covtops

Hey guys, I´m an overclocking noob and in need of some guidance...

I´ve recently been converted to a PC gamer and just bought a pretty decent new system:

Phenom II X3 720
ASUS M4A78 PRO
4GB OCZ Gold Edition DDR2 @ 1066
1TB Seagate HDD
BFG GTX 275
OCZ StealthXstream 600w Power Supply
Antec 900 Case with all fans on low

being that the 720 is a black edition I thought´d I´d give some mild overclocking a go, but have run into a problem. I´ve set the multiplier to 16x
and things have been smooth for a while, but only recently have I begun to get bsods after about an hour or so of gaming. bsods that im 100% are because of the overclock. I ´ve read that I should increase the cpu voltage a tad everytime you increase the multiplier but i didnt know that. the real problem is that I have no idea how to do so, the bios wants me to put a number using direct input with no other info to go by but minimum is 0.8000 and interval is 0,0125.
I can only but 4 digits, so i just wanted to ask some experts instead of frying my system.

Also would like to know approximately how far I can take it if i were to do a serious overclock? I´d be more than happy with 3.5Ghz ... Is it possible with my specs?

Thanks for the help guys!

_02

That will depend.

With a gigabyte UD4P 790XT motherboard, I can get the 790be to 3.2 *WITHOUT* increasing the voltage at all, stable. You should only increase the voltage when increasing the multiplier makes the computer unstable.

3.2 on stock volts seems to be common.

Stock voltage should be 1.35 (nominal voltage is 0.875v-1.5v) 1.5v being the max.

I can boot into windows and run prime for a while and test 3Dmark at up to 3.66ghz @ 1.4 volts using just the multiplier. I haven't been able to hit 3.7 but I haven't begun to play with it yet.

Edit - also watch your temperatures. Increase in voltage = increase in temperature. You could be stable, but after an hour reaching very high temps, especially if you are using the stock heatsink, which sucks.

I don't think many people have gotten it too far above 3.7

__________________

fortesquieu

That's odd. You should be able to get to 3.2GHz with no voltage increased. I got to 3.5GHz with 4 cores @ 1.45v(stable) by increasing ONLY the multiplier.

I think you should get some temp monitoring softwares, to check how high the temp goes when you game for an hour. Then go from there.

_02

Double post somehow, sorry

__________________

_02

Congrats on the 4th core fortesquieu, mine did *not* unlock, but I didn't expect it to.

Great processor.

OP -

Personally, I use coretemp to monitor my temps, but everest, speedfan, HWMonitor should all do the trick.

coretemp
http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

hwmonitor
http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

Everest free
http://majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

__________________

fortesquieu

Yes, I'm using all those softwares too!

bharat

I am trying to OC my 720BE using AMD Overdrive

When i change the multiplier to 15 and say Apply the sustem just hangs or reboots!!

what could be wrong?

fortesquieu

Don't overclock using softwares, not recommended. Try doing it through your bios.

_02

^ BIOS is the best method.

Update your BIOS and dl the most recent version of overdrive. If all else fails just use the bios!

__________________

bharat

overdrive is the latest one

i will upgrade the BIOS tonite and try again using the BIOS

i want to get it to 3.2 and be stable ... may be more when i get a good cpu cooler ... currently waiting for a good deal to come by