65nm or 45nm ?

[anubis44]

Well I tried everything I can think of,and it won't stay at 3ghz.
I keep getting a BSOD saying something about,second core did not get an interrupt on time.I have RAM @ 5-5-5-15 and I stepped up v to 100mV.
There are a lot of settings here that I do not understand so,I leave them at auto.Running @ 2.9 now.

Cyber, I've been running at 3.0GHz without voltage bump for a few weeks, with just the multiplier set to 15x in the bios. I left everything else on auto - no FSB adjustments, no manual HT adjustments, no memory timing tweaks at all. The DDR2-800 Kingston ram I have runs at 5-5-5-18 in auto mode. With these settings, I can run Prime95 all day long and get no errors, either with my Zalman or the stock AMD HSF that came with the Phenom 9850BE.

Just tonight, I decided to bump the multiplier up to 15.5 (3.1GHz CPU clock rate) and I had to give the chip a slight bump up in voltage to 1.36v (from the stock 1.29v). Running prime95 torture test on it now with the stock AMD HSF, and getting CPU temps of up to 60C. One of the cores just gave me a rounding errror. I'm thinking of getting a better aftermarket HSF. Maybe a Thermalright 120 Extreme or a Sunbeamtech Core-Contact Freezer.

[Cyber]

I don't know,every time I try to do something it screws up.Other people do the same thing all is well..
In any case 2.9 is not shabby,so I'll settle for that.

[anubis44]

I don't know,every time I try to do something it screws up.Other people do the same thing all is well..
In any case 2.9 is not shabby,so I'll settle for that.

You know, I'm seeing a pattern of Phenom users with 1066MHz memory complaining of stability problems when they're overclocking. It might not be what's holding you back, though, since you're not touching the memory divider or the FSB, right?

First question, though, is: do you have ACC enabled? You MUST have it enabled to break 2.9GHz using the multiplier. Also, make sure the TLB patch is set to disabled - if it's on (and it doesn't need to be on for a B3 Phenom, since it has no TLB flaw) it'll slow down your computer by anywhere from 5-15% or so.

Assuming you do have ACC enabled and you're still having this problem being stuck at only 2.9GHz, my first thought is that you might not be feeding your ram enough voltage. DDR2-1066 ram generally needs more juice than DDR2-800. If you've got the ram voltage set to default, it might only be giving you 1.7-1.9volts when your ram might want 2.1volts, for example. Try going for 3.0GHz again (set the CPU multiplier to 15) but don't adjust anything else, and try setting your ram up one voltage notch at a time until you get to 2.1volts. If you still aren't getting anywhere, then it's not the ram voltage that's holding you back.

If that doesn't work, one hunch I have is that you could try moving the North Bridge voltage up a tad just to see if that brings some added stability.

Finally, once you've got your memory voltages set correctly, and your 9850BE is purring along at 3.0GHz without any additional CPU voltage (mine didn't need any for 3.0GHz), you can you can give the Phenom core more volts and start taxing the limits of your cooling. The AMD stock HSF is a decent heat pipe design, and I'm running at 3GHz with it right now, but it is not the best cooler you can use for the 9850BE. You'll have to make that decision if you want to get a 100-300 extra MHz out of your cpu for the starting price of ~$50-~$100 and up you can spend for a better air cooling solution. Check out this site for cooler comparisions: http://www.frostytech.com/

By the way, folks on that site are talking about a "brand new, never before seen heatsink straight from Korea which is going to give the Top 5 coolers a run for their money," here:

http://www.frostytech.com/permalink.cfm?NewsID=71382

so I'd wait to read what the heck that solution is and how much it costs before you spend money on an aftermarket HSF.

[Cyber]

You know, I'm seeing a pattern of Phenom users with 1066MHz memory complaining of stability problems when they're overclocking. It might not be what's holding you back, though, since you're not touching the memory divider or the FSB, right?

First question, though, is: do you have ACC enabled? You MUST have it enabled to break 2.9GHz using the multiplier. Also, make sure the TLB patch is set to disabled - if it's on (and it doesn't need to be on for a B3 Phenom, since it has no TLB flaw) it'll slow down your computer by anywhere from 5-15% or so.

Assuming you do have ACC enabled and you're still having this problem being stuck at only 2.9GHz, my first thought is that you might not be feeding your ram enough voltage. DDR2-1066 ram generally needs more juice than DDR2-800. If you've got the ram voltage set to default, it might only be giving you 1.7-1.9volts when your ram might want 2.1volts, for example. Try going for 3.0GHz again (set the CPU multiplier to 15) but don't adjust anything else, and try setting your ram up one voltage notch at a time until you get to 2.1volts. If you still aren't getting anywhere, then it's not the ram voltage that's holding you back.

If that doesn't work, one hunch I have is that you could try moving the North Bridge voltage up a tad just to see if that brings some added stability.

Finally, once you've got your memory voltages set correctly, and your 9850BE is purring along at 3.0GHz without any additional CPU voltage (mine didn't need any for 3.0GHz), you can you can give the Phenom core more volts and start taxing the limits of your cooling. The AMD stock HSF is a decent heat pipe design, and I'm running at 3GHz with it right now, but it is not the best cooler you can use for the 9850BE. You'll have to make that decision if you want to get a 100-300 extra MHz out of your cpu for the starting price of ~$50-~$100 and up you can spend for a better air cooling solution. Check out this site for cooler comparisions: http://www.frostytech.com/

By the way, folks on that site are talking about a "brand new, never before seen heatsink straight from Korea which is going to give the Top 5 coolers a run for their money," here:

http://www.frostytech.com/permalink.cfm?NewsID=71382

so I'd wait to read what the heck that solution is and how much it costs before you spend money on an aftermarket HSF.

The only thing I did with the ram,was set timings to 5-5-5-15 from auto.
As for the cooling,I'm using the Zalman 9700 with MX-2 from AC.

[anubis44]

Set the timings back to auto, but change the voltage to whatever your memory requires. DDR2-1066 often requires 2.0-2.2 volts by default, so check the manufacturer's specification for your brand/type of ram and make sure that the bios is really giving it the correct amount of juice for default operation. That Zalman 9700 is somewhat better than the stock AMD HSF under load, so you should be able to get to 3GHz easily with it.

Is ACC set to 'enabled' in your bios? That's the first thing we need to make sure of here.

On another note, I just hit [email protected] (+100mV in the bios) stable in Prime95. The temps with the stock AMD HSF are: 40C dle temp and about 65C under Prime95 torture test load (all 4 cores running threads), so not too bad. Only thing is, the power consumption has gone from about 180Watts (3.0GHz@default 1.29V) to 215Watts ([email protected]). So that extra 100MHz comes at the cost of 35Watts more power consumption! I'm not sure that's such a great trade-off given the price of electricity right now. I might just set a profile in AMD Overdrive to use these settings whenever I start a game, and clock it down to 3GHz when I'm not gaming.

[Cyber]

Mem requires 2.1v,as for the timings I'm going by maker specs.

That setting you refer to in bios.What is the full name?

[anubis44]

Mem requires 2.1v,as for the timings I'm going by maker specs.

That setting you refer to in bios.What is the full name?

The full name for ACC is Advanced Clock Calibration. You must have it set to 'enabled' in order to overclock your Phenom 9850BE to it's maximum potential. It's a special feature of the AMD SB750 chip on our 790GX motherboards.

Also, turn off the TLB Patch in the bios. I forget which screen it's on in the bios. Set it to 'disabled', but you can leave 'Cool & Quiet' and 'C1E' set to 'enabled' on that same screen.

[Cyber]

ACC is set to auto.