Earlier today, I was trying to overclock my Phenom 965 for the first time. After increasing the core multiplier to 3.9 GHz, and testing for stability, I tried to increase my CPU NB to 2400 MHz, leaving the voltage set to 'auto'. now, when I try to boot, I get a blank screen. Is there any way to fix this, or will I have to buy new hardware?
try clearing the CMOS, there's a small button cell that you remove with the computer unplugged, then hold the power button down to drain the caps. reinstall the battery and boot, you ought to have a clean Bios.
Alternitively- if you can still boot to the Bios, just set your CPU NB to 2000 again and reboot.
IMHO.... I think the CPU survived. Theyre pretty rubust.
Like Signal said, you must drian the caps. I myself would unplug the unit for at least 20 min to make sure.
Capacitors have a discharge time that isnt really clarified but 20 min has always worked for me. (unless you want to put a resistor across the leades for a few min)..
You DEF had a bios setting that made your system not work, so a flash is in order.
I drained the caps, and am back up and running. Any advice on how to avoid this problem in the future?
it happens, no harm done.
you can discharge teh caps quicker, turn the psu off and hit the power button, discharged...
I just avoid the CPU NB frequency all together. running 4.2 ghz stable.
You don't set the NB frequency on AMDs, you set the multiplier.
For Phenom IIs, it's supposed to be 2000, so try to keep that as close as possible.
You can be a bit over, say 2100, but drop it lower (1x works great for testing/finding your clock settings) to get a stable OC from your CPU, then crank it back when you are sure it works.
What do you mean? While on modern AMD's and intels, changing the nb is pointless, on phenoms raising the nb will increase performance when overclocking. Why are you advising me to lower it?
When your PC won't boot, it might be because of the NB going unstable, not your CPU.
Lowering it removes that and the RAM from the equation, so once you found the best CPU/FSB speed, THEN you start to boost the NB and RAM.
It was in fact the nb that was causing the issue, I resolved the issue by decreasing it to 2400mhz and increasing the voltage