okay and now X2*

The X3 Heka setting couldn't go any further down than 1.392v but I suspect it has something to do with the board and the voltage options as I couldn't get a good slot inbetween 1.392 and 1.376v which caused a fluctuation so it wouldn't pass stability. It would run just fine but once at 100% load it would fluctuate and then kill it.

Anyway I've been testing the X2 Regor setting for a bit now and it's passed the best run stable at an awesome setting of...

3.5Ghz @ 1.312v

No problems with any stability tests and it's run everything I've thrown at it. I'll run 3DMark06 to see what the score would be with my usual gpu overclock as well. I'm very proud that it was able to keep the 3.5Ghz clock with only 1.312v!

Total system power consumption at 100% load for the X2 setting was only at 185-188 watts which is awesome for a clock speed that high! Temps well.....don't bother because I don't remember them even reaching 32C during 100% load. It was between 30-31C the whole test.

During both the X2 and X3 tests I left the fan as I run it every day on "Silent" mode so it's using roughly 570-670rpm tops and stays normally in the 600rpm range even during the stress test at 100%. I didn't bother to test at max speed (2000rpm 110cfm) because it'd be pretty pointless and very loud. 

Kei

*Edit: 3DMark06 score added with usual gpu overclock of 690-1175Mhz* 
Validation
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=506227


----------



## Ryo129 (Feb 12, 2009)

3.36mhz 1.45v 
stable at 7+ hours in prime95

validation:
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=506233


----------



## mordant80 (Feb 12, 2009)

Woohoo!  After I dropped the HT Link, I decided to give the 14x multiplier another shot, and it not only booted but made it through a 3dmark bench.  Didn't have to raise the voltage anymore either.  I kinda doubt it's prime stable without raising the voltage some, but here's where I'm at now.  I love this F'n chip!


----------



## Kei (Feb 12, 2009)

*Final results of 3.5Ghz X2/3/4 test*

Okay so the final results for the X2, X3, and X4 settings when all clocked with identical 3.5Ghz cpu clocks and other settings are as follows...

_*X4*_
3.5Ghz @ 1.440v
Wprime 32 - 11.000 sec
3DMark06  - 15,196

Total System consumption 250-253 watts

*X3*
3.5Ghz @ 1.392v

Wprime 32 - 14.495 sec
3DMark06  - 14,563

Total System consumption 215-218 watts

_*X2*_
3.5Ghz @ 1.312v

Wprime 32 - 21.343
3DMark06  - 13,178

Total System consumption 185-188 watts


All of these results are at the exact same settings the only setting changed was the amount of cores powered up for use. No tweaks or fine tuning was done so the scores are of course not optimized and would be higher if I was to do so. Total System consumption readings are of the TOTAL system power usage during 100% cpu load stress testing taken at the wall outlet not just the cpu usage which is far far lower.

Attatched is the cpu-z readout with all specs used for each test. All system settings shown in that shot were identical for each test with the exception of the amount of cores activated (shot shows 2).

To me it looks like either way you go, you win. 

Kei


----------



## mordant80 (Feb 13, 2009)

Well I couldn't get it running prime stable at the speed I last posted.  Took the voltage as high as 1.45, not sure if I really wanna go any higher than that, my goal is to find my highest that I can run stable 24/7.  I can leave the multiplier at 14 and back the FSB down to see how high it will actually go and be stable.  Only thing I'm not sure of is whether it would be better to run my memory in 800 mode with tighter timings which would put it somewhere between 800 and 1066, or if I should try to run it in 1066 mode with looser timings having it run over 1066.  May just have to try both and test it to see which gives better performance.  Another option would be to set the multiplier to 13.5 and try to raise the FSB some more, probly would have to loosen memory timings there as well... so many options.  Any thoughts on which direction I should go?  I probly should find out how far my FSB can even go huh?


----------



## johnnyfiive (Feb 13, 2009)

mordant80 said:


> Well I couldn't get it running prime stable at the speed I last posted.  Took the voltage as high as 1.45, not sure if I really wanna go any higher than that, my goal is to find my highest that I can run stable 24/7.  I can leave the multiplier at 14 and back the FSB down to see how high it will actually go and be stable.  Only thing I'm not sure of is whether it would be better to run my memory in 800 mode with tighter timings which would put it somewhere between 800 and 1066, or if I should try to run it in 1066 mode with looser timings having it run over 1066.  May just have to try both and test it to see which gives better performance.  Another option would be to set the multiplier to 13.5 and try to raise the FSB some more, probly would have to loosen memory timings there as well... so many options.  Any thoughts on which direction I should go?  *I probly should find out how far my FSB can even go huh?*



Definitely find out how far your FSB will go. That will ultimately tell you how far you can actually go. Lower the NB, HT, and CPU multipliers and start upping that FSB until it no longer boots.


----------



## johnnyfiive (Feb 16, 2009)

Come on 920 brethren! Lets see those results!


----------



## peste19 (Feb 16, 2009)

mordant80

how is the motherboard? i am planning on buying the same one you got. does it have an option to change the timmings of the ram in the bios?

thanks


----------



## Ryo129 (Feb 16, 2009)

Does anyone know if there are any programs that will post accurate temps? from what i've been reading they're off in everest and speedfan or am i reading the wrong stuff?


----------



## johnnyfiive (Feb 16, 2009)

I use HWMonitor, seems to be accurate.


----------



## mordant80 (Feb 16, 2009)

peste19 said:


> mordant80
> 
> how is the motherboard? i am planning on buying the same one you got. does it have an option to change the timmings of the ram in the bios?
> 
> thanks



I'm very happy with it.  It does have the options to change the timings, but you have to hit ctrl-f1 in the main bios screen before those options become visible.  Great board for the price.


----------



## Flyordie (Feb 16, 2009)

mordant80 said:


> Thanks Mang.
> 
> Buddy of mine that's in to overclocking did some research for me.  Apparently there's not really a performance increase turning the HT up, in fact there's not really a performance hit turning it down until around 600.  Said he found out that having it up much at all past the stock 1800 can cause some stability issues.  I'm going to turn it back down to as close to 1800 as I can without going over and see if maybe that's holding anything back.  Gonna leave the NB turned up though.
> 
> Also, anyone know much about this ganged and unganged modes for the memory.  Buddy was sayin that in most situations and gaming it may be better to have it in ganged mode.  What are the requirements to get it in ganged mode?  Didn't see any options for it in bios.





batmang said:


> Should be an option to change the memory mode in the BIOS. As for the HT, usually keeping it around stock will give you the best stability, that was true with the first gen Phenom's, I'm not sure how that applies to the Deneb's though. The Deneb's area a lot more resilient. I'm at 2250 on both the HT and NB and I have no issues. My only issue is keeping my processor cool, I have to use 1.505v+ to have 100% stability at 3.5 (250HT link, 2250HT (default voltage), 2250NB (1.3v) ).



I thought only the 790 Series had the "Ganged" option.
Anyway... since you wanted to see it all...





http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=506506 1.35V in BIOS 1.31V after droop.


----------



## peste19 (Feb 16, 2009)

mordant80 said:


> I'm very happy with it.  It does have the options to change the timings, but you have to hit ctrl-f1 in the main bios screen before those options become visible.  Great board for the price.



Thanks, i was reading through the manual and couldn't find any option in the manual to change the timmings, now just have to hope that it overclocks well


----------



## nithinmohantk (Feb 20, 2009)

johnnyfiive said:


> Inching towards 3.8GHz.
> 
> 1.505v in BIOS, NB voltage at 1.325v in BIOS.
> 
> ...




How did you over clocked? i have same K9A2. were you using  stock heatsink? 

could u give me some tipss


----------



## Urbklr (Feb 21, 2009)

I'm booting 3.6GHz now on a board that isn't even on the PII support list.


----------



## johnnyfiive (Feb 21, 2009)

I'm going to have a busy Sunday, look what was just delivered....






SideWinder Computers are really fast with shipping BTW, awesome place!


----------



## Ryo129 (Feb 22, 2009)

Nice! how far do you think you can go with water cooling?


----------



## johnnyfiive (Feb 22, 2009)

We'll see. Just got it up and running now. No leaks, not many bubbles. Sitting at 18c according to the BIOS. Benchmark time?


----------



## johnnyfiive (Feb 22, 2009)

3.8GHz, seeing how much higher I can go.






CPU Validation:
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=513425


----------



## johnnyfiive (Feb 22, 2009)

Welp, doesn't seem to want to go passed 3.8GHz. Not sure what it is yet.. but.. 3.8ghz was not attainable prior to water. Woooo.


----------



## Urbklr (Feb 22, 2009)

That was on a M2R32-MVP board, which doesn't even have voltage control for Phenoms(The voltage controls are blacked out, anyone know how to edit and change this?). The only option for cpu voltage that isn't blacked out is CPU Overvolt. Turning it on took me from 1.34v to 1.44v.


----------



## Urbklr (Feb 22, 2009)

This is as far as I can get with only 1.44v so far. 3.8GHz has one core fail in Prime95.http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=513682


----------



## johnnyfiive (Feb 22, 2009)

Not bad at all urbklr!


----------



## Urbklr (Feb 22, 2009)

johnnyfiive said:


> Not bad at all urbklr!



Yea, I need more voltage thou . Mobo maxes at 1.44v as the voltage options are greyed out


----------



## cdawall (Feb 22, 2009)

you can set them in windows k10stat


----------



## Urbklr (Feb 22, 2009)

cdawall said:


> you can set them in windows k10stat



I'm off to try it soon


----------



## Urbklr (Feb 22, 2009)

No go, the voltage box is greyed out.


----------



## johnnyfiive (Feb 22, 2009)

Alright. So my max bootable is 3.8. My current 100% stable 3.5GHz. 8 hours Prime95 stable, 1 hour+ OCCT stable.





Now, 3.7GHz is where I hope to be at next. Still testing.


----------



## johnnyfiive (Mar 6, 2009)

Anyone else got some results?


----------



## Urbklr (Mar 6, 2009)

If I can get my M3A up, I will. Hopefully I can get it fixed


----------



## johnnyfiive (Mar 10, 2009)

What happened to your motherboard Urbklr?


----------



## Kei (Mar 11, 2009)

*Power conserving time!*



johnnyfiive said:


> Anyone else got some results?



I'm now playing with the low voltage settings again to see how much power I can save on my system. I'm still using the default 2.8Ghz clock like I normally do every day, but I've dropped the voltage down lower from the stock 1.35v to 1.232v which is a tick up from the lowest I've been able to go stable (w/o touching CPU VDDA that is).

I've got my system down to using only a teeny wheeny 135W at idle (sitting for a minute or so) which is crazy for a quad core (all cores are still enabled) system. I don't have Cool 'n Quiet or C1E enabled so the cpu clock stays at 2.8Ghz at all times so that speed is not slowed in anyway.

I'll test the lower speed and lower cores as well to see how low I can really get with the system usage. I may use the tri core setting which is going to be more than enough for daily use anyway.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The crazy part is the usage when the processor is using full power!

SuperPi = 146W (25% usage)
Wprime = 173W (100% usage)
Idle/Internet = 135W

Awesomeness 

Kei


----------



## ShRoOmAlIsTiC (Mar 18, 2009)

This is about as far as I think im gonna get on air.   anything higher and the computer randomly reboots at about 5-6hrs of occt.


----------



## johnnyfiive (Mar 23, 2009)

Man, my idle temps have gone up 5-6C since the weather's changed. It's been in the high 80's lately so my ambient temps have shot up. House hits 79-80F now, . Gonna have to start using the AC soon, getting too hot for comfort. Load temps are the same though, water FTW.


----------



## Flyordie (Mar 23, 2009)

lol, thats why when I go water cooling, my radiator will be in my mini-fridge. ;-)


----------



## ShRoOmAlIsTiC (Mar 23, 2009)

ive been able to take mine to a higher level now,  dont know what I did but its working and im not complaining.


----------



## johnnyfiive (Apr 13, 2009)

Details Shroom, details!


----------



## johnnyfiive (May 5, 2009)

3.8GHz. Not stable, but it validated. 





http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=560508


----------



## johnnyfiive (May 13, 2009)

Bump for an awesome CPU that gets no love!


----------



## Flyordie (May 19, 2009)

It's got my love.
Running 3,360mhz @ 1.375v 
Not bad but 3,085mhz @ 0.975v is better.  Will get screens of that soon.


----------



## Kei (May 19, 2009)

Flyordie said:


> It's got my love.
> Running 3,360mhz @ 1.375v
> Not bad but *3,085mhz @ 0.975v is better*.  Will get screens of that soon.



 Is that actually stable?!?!? I need at least 1.184v to get the stock 2.8Ghz stable and I still run my rig at 2.8Ghz @ 1.216v every day just for that extra insurance. Maybe you mean on less than 4 cores then? I don't remember what voltage I could run dual core at 3Ghz.

Hurry!!! I need to know because that's insane!

Kei


----------



## Easo (May 19, 2009)

Since i will have my Asus Triton 88 (yes, roflmao, ASUS ), Zalman Thermal grease and two fans after two days, i will look at what i can do with my budget gamer PC.
Mobo will not let do anything stupidly high thats for sure.


----------



## Flyordie (May 19, 2009)

Kei said:


> Is that actually stable?!?!? I need at least 1.184v to get the stock 2.8Ghz stable and I still run my rig at 2.8Ghz @ 1.216v every day just for that extra insurance. Maybe you mean on less than 4 cores then? I don't remember what voltage I could run dual core at 3Ghz.
> 
> Hurry!!! I need to know because that's insane!
> 
> Kei




Yes with all 4 cores.  Ran stable for a 4 hr run of occt then it bsod'd   takes 1.0v to get stable at 3,080mhz


----------



## ShRoOmAlIsTiC (May 21, 2009)

johnnyfiive said:


> Details Shroom, details!



Dude sorry for the late reply,  I just now got the email on this.  What would you like to know?


----------



## Easo (May 25, 2009)

Got my cooler, atm nothing special, 3304, pushed voltage minimally, since i am total amateur. Memory at 2.0 v, default was 1.9, not realy good mem, will have to look what i can do.
Triton - 88 does its job, Prime95 cant get temps higher that 49-50.


----------



## johnnyfiive (Jun 8, 2009)

I'm still rocking the 920. ASUS M4A78-E is coming in tomorrow. Hopefully I can get a couple hundred more MHz. Screenies to come.


----------



## johnnyfiive (Jun 10, 2009)

3.85GHz




Still testing.


----------



## ablech (Jun 10, 2009)

try to post some result of mine here,,still need help & advice to make it stable

some SS :









and here is d validation  http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=573208

thanks


----------



## johnnyfiive (Jun 10, 2009)

276ht, 1.55v, 3.86Ghz




Highest I've been able to go.


----------



## johnnyfiive (Jun 10, 2009)

Still playing with stuff. 1.53v, 3.86Ghz, higher HT and NB




Validation:


----------



## johnnyfiive (Jun 11, 2009)

Will do more testing this weekend. Haven't had time to do some real stability testing, just highest clock testing. So far, 276 is the highest this board wants to go... haven't been able to FULLY confirm that though. 3.86GHz is my highest bootable into windows. Only takes a dump when taxed, otherwise it chills at 3.86. Coming from 2.8Ghz, that is a hefty increase ablech. I really doubt 100% stability can be had at 3.8+ with a 920. The highest stable I can get is 3.65Ghz or so, sadly it requires a lot of juice to be 100% stable. I still run my rig at 3.5GHz (24/7 use) because the voltage increase required above that to attain 100% stability is just too high imo.


----------



## DOM (Jun 14, 2009)

hey jonny5 what volts do you use for 3.5GHz ?


----------



## johnnyfiive (Jun 15, 2009)

I'm using 1.46v for 3.5Ghz. I need to use that much for 100% stability. If it can't do OCCT and WPrime, it ain't stable imo.


----------



## DOM (Jun 15, 2009)

i ran that amd overdrive stabilty test on all for one hr at 3640 1.45xV

going to try occt later


----------



## johnnyfiive (Jun 15, 2009)

nice. I haven't tried using the AMD OD utility for stability testing. I wonder if mine will pass at that same setting. What are your other settings and voltages dom?


----------



## DOM (Jun 15, 2009)

everything normal mem 2.0v and its 1.458v


----------



## johnnyfiive (Jun 15, 2009)

What about your NB and HT settings?


----------



## DOM (Jun 15, 2009)

auto then i get x9


----------



## mordant80 (Jun 22, 2009)

Hey guys, been a while..  I'm still at my 3.6ghz 24/7 stable, but...  I just got water cooling up and running leak free so I'll be back at it soon.  Dropped the load temps on my CPU by about 10c and by over 20c on my 9800gtx.  I'm hoping to be able to pull off 3.8ghz stable, but we shall see.  I'll keep ya posted.

Edit: Can't get 3.7 to run stable..  oh well, worth a shot.


----------



## eze (Jun 23, 2009)

Hey Mordant - I just found this thread tonight by googling. Just wanted to say thanks for all the info  you and Johnny gave out.

I was able to follow what you guys did and I've been able to push my PC further.

I overclocked by myself to 3.375 on default voltage @ 13.5 x 250. I couldn't start windows with anything past that. 

But with some minor adjustments of the voltage up to 1.472 I was able to hit 3.6 easy. So far I've been stable, running Prime95. (First time using it, I think I ran the default test) 

My temps have been fine. 32C idle 44/45C load with air cooler ZeroTHERM FZ120.

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=591516







Thanks!!!


----------



## mordant80 (Jun 23, 2009)

Very cool eze, let us know if you can get any further with it.  I can boot at 3.7 but it's not stable...  seems like there's a certain voltage range mine likes the most.  If I raise it past the mid 1.4's it seems to get less stable (won't even boot) even though the temps are still in line.  3.6 isn't bad at all, but damn, I was really hopping to be able to get a little more out of it with water.


----------



## cdawall (Jun 23, 2009)

whats the highest anyone has gotten in here?


----------



## eze (Jun 24, 2009)

mordant80 said:


> Very cool eze, let us know if you can get any further with it.  I can boot at 3.7 but it's not stable...  seems like there's a certain voltage range mine likes the most.  If I raise it past the mid 1.4's it seems to get less stable (won't even boot) even though the temps are still in line.  3.6 isn't bad at all, but damn, I was really hopping to be able to get a little more out of it with water.




Well I was quite tired when I went to do it and I thought I had ramped it up to 1.5v but it wont went to 1.472 (quite tired last night).

I don't think I'll be pushing it anymore. Im quite happy to almost add a full 1.0 onto it.  I would only go higher if I was on watercooling which I have never done but always wanted to try. I have the perfect case to do so.


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## mordant80 (Jun 24, 2009)

I'm still messing around trying to get 3.7 stable..  been changing all kinds of stuff.  I've got 3.7 so the machine seems stable, but it'll fail prime95 blend test after a few minutes.  Decided to check for a bios update and there is a new one.  I'm hoping it may actually help out as Gigabyte says one of the changes since my current version is "Improve Phenom II CPU compatibility".  That can't be a bad thing.


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## johnnyfiive (Jun 24, 2009)

cdawall said:


> whats the highest anyone has gotten in here?



I've gotten to 3.86GHz cda.






It's the highest I've seen in this thread.


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## johnnyfiive (Jun 24, 2009)

mordant80 said:


> I'm still messing around trying to get 3.7 stable..  been changing all kinds of stuff.  I've got 3.7 so the machine seems stable, but it'll fail prime95 blend test after a few minutes.  Decided to check for a bios update and there is a new one.  I'm hoping it may actually help out as Gigabyte says one of the changes since my current version is "Improve Phenom II CPU compatibility".  That can't be a bad thing.



mordant80, I can run 3dmark06 and vantage, play games all day at 3.7GHz. The moment I run prime95 or occt, it reboots. 3.6GHz is the highest I can get it to pass occt or prime95 at. Getting a 920 to 3.9 or 4.0 is very difficult with air or water. zif33rs was able to hit 4.0 with his 920 on water, but I've yet to see ANYONE replicate that on any forum I've visited due to the 940 being the main focus. The 920 got completely overlooked. Here is a thread of zif33rs endeavor, link.


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## cdawall (Jun 24, 2009)

johnnyfiive said:


> I've gotten to 3.86GHz cda.
> 
> http://img.techpowerup.org/090610/3.86ghz-153v.jpg
> 
> It's the highest I've seen in this thread.



i dont get why the 910 clocks higher....


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## johnnyfiive (Jun 24, 2009)

Because your overclocking it and not some average joe


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## cdawall (Jun 24, 2009)

johnnyfiive said:


> Because your overclocking it and not some average joe



rofl its not like i'm an overclocking god


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## johnnyfiive (Jun 24, 2009)

Um.. yes it is, lol! Your always putting out damn nice overclocks that not many people can replicate. You know what the heck your doing, why do you think I ask you for suggestions?!


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## eze (Jun 26, 2009)

mordant80 said:


> I'm still messing around trying to get 3.7 stable..  been changing all kinds of stuff.  I've got 3.7 so the machine seems stable, but it'll fail prime95 blend test after a few minutes.  Decided to check for a bios update and there is a new one.  I'm hoping it may actually help out as Gigabyte says one of the changes since my current version is "Improve Phenom II CPU compatibility".  That can't be a bad thing.




Yea. I won't push past 3.6 unless I get watercooling.

Although sometimes when I restart my Windows 7 Freezes after I enter my password. 

But other than that Ive had no issues. I can run prime95 for hours.


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## cdawall (Jun 26, 2009)

johnnyfiive said:


> Um.. yes it is, lol! Your always putting out damn nice overclocks that not many people can replicate. You know what the heck your doing, why do you think I ask you for suggestions?!



alot of people replicate my clocks hell i'm already in second for the athlon II 250 on hwbot.


but this is the one i like. when i get the new BIOS for my CH3 i should be able to push this higher i was at the limits of the bus speed


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## eze (Jun 27, 2009)

cdawall said:


> alot of people replicate my clocks hell i'm already in second for the athlon II 250 on hwbot.
> 
> 
> but this is the one i like. when i get the new BIOS for my CH3 i should be able to push this higher i was at the limits of the bus speed
> ...




Is that stable? 

And are you watercooling (most likely) ?


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## cdawall (Jun 27, 2009)

eze said:


> Is that stable?
> 
> And are you watercooling (most likely) ?



stable enough to run wprime and some light 3D stuff and the cpu was on Dry Ice


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## eze (Jun 27, 2009)

cdawall said:


> stable enough to run wprime and some light 3D stuff and the cpu was on Dry Ice



Ahh. Im only running on air. I want to push it to 3.8 but I haven't been able too. 

I think Ill just stay at 3.6 for now.

Great OC tho.


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## cdawall (Jun 27, 2009)

eze said:


> Ahh. Im only running on air. I want to push it to 3.8 but I haven't been able too.
> 
> I think Ill just stay at 3.6 for now.
> 
> Great OC tho.



3.7ghz is stable easily on air with mine i can push it to 3.8ghz but 3.7ghz leaves everything in a happy spot


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## eze (Jun 28, 2009)

cdawall said:


> 3.7ghz is stable easily on air with mine i can push it to 3.8ghz but 3.7ghz leaves everything in a happy spot



Im having one slight issue which is when I load windows sometimes I freeze. Like 1 out of 3 boots.

After I type in my password I freeze.

Im not sure if thats because Im on Windows 7 64 Bit or if Im slightly unstable.

I can run prime 95 for hours though.

I use the GA-MA790GP-UD4H Gigabyte MoBo.
G.Skill 2x2 4G Mem 1066
Phenom 920


Im afraid to update my bios, Im not even sure if it needs it though.

What was ur voltage set at at 3.7?


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## cdawall (Jun 28, 2009)

eze said:


> Im having one slight issue which is when I load windows sometimes I freeze. Like 1 out of 3 boots.
> 
> After I type in my password I freeze.
> 
> ...



1.5v


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## eze (Jun 28, 2009)

cdawall said:


> 1.5v



Will try it here soon.


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## eze (Jun 28, 2009)

cdawall said:


> 1.5v




Blue screened. Will have to try later.


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## cdawall (Jun 28, 2009)

eze said:


> Blue screened. Will have to try later.



might be my chip+board combo remember i am running one of the best DDR2 boards out there...


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## eze (Jun 28, 2009)

cdawall said:


> might be my chip+board combo remember i am running one of the best DDR2 boards out there...




Probably but the 790GX boards are suppose to be superb for OCing.


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## cdawall (Jun 28, 2009)

eze said:


> Probably but the 790GX boards are suppose to be superb for OCing.



my chip clocked the same on 790FX and 780A so who knows


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## eze (Jun 28, 2009)

cdawall said:


> my chip clocked the same on 790FX and 780A so who knows



We'll see. Ill dink with some things.


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## DeputyRob (Jul 2, 2009)

I have a Phenom II x4 920 and I'm trying to up my processor voltage to provide more headroom. Unfortunately, the "highest" setting available under the "Processor Voltage" heading on my motherboard is 1.3000V (See attached photo). My motherboard is an ASUS M3A78 Pro, a low- to mid-level board I bought at MicroCenter. Now I see all of you pushing 1.5000V and I can't figure out why I'm unable to go higher than a pathetic 1.3000V. Can someone assist me? Am I looking at this wrong or what?


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## Deleted member 67555 (Jul 2, 2009)

How odd my mother board is set at default and is at 1.34v


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## DeputyRob (Jul 2, 2009)

I'm even more confused because both Core Temp 0.99.4 and CPUID Hardware Monitor show different values. So am I at 1.3500V, 1.4200V, or 1.3000V (as per my motherboard)?


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## Deleted member 67555 (Jul 2, 2009)

cpuid is usually  right check with cpu-z


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## johnnyfiive (Jul 2, 2009)

Do you have a physical overvolt 3 pin header on your motherboard? My M4A78-E has one right by the CMOS clearing header.


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## DeputyRob (Jul 2, 2009)

johnnyfiive said:


> Do you have a physical overvolt 3 pin header on your motherboard? My M4A78-E has one right by the CMOS clearing header.



I'll have to check. Incidentally, I tried to adjust voltage using AMD's Overdrive v3.0.2 but it locks up my computer _every_ time. Completely worthless piece of software.


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## mordant80 (Jul 2, 2009)

eze said:


> Blue screened. Will have to try later.



You're exactly where I am...  I can run 3.6 all day long but I cannot make 3.7 stable no matter what I do.  I can make it boot, but cannot get it stable.


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## Deleted member 67555 (Jul 2, 2009)

I have not got this chip stable past 2.9ghz though I think it has more to do with my memory than my cpu, my memory only runs stable at 800,860,950,1044,1066,1094mhz. I suppose I could get a lot more out of it with better memory, but for now with this memory OC'ing means less performance for me


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## johnnyfiive (Jul 2, 2009)

DeputyRob said:


> I'll have to check. Incidentally, I tried to adjust voltage using AMD's Overdrive v3.0.2 but it locks up my computer _every_ time. Completely worthless piece of software.



Thats not going to work because it is physically limited by the board itself. AMD OverDrive won't be able to overvolt. Did you find the pin I was referring to?


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## johnnyfiive (Jul 2, 2009)

jmcslob said:


> I have not got this chip stable past 2.9ghz though I think it has more to do with my memory than my cpu, my memory only runs stable at 800,860,950,1044,1066,1094mhz. I suppose I could get a lot more out of it with better memory, but for now with this memory OC'ing means less performance for me



Are you using all 4 dimms? If so, try using only two dimms and see if that increase stability. Also, try upping your vdimm voltage, and also try upping the NB voltage. What is your NB running at?


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## Deleted member 67555 (Jul 2, 2009)

NB +.1 for all 4 sims, but still nothing memory becomes unstable(even with 2) I've had the cpu clocked higher with pc-8000 overclocking ram, but ram was only at 960mhz- but stable OC= normal performance so just went with pc-8500 and stock speeds- I'm sure i can go a lot higher IF I get ddr2-1200mhz memory- currently I am overclocked 6mhz Yay though I can run it at 2854mhz at normal temps and volts


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## DeputyRob (Jul 3, 2009)

johnnyfiive said:


> Did you find the pin I was referring to?



No. But here's a picture of your board. Can you Photoshop an arrow indicating where this pin is? And if I do have it, what do I have to do with it to adjust voltage?


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## eze (Jul 4, 2009)

mordant80 said:


> You're exactly where I am...  I can run 3.6 all day long but I cannot make 3.7 stable no matter what I do.  I can make it boot, but cannot get it stable.



Yea I haven't had time to drink around with it since.


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## ablech (Jul 13, 2009)

johnnyfiive said:


> Coming from 2.8Ghz, that is a hefty increase ablech. I really doubt 100% stability can be had at 3.8+ with a 920. The highest stable I can get is 3.65Ghz or so, sadly it requires a lot of juice to be 100% stable. I still run my rig at 3.5GHz (24/7 use) because the voltage increase required above that to attain 100% stability is just too high imo.



im using mine @3.6 for daily,it just need 1.4 volt for make it stable,, but this is my last post in this thread  gonna sell my x3 (even im like it a lot) and try d new amd x2 550 and try to unlock it,,, god luck johny


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## johnnyfiive (Jul 13, 2009)

I've moved on to i7...


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## Deleted member 67555 (Jul 15, 2009)

I'm Stuck at 3.5ghz by a thermal barrier Air cooled, vcore+.1 Nb +.1 Nb cpu vid+.025 HT link at 250
mem set at 4x 5-5-5-15-24 2t row refresh 0,2 75ns rows 1,3 125ns
Completely stable except takes very long time to resume from hibernation if at all
Like johnyfive there I will be moving away from AMD to go Intel after this rig
Sorry but next year when AMD finally releases a cpu to compete with the I7 920 I expect to be beyond that. I've tried very hard to make things work with AMD systems but it's just not worth the time and money. This system almost competes with my q9450 p45 setup (ddr3) ,but not quite
When someone tells you how good AMD is, as far as bang for your buck consider this, $245 for a pII955 $200 for a good AMD 790 mobo $100 ddr3 1333 $545 total rest of system same price
I7 920 $260 x58 (as good as the 790)$200 with sli or crossfire $100 ddr3 1333 $560 total 
for $15 your a year ahead of AMD does AMD still sound so good? it does not to me


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## Deleted member 67555 (Jul 15, 2009)

I'll finish that thought now.....
I moved to AMD 2 days after the lga1366(I7"S) came out pissed off that my brand new q9450 was outdated just like that, and I've been trying to make it work ever since. After reading about how sweet the phenom's were i tried the 9600be,not so bad for $120, then this plus, about 5 other AMD cpu's, and you no what i've learned AMD SUCKS BALLS green slimmy unwashed smelly INTEL BALLS and they always will!!! MORE EFFICIENT REALLY!!! how by taking 40 seconds longer to complete a calculation with a 5watt power savings.... Yeah that makes sense.... AMD is good for one thing GAMING and thank god for that cause that's the only thing i use them for....


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## fullinfusion (Jul 15, 2009)

johnnyfiive said:


> Thats not going to work because it is physically limited by the board itself. AMD OverDrive won't be able to overvolt. Did you find the pin I was referring to?


AOD can over volt the core mate.... ask Kei.... i sent him a modded AOD program for W7


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## DeputyRob (Jul 15, 2009)

I agree, jmcslob. For a few bucks more, I could have had a far better PC with Intel products. AMD is merely a second-rate "bargain basement" enterprise which ultimately saves you nothing. A friend told me to go Intel and I was a fool for not listening.

And the other problem: I'm at 3.3GHz with OCZ Gold memory and an ASUS M3A78 Pro motherboard that can't be pushed over a lousy 1.3v. ASUS is aware of the problem but all they'll do is continue to sell the board that's allegedly spec'd to 1.7v. E-mails to Tech Support come back with generic replies that say little more than "ASUS doesn't support overclocking." _Huh?_ After spending too much time on the phone with ASUS all they could offer me was an "opportunity" (what a joke!) to send the board back to them for bench testing--somewhere in Asia! Needless to say, while my board is being "tested," I have no Windows-based computer. With that said, I will never purchase another ASUS product again. All they had to do was provide me with a product which meets the specifications on the box and ASUS is unable to do that after a year of empty promises to rectify the problem with BIOS updates.


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## DeputyRob (Jul 15, 2009)

fullinfusion said:


> AOD can over volt the core mate.... ask Kei.... i sent him a modded AOD program for W7



All AOD does on my Windows7 RC1 system is cause it to crash. Completely worthless. Perhaps you could send this "modded program" to the rest of us...


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## fullinfusion (Jul 15, 2009)

DeputyRob said:


> I agree, jmcslob. For a few bucks more, I could have had a far better PC with Intel products. AMD is merely a second-rate "bargain basement" enterprise which ultimately saves you nothing. A friend told me to go Intel and I was a fool for not listening.
> 
> And the other problem: I'm at 3.3GHz with OCZ Gold memory and an ASUS M3A78 Pro motherboard that can't be pushed over a lousy 1.3v. ASUS is aware of the problem but all they'll do is continue to sell the board that's allegedly spec'd to 1.7v. E-mails to Tech Support come back with generic replies that say little more than "ASUS doesn't support overclocking." _Huh?_ After spending too much time on the phone with ASUS all they could offer me was an "opportunity" (what a joke!) to send the board back to them for bench testing--somewhere in Asia! Needless to say, while my board is being "tested," I have no Windows-based computer. With that said, I will never purchase another ASUS product again. All they had to do was provide me with a product which meets the specifications on the box and ASUS is unable to do that after a year of empty promises to rectify the problem with BIOS updates.


Second rate basement dweller?  lol..... your a fool... dollar for dollar your getting a better build using the current amd build.... do your research...
I been running Asus for the past 2 yrs and never hade a single problem with them!!!! suck it up dude.... dont blame what ya screwed up!!!


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## fullinfusion (Jul 15, 2009)

DeputyRob said:


> All AOD does on my Windows7 RC1 system is cause it to crash. Completely worthless. Perhaps you could send this "modded program" to the rest of us...


um you need to stop using auto clock!!!! it fails us all.... im using ver 2.16 without as much as a hiccup.... the latest aod is wrapped around  the R890 chipset


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## fullinfusion (Jul 15, 2009)

johnnyfiive said:


> I've moved on to i7...
> 
> http://www.techpowerup.com/gallery/2231/__13.jpg



And its such child's play!! lol ok


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## DeputyRob (Jul 15, 2009)

fullinfusion said:


> Second rate basement dweller?  lol..... your a fool... dollar for dollar your getting a better build using the current amd build.... do your research...
> I been running Asus for the past 2 yrs and never hade a single problem with them!!!! suck it up dude.... dont blame what ya screwed up!!!




Huh? The box the MB came in says it's capable of 1.7v. No one would run it that high, of course, but 1.5v is certainly not unusual. But the ASUS M3A78 Pro tops out at 1.3v, something I didn't know until I attempted to overvolt my system. So how did I "screw up" when there's a systematic problem with the M3A78 Pro? If 1.3v is the ceiling on this board then its ASUS's fault, not the consumer, to claim voltage is adjustable up to 1.7v. Again...ASUS knows this is a problem but they're not going to stand behind their product. Instead, they claim they'll "test" the MB because they know 99.9% of consumers aren't going to bother. Hell...shipping to Taiwan or wherever the hell it'd be shipped to would probably be about a third of the purchase price of the board.


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## Deleted member 67555 (Jul 15, 2009)

> dollar for dollar your getting a better build using the current amd build.... do your research...


No... No..No.. Really don't get me wrong AMD is a good product, but not for the price! Look I've bought Intel and AMD and AMD is about 2 years behind so.. When you take that  into ACCOUNT, INTEL"s higher price's give you almost twice the bang for your buck.... I7 920 intro price $300
1 year later and only as fast as intel's mid grade CPU the q9550 AMD's  much slower cpu than the I7 920 PII955 is intro's at $255 REALLY! REALLY! REALLY!!!!!!! WHERE"s the bang there REALLY?!!!!!
I've already fallen for that line of bullshit!!! LOOK at my SPECS!!!
YES 18 months after... I paid $270 for my q9450 I was able to buy an AMD that could match it's performance for $170 WHICH means if I'm lucky i can get 2 more years out of this system that means I'll get almost 4 years out of the INTEL cpu for an extra $100, 2 YEARS!, NOW WHERE IS THE BETTER BANG FOR THE BUCK!!!
MY builds are my research! and nobody will ever convince me that AMD is more bang for your buck EVER! I simply got mad about the socket revision and fucked myself with this AMD GARBAGE.. IT's the last time I'll ever make that mistake again...NEVER AGAIN...NEVER
AND now that price's are dropping on the LGA1366 mobo's and I7's it's time to go back to INTEL, WHICH I'll do in Feb,2010
AMD really needs to do a core revision and i don't mean socket I mean core They just stuff 4 Athlons in a single cpu with a few architecture revisions and call it progress. which it is... but in baby steps..ahhhh
OH boy i can OC this thing to 3.5ghz yay!!! so i have to shorten this cpu's life span to make it worth it YAY
SORRY i tried to remain on subject and just report my OC finding's, but this whole AMD setup makes me sick!


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## Velvet Wafer (Jul 15, 2009)

how it comes you have such an urgent hate for amd products? how they treated you bad? they tend to do sometimes, in some situations..


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## Deleted member 67555 (Jul 16, 2009)

It's not AMD it's the people who keep saying "more bang for your buck" Look AMD is good and do have "more bang for your buck" but only on the low end of things example...
7750 $50 AMD 780 g mobo $50 ATI 4670 $50 4gigs pc-8500 $50 Sata2 500gig $50 400w psu an case $50 keyboard/mouse/dvd/card reader $50 19" 2ms wd lcd $100= $450 plus windows $100
Good bang for $550
Now this system
PII920 $150 AMD 780g Mobo $65 ATI 4870 $170 8 gigs pc-8500 $100 Sata2 500gig(black)$75 750watt psu $100 Case $32 (cheap) keyboard/mouse/dvd/card reader $50 22" wd 2ms lcd $150 windows hp 64 $100= $923 current prices not a lot of bang here
It's my fault i listened to some retard (which makes me even dumber) on How much better and more efficient AMD was......Take this system spend $30 more on the mobo and $45 more on the cpu and you have 16% more performance with intel....Yeah i get it, I spent $75 less and i can OC to make up that performance,But Intel chips can overclock too!!! so for $75 I could have a Much better system....It's a lesson, A LIFE LESSON, which is......YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR


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## Trigger911 (May 1, 2010)

Flyordie said:


> Ok batmang... you wunted pix... ;-)
> http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d20/Flyordie07/Rage3D/P1292648.jpg
> Partially Empty...  with the new SeaSonic 550W PSU...
> 
> ...



This is now my cpu lol I got it too 3.8 but I hit the end of my old ass m2n32 lol but I couldn't keep it stable maybe one of you guys with expreance can give me ideas on what to monkey with.


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