 dbarber
join:2000-07-25
West Chester, PA | New Build Hi all,
This is my first new build in about 10 years, and I think I'm ready to overclock it. I was on a VERY tight budget.
BioStar A770E3
AMD Phenom II x2 560 BE
Spire TherMax Eclipse II CPU cooler (GREAT cooler!)
8 GB RipJaws DDR3 1600 RAM
Galaxy GeForce 8400GS 512 MB
OCZ Vertex 2 SSD 60 GB (VERY fast!)
Seagate 250 GB data drive (from another machine)
PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk II 650W power supply
Reused a case that I had previously modded to improve ventilation
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
My temps are pretty good.  (see above)
When I attempt to unlock the other cores, either I get "unlock failed" or Windows 7 won't start. Any attempt to turn on ACC (Advanced Clock Calibration) and Win7 won't start.
I plan to use this machine for some minor picture editing and some minor video editing. No games
What is the best way to get the most out of this machine? I'm not familiar with how to overclock these new boards.
My thanks in advance for any and all help that you can give me.
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These opinions are strictly my own. However, if you really want them, we can negotiate. |
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| I would not overclock that board, it does not have sufficient cooling it looks like a 3+1 power phase with no cooling on the phases... they will not take much of an overclock...
You temps I also want to say are off... 20C would be 68F... unless the room was 60F... they seem too low... I would use something like everest (has a free trial) core temp... etc to check the temps...
But still... I would not overclock a board with no cooling...
and ssd on a very tight budget is a huge mistake. |
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dbarber
join:2000-07-25
West Chester, PA | Hi nooc,
I put a fan on the North Bridge, which cooled it quite a bit. The first shot is after 15 minutes at idle. the second shot is after 1 hour of Prime95, large FFT's. Ambient temp is about 75° F. How the core temps can be lower than that is anybody's guess. CPU temp shows up as 26-27° C in BIOS. The Spire cooler really makes a difference. www.frostytech.com has it as their best cooler (with 2 fans). With 1 fan, it is the second best cooler. I'm running mine with only one fan, and it seems to be doing an excellent job. I guess 41° C is acceptable for the GPU.
As for the SSD, it was my gift to myself "for being a good boy". It really makes a difference in performance.
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These opinions are strictly my own. However, if you really want them, we can negotiate. |
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| They *can't* so the temps are wrong... however really I aint worried about the CPU... look at the attached pic (hopefuly it is your mobo) see the area I circled and the dots? Those are your power phases... now check out the next pic... see the huge heatsink and that is *just* for the cpu power... look to the left (top of board) it has 2 more power phases just for ram (cooling not needed) 8 for the CPU with a huge heatsink... you have 3... with no cooling...
Ya one is an intel and one is an amd... I aint as up on amd boards and I was being lazy... the concept is 100% the same...
I would not OC that board...
Someone else who knows their way around amd bios maybe can tell ya more about your specific issues... as far as the unlock... the core could be bad... however as I said... I would not overclock on that... you are asking for issue you need more power phases... or at LEAST cooling... |
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dbarber
join:2000-07-25
West Chester, PA | Hi nooc,
Yes, that is my board, but with different colors (red and black). What can I do to further cool the power phases? The three at the top of the pic are right in the air flow of the Spire cooler. I shut down the machine, and they weren't hot to the touch. Maybe they dissipated the heat that quickly.
I would like to get more performance out of this machine, so what can I do, short of getting another board?
Donn
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These opinions are strictly my own. However, if you really want them, we can negotiate. |
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dbarber
join:2000-07-25
West Chester, PA | reply to nooc4u
Hi nooc,
I took a look around, and almost all of the socket AM3 boards had that same phase arrangement. That SEEMS to be the way that they are built by all of the manufacturers, right up to the VERY expensive boards.
What should I do? Should I thermal epoxy heat sinks to them? Perspiring minds want to know!
Donn
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These opinions are strictly my own. However, if you really want them, we can negotiate. |
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| said by dbarber:I took a look around, and almost all of the socket AM3 boards had that same phase arrangement. I am not saying this is a good mobo...
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···13131668
8+1 phase... with cooling... not sure what you mean they are all have the same phase arrangement?... (and it is "cheap" being only ~$100) I mean the location is fine and... pretty much where they will be... however... 8+1 can give alot more power than 3+1...
You could epoxy heatsinks... but you still only have 3+1...
I would try to overclock it a little and see (like 300mhz)... else it may just be a waste of time to add anything... I do not think you need to use ACC to overclock from my googling and returning of articles 3 years old lol...
I would check out »www.overclock.net/amd-cpus/ and maybe even post their if the response is not good enough here for help with the bios settings (I never owned a amd chip that could be overclocked so lol I really do not want to speak towards bios settings) I am not sure why windows 7 would crash if you just enabled ACC unless it is changing settings right off the bat, but it seems hard to find out exactly what it is so... try to OC with it off I would say... |
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