[CPUReaction] AMD Phenom II 940 Black Edition - Overclocking / The Beginning...

[EnJoY]

AMD Phenom II 940 Black Edition Processor
Everyone else has a thread, so why not?



The goal of this thread is not to teach or to impress. I am brand new to AMD's Phenom processor, so any learning or excitement drawn from this thread is entirely unintentional and merely a positive side effect of my efforts. Let's get started...

Here are the specs:

AMD Phenom II 940 BE - Retail (CACVC AC 0848FPAW *0120)
DFI DK 790FXB-M2RSH - 12/26 Official Bios
2x2GB G.Skill F2-8800CL5D-4GBPI - Heat Spreaders Removed.
ATI 4850 1GB PCI-E
BFG 800W ES Series
Seagate 7200.10 500GB SATA300
Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme Black Edition (2x 120x38MM SanAce Push/Pull)

Special thanks goes to JonnyGuru/BFG (800w ES), Denny/G.Skill (4GB 8800's), and Matt & Simon/AMD (940 BE/4850 1GB).


Let's start it out with some pics while I was setting up the bench.

First, the new toys!


The new 940 BE direct from AMD!


DFI board and chip mounted on my new HSPC tech bench.


The TRUE Black Edition! (get it?)


Pretty new G.Skill PC2-8800 4GB PI kit. Pity those fancy heat spreaders won't fit under the TRUE.


Off they go!


And a nice close up of the nakedness. Mmmm..PowerChip.


Finally, the bench is all set up and ready to go.

[EnJoY]

Getting started...

First we try max overclock using only the multiplier and taking the memory and HT bus out of the equation.

Is 4GHz supposed to be this easy? This is 1.475v set in AOD.


What about the max overclock in the less than two hours I had spent with the system? This was 1.55v? BSOD shortly after, 1.6v allowed superpi 1m.





Northbridge overclocking...this is where the efficiency is! 3055MHz running 32m.


I was able to hit ~3125MHz before it locked up on me. I'm fairly certain I can run prime at 3000MHz give or take 10MHz. Next I will try and see where the max of both cpu and northbridge clocks meet with some stability.

[EnJoY]

So I had a solid idea of where the CPU and Northbridge clocked when left independent of one another. But how did they fair together? I'm still tweaking, but this is the product of several hours of trial and error and BSOD's.

Let's see some Cinebench R10:


I didn't like this one, so I played with it a bit more and while I lost a few MHz on the CPU, I gained a few more on the Northbridge clock:


And just because I was curious, some Pi 1M:


For pi, the only tweaks implemented for priority @ realtime and killed explorer.

Here's a 32m run:

[chew*]

Looking good bud

A little birdy told me that they are sending me a true for my chip monday they mentioned something about sacrelidge, and other choice words about my vindicator.

The Bench is nice how much did it run ya?

*EDIT* Btw chip looks a tad stronger than mine, I don't think I could PI 1m at 4.0 air much less 32m

[mongoled]

Nice setup and clocks, are those monsterous 120mm deltas??



You should add those to the system specs

[EnJoY]

Looking good bud

A little birdy told me that they are sending me a true for my chip monday they mentioned something about sacrelidge, and other choice words about my vindicator.

The Bench is nice how much did it run ya?

Thanks, I only had a few hours to play but already I've remembered how much easier AMD overclocking and tweaking is than Intel. I already feel like I have a solid grasp of how everything works, whereas I still fumble with Intel stuff. I was exhausted last night, as you know, so I'll hopefully have some more time to get on it today after work.

The TRUE with the SanAce's is truly magnificent. Better than most watercooling.

$110 for the tech bench I think? Can't recall, Xoxide had the E-ATX black model in stock so I grabbed it.

Nice setup and clocks, are those monsterous 120mm deltas??



You should add those to the system specs

They are in the specs, and they aren't Delta's.

[chew*]

Thanks, I only had a few hours to play but already I've remembered how much easier AMD overclocking and tweaking is than Intel. I already feel like I have a solid grasp of how everything works, whereas I still fumble with Intel stuff. I was exhausted last night, as you know, so I'll hopefully have some more time to get on it today after work.

The TRUE with the SanAce's is truly magnificent. Better than most watercooling.

$110 for the tech bench I think? Can't recall, Xoxide had the E-ATX black model in stock so I grabbed it.



They are in the specs, and they aren't Delta's.

It's like riding a bike

Yah my deltas aren't that beefy, they are moderate gutted from network servers and free. I have 2 newer net shelters in the garage, Those fans are beasts and may come in handy.

We will have to see what that baby can do under DI.

[EnJoY]

It's like riding a bike

We will have to see what that baby can do under DI.

Better yet, let's make sure we can get Dumo involved next time and try for some LN2.

[chew*]

Better yet, let's make sure we can get Dumo involved next time and try for some LN2.

Yah I wouldn't mind learning a few new tricks as well

[Trunks]

keep it coming
I got the same cpu stepping.

[HondaGuy]

keep it coming
I got the same cpu stepping.

Same stepping here also,, Cant wait

[Dumo]

Nice set up Enjoy
Been 2 weekends having fun with phenom here too
Definitely we have to set up time with Chew to torture these toys.

[chew*]

Nice set up Enjoy
Been 2 weekends having fun with phenom here too
Definitely we have to set up time with Chew to torture these toys.

I will call around for prices/availablity in my area for LN2, DI costs me $1 a pound 10LB minimum, it lasted 4 hours.
Could reuse Kneaded rubber eraser but it only cost $10 to insulate a whole board. Cheap fun.

[Dumo]

Yep, the fun stop at the cooling limit for this cpu. At least now I can open a beer while waiting for 3D '06 to load without worrying about cold bug @ -189C

Too bad, my cascade is gone because this phenom can compete with Intel albeit at higher Mhz.

[chew*]

Yep, the fun stop at the cooling limit for this cpu. At least now I can open a beer while waiting for 3D '06 to load without worrying about cold bug @ -189C

Too bad, my cascade is gone because this phenom can compete with Intel albeit at higher Mhz.

Got any cascade building skills? I have 2 mach 1's here and Liquidfrostbyte chiller here that Chilly 1 made.

[Lightman]

You started like a true athletic EnJoY

Pretty craze voltage for 4GHz I think! Mine is good only up to 3.87GHz at that voltage albeit in 64bit ...

PS. nice and clean setup and bench-table ...

[Gambit_2K]

I have this exact setup in pieces waiting for me at home, but I have a CoolerMaster V8 doing the cooling. My girlfriend convinced me not to go home and putting them together, by wearing the "I wanna have sex right now underwear" that she knows I like

I hope my chip will do atleast 4 GHz with 1.55V.

[Chicken Patty]

hey bro, great results and quick! Love your bench station, subscribed!

[Planet]

Looks nice Alex. I will hafta get a PhenomII

[Raiderman]

I would have to say, that stepping seems to be one of the best from the clocks I have seen. Have fun!

[bedlamite]

Damn I want my Phenom II NOW
I have same mobo.
BTW this problem with mem sticks with high heat spreaders is quite annoying :/
Have fun

[Chicken Patty]

how much voltage was needed for that 4.2 GHZ validation??

[chew*]

Enjoy do me a favor and run cinebench 10 at the same settings you ran that 32m, let me know if you actually have to tweak anything to get it to complete.

[afireinside]

Looking good. 4ghz 32m easy is nice.

Can you not mount the TRUE in the other direction so the ram fits?

[chew*]

Looking good. 4ghz 32m easy is nice.

Can you not mount the TRUE in the other direction so the ram fits?

AFI not unless somone makes custom mounts for the TRUE. The socket screws are not evenly spaced etc universal