I overclocked my Phenom II X3 720BE over the weekend to 3.3GHz by increasing the multiplier only. Ran Prime95 for around an hour (I know this is a relatively short time) and all seemed stable. However, whilst downloading a game using EA Download Manager I received a BSOD and have now restored the multiplier back to auto. This was my first attempt to overclock.
From my limited testing previously it looks like I'm lucky enough to have a chip that can be unlocked to a quad core, but I lose the CPU core temperature monitor and according to HWMonitor the TDP raises from 99W to 130W, which I'm not keen on. I look at core-unlocking as something I can do in the future if I need it.
This, admittedly, short adventure, has lead me to some questions though.
1. Would I need to increase any voltages to obtain a reliable overclock? What is the difference between CPU Voltage and CPU-NB voltage?
2. If I increase the voltage of the CPU, does the cool 'n' quiet function still work and ramp the voltage down with the multiplier when idling? I know the multiplier ramps down, just not sure about the voltage.
3. Does the fact that I am using 4 RAM modules affect my overclocking ability? Would I need to increase voltage to the modules or NB? I have read that early Phenom II's have issues with 4 DIMMs installed and that I should relax the speed back to 1066MHz?
Generally, my system runs pretty cool (at stock, the CPU idles at about 25 degrees and at load reaches about 43 degrees). Even with the overclock to 3.3GHz it was still only reaching 47 degrees at load.
My system specs are up-to-date on the left, and I have a nice Enzotech copper heatsink mounted on the motherboard VRMs, which should help overclocking.
Has anybody embarked on an AMD Black Edition overclocking adventure and got any tips or answers to the above?