Overclocking my AMD Phenom II 960T x4 Black Edition (new to this) - Page 2

Try cpu-z 1.60.1 or redownload 1.61.

http://hwbot.org/forum/showthread.php?p=184216#post184216

N3, looks good but easy on the oc. your board is 4+1 phase. here read this thread if you get a chance . . .

http://www.overclock.net/t/946407/amd-motherboard-vrm-information-list

i suggest to not run prime at that oc. congrats and - you are not an idiot.

edit: if your board does support core unlock - don't use it. just a suggestion.

Welcome to ocn!

http://www.overclock.net/t/1189945/amd-zosma-960t-1600t-1605t-cpu-club
Edited by rdr09 - 7/5/12 at 5:28am

Download Speccy for temps: http://www.piriform.com/speccy/download
Download Prime95 for stability check: http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/
And maybe IBT for more stability check: http://majorgeeks.com/IntelBurnTest_d5987.html

I would say start my overclocking the north bridge (NB) without changing its voltage. AMD CPUs like a fast NB. The NB voltage is usually shown in the BIOS as "CPU/NB Voltage". Which is confusing. The default NB clock should be 2GHz/ multiplier of 10. Look for that. Don't confuse it with the 2GHz HT link.

When increasing the bus speed, or "HT Ref Clock" above 200MHz you are overclocking everything, including the RAM, NB, HT link, and CPU.

The RAM, NB, HT link and CPU have multipliers (I think it's slightly different for RAM, it works in ratios, but it also depends on bus speed). The multiplier * the HT ref clock = the speed of that device.

That's why it's best to increase the NB and CPU frequencies without changing the HT Ref Clock too much. You want to overclock one device at a time, and you always want to keep the HT link frequency as close to 2GHz as possible (so if you increase the HT ref clock, decrease the HT link multiplier to like 9 or something, instead of 10. This is both for stability and performance).

You also want to keep your RAM as close to its factory frequency as possible until you're finished OCing your CPU.

So start by increasing the NB multiplier, most people are fine to go straight to 2.4 or 2.6GHz with the NB frequency (multiplier of 12 or 13) without changing NB voltage but I would say take it 1 small step at a time. Some are good to go to 2.8 or even 3 but personally I don't like increasing voltage very much (if you overvolt your north bridge, don't go higher than 1.25V on it). Make sure the NB clock is stable by using prime95 or Intel Burn Test.

Next, when you're happy with your NB clock, move on to overclocking your CPU. Looks like you already got a lovely 4.4GHz on there, I don't know how long you tested for stability though, and how this stability will stack up with a higher NB frequency. It also looks like you've got a HT link of roughly 2.3GHz, I would say decrease your HT link multiplier down to 8, decreasing it to 2.08GHz (since your ht ref clock is 260MHz). I haven't seen your memory speed but make sure it's close to factory settings as possible.

Now, incrementally increase your CPU multiplier. I would say start at 3.8GHz because that's an easily achievable clock speed by a 960T. Keep going until it's unstable in prime95 then increase voltage up from stock until it is stable again. Don't go above 1.45V on the CPU.

I hope this helped, and happy OCing

EDIT: So, CPUz doesn't say it's at 3.9GHz? I would say pay attention to what your BIOS is saying.

Also, I have just read that your motherboard has a 4+1 phase design. Be very cautious with increasing voltage.
Edited by Edge Of Pain - 7/5/12 at 5:51am

I'm in Ubuntu at the moment, can't go into Windows and I don't quite remember. Try in one of the drop down menus at the top of the window. The should be something like torture test or blend or something like that.

GA-MA770T-ES3/D3L 4+1 but supports up to 140W? How mutch voltage will take a 125w chip to 140?

Ts, how is it going?