# ASUS M5A97 R2.0 FSB max @ 300 Mhz?



## PAPADOC (Dec 27, 2012)

Hello, 

I have managed to overclock the ASUS M5A97 R2.0 to a bus speed (FSB) of 300 MHz 
using the phenom x6 1045T. 

But the second I try and set the bus speed (FSB) a bit higher like 305 MHz, 
windows keeps crashing! 

Would this be a limitation of the board since it's a 4+2 power phase design? 

Or are there other options I can try to stabilize the higher bus speeds 

examples: 

1- would increasing the mobo related voltages in bios help? i tried a bit of that didn't seem to 

2- Remove the stock thermal pads of the default mobo heatsinks and replace them with AS5? 

3- Add more heatsinks on the mobo to strategic components? 

Any ideas will be appreciated. 

thanks


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## natr0n (Dec 27, 2012)

You need a fan blowing on the northbridge.


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## PAPADOC (Dec 27, 2012)

natr0n said:


> You need a fan blowing on the northbridge.



Thanks,

I will try that tonight woo hoo !!!


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## drdeathx (Dec 27, 2012)

Yes, that would be the max which is awesome but overclocking through the HTT(FSB) is pretty much history today. Now see how high you can get with 200 on the FSB and use the multi. Next play around with different multi's and HTT(FSB) to max the overclock. Overclocking through multi will usually require less voltage.......


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## PAPADOC (Dec 27, 2012)

The Phenom X6 1045T has a locked multiplier can't raise it,
FSB is the only way to go for this chip !!!


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## drdeathx (Dec 27, 2012)

PAPADOC said:


> The Phenom X6 1045T has a locked multiplier can't raise it,
> FSB is the only way to go for this chip !!!



Ahhh, forgot about the locked multi. 300 on the HTT is awesome though.....


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## de.das.dude (Dec 27, 2012)

thats the limit with phenoms i think


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## PAPADOC (Dec 28, 2012)

I placed a 4000rpm fan right on top of the northbridge
but it didn't make any difference.

i also raised voltages to the northbridge but still not stable


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## Aquinus (Dec 28, 2012)

What is your HT link and CPUNB running at? You might get more if you're pushing either of them too high. I would try to keep the CPU-NB at 2400Mhz and HT at 2000Mhz. Overclocking HT won't give you any gains and will only work both your CPU and NB (on the motherboard,) harder. The CPUNB on the other hand can improve memory bandwidth, but it depends on your core clock. There comes a point where higher CPUNB speeds actually give you worse performance. For 3.7-4.0Ghz, 2400-2600Mhz is the sweet spot, but you have to test a little bit to get it perfect.


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## de.das.dude (Dec 28, 2012)

PAPADOC said:


> I placed a 4000rpm fan right on top of the northbridge
> but it didn't make any difference.
> 
> i also raised voltages to the northbridge but still not stable



it wont happen. 300 is the limit.

also why on earth would you need 300? you CPU will not be able to handle that much!

also i dont think your nothbridge wants to go till 3Ghz either.


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## Aquinus (Dec 28, 2012)

de.das.dude said:


> also i dont think your nothbridge wants to go till 3Ghz either.



That's when you drop the CPUNB and the HT multiplier. Just because the base clock is high doesn't mean other components need to be.


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## PAPADOC (Dec 28, 2012)

Aquinus said:


> What is your HT link and CPUNB running at? You might get more if you're pushing either of them too high. I would try to keep the CPU-NB at 2400Mhz and HT at 2000Mhz. Overclocking HT won't give you any gains and will only work both your CPU and NB (on the motherboard,) harder. The CPUNB on the other hand can improve memory bandwidth, but it depends on your core clock. There comes a point where higher CPUNB speeds actually give you worse performance. For 3.7-4.0Ghz, 2400-2600Mhz is the sweet spot, but you have to test a little bit to get it perfect.



Ok my cpu-nb is around 2450Mhz as my HT

I will try to just lower the HT closer to 2000Mhz see what happens


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## OneMoar (Dec 28, 2012)

300 is the limit of that motherboard I am supprised you got more then 250 
also that motherboard is gonna blow up if you keep trying to OC on it the VRM's can't handle it 
set the FSB to 250 and pray it doesn't blow up you are not gonna get 4Ghz out of that Chip EVER no way no how its not possible it WILL break Stop now before you wreak something
that motherboard CAN NOT HANDEL THE POWER DRAW OF A 6 CORE CPU AT 4GHZ IT WILL BLOW UP


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## Aquinus (Dec 28, 2012)

OneMoar said:


> also that motherboard is gonna blow up if you keep trying to OC on it the VRM's can't handle it
> set the FSB to 250 and pray it doesn't blow up you are not gonna get 4Ghz out of that Chip EVER no way no how its not possible it WILL break Stop now before you wreak something
> that motherboard CAN NOT HANDEL THE POWER DRAW OF A 6 CORE CPU AT 4GHZ IT WILL BLOW UP



+1: He is right. Don't work the VRMs too hard or you'll do permanent damage to both the motherboard and the CPU.


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## PAPADOC (Dec 28, 2012)

de.das.dude said:


> it wont happen. 300 is the limit.
> 
> also why on earth would you need 300? you CPU will not be able to handle that much!
> 
> also i dont think your nothbridge wants to go till 3Ghz either.



To get higher benchmarks really.

My CPU is already handling 300Mhz for a sweet 4Ghz

But u may be right i may be at the limit right now !!!


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## OneMoar (Dec 28, 2012)

PAPADOC said:


> To get higher benchmarks really.
> 
> My CPU is already handling 300Mhz for a sweet 4Ghz
> 
> But u may be right i may be at the limit right now !!!



i Give the motherboard a month tops before the VRM's melt
I hope you have money for another board AND cpu


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## PAPADOC (Dec 28, 2012)

OneMoar said:


> 300 is the limit of that motherboard I am supprised you got more then 250
> also that motherboard is gonna blow up if you keep trying to OC on it the VRM's can't handle it
> set the FSB to 250 and pray it doesn't blow up you are not gonna get 4Ghz out of that Chip EVER no way no how its not possible it WILL break Stop now before you wreak something
> that motherboard CAN NOT HANDEL THE POWER DRAW OF A 6 CORE CPU AT 4GHZ IT WILL BLOW UP



My CPU is already handling 300Mhz for a sweet 4Ghz

But u may be right i may be at the limit right now !!!

I hope it doesn't blow up


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## OneMoar (Dec 28, 2012)

your cpu is currently drawing about a 140 to  160 watts(160 if you vcore is >1.50) that motherboard is rated for a MAX of 95 Watts its a cheap board
when IT blows you will be lucky if it doesn't take the CPU outwith it
NEVER oc a high-TDP chip on a cheap board thats just asking for trouble


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## cadaveca (Dec 28, 2012)

HTT scaling is a function of the PLL chip used that actually generates those clocks. This is the one from my M5A97 EVO R1.0 board:








It generates clocks for both the CPU and the SB(since both connect using HTT)

I've seen x6 chips hit over 350 HTT. PLL used is a big part of that, but as mentioned, it's probably a chip limit, although 300 MHz is by no means the maximum for those chips.




OneMoar said:


> your cpu is currently drawing about a 140 to  160 watts(160 if you vcore is >1.50) that motherboard is rated for a MAX of 95 Watts its a cheap board
> when IT blows you will be lucky if it doesn't take the CPU outwith it
> NEVER oc a high-TDP chip on a cheap board thats just asking for trouble




No. Just no. 95W.....you are very much wrong. Where did you get THAT from? :shadedshu


The board supports all AM3+ chips(including 140W x4 BE 965), plus OC.

I mean really, just check the QVL:

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3Plus/M5A97_EVO_R20/#CPUS


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## OneMoar (Dec 28, 2012)

cadaveca said:


> HTT scaling is a function of the PLL chip used that actually generates those clocks. This is the one from my M5A97 EVO R1.0 board:
> 
> http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/M5A97_EVO/images/ics_controller.jpg
> 
> ...



the 'speed' of the host-clock is just that a CLOCK its what the cpu uses to keep in'in step
200 x 13.5 = 2700 (proc speed)
200 x 10 = 2000 (HT/NB speed)
dave is right. tho the problem IS two fold the cpu is probably hitting a power supply/stability wall and the motherboard isn't liking that hostclock set so high because it has a affect on other components
the R2.0 is a garbage com-paired to the 1.0 they cut a bunch of function from it to lower costs


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## OneMoar (Dec 28, 2012)

cadaveca said:


> HTT scaling is a function of the PLL chip used that actually generates those clocks. This is the one from my M5A97 EVO R1.0 board:
> 
> http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/M5A97_EVO/images/ics_controller.jpg
> 
> ...




Orly so they added support because I had a R2.0 for about a week before I bought this and was told by ASUS support that it didn't support 125TDP because my Phenom II would't post in it so someone someplace is lieing ...
I quit reading the QVL's when vendors starting listing 125TDP on boards with 4+1 phase VRM's
and the Op Says his board is 4+2 so its either NOT a m5A97 EVO or hes wrong
even assuming that the board is capable of outputting a sustained 140 the Op is exceeding that by at least 15-40W(depending on what his vcore is) granted not a whole lot but on a "4+2/6Phase" thats pushing your luck in my book hell I keep a eye on my 8+2's on this board if its one thing you don't wanna go chancing its the VRM's
edit the board is indeed 4+2 tho the vrm database on overclock.net says it should handle the strain they don't say what chip and at what speed they tested at


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## PAPADOC (Dec 28, 2012)

OneMoar said:


> your cpu is currently drawing about a 140 to  160 watts(160 if you vcore is >1.50) that motherboard is rated for a MAX of 95 Watts its a cheap board
> when IT blows you will be lucky if it doesn't take the CPU outwith it
> NEVER oc a high-TDP chip on a cheap board thats just asking for trouble



This board supports max 140 watts TDP

source:

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3Plus/M5A97_R20/#specifications

http://www.overclock.net/t/946407/amd-motherboards-vrm-info-database

but yeah i forgot about going over 140 watts , hehe got to check that tonight


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## cadaveca (Dec 28, 2012)

OneMoar said:


> Orly so they added support because I had a R2.0 for about a week before I bought this and was told by ASUS support that it didn't support 125TDP because my Phenom II would't post in it so someone someplace is lieing ...
> I quit reading the QVL's when vendors starting listing 125TDP on boards with 4+1 phase VRM's
> and the Op Says his board is 4+2 so its either NOT a m5A97 EVO or hes wrong
> even assuming that the board is capable of outputting a sustained 140 the Op is exceeding that by at least 15-40W(depending on what his vcore is) granted not a whole lot but on a "4+2/6Phase" thats pushing your luck in my book hell I keep a eye on my 8+2's on this board if its one thing you don't wanna go chancing its the VRM's
> edit the board is indeed 4+2 tho the vrm database on overclock.net says it should handle the strain they don't say what chip and at what speed they tested at




I am not sure why ASUS would have told you that, since this board has supported all CPUs since it was launched, on the first BIOS.

The number of VRM phases hardly dictates how good a board is, unfortunately. What matters is what those phases are made with, since some easily support of 60a each. With four phases that support 60a, that's far more than most would ever need when running a 24/7 OC. Four 25a phases...sure, noise may limit things a bit, but not that much.



PAPADOC said:


> This board supports max 140 watts TDP
> 
> source:
> 
> ...




That VRM has no problem pushing 280W++. I've done it myself. VRM is 6+2+2 phases, not 4+ whatever.


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## PAPADOC (Dec 28, 2012)

OneMoar said:


> Orly so they added support because I had a R2.0 for about a week before I bought this and was told by ASUS support that it didn't support 125TDP because my Phenom II would't post in it so someone someplace is lieing ...
> I quit reading the QVL's when vendors starting listing 125TDP on boards with 4+1 phase VRM's
> and the Op Says his board is 4+2 so its either NOT a m5A97 EVO or hes wrong
> even assuming that the board is capable of outputting a sustained 140 the Op is exceeding that by at least 15-40W(depending on what his vcore is) granted not a whole lot but on a "4+2/6Phase" thats pushing your luck in my book hell I keep a eye on my 8+2's on this board if its one thing you don't wanna go chancing its the VRM's
> edit the board is indeed 4+2 tho the vrm database on overclock.net says it should handle the strain they don't say what chip and at what speed they tested at



My Vcore is at 1.5 v with LLC on

I am currently at work , but this is why i turn it off when i am not there don't want any suprise fires


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## cadaveca (Dec 28, 2012)

PAPADOC said:


> My Vcore is at 1.5 v with LLC on



Which doesn't matter.  What TPU needs is age verification. 


I pushed 1.65V @ 4.8 GHz no problem on one of those boards, using an 1100T. nearly 6 months later, the board is fine, as is the chip, and it's not my rig. The board is not part of what's limiting you. It's most likely your ram.


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## PAPADOC (Dec 28, 2012)

cadaveca said:


> Which doesn't matter.  What TPU needs is age verification.
> 
> 
> I pushed 1.65V @ 4.8 GHz no problem on one of those boards, using an 1100T. nearly 6 months later, the board is fine, as is the chip, and it's not my rig. The board is not part of what's limiting you. It's most likely your ram.



Wow I thought about the ram but i ignored it cause i always keep it at it's stockish rated speed of 1600 Mhz

I will try to lower it even more tonight or maybe just use 1 stick?


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## cadaveca (Dec 28, 2012)

Yeah, try one stick., the tip earlier about lowering HTT multi can help as well.


Really, the advice to just use multis to clock is quite relevant as well. The rest...well, I guess is a matter of opinion.


For 24/7 clocking, 300 MHz HTT is a good spot to be stuck at, however, to get higher easily, you need to use multis, which make for rather large jumps in CPU core speed. 

Now, you've got a 1045T, which isn't exactly the best x6 chip, both in TDP and binned speed, so personally, I think your clocks are great. The 1100T I have here that my son uses, not the one in that 4.8 GHz rig, can only hit 4.0 GHz.

That's a 800 MHz difference between chips of the same model. When overclocking, nothing is guaranteed.


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## OneMoar (Dec 28, 2012)

cadaveca said:


> Yeah, try one stick., the tip earlier about lowering HTT multi can help as well.
> 
> 
> Really, the advice to just use multis to clock is quite relevant as well. The rest...well, I guess is a matter of opinion.
> ...


he doesn't have a EVO dave its a plain-jane M5A97 if you can prove to me that a a plain-jane M5A97 will putout 280W ill eat my GPU while The system is ON 
http://www.overclock.net/t/946407/amd-motherboards-vrm-info-database
you are talking about overclocking a 95W X6 to beyond 3.6Ghz meaning that its probably a crap binned chip so it should be drawing close to 150Watts @ load @ 1.5V while you might be happy with doing that on a 4+2 that sets off a bunch of Alarms here just because the VRM's chips say they are speced to 60A does not mean the board can actually handle that more often then not its not the VRM's them selves that fail but the wiring and other circuits that blow out  
---------------
I bought a M5A97 R2.0 same as the op Booted my Athlon II updated to the latest bios and installed my Phenom II 955 no post tried every trick under the sun NOPE contracted ASUS they promptly sent me a scripted reply that that board "would not support Unlocked AMD 125Watt CPUS" I doubled checked the site and it listed it as supported so someone someplace is WRONG Said chip is now happily humming along at 4ghz in this board


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## drdeathx (Dec 28, 2012)

OneMoar said:


> he doesn't have a EVO dave its a plain-jane M5A97 if you can prove to me that a a plain-jane M5A97 will putout 280W ill eat my GPU while The system is ON


Can't wait till you have to take a laxative.


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## brandonwh64 (Dec 28, 2012)

OneMoar said:


> he doesn't have a EVO dave its a plain-jane M5A97 if you can prove to me that a a plain-jane M5A97 will putout 280W ill eat my GPU while The system is ON
> http://www.overclock.net/t/946407/amd-motherboards-vrm-info-database
> you are talking about overclocking a 95W proc to beyond 3.6Ghz meaning that its probably a crap binned chip so it should be drawing close to 150Watts @ load @ 1.5V
> ---------------
> I bought a M5A97 R2.0 same as the op Booted my Athlon II updated to the latest bios and installed my Phenom II 955 no post tried every trick under the sun NOPE contracted ASUS they promptly sent me a scripted reply that that board "would not support Unlocked AMD 125Watt CPUS" I doubled checked the site and it listed it as supported so someone someplace is WRONG Said chip is now happily humming along at 4ghz in this board




You are wrong, I would trust dave cause he has pushed these boards to their limits and back. Also the website for this board SAYS 140W cpus so if it can handle that then it could handle the 1045T at 300Mhz or over.


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## OneMoar (Dec 28, 2012)

brandonwh64 said:


> You are wrong, I would trust dave cause he has pushed these boards to their limits and back. Also the website for this board SAYS 140W cpus so if it can handle that then it could handle the 1045T at 300Mhz or over.
> 
> http://img.techpowerup.org/121228/Capture008.jpg



you are 100% correct it says 140 not 145 not 150 ONE FOUR-TEE 
 depending on how his chip was binned he could be at 150 Watts OR 170
150 I could accept on that board 170 not so much it all comes down to the op really doesn't seem like he knows enough to push the upper limit "safely" so better just to be safe then have him end up blowing something to Oblivion
3.6 3.8 @ 1.42`ishVOLT  fine in my book if he wants to push more and chance something going POPPOP_BUZZZZZZZZ that's his choice forums are for Opinions, MY Opinion: is that he should not be pushing past 1.42V on that board
~thread


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## PAPADOC (Dec 28, 2012)

brandonwh64 said:


> You are wrong, I would trust dave cause he has pushed these boards to their limits and back. Also the website for this board SAYS 140W cpus so if it can handle that then it could handle the 1045T at 300Mhz or over.
> 
> http://img.techpowerup.org/121228/Capture008.jpg




Actually i have the R2.0

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3Plus/M5A97_R20/


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## brandonwh64 (Dec 28, 2012)

OneMoar said:


> you are 100% correct it says 140 not 145 not 150 ONE FOUR-TEE
> depending on how his chip was binned he could be at 150 Watts OR 170
> 150 I could accept on that board 170 not so much it all comes down to the op really doesn't seem like he knows enough to push the upper limit "safely" so better just to be safe then have him end up blowing something to Oblivion



I doubt it really cause I had a 1055T at 4Ghz that didn't come over the motherboard support limit and ran quite cool.


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## OneMoar (Dec 28, 2012)

http://www.overclock.net/t/946407/amd-motherboards-vrm-info-database


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## brandonwh64 (Dec 28, 2012)

PAPADOC said:


> Actually i have the R2.0
> 
> http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3Plus/M5A97_R20/



Quite the same specs. still shows 140W Cpus


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## OneMoar (Dec 28, 2012)

brandonwh64 said:


> I doubt it really cause I had a 1055T at 4Ghz that didn't come over the motherboard support limit and ran quite cool.



a 1045T can be binned for any of the X6 batches it doesn't necessarily need to be a 1055T that was binned it could have started life as a 1090T but been leakage COULD have been so horrid that they knocked it back to a 1045 
this applys to ANY binned chip
chips that where BINNED WAYDOWN tend to leak more then chips that where only thrown one bin down problem is you CAN NOT be sure


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## PAPADOC (Dec 29, 2012)

cadaveca said:


> Yeah, try one stick., the tip earlier about lowering HTT multi can help as well.
> Really, the advice to just use multis to clock is quite relevant as well. The rest...well, I guess is a matter of opinion.
> For 24/7 clocking, 300 MHz HTT is a good spot to be stuck at, however, to get higher easily, you need to use multis, which make for rather large jumps in CPU core speed.



I tried 1 stick of ram and lowering HT multi but no go still not stable.

So what i am doing is finding the exact voltage required, i originally shot straight upto 1.5 volts at the first sign of instability lol.

Right now i am apparently stable at 290 FSB on just 1.4volts

Gonna try 300 FSB on 1.4volts now.


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## drdeathx (Dec 29, 2012)

PAPADOC said:


> I tried 1 stick of ram and lowering HT multi but no go still not stable.
> 
> So what i am doing is finding the exact voltage required, i originally shot straight upto 1.5 volts at the first sign of instability lol.
> 
> ...



try more Vcore


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## Aquinus (Dec 29, 2012)

drdeathx said:


> try more Vcore



Maybe. That might help if his cores themselves are unstable, keep in mind he is running his base clock pretty high. Increasing the VDDA voltage might result in better stability since he is pushing the base clock so high and the PLL might be struggling to keep up and would need more juice to keep it stable.


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## de.das.dude (Dec 29, 2012)

try 240 multiplier and 1.45 V


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## Aquinus (Dec 29, 2012)

de.das.dude said:


> try 240 multiplier and 1.45 V



He can't change the multi, it is locked at 13.5x because he has a 1045t. He won't hit 4Ghz without pushing the base clock up to 296Mhz.


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## PAPADOC (Dec 29, 2012)

280 Mhz FSB was stable on windows desktop (didn't try prime95 yet) at 1.380v (in bios on auto)

Now I 'm still testing 290, and i have reached 1.425 (in bios on manual)
but it just crashed on windows desktop

testing 1.431v now

Wow, so much more voltage just for this extra 10Mhz


All with LLC on


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## drdeathx (Dec 29, 2012)

PAPADOC said:


> 280 Mhz FSB was stable on windows desktop (didn't try prime95 yet) at 1.380v (in bios on auto)
> 
> Now I 'm still testing 290, and i have reached 1.425 (in bios on manual)
> but it just crashed on windows desktop
> ...


There is a curve on just about every CPU at a certain frequency, small MHz increase needs substantial more voltage. Hey, you did great at 4GHz, it is not like 4.1GHz will see substantial performance gains. They will be minimal. That is the problem with locked multipliers....


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## PAPADOC (Dec 29, 2012)

drdeathx said:


> There is a curve on just about every CPU at a certain frequency, small MHz increase needs substantial more voltage. Hey, you did great at 4GHz, it is not like 4.1GHz will see substantial performance gains. They will be minimal. That is the problem with locked multipliers....



Yeah it appears so, I am probably going to leave it on the 280 FSB for every day use since it needs just a bit over stock voltage there.

Now I am just playing around to see how high it can go.


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## PAPADOC (Dec 29, 2012)

290 Mhz FSB was stable on windows desktop (didn't try prime95 yet) at 1.440v (in bios on manual)

I know 300 was stable on 1.5 volts

Now I tested 310 Mhz FSB, and i have reached just below the mobo's allowable max 1.593v (in bios on manual)
but it crashes immediately

LLC on cpu is off for this one

it doesn't look like it will go any higher, oh well, 4Ghz for a 100$ cpu I'll take that any day

Thanks for all your replies guys, and Happy New Year !!!


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