To overclock or not to overclock?

[Rennn]

Most games run about as well as I would expect, but my cpu is really limiting Skyrim for me. As soon as I start to turn the settings up too high it begins to cause stutter, with the cpu jumping to full use, while my GTX 460 is only at 60% use.

 

I have an AMD Phenom II x4 995 Black Edition @3.2Ghz. My PSU is a 750w modular model, and my temps don't go above 55c, so heat and power isn't a problem.

 

Is that cpu worth overclocking, or not? Also, what would be a good program to use if I do overclock it?

Edited July 6, 2012 by Rennn

[Erik005]

The cpu you have is meant for overclocking,but don't try overclocking with the standard heatsink.

 

You can't use a program in windows to overclock,you need to go in to the BIOS and change thecpu-ratio.

 

You should read a phenom II overclocking guide I'm sure there are plenty of those on the internet.

[bben46]

Don't overclock unless you are willing to risk having a cpu failure.

 

Do everything you can to take some of the load off of the cpu without overclocking first. This will help even if you do overclock. Things like removing any background processes and shutting down unneeded services.

 

Usually, as long as you can keep the temperature in a reasonable range it will be fine though. As already said, the stock heatsink on a big name prebuilt computer is not usually sufficient for overclocking. But with 55c (I hope that is your cpu temp and not the case temp)you have a lot of overhead on your temperature :thumbsup:.

[Illiad86]

My boyfriend has the same chip, he has it overclocked to 3.9GHz. (he was rather peeved he couldn't get it to 4.0 like mine haha)

 

You can use AMD Overdrive to overclock it, but I'd suggest just doing it the old fashioned way in the BIOS. Overdrive works from what I've heard, but I just prefer going into the BIOS.

Edited July 6, 2012 by Illiad86

[samadchaz]

overclocking may increase electricity bill :unsure:

be sure you are getting "desired" temperature after overclocking

[Rennn]

My cpu is 45c, while 55c is my video card temp. I listed 55c because it's the worst-case temperature that part of my pc reaches. Edited July 6, 2012 by Rennn

[Illiad86]

45C idle or max? If that's idle, you are going to want to get a better CPU cooler if you want to overclock. Mine hovers around 32-35C idle depending on the room temperature. I've seen it go as low as 25C lol...it was freezing cold in our apartment though :P Edited July 6, 2012 by Illiad86

[Rennn]

That's 45c max when I'm playing Skyrim, which stresses my cpu more than any other game I own.

[FMod]

In the case of Skyrim, there's nothing other to be done than to 1) tweak the settings, and 2) o/c the CPU. It only uses 2 cores, so even the background processes are the issue.

 

If you had the moderately large heatpipe cooler that normally comes with Black Edition, you don't even need to replace it, that heatsink is a head and shoulders above other stock heatsinks, being designed for overclocking loads.

 

Keep your CPU temperature below 85C for cores and 60C for Tcase if you get Tcase readings. Anything below that is fine.

 

For overclocking, there's a lot of guides on the net. Here's one from AMD website: http://blogs.amd.com/play/2009/04/22/overclocking-101-with-the-amd-phenom-ii-x4-955-black-edition-processor/

Another from OC.net: http://www.overclock.net/t/777378/official-gappos-little-deneb-thuban-overclocking-guide-with-too-many-smileys

And you can just enter "Phenom II Black Edition overclock guide" into your preferred search engine and check out other guides, videos, etc, what you prefer.

 

Keep in mind that most steps are optional, if from different guides you see that it can be skipped, feel free to skip it.

I would recommend doing a shortcut by jumping straight to DDR3-1333 (with 9-9-9-24 or -27 timings), maybe try 1600 (same or 10-10-10-27 timings). For the CPU, you have an unlocked multiplier, can use that, start with 3.6 GHz at stock voltage.

[eltucu]

Black Edition. Check.

 

Good PSU. Check (I suppose, rare to find bad modular 750w PSUs)

 

Good temps. Check.

 

Carry on then.

My cpu is 45c, while 55c is my video card temp. I listed 55c because it's the worst-case temperature that part of my pc reaches.

You dont check HDD temperature to see if you can OC the GPU do you? Don't do the same for the CPU. The temperature of the GPU is useless for ocing the CPU. Unless you have a very, very bad case of case cooling and the CPU's heat makes your GPU overheat or something like that.