how to overclock my Phenom 9500 on my MSI K9A2 Platinum

[gareth170]

hi

can someone explain to me how to overclock my Phenom 9500? can it be all done by amd overdrive> i know about fsb and vcore. but in amd overdrive the cpu vid is set to max (1.2500v) which won't go any higher. also theres a cpu vdoc which is set on (1.240) but can go higher. so is the cpu vdoc the one the to add more volts to the cpu? any screenshots would be helpful

one another question , can someone explain about the Custom AM2+ P-States?

[madfaze]

there is already an existing thread for this..

[gareth170]

there is already an existing thread for this..

where?? the search doesn't work on this site.. if u mean this thread http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=167447 ive already read it and it doesn't explain what i wanna know...

[KTE]

where?? the search doesn't work on this site.. if u mean this thread http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=167447 ive already read it and it doesn't explain what i wanna know...

Honestly? I must have explained it at least 3 times in that thread and linked to Tony and Sammi explaining it in two other threads.

It'll get lengthy if I reply here and I'll just be repeating everything again. So I'll search for the relevant posts to link but it is all there and there's not much to it.

[gareth170]

Honestly? I must have explained it at least 3 times in that thread and linked to Tony and Sammi explaining it in two other threads.

It'll get lengthy if I reply here and I'll just be repeating everything again. So I'll search for the relevant posts to link but it is all there and there's not much to it.

im sorry but in that thread it as bits and bobs explaining things in different posts.. i just want one post explaining about it and how to do it... reading bits and bobs explaining things in different posts gets very confuseing as i can't read that well..

[KTE]

gareth170: We do know what has and has not been posted by ourselves in the last 4 weeks. You said you read all the thread. Honestly?
In fact, one of my last posts in the thread mentioned in bold: You do not need to touch CPU VID because it's not the VCore and to use BIOS and AOD to oc.

What specfically did you want screenshots of?

There are posts in every Phenom thread which explain a lot more than you have asked here and your questions were answered many times in this AMD section alone not just in that one thread. Anyway, there is no one lengthy post describing Phenom oc because BIOS versions are still changing quite a bit and what works for one may not work for another.

About the Custom P-States: I explained it here in one post, not in bits and bobs at all: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...3&postcount=98

Did you not see that or not understand it?

Though it has been covered to more than 3 individuals here already, I'll mention it very briefly again (this isn't an oc guide).

=Download AMD OverDrive 2.0.14 latest: http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads...0.14_Beta.html
=Download HWMonitor 1.0.5.9: http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php
=Download Prime95 25.5: http://www.majorgeeks.com/Prime95_d4363.html
=Download CPU-Z 1.42: http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php
=Download SysTool: http://www.techpowerup.com/systool/
=Disable all junk/extra processes and services.
=Install all>Restart.

=In the BIOS you'll see CPU Voltage/DIMM Voltage/HT Voltage. Those are the only 3 voltages which you need to touch. Set NB Voltage to 1.2V (when oc) and it'll be enough for all.
=Disable all extra's that you don't need (such as Firewire/Audio) from the BIOS. Have minimum connections (such as USB/Floppy). Disable extra DIMM/PCI slots and disable Spread Spectrum.
=In DRAM Configuration, choose DCT Timing Mode "Both" and then set tRFC values to 196ns.
=You need to change CPU voltage, HT voltage and HT reference. That begins your overclock. With those settings, higher HT clock = higher CPU MHz, higher NB MHz, higher Mem MHz, higher HT MHz.
=You need to set HT Link to 5x 1000MHz.
=You need to enable AM2+ Custom P-States. In there choose:
CPU VID 28
CPU FID 06
CPU DID 01
NB VID 36
NB FID 02
NB DID 01

=Set VCore to 1.45 (whatever is closest and keeps your temps ok)
=Set Mem divider to whatever will keep your RAM within spec (you have 4GB 800 which is much harder to oc, so choose a low divider below 1:2).
=CPU VDDC is VCore and Mem VDDQ is VDIMM in AOD.
=Now once you have these basics set 210MHz for HT reference and try and bootup. Does it boot? If so, use AOD and HWMonitor to see what your temps are. Check against your ambient temps.
=If it works and doesn't crash, open up SysTool and run the 16M benchmark under Benchmark>CPU (4 threaded). If it completes, then move on.
=Now in AOD under Preferences choose Advanced Mode>Apply and then what you need is the "Performance Control" tab. Under it choose Core/Voltage. This is where you'll need to do all the oc.
=Go up 2MHz HT ref. at a time (Apply) and leave Prime 95/Systool/HWM/CPU-Z open to monitor and use all the time.
=After you've reached 218MHz on HT reference, start Prime95 (torture>small fft). Check "Rounding off checking" under Advanced. Run it for 20 minutes if you can and make sure your temps are good. Also check your PSU voltages if you can using a multimeter.
=If it passes keep going 2MHz at a time and running P95 for 2 minutes after every 2MHz HT ref jump up. When it starts failing/crashing below 1minutes, you know you have reached near your max CPU limit (make sure volts/temps are suitable).
=You can now run SysTool 16M (until it starts erroring) and then narrowing down to Super Pi/wPrime/Hexus Pifast/screenshots/CPU-Z valdiations and start going higher carefully (closing everything else) to see what max CPU MHz you can get benchable before it crashes (1MHz at a time).
=Then, after you know your ~approx max CPU MHz, max benchable MHz and where it starts erroring with P95 and SysTool, you can try and work backwards to find max 3D bench stable and max stability (24/7 clocks).
=Try and find whatever is your max stable by Prime95 testing to get it stable 15 mins for all software incl. 3D and over 2hrs (good temps/no errors). It might be around 2.4GHz-2.6GHz (keep an eye out on which core errors first in P95).

You'll probably have many crashes and reboots before you find a max stable. The better way it to test max board HT, then max CPU HT, then max Mem, then max NB, then max HT and then finally max CPU. But I don't have the time to go through it here, it'll take hours to explain. I'm also worried about your PSU, it looks like a poor quality one and in that case the voltage regualrion/DC line filtering might be bad and cause problems during oc.

You will need to read up a lot of info within this section to understand the above. This and the thread it links to is a starter: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=249

I would appreciate it if you have any more qs about Phenom/K9A2 to ask in the thread I started. Makes it easier for me and everyone to get back to and keep track of. Good luck mate.