Easy Tune 6, AMD Tuban 1090T Black Edition & Gygabyte GA-890FXA-UD7

[Cess]

1.475V was the stock voltage after 'Loading Optimised Defaults' in the BIOS.  Should I be concerned now?

I've OC'd to 3.7Ghz and run a stress test, the CPU temp topped out at 40 degrees.



Getting a little excited about this now.   

[Dark Mantis]

From memory 1.5v is safe for the Phenom(I am sure absic will confirm) and the temperatures look good. I think you can start smiling.

[bytheway_r]

Ahhh, man, I just noticed I misspelled absic's nick . Sorry!

1.475V was the stock voltage after 'Loading Optimised Defaults' in the BIOS.  Should I be concerned now?

Didn't mean to scare you. Just a word of caution so that you wouldn't go overboard by accident.

I've OC'd to 3.7Ghz and run a stress test, the CPU temp topped out at 40 degrees.

Getting a little excited about this now.    

That's how it starts... Then you get sucked in more and more ! Me, I got the stupid idea that I needed a better CPU cooler and that sent me on my overclocking way . It just felt like such a waste to not make the most of the cooler

[Dark Mantis]

That's the way it always starts. One small computer and before you know it you have a server farm and are linked directly to the National Grid.

[absic]

Ahhh, man, I just noticed I misspelled absic's nick . Sorry!

Hey, I've been called plenty of things and most of them aren't repeatable on a family forum!

1.475V was the stock voltage after 'Loading Optimised Defaults' in the BIOS.  Should I be concerned now?

No. You're OK and you don't need to worry until you are pushing 1.5+.

I've OC'd to 3.7Ghz and run a stress test, the CPU temp topped out at 40 degrees.
Getting a little excited about this now

Wait until you hit 4.2 or higher, that's when the adrenaline really starts pumping. Can you push it a little more??? What happens if you go for 4.3

Welcome to to the club!  

[Cess]

OK, I got 3.8 no problem, but as soon as I go to 3.9  the PC crashes at the W7 animated logo on boot.  Should I try raising the voltage up .025 to 1.5V?  Is 1.5 ok for this board?  Also, I have the 6 core BE, should I enable CPU unlock in the BIOS (default is disabled)?

[Dark Mantis]

You should be fine to up the core voltage to 1.5V but I wouldn't go beyond that. As for the cores I am really not sure so I should wait for absics advice but it does sound right.

[absic]

Hi Cess,

As I mentioned earlier you should be OK going to 1.5V and yes, it might help you get over the 3.9 threshold.

You really shouldn't need to unlock the cores on the CPU, unless you think there is a problem with one of them and want to disable it. You should be able to get the 1090T firing on all 6 cores though, so I wouldn't do this at such an early stage of overclocking.

Up until now, if you have followed the steps that I have suggested, all of the main settings in BIOS are still on AUTO, so a couple of things to think about as you start to fine tune other settings. The more voltage you pass through the various components the hotter things become. Also, the more overclocking you do to a component the shorter its life can become. I know that you understand this already, but it is always worth repeating.

If you are lucky, increasing the voltage to the CPU will get your CPU further up towards your target but it's important to note that other items can also have a bearing on attaining the heady heights of 4.0+ GHz. This is where it becomes harder to offer firm advice, as each motherboard/CPU/RAM combination will need slightly different settings. For example, on my GA-790XTA-UD4 Mobo with the same model CPU and 8 Gb of RAM I got to 4.2 GHz without having to make any major adjustments to voltages or timings, you can't get past 3.8GHz before you're having to make these.

However, if the voltage increase doesn't improve stability and the system still locks then you will need to start looking at possibly increasing the CPU NB VID Control also the CPU Northbridge Freq. You only need to make fine adjustments for them to have a big impact so don't be tempted to whack things up. Also make sure that you keep a very close eye on your RAM Speed if you make adjustments to the CPU North Bridge freq, as this will increase the speed of your RAM. I know your RAM is rated at 1600 MHz so I think you should be able to let it go up towards the 1500 MHz before having any real concerns but, it will be a bit of a balancing act to get everything fine tuned and running happily.

[Cess]

Cool, I really apprecite all the advice.  I'll do some more tweaking this evening.

[bytheway_r]

Once you have played with your CPU I'd strongly suggest getting K10Stat or PhenomMsrTweaker. They're great tools that allow you to expand on the idea of Cool'n'Quiet. Basically, you can have your processor changing voltages and frequency depending on load ( though I lock it at my max. setting for games, etc. ). It's great, because:

1) Less heat produced when idling;
2) Better power consumption;
3) Possibly longer life of the CPU as it's not running at high voltages all the time.

I'll just say that when my CPU is at 800Mhz my CPU fan is at ~250RPM ( controlled by bios ). Within 30min of turning the PC on it actually shut downs every now and then ( the fan, I mean ). Take note that it's not a stock cooler.

In the end, it's also just fun to play with it . Myself, I've been lucky as I found some voltage/frequency settings for my processor on the net so I just had to tweak them a little to reach stability.

[Gavster]

Thanks to Cess for starting this thread and asking all the right questions 

Having read this thread confirms my suspicions about EasyTune: it is a tool not fit for purpose. It does not come with any documentation or specification, and the Help file is a joke. I have tried using it a few times, and the only thing Easy Tune is guaranteed to do is crash your PC without leaving any log record. There seems to have been very little thought gone into this software. I will unistall my version of EasyTune and give AMD's overdrive a test trial to see if it works any better.

[Dark Mantis]

To be perfectly honest most of these FREE programs that come bundled with motherboards and the like are not up to much and if they work at all then that is a bonus in my eyes. I would always recommend steering clear of them and use a reputable program that is designed for the job.