AMD Athlon II x4 960T

T

Tanhomer

New Member
this is the second computer i building. Ive never over clocked before.I want over clock this proccesor to 3.5 should i get a new fan and re apply thermal grease, and what would i have to do to the bios?
 
I'm going to have to imagine you mean a Phenom, not Athlon. Yes, you definitely want an aftermarket cooler.
 
Yes, you'll need a new heatsink and fan for decent temps. Here's how to overclock.

DO NOT DO THIS UNTIL YOU HAVE A NEW HEATSINK/FAN:

This all depends on what kind of motherboard you have. If you can't find a feature, tell us what you see in BIOS.

1. Disable AMD cool and quiet, and also Turbo Core

2. Find the multiplier. Set it to manual. bump it up until it says 3.1ghz to the right.

3. Save and exit BIOS

4. Find a temp guage like HWmonitor or coretemp. Download Prime95 and run it for 30 minutes, watching your temps. If it doesn't crash or stop, you're stable.

5. Repeat until you're at a Ghz you like. Run prime95 for at least 3-5 hours to make sure its stable.

I got to 3.7Ghz on my 960T before having to up my voltage. Just stick to that until you learn more.
 
if you want a good cooler the hyper 212 plus from cooler master is about 30, comes highly recommended, and will easily pass 4ghz.
 
claptonman said:
Yes, you'll need a new heatsink and fan for decent temps. Here's how to overclock.

DO NOT DO THIS UNTIL YOU HAVE A NEW HEATSINK/FAN:

This all depends on what kind of motherboard you have. If you can't find a feature, tell us what you see in BIOS.

1. Disable AMD cool and quiet, and also Turbo Core

2. Find the multiplier. Set it to manual. bump it up until it says 3.1ghz to the right.

3. Save and exit BIOS

4. Find a temp guage like HWmonitor or coretemp. Download Prime95 and run it for 30 minutes, watching your temps. If it doesn't crash or stop, you're stable.

5. Repeat until you're at a Ghz you like. Run prime95 for at least 3-5 hours to make sure its stable.

I got to 3.7Ghz on my 960T before having to up my voltage. Just stick to that until you learn more.
Click to expand...

Would i need to re-aplly thermal grease because i know phenom comes with pre applied thermal grease or compound
 
yes. If you leave it put, then 2 things happen.
1. There is a clash between the reapplied grease and the AMD junk on it.
2. Airbubbles will form, lessening the effectiveness and limiting the OC ability of both the cooler and the processor.
 
What wolfe said. To clean it you need 91% rubbing alcohol and a coffee filter. Put a little bit of alcohol on the filter and gentle clean the top metal part. Do not touch the pins on the other side. Keep cleaning it and drying it periodically.
 
If he has a half decent case air flow. I dont see any reason he cant overclock to 3.5 with a 960T on a stock cooler. The Thuban runs slightly cooler then a Deneb anyway, and the 970 runs fine at 3.5 with a stock cooler. I would give it a try and see what your temps are, if they are fine your good to go.
 
Agreed with everything above. But also, once your overclock is solid and stable, re-enable Cool'n'Quiet so you get lower idle temps and your CPU isn't pulling 150W constantly.
 
Just give it a try, it will either work or not. If not you would just need to disable ACC. But six cores will run hotter then four.
 
Last edited:
if i got the 6 core would i need a new heat sink/fan, and would it be better to run games at 6 cores without overclocking?
 
Yes a better cooler is always a good idea, as for temperature testing, use the vcore you need for 6 cores with four cores active and stress test, then assume that the temps you get will be a little hotter than that. IIRC the max temp for Phenom II is 62C on the cores.
 
with a unlocked multi, bumping it one on the stock cooler isnt going to hurt anything...hell i ran a 200mhz oc on my 5000+ for a few months on the stock HSF without issues...
 
Tanhomer said:
if i got the 6 core would i need a new heat sink/fan, and would it be better to run games at 6 cores without overclocking?
Click to expand...

most games are only programmed to use 6 and those than can use more recieve little benefit, so 4 overclocked will be much better than 6 stock or overclocked.
 
idk if that mobo even has core unlocking, and if it does, like said above, it's not going to do anything for gaming, over 4 cores is only useful in 3d animnation, video/photo editing, and some other professional things.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top