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BIOS setup for overclocking the P35 Diamond motherboard. Exploring the overclocking nuances of AMD Vishera Cell Menu processors P35 Platinum motherboard

BIOS menu system board P35 Platinum. All performance-related functions, except for peripherals (peripherals), system time (time), power management (power management), are in the “Cell Menu”. Users who wish to adjust the frequency of the processor, memory, or other devices (such as graphics card bus and southbridge) can use this menu.

Remember that if you are not familiar with the BIOS settings, in order to quickly complete all the settings, it is recommended to perform the “Load Optimized Defaults” item (load the optimal settings), which will ensure normal work systems. Before overclocking, we recommend users to complete this item first, and then make fine adjustments.

Cell Menu Board P35 Platinum

All settings related to overclocking are located in the "Cell Menu" section, which includes:

Intel EIST
Adjust CPU FSB Frequency
CPU Ratio CMOS Setting
Advanced DRAM Configuration (special DRAM configuration)
FSB/Memory Ratio
PCIEx4 Speed Controller (PCIEx4 speed control)
Adjust PCIE Frequency
Auto Disable DIMM/PCI Frequency ( automatic shutdown DIMM/PCI frequencies)
CPU Voltage (CPU supply voltage)
Memory Voltage
VTT FSB Voltage (voltage VTT FSB)
NB Voltage (Northbridge voltage)
SB I/O Power (Southbridge I/O Power)
SB Core Power (Southbridge core power)
Spread Spectrum (Clock Spectrum Limitation)

The user interface of the Cell Menu is very simple. Related features it is combined into groups. Users can match parameter values and make settings step by step.

Before overclocking, please set the functions“ D.O.T. control” and “Intel EIST” to “Disabled” state (Default is Enabled). These settings allow you to set custom values for the processor supply voltage and system bus frequency. After disabling these functions, the option “ CPU Ratio CMOS Setting” .

1. CPU frequency: After loading the optimal settings, this option will automatically show the CPU frequency. For example, for a processor Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 will show “333 (MHz)”. The frequency setting can be done with the numeric keys or the “Page Up” and “Page Down” keys. When adjusting, the value displayed in gray font “Adjusted CPU Frequency” will change according to the set frequency.

2. CPU frequency multiplier: Depending on the nominal frequency of the processor, for example, 1333MHz, 1066MHz and 800MHz, the range of multiplier values will be different.

3. Special DRAM configuration: This option is for setting the duration of the memory delay. The smaller its value, the higher the speed of operation. However, the limit of its increase depends on the quality of the memory modules.

Advice: If you are using commercially available overclockable memory modules, we recommend that you go to "Cell Menu" > Advanced DRAM Configuration > Configure DRAM Timing by SPD, set this option to Disable, then you will see 9 additional custom options to improve memory performance.

4. FSB/Memory Ratio (Frequency Ratio of FSB and Memory) : This setting determines the relationship between the FSB and memory frequencies. When set to ”Auto”, the memory frequency will be equal to the processor frequency. When setting a custom value, please follow the 1:1.25 rule. For example, a processor with a frequency of 1333MHz and DDR2-800 memory. Then 1333MHz / 4 x 1.25 x 2 = 833MHz and the DDR2 frequency will be 833MHz.

5. Adjust PCIE Frequency : Usually, the clock frequency PCI bus Express has no direct connection to overclocking; nevertheless, her fine tuning, also, can help overclocking. (The default value is 100. It is not recommended to set this value to more than 120 as it may damage the graphics card.)

6. CPU Voltage (CPU supply voltage): This item plays a crucial role in overclocking, however, due to the complexity of the relationship, it is not so easy to pick it up. the best setting. We recommend that users perform this setting with caution, as an incorrect value may cause processor failure. According to our experience, when using a good fan, it is not necessary to set this value to the limit value. For example, for Core 2 Duo E6850, it is recommended to set the supply voltage to 1.45~1.5V.

7. Memory Voltage (memory supply voltage): Since the memory is controlled by the Northbridge, the memory supply voltage should be increased at the same time as the supply voltage of the main nodes. Of course, the limit of this increase depends on the quality of the memory modules.

8. VTT FSB Voltage (supply voltage VTT FSB): To ensure that all major components of the system have close operating voltages, the VTT FSB supply voltage must also be increased. This value should not be too high, so as not to cause undesirable effects.

9. NB Voltage (Northbridge supply voltage): The Northbridge plays the most important role in overclocking. Maintaining the stability of the processor, memory and graphics card can be achieved by increasing this voltage. We recommend that users fine-tune this setting.

10. SB I/O Power (South Bridge I/O Power): The southbridge controls the connection peripherals and expansion cards, which play a more important role on new platforms from Intel. The default voltage value for the ICH9R is 1.5V, which determines the I/O voltage setting for peripherals. We recommend increasing the voltage to 1.7~1.8V, which will increase the stability of the connection between the North and South bridges, as well as help overclocking.

11. SB Core Power (South Bridge Core Voltage): Previously, during overclocking, the Southbridge was ignored, however, as the supply voltage increases, it improves performance.

It should be remembered that MSI highlights the values of the settings in different colors: gray indicates the default settings, white indicates safe values, dangerous ones are highlighted in red.

Adviсe: MSI Warning: Check fan speed frequently. Good cooling plays a decisive role in overclocking.

Good day, fellow overclockers and future overclockers, as well as just readers.

In this article I will write how to overclock the AMD Phenom II x4 965BE processor. I'm not going to put forward this scribble as the only, inimitable and unmistakable instruction for overclocking. I tried to write it in the most simple and understandable language. All conclusions and recommendations here are based on my personal experience and observations, as well as numerous FAQs of overclocking forums, reading and analyzing various articles on overclocking, and, of course, sharing experiences when communicating on various overclocking forums.

In this article, you will not find any philosophical reflections on the nature of overclocking, its goals and objectives, etc.

Here I will share my overclocking experience in a simple, ordinary language and give a number of recommendations and tips.

I warn you in advance that the article is intended for computer-literate people who more or less understand the slang of computer scientists who can independently disassemble / assemble from components system unit who understand and distinguish processors at least by their names, who know their main characteristics, who can get into and dig a little into the BIOS, but nonetheless- not understanding (poorly understanding) or only beginning to understand in acceleration.

already experienced people, they won’t find anything new from this article - except that they can “shake up” the memory a little, and point out to me the errors they found.

Now about mistakes. Since I am human, I can make mistakes. The more you notice them, the better. Write here - and I will correct them. With your help, this article can become even better, even more informative. If you think that I have not sufficiently covered some issues - also write.

In fact, I should have written this instruction a long time ago - two or three years ago. For one reason or another, it didn't work. The main reason, of course, is a powerful laziness. Moreover, there are still people who are interested in overclocking processors with a hairdryer2.

As expected in any article on overclocking - discamer :

I remind you that you act at your own peril and risk. I am not responsible for your manipulations (after reading my and not my article too) with your and not your computer and for the negative and positive consequences that follow them.

The reason for creating this article is that newcomers come to me for advice on overclocking processors, specifically the AMD Phenom II (hereinafter referred to as simply phenom2). It should also be taken into account that I remember my young self, when I did not know how and did not know anything. And I didn't even know there was such a thing.

A little about myself [ I strongly recommend skipping this part, because it does not carry anything useful].

[By the way, a question to everyone - maybe this part should be deleted? Maybe the article doesn't need it at all?]

I started overclocking for the first time since 2008 - my first processor Intel Pentium Dual Core E 2160 , on my own - without reading the relevant materials and knowing anything - even surprisingly, I gradually overclocked the bus to ~ 2400 MHz - then I didn’t know at all that the core voltage should be increased. But anyway - the motherboard was a frank UG with a poor bios, which only allowed changing the bus, while the voltage was locked. Then I bought a good motherboard for MSI(I don’t remember the name for a long time) and it seems to be (as it seemed to me then) excellent at least - outwardly, as it seemed to me then the cooler Asus Triton 75 which actually turned out to be bullshit and overclocked with an increase in voltage up to ~ 3300 MHz. Then I bought an expensive one in those days Zalman CNPS 9700 A LED. In those days, I didn’t even know that mosfets tend to heat up when the voltage increases, and in general I didn’t know anything about how the processor is powered, what temperature limits and throttling are, what FAKs are, and so on - in general with the Internet in our the city in those days everything was very sad.

Accordingly, then I did not read any articles and forums because there was no Internet. I had to learn everything by experience - slowly but surely. It's amazing that I didn't burn anything back then. The reason for this, most likely, was that I unconsciously applied the slow overclocking technique. I had no idea about stability testing processor and memory. I did not know at all that they were overclocking the video card :-)

Along the way, I was forced to overclock the RAM - there is only one FSB, you understand. A year later, I changed the platform to AMD, purchased an overclocker (as it seemed to me then) memory kit Kingston HyperX 1066 MHz, mother gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD3P(by the way - a great motherboard), well, the processor PhenomII x 3 710 2600 MHz. Especially for overclocking. Only then did I start to read (only read, and then only from time to time) the site overclockers.ru

Over time, the mother changed to gigabyte GA-890XA-UD3- also an excellent overclocker's mother. Now I’m thinking - why did I change my mother - the north bridge is the same in both cases 790X, southern with SB 750 changed to SB 850 . In fact, there was no difference.

I went through three processors, stupidly buying and selling in turn (there is still no store in our city that would practice such a wonderful feature as "moneyback") PhenomII x 3 710 , one processor PhenomII x 3 720BE- and all this for the sake of getting the cherished as it seemed to me then 4 GHz. Did not work out. As I now understand, the first revisions of PhenomII were the culprit. All of them steadily expanded to full-fledged PhenomII x 4 . But, their maximum frequency ceiling was different - from 3400 to 3700 MHz. Dancing with a tambourine around bios, voltages, etc. etc., including in the mode of disabling several cores, did not help. As a result, I bought a 6-core freshly released and slightly lowered prices PhenomII x 6 1090 BE. Here he immediately took a stable 4000 MHz without a market at an acceptable voltage. At 4100-4200 MHz I went into Windows, but there was no stability. By the way, for this I changed the cooler to "folk" and very popular (and even now it seems) then Scythe Mugen 2 Rev . B(thanks to the then voting on the overclockers.ru forum - "The best tower cooler").

Having received the coveted 4 GHz on the Phenom2, my interest in overclocking has somewhat decreased. And I thought that it would be nice to transfer to the then freshest socket 1155 - and I, having sold with a hairdryer, bought a processor Intel Core i 5 2500 K. By that time, I made friends with one store and went through three such processors and found the "same percent" that gave stable 5 GHz in air.

To do this, I ordered a top-end motherboard in the same store MSI P 67 A - GD 80 (only half a year later, an expensive Big Bang-Marshal). But then I saw a wonderful fee - ASRock P 67 Extreme 6 ( B 3) - I immediately took it - only because of 10 internal sata ports (at that time I had just 10 pieces of 3.5 "hards saved up). Again, there were great buttons clear _ cmos , power , reset(and I sold the MSI GD80). Also in the same store I ordered and took the then best cooler in the world =) thermal right Silver Arrow- which is still the best, if you hang a couple of points on it TR TY -150 . Since the stable 5 GHz (at the recommended 1.40 V) was already conquered, I set the processor to the "economical" 4200 MHz at 1.32 V. What's strange, after half a year, he stopped holding 5 GHz, despite the sorcery-digging in the BIOS. Well, okay - it happens, I thought about it and safely forgot about it.

Then, over time, I took for tests Noctua NH - D 14 , TR Archon, Well Zalman CNPS 10 X Flex, "for reference", so to speak. And wrote Three Kings...

Over time, I got more Archons So I have five in total. I borrowed a couple more pieces from the store - there were seven in total. And I wrote a Comparison of seven Archons ...

And then several people wrote to me that it would be nice to cover the topic of overclocking processors with a hair dryer2. This is what will be discussed.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So - back to our sheep phenomena.

So, you have a phenom2 x4 965BE processor. Recall that the letters BE mean Black Edition, that is, multipliers unlocked upwards, mainly CPU and CPU / NB.

You must also have a good CPU cooler and a good motherboard. This the necessary conditions For safe and stable overclocking. This is especially important when the processor is heavily loaded for a long time.

IMHO, whether a particular cooler is suitable for overclocking can be determined in two ways:

You can determine whether the motherboard is suitable for overclocking offhand - by the presence / absence of heatsinks on food chains, also called mosfets ( field effect transistors, field workers). Also, the suitability of the motherboard for overclocking can be directly determined by number of phases nutrition processor. The bigger, the better.

You also need a PSU with some excess power - because after overclocking, the processor begins to consume more energy. I spoke more about this. I strongly recommend reading it, in order to avoid the emergence of "unnecessary" questions.

Overclocking, in theory, is very easy. We have a Phenom2 x4 965BE processor that has a nominal multiplier of 17 and therefore a nominal clock speed of 17 x 200 MHz = 3400 MHz. The nominal voltage of the processor is 1.40 V.

There are two ways to overclock the processor: by the bus and by the multiplier. More about them below.

1. Overclocking on the bus. How to do?

The nominal bus frequency is 200 MHz. By increasing it, we can increase the final frequency of the processor. For example, let's increase from 200 MHz to 230 MHz. Then, with a nominal processor multiplier equal to 17, we have a final frequency of 17 x 230 MHz = 3910 MHz. And we got an increase of 3910-3400 = 510 MHz.

But, just like that, the processor at its nominal voltage (equal to 1.40 V) will not take this frequency of 3910 MHz - stupidly there will not be enough power for the processor - to operate at this frequency. Therefore it is necessary A little increase the voltage. I took a frequency of 3910 MHz only as example, because for each processor overclocking ceiling individual as well as voltage, at which the percent will take this frequency.

Let's take three identical processor - let's say the first one will easily take 4 GHz, at a voltage of 1.46 V.

The second processor, also let's say, will master 4 GHz only with strong "stoking" - a voltage of 1.50 V.

And the third processor, for example, will take a maximum of 1.38 GHz - no matter how we increase the voltage.

Conclusion: overclocking is a lottery. Each processor has its own overclocking potential.

Before overclocking, through the BIOS, turn off all power saving features. These bios functions work on the machine, independently setting the processor supply voltage and its frequency. The purpose of these energy saving technologies- save power when the computer is idle, by reducing the multiplier to 4 (4 x 200 MHz = 800 MHz), and the voltage applied per percent, therefore, reducing the overall power consumption of the system.

It is not uncommon for an overclocked processor to work incorrectly due to these features. Therefore, they should be turned off.

In the bios, they hide under the names Cool " n " quiet, and C 1 E- they should be put out of position.

Photo energo-enabled

1.1. Bus overclocking technique

1. We go into the bios. We reset everything to default with the F2 or F5 or F8 or F9 key, etc. - Each motherboard is different. We save and exit.

2. We go into the bios.

We look at the part that is responsible for overclocking. In my case, everything looks like this:

We remember (beginners can also write down on a piece of paper) these numbers:

Current CPU Speed- current processor frequency.

target CPU Speed- the frequency of the processor, which we set at the moment.

Current Memory Frequency- current frequency of RAM.

Current NB Frequency- the current frequency of the memory controller built into the processor and the cache memory of the third level (L3), it is also called CPU / NB. It is this frequency that decides at what speed the processor and RAM will "talk". The CPU/NB frequency can also be overclocked - and the increase from it is more noticeable than with a similar overclocking of the processor itself.

Current HT Link Speed- current frequency of the Hyper Transport bus (hereinafter - HT), which connects the northbridge and the processor. Although initially the real frequencies of CPU / NB and HT are equal - the effective speed (more precisely - throughput) the HT bus is so big (5.2 billion frames per second) that it doesn't even need overclocking.

In addition, its architecture is such that the HT frequency cannot be higher than the CPU/NB frequency. Therefore, only the CPU / NB should be overclocked, and the HT frequency should be left at its nominal value - 2000 MHz.

3. Now we start fixing the necessary parameters:

AI Overclock Tuner- from set to, that is, we transfer automatic overclocking to manual mode. This allows us to control the bus frequency.

CPU Ratio- we translate the multiplier of the processor from to , using the "plus" and "minus" keys. That is, we fix / fix the nominal multiplier - so that the BIOS does not “accidentally” change it automatically.

CPU Bus Frequency- we set the proca bus from - these are nominal 200 MHz.

PCI - E Frequency- PCI-E bus fixed at nominal 100 MHz.

Memory Frequency- the memory frequency is fixed on native 1333 MHz.

CPU / NB Frequency- the frequency is fixed on native 2000 MHz.

HT Link Speed- also fixed on native 2000 MHz.

CPU Spread Spectrum- set to - disable the feature that reduces EMP from the computer, this gives stability during overclocking. Why - read.

PCI - E Spread Spectrum- also put in - purely for reinsurance.

EPU power Saving mode- Energy-saving technology from Asus, which allows you to regulate the power consumption of motherboard components. As I wrote above - in a state of overclocking - all sorts of "energy savers" are evil, so we put it in .

Then there are voltage adjustments (subsection digi + VRM) - here we touch only those that are directly responsible for controlling the processor voltage. This:

CPU Voltage Frequency- translate from position set to - for manual voltage adjustment.

CPU & NB Voltage-translate from to - this allows you to manually directly specify the voltage of the processor. In the mode, the processor voltage is indicated by an offset (plus or minus) relative to rated voltage, which is, as the photo clearly shows - 1.368 V. And such an adjustment is of no use to us - it only confuses beginners more.

CPU Manual Voltage- using the "plus" and "minus" keys, fix the rated voltage - 1.368750 V.

This is how we fixed all the nominal voltages of the computer so that no bios automation could change them. Save bios and reboot.

4. Let's go to the OS.

Download and install the most fresh/latest versions programs:

- CPU - Z- to monitor the state of the processor - the multiplier and the final frequency of the processor, as well as its voltage.

- Core Temp- to monitor the temperature of the processor.

- Lin X- a program for creating maximum load on the processor. This program loads the processor with a system of linear algebraic equations, which load all the processor cores evenly to the eyeballs, since they are well parallelized.

For more or less accurate testing of processor stability on the specified bundle [frequency CPU - voltage CPU ] in principle, it is enough to specify 10 runs in the LinX program settings, using more than 50% of the total RAM. With 8 GB of memory, I recommend using 5 GB of memory.

In the picture below, I have indicated, as you can see, 10 runs using 1 GB of memory (1024 MiB). MiB (mebibyte) is the same Russian megabyte - 2 20, but according to the IEC standard. So there is no difference and you should not be afraid.

5. Open CPU-Z, Core Temp and Linx. We put their windows side by side so that they do not interfere with each other.

We start LinX in 10 runs.

After we reboot.

6. We go into the bios.

And increase CPU Bus Frequency c 200 to 210 MHz.

As you can see the parameter target CPU Speed simultaneously increases to 3570 MHz. Those. we overclocked the CPU to this frequency from the nominal 3400 MHz.

Memory - 1399 MHz.

CPU / NB and HT - 2100 MHz each.

under the word " not much different" means that they fall within (+/-) 100 MHz from the nominal frequencies.

7. Let's go to the OS.

We start LinX in 10 runs.

To make a photo!!!

And we look at how much the maximum warms up the processor. We remember the performance of the processor in Gflops.

After we reboot.

8. We go into the bios.

And increase CPU Bus Frequency c 210 to 220 MHz.

As you can see the parameter target CPU Speed simultaneously increases to 3740 MHz. Those. we overclocked the CPU to this frequency from the nominal 3400 MHz.

Memory became 1466 MHz.

CPU / NB and HT steel at 2200 MHz.

Therefore, so that the memory frequencies do not "raise" too high relative to the nominal 1333 MHz, we reduce it as in the pictures below (this can also be done with the plus and minus keys) to 1172 MHz.

We start LinX in 10 runs.

And we look at how much the maximum warms up the processor. We remember the performance of the processor in Gflops.

After we reboot.

10. We go into the bios.

And increase CPU Bus Frequency c 220 to 230 MHz.

As you can see the parameter target CPU Speed simultaneously increases to 3910 MHz. Those. we overclocked the CPU to this frequency from the nominal 3400 MHz.

At the same time, the memory, CPU/NB and HT frequencies also increase.

Memory - 1225 MHz.

CPU / NB and HT - 2070 MHz each.

The frequencies of the memory, CPU/NB and HT do not differ much from the nominal ones - that's why we don't touch them.

Save and reload.

11. Let's go to the OS.

We start LinX in 10 runs.

And we look at how much the maximum warms up the processor. We remember the performance of the processor in Gflops.

After we reboot.

12. We go into the bios.

And increase CPU Bus Frequency c 230 to 240 MHz.

As you can see the parameter target CPU Speed simultaneously increases to 4080 MHz. Those. we overclocked the CPU to this frequency from the nominal 3400 MHz.

But - at the same time, the frequencies of memory, CPU / NB and HT are also growing.

Memory became 1279 MHz. We do not touch it, since it enters the interval 1333 MHz (+/-) 100 MHz.

CPU / NB and HT steel at 2160 MHz.

We reduce the CPU / NB and HT frequencies to an acceptable 1920 MHz. Let me remind you that the nominal frequencies of CPU/NB and HT are 2000 MHz.

Thus, when overclocking via the bus, we constantly have to make sure that the CPU / NB and HT memory frequencies do not deviate too far from the nominal ones. Why - I will explain later.

Save and reload.

13. Let's go to the OS.

Oops! Suddenly arises blue screen death - this means one thing - for a given processor frequency ( 4080 MHz) exposed processor voltage in the BIOS (according to clause 3) - 1.368750 V- lacks.

We press the button reset and reboot.

14. We go into the bios.

According to item 3, we find the parameter CPU Manual Voltage- and again using the "plus" and "minus" keys we increase and fix the voltage - 1.381250 V.

Save and reload.

Continued tomorrow.

Introduction

Our readers are probably familiar with the overclocking potential AMD processors Phenome II. We have published many tests, reviews and comparisons, various detailed guides that allow you to get similar results at home (for example, "").

But for our tests on Socket AM2+ or AM3 platforms, overclocking AMD processors with extreme liquid nitrogen cooling we used Black Edition Phenom II models, and for good reason. These unlocked processors are specifically aimed at enthusiasts who want to get the most out of their purchased CPU.

But this time we will pay attention to overclocking a processor with a locked multiplier. And for our task, we took a three-core AMD Phenom II X3 710, which costs about $ 100 () and operates at a frequency of 2.6 GHz. Of course, this is not to say that the processor lacks performance in normal mode, and three cores provide good potential. However, the processor multiplier is locked, so overclocking is not as easy as Black Edition models (the unlocked Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition runs at 2.8 GHz and costs from 4000 rubles in Russia).

What is a locked multiplier processor? You will not be able to increase the multiplier above the stock value, and also, in the case of AMD processors, also the CPU voltage VID (voltage ID).

Let's look at the standard formula: clock speed = CPU multiplier x base frequency. Since we cannot increase the CPU multiplier, we will have to work with the base frequency. This, in turn, will increase the frequency of the HT (HyperTransport) interface, northbridge and memory, since they all depend on the base frequency. If you want to update the terminology or frequency calculation schemes, we recommend that you refer to the article " Overclocking AMD Processors: THG Guide ".

To cool the retail version of the Phenom II processor, we decided to abandon the "boxed" cooler in the package and took the Xigmatek HDT-S1283. However, in the hope of overclocking the processor as much as the Black Edition model, we wanted to find a motherboard capable of delivering a high base frequency. As a result of our comparative testing of motherboards for AMD processors The winner in this area is the MSI 790FX-GD70, so it should take us to the limits of AMD's air-cooled processor.

In this article, we will take a detailed look at different ways overclocking of a processor with a locked multiplier, including normal overclocking through the BIOS, through the AMD OverDrive utility and through the proprietary MSI OC Dial feature on the 790FX-GD70 motherboard. We will consider in detail all three methods, compare their ease and the results obtained. Finally, we'll run some small performance tests to evaluate the gains from overclocking the CPU, Northbridge (NB), and memory.

In each overclocking scenario, we first disabled Cool'n'Quiet, C1E, and Spread Spectrum in the BIOS.

This is not always required, but when determining the maximum base frequency, it is better to disable all these functions so as not to understand the reasons for unsuccessful overclocking. When increasing the base frequency, you will probably have to reduce the CPU, NB and HT multipliers, as well as the memory frequency, so that all these frequencies do not reach the limit value. We will increase the base frequency in small increments, after which we will conduct stability tests. In the 790FX-GD70 BIOS, MSI refers to the HT base frequency as "CPU FSB Frequency".

That was our plan, but first we wanted to see what the "Auto Overclock" option in the BIOS with the stock 200 MHz base frequency could do. We set this option to "Find Max FSB" and saved the BIOS changes. The system then went through a short reboot cycle, and within 20 seconds it booted up to an impressive base frequency of 348 MHz!

Click on the picture to enlarge.

After successfully confirming the system's stable operation at these settings, we realized that the base frequency value would not be a limitation for this combination of CPU and motherboard.

Now it's time to start overclocking the processor. In the Cell menu, we set the values back to standard. We then set the 8x multiplier for "CPU-Northbridge Ratio" and "HT Link speed". The FSB/DRAM divider has been lowered to 1:2.66, memory latencies have been manually set to 8-8-8-24 2T.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

Knowing that the CPU would run stably at 3.13 GHz (348 x 9), we immediately jumped to the base frequency of 240 MHz, after which we successfully passed the stability test. Then we began to increase the base frequency in 5 MHz steps and test the stability of the system each time. The highest base frequency we got at stock voltage was 265MHz, which gave us an impressive 3444MHz overclock without increasing the voltage.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

Reducing the HT multiplier to 7x did not allow for more overclocking, so it was time to turn up the voltage. As we mentioned above, the CPU Voltage ID value is locked and cannot be raised above 1.325 V, so in the BIOS you can set the CPU VDD Voltage from 1.000 to 1.325 V or set the automatic value to "Auto". However, the CPU voltage of the motherboard can still be changed by setting an offset relative to the CPU VID. The offset (offset) is set in the MSI BIOS by the "CPU Voltage" parameter, there for a processor with a VDD of 1.325 V, values \u200b\u200bof 1.005-1.955 V are available.

We set the CPU voltage to a fairly modest 1.405 V and then continued to increase the base clock in 5 MHz increments, reaching a maximum stable value of 280 MHz, which gave a processor frequency of 3640 MHz, an HT Link frequency of 1960 MHz, a northbridge frequency of 2240 MHz and 1493 MHz for DDR3 memory. Quite normal values for continuous use of the system 24x7, but we wanted to achieve the best.

We continued testing by lowering the northbridge multiplier to 7x, after which we increased the CPU voltage to 1.505V. The actual CPU voltage dropped to 1.488V during load tests. At this voltage, the Phenom II X3 710 reached a stable frequency of 3744 MHz with a base frequency of 288 MHz. In our open bench, the CPU temperature during Prime95 stress testing was around 49 degrees Celsius, which is 25 degrees above our room temperature.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

If you are not familiar with the AMD OverDrive utility, we recommend that you read the article " Overclocking AMD Processors: THG Guide". Today we'll go straight to the Advanced mode to the "Performance Control" menu.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

Overclocking the Black Edition processor through the AOD utility (AMD OverDrive) is quite simple, but now we are dealing with a locked multiplier. First we need to lower the NB and HT multipliers, as well as the memory divider. The "CPU NB Multiplier" parameters on the "Clock/Voltage" tab, as well as the "Memory Clock" parameters on the "Memory" tab are highlighted in red, that is, they will change only after the system is restarted. Please note that the HT Link frequency cannot be higher than the northbridge frequency, and changes to these "white" multipliers are not automatically performed after a reboot, unlike the "red" values. We avoided this problem by making changes to all of these values in the BIOS beforehand.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

We quickly discovered that changes to the base frequency using the AOD utility are not carried out even after pressing the “Apply” button. This can be seen by comparing "Target Speed" and "Current Speed".

To start overclocking, you must first change the base frequency in the BIOS to anything relative to the default 200 MHz. Any value will do, so we just set it to 201 MHz.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

Having made the mentioned preparations for overclocking, we began to increase the frequency of HT using AOD in 10 MHz steps. Everything was great until we suddenly hit the 240 MHz threshold. After that, the system either "hung" or restarted. We did some fine tuning, after which we found that the problem starts after 238 MHz. The solution was to set the base frequency to 240 MHz in the BIOS. Then we raised the HT base frequency in 5 MHz steps, after which we again hit the 255 MHz level. After setting the BIOS to 256 MHz and booting, we were able to get the same maximum frequency at the standard voltage as before.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

Note that the CPU VID engine is already set to a maximum of 1.3250V due to CPU lockup. To raise the CPU voltage, you need to use the CPU VDDC engine to set the offset voltage. In addition to setting the CPU VDDC to 1.504 V, we increased the NB VID and NB Core voltages to 1.25 V. This allowed us to increase the HT base frequency to 288 MHz without any problems.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

In addition to the rather rich multiplier and voltage settings in the BIOS, the MSI 790FX-GD70 motherboard has other features that are friendly to overclockers. Pay attention to the keys and the OC Dial knob located on the bottom of the board. The power and reset keys will be useful for those who test the system outside the PC case, and the pressed-in clear CMOS key (Clr CMOS) is also more convenient than a regular jumper. The MSI OC Dial function consists of the OC Drive knob and the OC Gear key. They allow you to change the base frequency in real time.

The OC Dial function is activated through the "Cell" menu in the BIOS. The OC Dial Step can be increased if needed, but we used the default 1MHz step. The "OC Dial Value" indicates the changes made with the OC Drive knob. The "Dial Adjusted Base Clock" value indicates the current base frequency, that is, the sum of the FSB Clock + OC Dial values.

Again, we prepared for overclocking by lowering the NB and HT multipliers in the BIOS, as well as the memory divider. The OC Drive knob can be turned while on the BIOS screen, but under operating system the OC Gear key serves as a toggle. After holding the OC Gear for a second, the indication will appear and the OC Drive will start working. The knob has only 16 positions, which allows you to increase the base frequency by 16 MHz with one turn. After the adjustments are completed, pressing the OC Gear again turns off the function, which is recommended in order to protect stable operation.

We started overclocking by turning the OC Drive knob and monitoring the base frequency and other frequencies in CPU-Z. However, after another change, the system automatically rebooted. Entering the BIOS, we found that the reboot occurred after the same 239 MHz base frequency setting that we had problems with in AMD OverDrive.

After this small glitch, the system booted into Windows without problems at the base frequency of 239 (200 + 39) MHz. We continued to increase the OC Dial value up to 65 MHz, then a voltage increase was already required.

We raised the voltages and lowered the multipliers. Under Windows, we controlled the OC Dial in 10 MHz increments. The system started to "crash" after reaching the base frequency of 286 MHz, while the OS refused to boot when the "OC Dial Value" was greater than 86 MHz.

After setting the CPU FSB frequency to 250 MHz, we loaded the OS again. This time we were able to increase the base frequency with the OC Dial up to our maximum stable level of 288 MHz.

Squeezing out more performance: fine tuning

With the Phenom II X3 710 running at a respectable 3744 MHz, it's time to squeeze some more performance out of the system.

We started by overclocking the northbridge, which improves the performance of the memory controller and L3 cache. By setting "CPU-NB Voltage" to 1.3V and "NB Voltage" to 1.25V, we were able to increase the northbridge multiplier from 7x to 9x, resulting in a northbridge frequency of 2592MHz.

Further increase in voltages still did not allow Windows to be loaded with a 10x NB multiplier. Remember that due to the base frequency of 288 MHz, each increase in the NB multiplier results in a 288 MHz increase in the northbridge frequency. The chipset's heatsink remained fairly cold to the touch, but hitting 2880 MHz at the northbridge would certainly require a higher CPU-NB voltage increase than we wanted. In this regard, Black Edition processors certainly offer a lot of flexibility. Using a combination of a multiplier and a different base frequency, we could get a higher northbridge clock speed with a similar CPU overclock. For example, at a base frequency of 270 MHz, the system worked completely stably with a northbridge at 2700 MHz, but without the possibility of increasing the multiplier, CPU overclocking dropped to just over 3500 MHz.

Of course, you can get a small performance boost by increasing the frequency of the HT Link interface, but 2.0 GHz already provides enough bandwidth for similar system. Here, increasing the HT multiplier to 8x will give a 288 MHz boost to the HT Link interface, resulting in 2304 MHz - higher than we normally set, and stability will certainly be lost.

Instead of wasting time on increasing the frequency of HT Link, we decided to overclock the memory. In this case, a 1:3.33 divider would cause our Corsair DDR3 modules to run at an overclocked 1920 MHz, so we decided to tackle delays. We found that 7-7-7-20 latencies gave completely stable performance in Memtest 86+, Prime95 and 3DMark Vantage. Unfortunately, the Command Rate 1T setting gave a stable four cycles of Memtest 86+ without errors, but led to a loss of stability in 3D tests. The result of our fine overclocking is shown in the following screenshot.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

Although we manually set memory delays for the current overclocking test, additional tests showed that the "Auto" settings did not affect the result. With a memory divider of 1:2.66, setting DRAM Timing delays in the BIOS to "Auto" resulted in a 9-9-9-24 mode. Interestingly, "Auto" delays with a 1:2 divider led to a 6-6-6-15 mode, and at this frequency the 1T Command Rate parameter gave stable operation.

In the benchmarks, we'll take a look at our overclocking efforts separately. First, we'll look at how much performance gains can be gained from increasing the frequency of the northbridge alone, then we'll examine the impact of memory frequency and latency on performance.

Test configuration

Hardware
CPU	AMD Phenom II X3 710 (Heka), 2.6 GHz, 2000 MHz HT, 6 MB L3 Cache
Motherboard	MSI 790FX-GD70 (Socket AM3), 790FX / SB750, BIOS 1.3
Memory	4.0 GB Corsair TR3X6G1600C8D, 2 x 2048 MB, DDR3-1333, CL 8-8-8-24 at 1.65 V
HDD	Western Digital Caviar Black WD 6401AALS, 640 GB, 7200 rpm, 32 MB cache, SATA 3.0 Gb/s
video card	AMD Radeon HD 4870 512MB GDDR5, 750 MHz GPU, 900 MHz GDDR5
power unit	Antec True Power Trio 550W
cooler	Xigmatek HDT-S1283
System software and drivers
OS	Windows Vista Ultimate Edition 32-bit SP1
DirectX Version	Direct X 10
Display Driver	Catalyst 9.7

Tests and settings

3D games
World In Conflict	Patch 1009, DirectX 10, timedemo, 1280x1024, Very High Details, No AA / No AF
Applications
Autodesk 3ds Max 2009	Version: 11.0, Rendering Dragon Image at 1920x1080 (HDTV)
Synthetic tests
3D Mark Vantage	Version: 1.02, Performance Preset, CPU score
Sisoftware Sandra 2009 SP3	Version 2009.4.15.92, CPU Arithmetic, Memory Bandwidth

Overclocking modes
	Stock (regular)	Stock VCore OC (regular without raising the voltage)	Max OC (maximum with voltage boost)	Tweaked OC (maximum after fine tuning)
CPU core frequency	2600 MHz	3444 MHz	3744 MHz	3744 MHz
Northbridge frequency	2000 MHz	2120 MHz	2016 MHz	2592 MHz
HT Link Frequency	2000 MHz	2120 MHz	2016 MHz	2016 MHz
Frequency and memory delays	DDR3-1333, 8-8-8-24 2T	DDR3-1412, 8-8-8-24 2T	DDR3-1546, 8-8-8-24 2T	DDR3-1546, 8-8-8-24 2T

Performance Results

This article was planned more as a guide to overclocking, and not as a performance test. But we decided to run some tests anyway to show the performance gains after our overclocking efforts. Please refer to the table above for a detailed breakdown of each test configuration.

In the Sandra Arithmetic arithmetic test, the results increase after increasing the CPU clock speed, and fine-tuning overclocking (Tweaked OC) did not show any advantage from the overclocked northbridge.

On the other hand, overclocking the northbridge gives a significant increase in memory bandwidth. Thin overclocking (Tweaked OC) is in the lead, and a slightly lower frequency of the northbridge at maximum overclocking (Max CPU OC) gave lower results than overclocking with the nominal voltage (Stock Vcore OC).

Overclocking our Phenom II processor resulted in a noticeable increase in CPU benchmark results in 3DMark Vantage. The additional bandwidth due to the overclocking of the north bridge noticeably raised the result.

The game World in Conflict is very dependent on CPU performance. We tested it at low resolution without anti-aliasing, which allowed us to set very high details, but at the same time we did not hit the performance of the Radeon HD 4870 GPU. It is not surprising that as the CPU frequency increases, we get an increase in the minimum and average frame rates (fps). But note the significantly better minimum frame rate after overclocking the northbridge. The performance of the memory controller and L3 cache is very important for this game, since overclocking the northbridge gave the same 6 fps increase in the minimum frame rate as overclocking the CPU at 1100 MHz.

Overclocking the CPU severely reduced rendering times in 3ds Max 2009. Memory bandwidth is not that important here, as overclocking the northbridge only gave a one-second gain.

All tests were performed after setting delays 8-8-8-24 2T in the BIOS. In the diagrams, we used "Tweaked PC" thin overclocking settings with 3744 MHz for the core, 2592 MHz for the northbridge and 2016 MHz for the HT interface. We tested the four stable memory modes that we talked about in the article.

In the CPU arithmetic test, we see no difference. However, low latency proved to be slightly better than high frequency operation.

Here we can see that the throughput has increased after increasing the frequency of the memory. With a divisor of 2.66, we see very little difference between "Auto" (CAS 9), CAS 8, and low latency CAS 7 modes.

Here, our two manual modes are the leaders, although the difference in the 3DMark Vantage CPU test is negligible.

The scaling in World in Conflict seems almost perfect, with minimal latencies leading the way, giving a 1 fps boost in both the minimum and average frame rates. Notice the noticeable drop in the minimum frame rate as the memory frequency drops.

Tighter memory latencies on an overclocked system did not improve rendering times in 3ds Max 2009.

Overclocking without increasing the voltage gives a nice performance boost compared to the stock settings and at the same time much better efficiency than with the maximum overclocking (with increasing voltage). Also, note that the performance gain from increasing the frequency of the northbridge is not "free".

Some readers like to overclock without increasing the multiplier, which allows you to enable Cool'n'Quiet technology without noticeable loss stability.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

Conclusion

The Phenom II X3 710 processor delivers impressive bang for its $100 price (). However, locked multiplier and Voltage ID values result in a loss of overclocking flexibility compared to Black Edition processors. However, if you get motherboard, which is overclocking friendly (eg MSI 790FX-GD70), the X3 710 can achieve the same core frequency as other air-cooled Phenom II processors.

Of course, your overclocking results may vary. This is especially true for overclocking a processor with a locked multiplier by increasing the base frequency. If you are planning on overclocking a locked down Phenom II processor on a tight budget, we recommend that you choose your motherboard carefully so that it allows you to add bias to the CPU VID voltage and can handle a higher base frequency. However, if you plan to overclock the processor on an inexpensive motherboard or want to get the most out of the CPU on an enthusiast motherboard like ours, pay another $20 and get a Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition processor (from 4000 rubles in Russia), which is much easier to work with.

The AMD OverDrive utility has been quite useful in the past for overclocking Black Edition processors, but in this configuration it is no longer so ideal. Of course, none of the problems we encountered are critical, but we would not recommend doing any serious overclocking with AMD OverDrive on our motherboard with a locked processor. However, the utility is still useful for tracking voltages and temperatures, or even for pre-testing small changes in the base frequency, so that later they can be entered into the BIOS.

MSI's OC Dial technology isn't perfect either, but it performed better than AMD's OverDrive in our case. In addition to the "Auto Overclock" option to find the maximum value of the base frequency (Max FSB), MSI OC Dial technology can save a lot of time if you need to quickly change the base frequency value. The biggest problem will be how to get to the MSI OC Dial settings after installing the board in the case, since systems with a bottom-mounted power supply and with several video cards will be quite crowded.

As a result, if we consider overclocking a blocked processor, then it is impossible to bypass or replace the adjustments through the good old BIOS. Thanks to easy navigation and a wealth of multiplier and voltage adjustments, the 790FX-GD70 proved to be the best. Whether you use the OC Dial feature or the AMD OverDrive software utility, overclocking a locked Phenom II processor will still start and end in the BIOS.

All measurements were made using a Mastech MY64 multimeter.

Search software for instability detection

The software chosen to detect instability can be roughly divided into three categories:

Programs originally oriented as system stress tests. This category included LinX 0.6.4(testing was carried out in 2560 MB mode for old version Linpack, as well as in three modes, with available memory of 1024 MB, 2560 MB and 6144 MB for latest version Linpack, with support for FMA instructions), OCCT 4.3.2.b01(CPU test: OCCT in Large Data Set, Medium Data Set and Small Data Set modes, and CPU test: LINPACK in AVX mode with 90% available memory), Prime95 v27.7 build2(in Small FFTs, In-place Large FFTs and Blend modes), CST 0.20.01a(combined test including Matrix=5, Matrix=7 and Matrix=15 modes).

Programs that are used as system performance tests, or emulate one or another load encountered in the daily operation of a PC. Got here Cinebench R10(test x CPU), Cinebench R11.5(CPU test), wPrime 1.55(test 1024M), POV Ray v3.7 RC3(All CPU's test), TOC [email protected] Bench v.0.4.8.1(Dgromacs 2 test), 3D Mark 06(CPU1+CPU2 test), 3D Mark Vantage(CPU1+CPU2 test) and 3D Mark 11(this time, a separate Physics Test and a separate Combined Test).

Several CPU dependent games. They included Colin McRae DIRT2 Deus Ex: Human Revolution(Detroit), F1-2010(built-in performance test), Metro 2033(built-in performance test), Shogun 2 Total War(Battle of Okehadzam) and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim(Estate "Zlatotsvet").

The stability is taken to be the state of the system, in which no problems arise in its operation during 10-15 minutes of the test.

CPU instability

In this section of the article, we will choose software, with the help of which it is easier to detect the instability of the processor, with obviously stable memory and CPU_NB frequencies. The technique is relatively simple: at a fixed value of the supply voltage, select the maximum overclocking for each of the programs and calculate the test at which the minimum frequency of stable operation will be achieved. Well, in parallel with the search for stable frequencies, you can also evaluate the behavior of the system during overclocking for a particular test. To avoid instability caused by overheating of the CPU, all tests were performed at a CPU supply voltage of 1.25 V.

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The processor frequency at which Windows starts is 4256 MHz.

The "" tab has only two groups, the first of which is - General(general) is responsible for the basic characteristics of memory.

type- type of RAM, for example, DDR, DDR2, DDR3.
size- the amount of memory, measured in megabytes.
Channels#- the number of memory channels. Used to determine if a multichannel memory access exists.
DC mode- dual-channel access mode. There are chipsets that can organize dual-channel access in different ways. From simple methods This symmetrical(symmetrical) - when there are identical memory modules on each channel, or assymetric when memory is used with different structure and/or volume. Asymmetric mode is supported by Intel chipsets starting from 915P and NVIDIA starting from Nforce2.
nb frequency- frequency of the memory controller. Starting with AMD K10 and Intel Nehalem, the built-in memory controller received separate clocking from the processor cores. This item indicates its frequency. For systems with a memory controller located in the chipset, this item is inactive, which can be observed.

Next group - Timings. Dedicated to memory timings, which characterize the execution time of a certain typical operation by the memory.

CAS# Latency (CL)- the minimum time between issuing a read command ( CAS#) and the start of data transfer (read delay).
RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD)- the time required to activate the bank line, or the minimum time between the signaling to select the line ( RAS#) and a signal to select a column ( CAS#).
RAS# Precharge (tRP)- the time required to pre-charge the bank (precharge). In other words, the minimum row closing time after which a new bank row can be activated.
Cycle Time (tRAS)- the minimum time of row activity, that is, the minimum time between the activation of the row (its opening) and the issuance of a command for pre-charge (the beginning of the closing of the row).
Bank Cycle Time (tRC)- the minimum time between the activation of the lines of one bank. Is a combination of timings tRAS+tRP- the minimum time the line is active and the time it closes (after which you can open a new one).
Command Rate (CR)- the time required for the controller to decode commands and addresses. Otherwise, the minimum time between two commands. With a value of 1T, the command is recognized for 1 cycle, with 2T - 2 cycles, 3T - 3 cycles (so far only on RD600).
DRAM Idle Timer- the number of cycles after which the memory controller forcibly closes and precharges an open memory page if it has not been accessed.
Total CAS# (tRDRAM)- timing used by RDRAM memory. Specifies the time in ticks of the minimum signal propagation cycle CAS# for the RDRAM channel. Includes delay CAS# and the delay of the RDRAM channel itself - tCAC+tRDLY.
Row to Column (tRCD)- another RDRAM timing. Specifies the minimum time between opening a row and an operation on a column in that row (similar to RAS# to CAS#).