Phenom 9500 w/ MSI K9A2 Platinum

[jonspd]

I want a SB700 version IMO...

KTW I guess your gonna let us know how that cpu does hummm?

[Swanie]

First of all, a few quick pointers to you oc maniacs.

Try these HT*Multi, if booting these then surely wait at least 3 minutes before resetting if it doesn't boot 1st time.

1. Keep NB 8x multi and try 240 x 11 (2640)

2. Keep NB multi 7x multi and try 265 x 10 (2650)

3. Keep NB multi 7x and try 260 x 10.5 (2730)

4. Keep NB multi 8x and try 250 x 11 (2750)

Now I know you're probably thinking "WTF, we can't even get 2.5G stable or plus 230HT so what's he talkin about??" -> but wait.

When I tried oc, Phenom had holes and hotspots. Those above combinations were the most stable and best for me and they worked with very good volts/temps.

Make sure to put 1.2VID or 1.25VID and try 1.475VCore too until you get it stable, then try lower. I'd like to see if those combinations run good for others (see the RAM though, it will be plus DDR2-1000)

I usually had 75ns but for high HT ref. you'll probably need 1st DIMM at 105ns and the rest at 75ns should be fine. MaxAsyncLatency affects bandwidth.. a lot.

12.5k should be quite easy.




They gave the pic of the old board there though.

Different color slots is dual channel, they wrote the manual incorrectly.

Your tRAS should be higher to 18 and your tRC should be 23 at 1.8V to stay inside rated specs. Those may add instabilty to your system unless you know it can do better.

Hi there KTE. just flashed to the new beta bios POH and used your first setting. This is what i am getting now with the different settings. I have noted that my NB is now different to my HT ?

[jesteronyer6]

Which is better to use for RAID0 the SB600 or the Promise controller?

[Swanie]

Well a lot of people are having major issues getting raid to work on the SB600 and thus are using the promise. This is discussed on various threads on MSI site, i see they mention they fixed this problem with the new beta bios

[Swanie]

Well the new POH bios you can turn the TLB fix on or off in BIOS. It is set to disabled which i hope means off. One thing though the selection for P-State is gone.

[jonspd]

Nice thanks for that info Swanie. I hope they put that into effect in bios 1.3 official. If pstates is gone then I guess you have to change everything in the cell menu.

[Manicdan]

That's the same problem with my use of EVEREST too. I don't recommend using it apart from preliminary testing though, it doesn't test CPU/RAM as rigorously and properly as done by P95/OCCT/Memtest/gaming/Videoing and the temps/power don't reach what they do with P95/some benches/OCCT neither did it catch easy errors caught by others, so its not an ideal reflection of common day to day loads. Because when load testing, you need to simulate max core load to show the core is stable no matter what as the core load-line voltage willl fluctuate under arious loads and thats what will decide if your core is stable/unstable.

acutally i like the stress test, it pushes my cpu temp about 3C higher than any other stress test. but your right orthos is what i use for detecting errors. and playing games to see if it locks up.

Which BIOS are you on?

the one it came with, 1.1 or 1.2, either way i dont wanna change it until i know which is the best for k8, any recommendations?

What do you mean exactly?
Opening these software made EVEREST start reading incorrect values?
If so, what exactly is being read incorrect?

Which EVEREST test did you run?

you know how you can see the temps of like 8 different things in the taskbar in the bottom right corner, none of them would show up. or if you go to computer > senser, i get a detecting sensor information thing pop up, and my cpu is at 50% load till i close out everest completely. as well as the cache memory benchmark does nothing, and everest's cpuid does nothing as well. and loading up any of those "popup" windows then makes the main everest window lock up. by loading the stress test it looks fine but half the stuff is missing, and once i close same problem.

but simply by loading atitool, it switches from 2d to 3d clocks for my video card, 2900xt, and presto, everest is working perfectly, until i restart.

[Suosaaski]

Hello.

My Phenom BE won't go past 2,6GHz either, and 2,6GHz is not stable in the long run... and it needs a bit of voltage to make a 3dmark run at it:

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/4...zphenomup0.jpg

Even at that voltage if I raise it to 2,7GHz it will instantly freeze.

Main components / details:

MSI K9A2 Platinum (BIOS 1.1, tried 1.2 too)
Phenom 9600 BE + Scythe Ninja
Sapphire HD3850 Crossfire
4 * OCZ Platinum PC2-6400 1GB
Antec NeoHE 550W
Vista 32-bit
AMD Overdrive 2.0.14 beta (tried earlier versions too)

PS. I know in the pic the HT voltage is high and there is no need for it, it was just left there back when I run the 3dmark after testing and stuff. It makes no difference since with that run I had only raised the multiplier.

PPS. For those too tired to open links:
HD960ZWCJ4BGD
CAAWB AA 0747MPMW

[KTE]

My last 9600 BE: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=569

OPN: HD960ZWCGDBOX
CAAWB 0747MPMW

My new one:



Hahaha

OPN: HD960ZWCGDBOX
CAAWB 0747MPMW

Man, they only had this batch/week/OPN there when I picked it up, every one of them spare was this. It's the exact same coded one I had before, I have yet to boot it up and check what the stock voltages/te,mps/power/vid are and if it reacts the same as my other one. Would be a very good checkup for "this stepping/week/OPN is [insert comment]" don't you think?

Also, both of these had a 2mm^2 dull metallic rough spot looking like a "pencil smudge" in the middle of the IHS. Did anyone else get something like this with their Phenom?

New board (V2) is missing Promise T3 controler (only 4 SATA on SB600).

Hmm.. I wonder why though, the SB600 has given more problems than the Promise.

KTW I guess your gonna let us know how that cpu does hummm?

Don't plan to really.. you don't want to know, do you?

I need Admin to restrict me from posting unless I can verify a 3GHz Phenom. Maybe then I can actually start trying with this.... although that time may never come on earth unless I swap my C2Q in there somehow

Hi there KTE. just flashed to the new beta bios POH and used your first setting. This is what i am getting now with the different settings. I have noted that my NB is now different to my HT ?

Thanks Swanie. You can move the HT slider up though. Tried it yet?

(don't try above 2.6 HT, it'll lockup)

Have you tried lower RAM divider than 1.2.66 ? Do they work?
What about any other options like NB multi, NB VID, CPU VID, are they available in the BIOS like the older ones, or totally removed?

Well the new POH bios you can turn the TLB fix on or off in BIOS. It is set to disabled which i hope means off. One thing though the selection for P-State is gone.

Same as the P0F and P0G then.

Nice thanks for that info Swanie. I hope they put that into effect in bios 1.3 official. If pstates is gone then I guess you have to change everything in the cell menu.

No options for most of P-State variables as we had before in the new BIOSes. Very few oc options now.

None of the 'Performance' BIOSes have been any decent for me since P0C. I wonder why this is.

acutally i like the stress test, it pushes my cpu temp about 3C higher than any other stress test. but your right orthos is what i use for detecting errors. and playing games to see if it locks up.

Are you sure about this? Try P95 latest one which is 25.6 IIRC. I highly doubt anything will come near its power pull, load and hence what creates the high temps apart from Linpack. Orthos is IME 12W lower full load than P95 small FFT on the Phenoms with lower temps and easier to pass too, although it is supposed to be based on the same code, there are many bug and performance improvements with P95.

the one it came with, 1.1 or 1.2, either way i dont wanna change it until i know which is the best for k8, any recommendations?

No idea about 1.2. 1.31 BETA was excellent for X2 when I tried it, better than 1.0 and 1.1.

[i]you know how you can see the temps of like 8 different things in the taskbar in the bottom right corner, none of them would show up. [ii]or if you go to computer > senser, i get a detecting sensor information thing pop up, and my cpu is at 50% load till i close out everest completely. [iii]as well as the cache memory benchmark does nothing, and everest's cpuid does nothing as well. and loading up any of those "popup" windows then makes the main everest window lock up. by loading the stress test it looks fine but half the stuff is missing, and once i close same problem.

Then we now know why it's BETA.

Try a stable release if you can instead but the temps/volts info should be provided with HWMonitor/CoreTemps perfectly anyway.

but simply by loading atitool, it switches from 2d to 3d clocks for my video card, 2900xt, and presto, everest is working perfectly, until i restart.

Well, it could be program incompatibility or just an incompatibility bug. Maybe they are both accessing and sharing the same resources, this can cause such freak behavior.

Hello.

My Phenom BE won't go past 2,6GHz either, and 2,6GHz is not stable in the long run... and it needs a bit of voltage to make a 3dmark run at it:

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/4...zphenomup0.jpg

Even at that voltage if I raise it to 2,7GHz it will instantly freeze.

Main components / details:

MSI K9A2 Platinum (BIOS 1.1, tried 1.2 too)
Phenom 9600 BE + Scythe Ninja
Sapphire HD3850 Crossfire
4 * OCZ Platinum PC2-6400 1GB
Antec NeoHE 550W
Vista 32-bit
AMD Overdrive 2.0.14 beta (tried earlier versions too)

PS. I know in the pic the HT voltage is high and there is no need for it, it was just left there back when I run the 3dmark after testing and stuff. It makes no difference since with that run I had only raised the multiplier.

Hey Suosaaski, wlecome.

First the bad news...
Damn that is the exact chip I've had twice now and yes, those VID/Volatges will be pulling mega power. Almost the Quad FX again here.

Can you do something for me on Vista... at 2.4GHz run Super Pi Mod 1.5 XS 1M and post it back please.

(run it about 3 times before capturing ss of the last one)

[jonspd]

LOL nice same stepping transfer


Yea I want to know why your are gonna try this one seeing is it's the same as the other lol...

That sucks there taking away the ocing options.



Yea I only had 238 post here in the last 4 yrs and for some reason in the last month or 2 I have almost posted half that many maybe I need to start trying to overclock this thing again, I kinda stopped for alittle while as my PPD on my team was dropping.


LMK if you figure out a way to make the q6600 fit in the board as an homemade adapter would rock let along it may even top the p35 board.




I have had more random freezes at idle then I have at full load and it's weird because most of the time it's just playing around on the desktop after priming for a few hours. Kinda like it hits a vdroop or something as freezes. I really wish I woulda replace the stock thermal goop on the boards cooling before I installed the board.

[KTE]

Using stock 9600 BE cooling.




Ambient is too hot and until I get a 3rd party fan on it, I'm not comfortable. My room ambient is 29C.

LOL nice same stepping transfer

This ones better, much better, although stock is 1.24V.

2.7GHz bootup first time 1.392V BIOS 1.408V Windows 1.25VID 200HT 14x multi. Boots 1.28V to although not stable running benchmarks as >1.325V is.



Running this right now having thrown my ambients sub16C with a 152CFM delta fan as well, bootup was before all this, and hasn't failed inside 20mins P95 yet (drop is 1.312V).



2.8GHz booted using just multi but froze on ss. Will need more volts/cooling maybe. 2.7GHz looks to be within 24/7 stability reach.

There goes the stepping/batch/week coding dogma straight out of the window.

[jonspd]

Also meant to say mine did have a grayish area right in the center but I didn't notice it till after I changed from stock cooling to aftermarked but it wouldn't rub off.


nice 2.7 stable would be great.....

[gOtVoltage]

My last 9600 BE: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=569

OPN: HD960ZWCGDBOX
CAAWB 0747MPMW

My new one:



Hahaha

OPN: HD960ZWCGDBOX
CAAWB 0747MPMW

Man, they only had this batch/week/OPN there when I picked it up, every one of them spare was this. It's the exact same coded one I had before, I have yet to boot it up and check what the stock voltages/te,mps/power/vid are and if it reacts the same as my other one. Would be a very good checkup for "this stepping/week/OPN is [insert comment]" don't you think?

Ill second that



Hehehhe just add water.




Dont worry, Ive been to 2.56ghz alreadbut my Ts770 has bios issues..I cant change the Multi's becuase the Biostar option for NPT FID is broken..I do have mod Bios from Polygon and will be cranking this thing into flying mode..i like 747's,, at first people said they wouldnt fly,,but now thier everywhere 40years laterIll be testing all week...

[JumpingJack]

This ones better, much better, although stock is 1.24V.

Definitely some randomness to this CPU, CPU to CPU that is .

[Daveburt714]

Hey KTE....

Just wanted to let you know, I tried the settings you suggested (the ones Swanie quoted above). You didn't mention the HT multi, so I tried it matching NB multi and -1 from NB. Set CPU Vid to 1.25 and vddc to 1.475, HT v's to 1.25 and NB to 1.2v's..... The results wern't very good.

The only one that would even post was 7x 260HT 10x, and it wouldn't make it into windows. Froze on a black screen with a working pointer....

One strange thing I've noticed is I can get a pretty decent OC using AOD ~2.65, that seems fairly stable, but if I apply those same settings in bios my machine will post but won't make it into Windows (Same black screen problem)... Maybe the Catalyst drivers?

I wonder if anyone using an Nvidia card has experienced these same problems...

[|3ourne]

anyone tried lapping their processors yet ? to see if you gain something in terms of cooling efficiency ? BTW great thread KTE , i almost wanna get the combo just to play with it , but i think ill hold off till maybe B3s arrive and see what they bring to the table , otherwise , penryn will be the choice of the day .

[jonspd]

umm 239 bux no not gonna lap the cpu but the xp-90c was done with 200-600-1200-2000 before it was installed

[KTE]

Very nice gOtVoltage

What was your stock CPU VID and VCore?

Well well guys, the chip limit has been found.
First of all, this is the best one I've had so far, absolutely working as it should, no problems whatsoever and things are easy to figure out as they should be even when oc'ing. I just wish they would all work like this though. Chip without CnQ runs quite cool fully loaded even on stock HSF at 27C ambient, far cooler than the Kenstfields and Penryn QXs are running at totally stock let alone oc'd. This is a big relief for people like me who loathe bad temps throughout climates and travels and don't waste much more than "common" air cooling to test the temps when it has to apply to majorities, though better cooling is easily available (remember, I do work on charities for a good part of every year and those poor/sickly/elderly/disabled and various centers for them are what I'm thinking of adjacently). You might have seen my Q6600 G0 benches 4.25GHz air good, the more cooling and voltage you apply, the further it's scaling, which is very good for an IC m.arch. Someone with DICE/phase/semi-decent WC should be able to break near its limit of 4480MHz ... but at just 1.2V 2.4G, it is already running too hot stock stability tested with 22C ambients to really leave it much room for any of the systems at my uni or work places to oc apart from the odd uber expensive rigs. It reached ~65C stock with the Zalman at full speed and those ambients were lower than what I usually stability test at since 74C would make it lockup. Basically the same problems we had with P4 Prescott where my 3G ran at 1.264V 3.6G but blimey, the heat buildup was insane. Why is this? Well, Intel has uptil now, starting with P4, still, always been limited by TDPs for further speed bins every product cycle, and that behavior continues. Whilst for AMD, it has usually been a premature IC limit saturated and not cooling/voltage as the hold back although TDP may have been simultaneously high too.

Anyway, I've had no problems with this chip at all, everything I've tried so far makes logical sense, no happenings here... yet.

To the OC
Booted fully loaded idling at XP SP3 desktop into Windows (services/AV/FW running yet) 3GHz, 2.9GHz and 2.8GHz using multi and using HT+multi around 3 times each, hehe, about 3hrs30mins ago (too many 3somes, I know ), can still do it now but as soon as I touch CPUZ, a reboot ensues. Once I cut down on the services/processes and the unusually long logon time (a disabled service), with the Zalman HSF, with the best old BIOS so far, I'll give them a shot again but they're pointless attempts to me since they can never be ran normally or be close to stable runners.

Well, that's considering booting CPU 1.25VID since they've removed AM2+ P-States options from the BIOS in the one I'm using. Now do you see why I wouldn't write an oc guide?

In the BIOS, 3GHz boot-up looks like this:



Me thinks its AOD Assistant after boot-up which makes it reboot that quick idling, especially when the most heavy load (close to 100&#37 part of boot-up has already long finished. This is another test left yet for when I have time...

Max fully stable, rock solid is also the max validated: 2756MHz @ 1.25VID 1.280V (2hr P95 stopped) but I need to bump it up one V notch for perfect stability and peace of mind, I'm sure (you need to be diligent and take into account most PSUs cannot give out their rated output above 40C and will only provide 80% of the max wattage from 40-50C, and at these temps, you are going to see further falls in load line voltages/efficiency which can definitely cause CPUs to fail stability testing)..

http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=302096




We need NB VID/Multi changing again. The minute I get the BIOS with those options, I'll test what's holding the chip back better, but it won't do much more stable air cooled that's for sure.

However, I don't particularly like being 10MHz shy of the max CPU limit regular, so 2700MHz is the best option for me. By using 12x multi, it's damn easy to get stable at 1.280V but RAM still runs only DDR2-1066 5-5-5-15 (lowest timings I have options for), thus I've oc'd the HT to 225MHz x 12 = 2700MHz for DDR2-1200 5-5-5-15. Perfect combo IMO, and again, rock solid.

http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=302094




Brother Esau, I recall you and BadNizze asked about DDR2-1200 with Phenom-> I run exactly those DDR2 settings/timings with the C2s and on this platform as well now. No problems just like on there. Here's a "semi-TLB-patched" 1200, high timings (lowest options I have) EVEREST run for you.



By "semi" I mean, WinRAR/Cinebench/POV-Ray/EVEREST/wPrime/Super Pi are still short of standard speed, in the case of Super Pi 1M for instance, it's running 2 seconds slower than it should be if the patch was unapplied (at any given frequency).

Just think what that would be like, had they given me 3-4-4-4 1T 1066 options.

I will run a 24hr load test to ensure the above settings are as good as the 2hr test+30min gaming showed and just in case, I will put it to 1.320V idle settings to see power/temps with >22C ambient and stock AMD cooling -> they need to remain within decent specs to run regular and be acceptable.

BTW, I need 1.305V BIOS which gives me 1.320V Windows idle and 1.288V load to get 2.756GHz perfectly stable. I'm using a crap BIOS ATM, it has the TLB fix option but still... the performance is very bad with it (AOD button'd or or not). Typically 30-80% of the expected and what was achieved with older better BETA BIOSes. Some screenies follow ->

Full settings/idle temps/volts @ (200x13.5) 2.7G-1066:


wPrime v1.55 32M and 1024M:


Max stable:


Best settings I've been running since then:


Current 2.7G wPrime 32M:



Power Consumption and Heat:
Despite the worse performing stock AMD HSF (although I like it's size), idling heat is lower than on the previous 9600s and 9600 BE I had, & idling stock wattage at 25C ambient is 102W AC, load is 177W AC (no CnQ). However, applying a tad bit of volts does increase the power and heat by quite a margin near to the coolings handling capacity. You can still however run my chip at up to 2.756G at 1.32V fully stable using the stock AMD HSF and stay within good operating temperatures at up to 28C heatsink ambient that I've tested. More than 1.35V 1.25VID and you'll be pushing into going >55C load temps and idling >36C.
1.25VID 1.57V at 2.75GHz hits a maximum full load power draw at 296W AC. The chip hates anything above 1.48V though.

Problems!!
*The inevitable. This board, not my PSU, this board fluctuates voltages like crazy and BIOS settings do not always transpire into the same in Windows settings for voltages. I set 2.2V DIMM and I booted to find them at 1.8V 1066. I set 1.305V Core and I boot to find it at 1.320V idle/1.288V load. I then standby for 20 minutes and rewake it to find the idling VCore at 1.352V and load at 1.328V. Naturally this affects temps/power/stability quite a bit. Watch out. Keep monitoring closely before you conclude your chip is unstable at "x" settings.
*Why such big voltage intervals? I mean 1.21V (1.24V real) then to 1.305V (1.32V real)? We need to have these lower and NB/CPU VID/FID options in the BIOS.


Ditto Jack, large variations between CPU of the same batch and week. However, there still seems to be the same average limits, 2.75G was attainable with my 9500 anyway. Some seem just better than others but some silicon seems buggy yet.

Daveburt714: I was experiencing that before, it's caused by Catalyst Control Center (Start CCC loading on startup)-> try and get rid of it from starting up and you might be OK, like I was later.

|3ourne: no I haven't mainly because they're not mine and you never know when one of these starts acting erratic, like my last, in which case you'd need to RMA or lose out.
I also want to sell them for a decent price pristine new condition, so no modding permissible. Only mod I did was on the 1st 9500, I embedded a thermal probe within the center of the IHS so its flush with the IHS base to try and check software temperatures against those probe values.

Thanks.

[Brother Esau]

Now lets see some 8hr Prime 95 runs guys

[gOtVoltage]

1.25v Stock Vcore and 11.5 multi. i have no way to use the CPU multi on Ts770 yet. Did get into safe mode @ 2.64mhz and 230FSB with auto Cpu multi and every thing on auto Still playing around with it. I dont know if the temps are correct but im on water and my Rads are Ice cold so 12c idle @2.4ghz and 14c idle @2.65ghz

[KTE]

Now lets see some 8hr Prime 95 runs guys

Coming up next with ease, don't worry. I've not had past an hour or so to play with the Phenom yet, maybe even less.

1.25v Stock Vcore and 11.5 multi. i have no way to use the CPU multi on Ts770 yet. Did get into safe mode @ 2.64mhz and 230FSB with auto Cpu multi and every thing on auto Still playing around with it. I dont know if the temps are correct but im on water and my Rads are Ice cold so 12c idle @2.4ghz and 14c idle @2.65ghz

Is 1.25VID or VCore? It is usually the VID, I don't think Phenom has an option for 1.25VCore at 1.2/1.25VID, only 1.232V and 1.240.

Temps> how lower than ambient are those readings? Do full load P95 and what temps does it give you?

[gOtVoltage]

KTE... In my Bios i can set Vcore to 1.55v if i wish...Stock is 1.25vid/1.25vcor up to 1.55v,, the HT is 1.15v and NB/SB 1.20v..The Ts770 has some nice features but the Bios needs serious tweaking! I havnt had a chance to Prime yet..Ive been testing 5 different MOD bioses the last two days..Since i cant use the NPTFID/mutiplyer function i was over clocking it like you do a 9500! Also i can only run memory @400mhz cant change dividers..So id say ,im shocked i saw 2.65ghz,,Biostar Bios is suppose to be unlocked for B.E.'s but is broken..This includes the 5000+BE too..

[KTE]

OK. Is 1.25V (core) what you set in BIOS or what you get real through DMM measurements or what your Super I/O chip reads in Windows idle (i.e. AOD/EVEREST/HWMonitor) ?

[jonspd]

Nice results I guess the same stepping had nothing to do with the way it overclocked

wow. wonder if it was the bios or the chip did you try the 113 betas again with the new chip?

[KTE]

It's the chip, very clearly
The BIOS is the same one as used on the last chip.

Nope, not tried the better older BIOSes yet. Can't do until I have many hours P95/game stable with these setting/cooling. Only tried stock CPU VID/NB VID/NB Multi yet and not tested HT ref yet at all. Cooling is also quite bad in high ambients.

It's nearly 5hrs P95 stable ATM, still running -> stock boxed HSF only. But I'm at work and the machine is in a different room so can't play with it until after work now.