overclocking Phenom 11

[cookiebun]

Hi would it be worth my while overclocking my processor and if i did would i notice any difference and is there any easy software to do it out there. 

NZXT Lexa S
Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H (rev 2.0) motherboard
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition, Deneb Core, S AM3, 3.4GHz
8gb Crucial Ballistic DDR3 1333mhz/PC3-10600 (7-7-7-24) 1.65v
XFX HD 6970 ATI - AMD Radeon Graphics Card - 2GB
Western Digital WD6402AAEX 640GB Hard Drive SATA111 7200rpm 64MB Cache-OEM Caviar Black.
Seagate Baracuda 500gb SATA11, 32mb Cache
Corsair 750 PSU
Zalman 9500
Liteon DVD Writer
24” Samsung SM2433BW Black Widescreen LCD, 1920x1200
5.1 Creative Surround Speakers
Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard
Logitech MX516 Gaming Mouse
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Epson DX8400 All in one.

[absic]

Hi Cookiebun,

Hi would it be worth my while overclocking my processor and if i did would i notice any difference and is there any easy software to do it out there. 

Being totally honest, unless you really need extra CPU Speed then there probably isn't any really good reason to overclock and you probably won't notice that much difference. Saying that, if you do wish to experiment with overclocking then, with a BE CPU, such as yours, it is fairly easy to do and although there is software available such as Gigabyte's EasyTune6 or AMD Overdrive, you are actually much better off making the changes in BIOS.

If you haven't read this item: http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,3637.0.html then you might find it points you in the right direction.

[bytheway_r]

First and foremost - do you have an aftermarket cooler on it? If not it'd be best to leave it alone.

Myself I use K10Stat for CPU overclocking as it allows some nice, custom power saving modes. I've only increased the multi on the CPU for boot to 3.6Ghz and overclocked CPU-NB as I can't change it in K10Stat.

Here's a screen of my P-states:



I'm pretty sure your CPU would be able to do all of these, too. Yours may be even able to run 3,8Ghz at stock voltage. In my case these values aren't 100% correct as I have my FSB raised to 204Mhz, so in reality they're a little higher.

[cookiebun]

Hi absic I don't know if i will try or not it was just a moment of boredom thanks for the advice anyway.
Hi bytheway the cpu cooler i use is the Zalman 9500 but i need to tidy up my case ( cables everywhere) to allow better airflow.
                                                                                regards cookiebun

[bytheway_r]

I don't know how good this cooler is but you should be able to overclock it at least some. Just stay, preferably, at least 5 degrees below max temperature for your CPU ( under load of course ).

Things that you should be able to achieve with just a multiplier change:

CPU - 3,6-3,8 Ghz
CPU-NB - 2,2-2,4 maybe 2,6 Ghz

All in all, most of these chips can do about 3,9-4,1 Ghz max with CPU-NB ending around 2,8 Ghz.