Overclocking and unlocking AMD 550 BE

[no_numb]

Right well I have a 550BE and I am lucky enough to have unlocked the other 2 cores. Now I am looking to overclock this as well. Kit list is to the side.

Main CPU cooler is a xigmatek s1283 HDT I also have a 12cm fan beside it and the PSU has a 14cm fan extracting just above. There is currently only an 8cm fan at the front but the front of the case is perforated to improve airflow. I am thinking of adding a scythe kamabay fan in the spare 5.25 drive bays to improve flow. I may well replace the original coolermaster 12 and 8cm fans (coolermaster centurion 5 case) with scythe or noctua fans (when I get the money).

I have tried a test overclock of 200 x 17 at 1.375v and ran prime 95 torture test. Although it ran fine for about 30 mins I noticed on speedfan the cpu temp was 61 and gigabytes easytune 6 was showing 49. Why are these 2 values so different? Which one is correct? system temp was reading about 40 for both programmes. What is the max safe temp for the processor? Is 61 fine and should I just let it run for several hours?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Right well I have a 550BE and I am lucky enough to have unlocked the other 2 cores. Now I am looking to overclock this as well. Kit list is to the side.

Main CPU cooler is a xigmatek s1283 HDT I also have a 12cm fan beside it and the PSU has a 14cm fan extracting just above. There is currently only an 8cm fan at the front but the front of the case is perforated to improve airflow. I am thinking of adding a scythe kamabay fan in the spare 5.25 drive bays to improve flow. I may well replace the original coolermaster 12 and 8cm fans (coolermaster centurion 5 case) with scythe or noctua fans (when I get the money).

I have tried a test overclock of 200 x 17 at 1.375v and ran prime 95 torture test. Although it ran fine for about 30 mins I noticed on speedfan the cpu temp was 61 and gigabytes easytune 6 was showing 49. Why are these 2 values so different? Which one is correct? system temp was reading about 40 for both programmes. What is the max safe temp for the processor? Is 61 fine and should I just let it run for several hours?

The maximum operating temperature of the X2 550BE is 70C:

http://products.amd.com/en-us/Deskto...il.aspx?id=560

Also increasing the HT frequency also helps IIRC but I cannot remember the specific article I have read about this.

[no_numb]

Thanks for the info. I have been away for a while so appologies for the late reply. Anyone else have any insight into the other points?

[cmd]

You probably know this already, but you have really got to take extra care to make sure you're stable, because it's possible that the extra cores have unusual defects.

[no_numb]

Well just a quick update if anyone is interested. I've got it at 3623 MHz x4 tested stable with prime 95 torture test @1.35v. I have not tried to go any further yet.

Under full load (when doing the test) it never went above 51 c and the fan was spinning at 1000rpm max out of 1500rpm.

In the future I may go above this speed as I'm sure it can go further but for now this will do. For £70 this processor has got to be my best purchase in computer terms, seriously impressed with it.