# Maximum OC limit of PhenomII x4 955 BE



## StrYker_BLACK_E (Apr 30, 2012)

Hello guys,
I have recently started OC'ing my cpu and till now i have achieved a clock speed of 3.8ghz stable@1.52v. 

CPU-Z Validator 3.1

Used prime95 for an hour/
played Metro 2033 for about 2hours n temps readings thru Hwmonitor were: 
load temp @51d/celcius
idle @32degree celcius.

I wanna know how much further i can oc.
Will this chip be able to achieve 4.0ghz?? 
Also is it okay with the vcore set to 1.52v as its unstable below 1.52v

Any help from Phenom II oced users would be much appreciated.


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## radeon6950 (Apr 30, 2012)

heres a good guide to start off

```
*www.overclock.net/t/777378/official-gappos-little-deneb-thuban-overclocking-guide-with-too-many-smileys
```


```
*www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=596023
```

pay special attention to the foll details
1. max core temp is 62 degrees.(try and keep you core temps below 60 degrees when using prime95)
2. max vcore limit 1.55v

1.52v is a little on the higher side. bump up your cpu-nb to about 1.2v and drop your cpu vcore.
overclocking the cpu-nb alongwith the cpu will give you better performance.

```
*slappablog.com/2010/10/14/phenom-ii-imc-ram-overclocking-guide/
```

I have the same cpu and here is my overclock
cpu - 3960mhz @1.4v
cpu-nb - 2640mhz @1.275v
ram - 1600mhz 9-9-9-24 @1.65v (@stock)
FSB 240
htlink - 1920mhz

you need to run prime95 for 8-12 hours to see if the oc is stable.
to fine tune your overclock using prime95 you can refer to this guide.

```
*www.overclock.net/t/838244/prime95-a-quick-dirty-guide-to-the-custom-settings
```


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## doomgiver (Apr 30, 2012)

radeon6950 said:


> heres a good guide to start off
> 
> ```
> *www.overclock.net/t/777378/official-gappos-little-deneb-thuban-overclocking-guide-with-too-many-smileys
> ...



whats cpu-nb?
also, i think amd's cpu speed scaling is disabled after OC, yeah?

@OP
the 955 has been OC'd to ~6 gb on liquid nitrogen 
around 4 gb is possible on good air cooling, more on water cooling


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## radeon6950 (Apr 30, 2012)

cpu-nb is the imc (integrated memory controller)
on my mobo cool n quiet is disabled after increasing cpu multiplier beyond 18.5.


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## doomgiver (Apr 30, 2012)

hmmm, your xms3 giving 1600 without tweaks???
im still getting just 800 mhz from mine 

how high have you taken your 955?


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## Tech_Wiz (Apr 30, 2012)

Its not gn its Ghz 

Also it depends on Chip. Some go upto 4.2 and some die at 3.8. Upto 3.8 almost 100% go.

btw 60 Deg under prime in this summer season is not possible. As long as its below 70 its ok.


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## avichandana20000 (Apr 30, 2012)

mine with same proccy OCed to 3.6 with v core 1.35. temp was 44 idle and 53 load for P95 1 HOUR.
ambience was 33 degree approx.
TIM : MX-2
COOLER :Hyper 212 evo.

Now  what is your ambience?


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## radeon6950 (Apr 30, 2012)

remember ram is double data rate so 800mhz is actually 800x2 i.e. 1600mhz
this is the maximum i ve pushed my 955, as it is summer with these settings i get about 57 degrees on the core.


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## $$Lionking$$ (May 1, 2012)

Keep it pushing until u reach 65(+/- 2) deg C anything after that is usually not good for a 24x7 system...

@radeon - What CPU cooler are you using???


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## radeon6950 (May 1, 2012)

i have the hyper 212 evo


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## StrYker_BLACK_E (May 1, 2012)

Thanks guys for the response.

Still working to find out a stable point in lowering the vcore from 1.52v to say 1.44v??(what do you guys say about this?) @3.8ghz, 
cpu-nb set @2600mhz(this is the max stable limit for my board)

System unstable @3.8ghz+ even after increasing the vcore to 1.55
It seems this is the max speed my cpu can deliver


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## radeon6950 (May 1, 2012)

what is your cpu-nb volts, what is you temperature while running prime95


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## StrYker_BLACK_E (May 1, 2012)

radeon6950 said:


> what is your cpu-nb volts, what is you temperature while running prime95



cpu-nb:1.20v
temp @53


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## radeon6950 (May 1, 2012)

increase your cpu-nb volts in small increments and see if you are stable also what speed is your ram running at. 

not stable as in are you getting any errors while running prime95, kindly post your hardware specs.


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## StrYker_BLACK_E (May 1, 2012)

okay will do that with 1.25v on the cpu-nb and see.

DRAM freq @533mhz
FSBRAM=3:8

there was BS error at first but now after changing the cpu-nb, cpu-nb volts & ram speed from 667mhz to 533mhz,there happens some distortion on screen n reboots


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## radeon6950 (May 1, 2012)

1. post your system config (ram specifics) manually enter your ram timings and voltage in bios
2. scrap all your overclock settings
3. start from the begining utilizing the guides that i had linked earlier

also try this before set your system back to defaults and see if you get any blue screens, if so you may have corrupted your os while overclocking.

BSOD codes for overclocking
0x101 = increase vcore
0x124 = increase/decrease QPI/VTT first, if not increase/decrease vcore...have to test to see which one it is
on i7 45nm, usually means too little VVT/QPI for the speed of Uncore
on i7 32nm SB, usually means too little vCore
0x0A = unstable RAM/IMC, increase QPI first, if that doesn't work increase vcore
0x1A = Memory management error. It usually means a bad stick of Ram. Test with Memtest or whatever you prefer. Try raising your Ram voltage
0x1E = increase vcore
0x3B = increase vcore
0x3D = increase vcore
0xD1 = QPI/VTT, increase/decrease as necessary, can also be unstable Ram, raise Ram voltage
0x9C = QPI/VTT most likely, but increasing vcore has helped in some instances
0x50 = RAM timings/Frequency or uncore multi unstable, increase RAM voltage or adjust QPI/VTT, or lower uncore if you're higher than 2x
0x109 = Not enough or too Much memory voltage
0x116 = Low IOH (NB) voltage, GPU issue (most common when running multi-GPU/overclocking GPU)
0x7E = Corrupted OS file, possibly from overclocking. Run sfc /scannow and chkdsk /r


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## StrYker_BLACK_E (May 1, 2012)

radeon6950 said:


> BSOD codes for overclocking
> 0x101 = increase vcore
> 0x124 = increase/decrease QPI/VTT first, if not increase/decrease vcore...have to test to see which one it is
> on i7 45nm, usually means too little VVT/QPI for the speed of Uncore
> ...



Wow!! Cool!!

another BS error

BCCode 124

So it will be this one right? 
"0x124 = increase/decrease QPI/VTT first, if not increase/decrease vcore...have to test to see which one it is"

now again i'm off to bios


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## doomgiver (May 1, 2012)

please shorten your sig, it gets in the way.
thanks


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## StrYker_BLACK_E (May 1, 2012)

doomgiver said:


> please shorten your sig, it gets in the way.
> thanks


Done. 
I hope its fine now


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## avichandana20000 (May 1, 2012)

^ u didn't tell me your ambient temp and also the TIM u used.


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## StrYker_BLACK_E (May 2, 2012)

avichandana20000 said:


> ^ u didn't tell me your ambient temp and also the TIM u used.



oops!
ambient room temp is 29-30d/celcius
TIM- MX-2


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## $$Lionking$$ (May 2, 2012)

StrYker_BLACK_E said:


> oops!
> ambient room temp is 29-30d/celcius
> TIM- MX-2



Adjust Load Line Calibration in BIOS to 16.xyz%-19.xyz% @ 1.4875v and then see if youre able to reach a higher speed. 

Adjusting Load Line is most of the times worth 100-150MHz...

disable CnQ too...


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## StrYker_BLACK_E (May 2, 2012)

Unstable @4.0ghz even after trying everything
increased vcore set to 1.55v 
cpu-nb @1.29v 
load line  caliberation@19%
temp goes up to 63d/c @100% load p95 and 
reboots with BS error BCCode 124.

Now running p95 stable back @3.9ghz vcore1.50v cpu-nb1.28v 
P95 load temp @62d/c


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## $$Lionking$$ (May 2, 2012)

post a cpuz shot(cpu & memory) with current settings.... did LLC help??

and is ur BIOS up to date?


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## StrYker_BLACK_E (May 2, 2012)

$$Lionking$$ said:


> post a cpuz shot(cpu & memory) with current settings.... did LLC help??
> 
> and is ur BIOS up to date?



as requested here it is current settings
CPU-Z Validator 3.1

and yes LLC did help as i could go upto 3.9ghz

updated bios to latest "2105"


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## $$Lionking$$ (May 2, 2012)

did u update bios just now?? and y is ur ram @ 533MHz is it unstable at 667? 
try 667MHz and then run SuperPI 32m to see if there is any error if u can?

P.S. My bad My bad, i thought u were doing 3900MHz without LLC...


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## StrYker_BLACK_E (May 2, 2012)

$$Lionking$$ said:


> did u update bios just now?? and y is ur ram @ 533MHz is it unstable at 667?
> try 667MHz and then run SuperPI 32m to see if there is any error if u can?
> 
> P.S. My bad My bad, i thought u were doing 3900MHz without LLC...



BIOS  already updated last year
and yeah about ram speed it was unstable @667mhz 
but will give another try+run SPI 32m

thanks for the assistance

changed ram speed back to 667 from 533mhz
ran superPI32m n completed without any error.Next up
ran prime95 @3.9ghz but was unstable @667mhz giving BCCode 0x50

so now,i'm back to the previous settings 3.9ghz@1.52v cpu-nb1.28v

I think this is the max stable oc for my cpu as clock speeds of 4.0ghz is absolutely a no go for me no matter how much i change the settings.


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## $$Lionking$$ (May 2, 2012)

really?? I think ur doing pretty well... little more tuning for RAM, HTLink & IMC and u shud be doing something between 3950Mhz - 4050Mhz. 

Try decreasing the HT Link 200MHz(1800MHz), CPU-NB to 2300-2400MHz. NB VID between 1.25-1.28... RAM - 667MHz Timing looks good.. As you have 2 memory sticks your IMC is a little more stressed than it is with 1 stick so u have to back down a little at a few places... 

Try CPU Multiplier @ 19.5. 
Then start increasing reference clock from 201MHz in steps of 1Mhz to 205MHz... 

Hopefully this will do the trick..


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## StrYker_BLACK_E (May 4, 2012)

$$Lionking$$ said:


> Try decreasing the HT Link 200MHz(1800MHz), CPU-NB to 2300-2400MHz. NB VID between 1.25-1.28... RAM - 667MHz Timing looks good.. As you have 2 memory sticks your IMC is a little more stressed than it is with 1 stick so u have to back down a little at a few places...
> 
> Try CPU Multiplier @ 19.5.
> Then start increasing reference clock from 201MHz in steps of 1Mhz to 205MHz...



Finally here is my stable OCed result..

CPU-Z Validator 3.1

*Bios settings*
Vcore:1.52500
HT/Reference Clock: x204
CPU/Nb:2400
CPU/Nb Voltage:1.30000
LoadLineCaliberation@16.125%
HT Link@200MHz
SDRAM@667MHz/ 9.9.9.22.33

Thank you guys for your help 
@radeon6950
@$$Lionking$$
@doomgiver
@Tech_wiz
@Avichandana20000


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## radeon6950 (May 4, 2012)

your htlink is too low it should be as close as possible to 2000mhz


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## StrYker_BLACK_E (May 4, 2012)

radeon6950 said:


> your htlink is too low it should be as close as possible to 2000mhz


OOkey dockey....back to BIOS again
btw...if i am able to push the htlink close to 2000mhz stable
do you think i could achieve higher clocks?? since my current settings with htlink@200mhz is stable @clock speed 3.98ghz


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## radeon6950 (May 4, 2012)

i think you have reached your max possible limit. because overclocking further will increase temps beyond 60 degrees.


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## StrYker_BLACK_E (May 4, 2012)

radeon6950 said:


> your htlink is too low it should be as close as possible to 2000mhz



too low?can you please let me know because i cannot find any other frequency stable than the 200mhz.

Not stable @ any other frequency
the only frequency stable is 200mhz
tried HT Link 
@400
@1800mhz
@2000mhz....
All settings unstable
only BCCODE 124 ERROR

what say guys....


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## radeon6950 (May 4, 2012)

provide me with a link to your ram.
set htlink @2000mhz and drop your cpu clock a bit and then try.


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## $$Lionking$$ (May 4, 2012)

You could do a little over 4GHz if you try harder...

Just a reminder - 1.275V/1.280V @ CPU-NB is very very aggressive on AIR but 1.300V - stupid.

Njoi!!


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## radeon6950 (May 4, 2012)

@lionking the max voltage limit of the cpu-nb is 1.55v same as the cpu. and for 24/7 usage it is 1.4v
i dont understand how 1.3v is really aggressive. also just to clarify we are talking about the imc and not the motherboard north bridge.


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## StrYker_BLACK_E (May 4, 2012)

radeon6950 said:


> provide me with a link to your ram.



Will this do?

*img651.imageshack.us/img651/2828/capture1bxu.png

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

*img43.imageshack.us/img43/388/capture2ig.png

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

*img192.imageshack.us/img192/9669/capture3yi.png

Uploaded with ImageShack.us


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## radeon6950 (May 4, 2012)

okay go into bios and manually set ram frequency, timings and voltage as per jedec #4.
if you're still not stable drop your cpu frequency a bit.


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## StrYker_BLACK_E (May 4, 2012)

radeon6950 said:


> okay go into bios and manually set ram frequency, timings and voltage as per jedec #4.
> if you're still not stable drop your cpu frequency a bit.



timings & voltage manually set but not frequency as the options for this are
400mhz
533mhz
667mhz
800mhz

and my current mem timings are
680mhz
9
9
9
25
34

i guess i should just select 667mhz right?


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## $$Lionking$$ (May 4, 2012)

radeon6950 - Well Thubans are toast @ 1.45-1.5v on IMC... @ln2.. 1.3v is what u shud be doing on air max!!.... Denebs are not gng to be much different in my experience... 1.325/1.35v Max probably but again that wud be on coolers like Truright/NHD14/V10...

@Stryker - increase ram voltage a little bit at this same setting... drop ur cpu nb to 2200 or 2000 keep it at 1.3v. Increase HTLink to 1600 or 1800MHz and run 256K FFTs in prime95....


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## radeon6950 (May 4, 2012)

@stryker when running prime95 open cpu-z and watch the voltage reading at idle and at load. you may have to further tweak llc setting.
after googling your motherboard, a lot of people are having troubles with vcore fluctuation, some run llc at 19% (ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO and M4A785TD-M EVO AM3 Motherboards Review - Page 18) whereas some found a more stable overclock at 0% llc. ([Solved] CPU Over Voltage Asus M4A785TD-V Evo/US36), and some suggest llc 38% (M4A785TD-V EVO wild voltage fluctuation range)


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## StrYker_BLACK_E (May 4, 2012)

radeon6950 said:


> @stryker when running prime95 open cpu-z and watch the voltage reading at idle and at load. you may have to further tweak llc setting.
> after googling your motherboard, a lot of people are having troubles with vcore fluctuation, some run llc at 19% (ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO and M4A785TD-M EVO AM3 Motherboards Review - Page 18) whereas some found a more stable overclock at 0% llc. ([Solved] CPU Over Voltage Asus M4A785TD-V Evo/US36), and some suggest llc 38% (M4A785TD-V EVO wild voltage fluctuation range)



That is absolutely correct!my board's vcore fluctuates too even with the latest bios update 
thanks for the links.will hava look at it first


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## Tech_Wiz (May 4, 2012)

I think it can go higher. I have hit 4018 Mhz mark with 1.5v


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## StrYker_BLACK_E (May 5, 2012)

OC result: 4.4GHZ

 CPU-Z Validator 3.1

*img812.imageshack.us/img812/8596/captureihm.png

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Other settings:
CPU-Nb frequency:2691.2
CPU Vcore:1.53125v
Load line caliberation:19.35%
Disabled Smart Q-Fan,CnQ & C1e support
Advanced Clock Caliberation: All Cores
100% Load Temperature (Prime 95 50mins)@62/63 degree celcius


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## radeon6950 (May 5, 2012)

glad you got it stable. looking at your post of 4.4ghz i was like
then seen the pic and found out that its 4.04ghz. cheers now play some games like battlefield bad company 2, crysis, crysis 2 with dx11 patch and high res textures. if it crashes you may have to tweak your voltage or drop your clocks a bit.


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## StrYker_BLACK_E (May 5, 2012)

radeon6950 said:


> glad you got it stable. looking at your post of 4.4ghz i was like
> then seen the pic and found out that its 4.04ghz. cheers now play some games like battlefield bad company 2, crysis, crysis 2 with dx11 patch and high res textures. if it crashes you may have to tweak your voltage or drop your clocks a bit.



4.4ghz or 4.04ghz ....doesn't matter as i have been stuck on 3.8ghz and  didn't have a clue to proceed further
but thanks to you guys' assistance + a lil' effort n patience from my side
i have achieved my target of 4.0ghz mark.

thank you once again 
@radeon6950
@$$Lionking$$
@doomgiver
@Tech_wiz
@Avichandana20000


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## Tech_Wiz (May 5, 2012)

Guwahati effect on OC temps lol...32 Deg Idle. Mine Does at 46 Deg thanks to 38 Deg Ambient. Going to try push it to 4.5 Ghz


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## StrYker_BLACK_E (May 5, 2012)

Tech_Wiz said:


> Guwahati effect on OC temps lol...32 Deg Idle. Mine Does at 46 Deg thanks to 38 Deg Ambient. Going to try push it to 4.5 Ghz



4.04ghz is enough for now.mayb try to push 8 further after adding a water cooler if 8 survives till next year


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## sukesh1090 (May 5, 2012)

@StrYker_BLACK_E,
 hey buddy 1.525 is too much on air.don't go beyond 1.5v on air that too for 24X7.better stop it at 1.45-1.475v not more than that.btw try to bump your NB speed bit by bit and see if you can go further with v core strictly below 1.5v.i read somewhere that NB speed affects hugely on the processor speed and stability but i forgot ok here it is.give it a complete read.
btw i was able to get my 955 stable 4.2Ghz @ 1.45v temp was around 60C under load but now running at 3.2 @ 1.25v with load temp at 47-48GHz for 1 hr prime 95 testing.btw one more thing there is no need of running prime 95 for 8hr only one hour is more than enough.none of your daily applications will stress your processor that much as prime 95 do.


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## StrYker_BLACK_E (May 6, 2012)

sukesh1090 said:


> @StrYker_BLACK_E,
> hey buddy 1.525 is too much on air.don't go beyond 1.5v on air that too for 24X7.better stop it at 1.45-1.475v not more than that.btw try to bump your NB speed bit by bit and see if you can go further with v core strictly below 1.5v.i read somewhere that NB speed affects hugely on the processor speed and stability but i forgot ok here it is.give it a complete read.
> btw i was able to get my 955 stable 4.2Ghz @ 1.45v temp was around 60C under load but now running at 3.2 @ 1.25v with load temp at 47-48GHz for 1 hr prime 95 testing.btw one more thing there is no need of running prime 95 for 8hr only one hour is more than enough.none of your daily applications will stress your processor that much as prime 95 do.



gosh!!i went off the limit @1.525 temp@63
i checked my cpu specifications  on amd website and guess what
maximum temps@62
AMD Processors for Desktops: AMD Phenom?, AMD Athlon? FX, AMD Athlon? X2 Dual-Core, AMD Athlon?, and AMD Sempron? Processor

will start from the beginning. 
thanks for the link and your advise.

btw p95 was not run for 8hrs only around 50mins. it was a typo by me too.should have type as 50mins instead of 5hrs


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## $$Lionking$$ (May 6, 2012)

ur temps are fine the 62 deg C temps ure seeing are off by around 5-10 deg C.. 

also 62 deg C is probably core temp limit not package temp limit... coz ive myself done 84 deg C on package and have seen people doing upto 79 deg C... ur fyn... ur temp when reported 62 must be around 55 deg C... This temp reading is from probe under the socket...


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## topgear (May 16, 2012)

StrYker_BLACK_E said:


> OC result: 4.4GHZ
> 
> CPU-Z Validator 3.1
> 
> ...



Disable ACC - this won't aid in your OCing anyway - this is only needed to unlock cores on some specific cpus only.


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## Tech_Wiz (May 16, 2012)

I am running Stable @ 4.2GHz with all settings at defaults.

Only change is Multi to 20.5 & vCore @1.5v 

Temps I am getting are 38-44 Deg Idle (Depending upon time of day)

And I am also using 212 EVO. So there is still head room of 200 Mhz for you to catch up 

After 2 hrs of gaming it goes to 56-58 Deg. So I am happy with it.


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## $$Lionking$$ (May 16, 2012)

Tech_Wiz - Tune the HT & NB properly for more speed & performance.


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## Tech_Wiz (May 16, 2012)

What numbers I should be looking at? i.e. from 2000 to 2400 etc?


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## topgear (May 17, 2012)

I think this guide would be really helpful :

Bulldozer Overclocking Guide (Performance Scaling Charts, max OCs)LN2 Results coming!


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