New CPU cooler installed, and I want to overclock.

The VCR King

The VCR King

Well-Known Member
I went to MicroCenter and I got my Zalman installed and got some new thermal paste and my PC is actually running about 10 degrees F cooler than it used to, and I want to get into overclocking. I don't want to go insane with overclocking, but I want to learn how to LIGHTLY OC my rig. Can someone please teach me or give me some tips? Thank you! :)
 
beers said:
Go into BIOS.
Increase CPU multiplier by 1x.
You've now overclocked.
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Expanding on this....

Go into BIOS
Increase CPU multiplier a small amount
Boot into Windows
Restart and repeat increasing multiplier by small amounts until you BSOD on boot
Bring down CPU multiplier a drop or two until you can boot into Windows without BSOD
Boot into Windows and test with Prime95 for several hours to ensure stability
If you BSOD with Prime95 then boot into BIOS and decrease the multiplier.
Repeat testing with Prime95
 
I've run into a problem... My computer boots so fast that when I power it on and get to the MSI splash screen, by the time the keyboard has connected Windows is already booting. It's too fast and I can't get into my BIOS, and I don't know what key I need anyways, but I think its F8.
 
Prime95 is known to pull more power than your CPU is designed for. I would get instability on my 8320 at stock clocks with Prime. I think it's ok with Intel chips, but AMD chips don't get along with it well.

I use the CPU-Z bench/stress. It's probably not as intensive as some things, but unless you're trying to pull off insane overclocks or want absolute stability it's probably fine for mild overclocking.

Install MSI FastBoot. It will let you reboot it automatically into the BIOS. Once in there disable any Windows 8 boot option or any type of fast boot. Also make sure all your USB/legacy stuff is enabled so it can see your keyboard.
 
Darren said:
Prime95 is known to pull more power than your CPU is designed for. I would get instability on my 8320 at stock clocks with Prime. I think it's ok with Intel chips, but AMD chips don't get along with it well.

I use the CPU-Z bench/stress. It's probably not as intensive as some things, but unless you're trying to pull off insane overclocks or want absolute stability it's probably fine for mild overclocking.
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I don't want to do anything big at all. I want to just experiment with small OCs because I honestly have no idea what the heck I'm doing and I want to learn a bit before I go larger-scale on overclocking.
 
No need for the language, even if you censor it....

Just use the CPU-Z thing then. I don't trust Prime95 anymore. There's a "Bench" tab on the newer version of CPU-Z and a button that says "stress". You can use that. I'd let it run for at least 30 mins once you reach a clock you want to stick with. I usually just run mine for 15 mins or so and if it's good, I'll call it good. If it crashes later on I'll downclock it myself.
 
Darren said:
No need for the language, even if you censor it....

Just use the CPU-Z thing then. I don't trust Prime95 anymore. There's a "Bench" tab on the newer version of CPU-Z and a button that says "stress". You can use that. I'd let it run for at least 30 mins once you reach a clock you want to stick with. I usually just run mine for 15 mins or so and if it's good, I'll call it good. If it crashes later on I'll downclock it myself.
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I edited my original post, sorry :p and I have the new version of CPU-Z. I'll bench it tomorrow when I get a chance. Thanks! :D
 
See, I really do want to put some REAL overclocks on my rig, but deep down I'm paranoid that I'm going to screw up and fry my system or something :(
 
The VCR King said:
See, I really do want to put some REAL overclocks on my rig, but deep down I'm paranoid that I'm going to screw up and fry my system or something :(
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You won't fry it. Maybe if this was 15 years ago you would have. But the fact that you don't know what you're doing doesn't help.

Also as far as your computer booting too fast, make sure your keyboard isn't in a usb3 port.
 
voyagerfan99 said:
You won't fry it. Maybe if this was 15 years ago you would have. But the fact that you don't know what you're doing doesn't help.

Also as far as your computer booting too fast, make sure your keyboard isn't in a usb3 port.
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It's not. It's a wireless K370 and its paired with a unifying dongle along with my M510 mouse.
 
The VCR King said:
I've run into a problem... My computer boots so fast that when I power it on and get to the MSI splash screen, by the time the keyboard has connected Windows is already booting. It's too fast and I can't get into my BIOS, and I don't know wh
Click to expand...

Did you install as UEFI or legacy BIOS?
 
Once you're able to get into your BIOS (maybe try resetting it by moving the BIOS jumper on your board?), take a look at Linus' video about overclocking the Phenom II X6:


I know he is using a different board and cooling to you but you should get an idea about what to do. Linus' videos are good, he's very knowledgeable. As others have said, keep the voltage as low as possible and the multiplier as high as possible and stress test to make sure your system is staying stable. Your board looks like it was fairly high-end with the 890FX chipset so you should be able to do a decent overclock. What cooling did you go for the end?

If the system crashes a lot or the board has difficulty booting (eg may turn on and off automatically a lot) you likely need to do one of two things:
- Increase the voltage a tiny bit to support your multiplier
- Reduce the multiplier so you can use the voltage you have specified

If the system runs too hot you need to reduce the voltage because voltage = heat. The general rule of thumb is that you don't want the CPU to go over 80C at 100% load (various stress tests like Prime95 will max the CPU load out to 100%). You may also want to do more real-world stuff, for example play a game or encode a video and monitor the temperature too whilst you do those.

That's basically all there is to overclocking a multiplier-unlocked CPU like the Phenom II X6.
 
I'm not overclocking right now because I'm just too scared but I am going to do a Prime95 test and see how it runs stock.
 
The VCR King said:
I'm not overclocking right now because I'm just too scared but I am going to do a Prime95 test and see how it runs stock.
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If you get stuck and need a step by step on installing basic programs to your computer, just let us know. We can start another thread, if needed... Geek Squad is standing by....
 
The VCR King said:
I'm not overclocking right now because I'm just too scared but I am going to do a Prime95 test and see how it runs stock.
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The only thing that will prove is if you installed your heatsink and thermal paste correctly, if not it will overheat and throttle/shut down. Are you really trying to stress test a CPU that's running at stock frequencies though?
 
Geoff said:
The only thing that will prove is if you installed your heatsink and thermal paste correctly, if not it will overheat and throttle/shut down. Are you really trying to stress test a CPU that's running at stock frequencies though?
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Prime95 would shut down cores on my 8320 at stock clocks while every other stress test I used would be fine.
 
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