Maximum PC

I have an AMD 1055T with a CoolerMaster Hyper 212+. My current CPU temps at idle are only 24c. What's my theoreticle OC limit on this chip and what are my optimal settings to get there? Also I have some Corsair Dominator CMD4GX3M2B1600C8. I want to OC those to their maximum as well. I understand how to OC but I'm looking for some guidance from someone with first hand experiance with either of these parts. I currently have the CPU at 3.36ghz and the RAM at 1600 (non SPD) with timings of 8.8.8.24 I was considering just going with the BE Hexacore model but my budget is shot, so I'm trying to squeeze what I can out of what I have.

The rest of my system is:

Mobo - GA-890FXA-UD5 rev 2.0 (bought it very shortly after it was released)
Video - GIGABYTE Super Overclock Series GV-N560SO-1GI GeForce GTX 560 Ti
HDD - Intel 510 Series (Elm Crest) SSDSC2MH120A2K5
PSU - Corsair HX 850w

EDIT: Prime 95 full burn temps are roughly 45c

There is no theoretical limit on hardware when it comes to overclocking since it's quite common for identical parts to perform differently. That can be said of CPU's, GPU's, motherboards, and RAM, so your limit is essentially like a lottery based on how all components work together.

A lot of times when mfg's bin chips it's only to identify the highest performing silicon that can be sold at premium prices, but the majority of chip sales are to a middle class market. Inevitably foundries will backfill low inventories of middle of the road chips with higher end parts to meet production quotas. It's one of the reasons that some of AMD's earlier Phenom II's were unlockable. Global Foundries simply took X4's, disabled two CPU's, and re-badged them as X2's to supply AMD's demand for dual cores.

Essentially all I'm trying to point out here is that anytime you purchase any sort of silicon, sometimes you get a jogger and sometimes you get a sprinter, it's the luck of the draw. If you are an experienced overclocker then you should know how to monitor your voltage and temps, and stress test for stability. You'll either hit a point where you reach a hardware limit (non-stable, which is generally a result of pushing the RAM too hard before anything else), are uncomfortable upping the voltage past a certain point, or start running too hot. That's how you find your limit. I believe the tJ max for your chip is 99*C. I wouldn't run it anywhere close to those temps, but if you can keep it at 70*C and lower you should be able to enjoy the balance between performance and protecting the longevity of the part. Good luck!

So what you're saying is to not worry so much about overclocking the RAM, but instead focus on just the CPU? I ran the heavy CPU stress test in prime95 for about 5 hours with no errors. So I decided to switch to the heavy RAM testing and started running into errors after about 30 minutes. I can't say what caused the error because I have no clue. Not sure if it was bad timings or that stuff was running too fast. The board supports up to 1866 RAM and I only had mine at just under 1600 which is what the RAM is rated for anyways. Possibly need more voltage? Back to the CPU now. I'm almost positive I should be able to hit 3.6ghz on air cooling, and possibly 4ghz on water. I'll fiddle with some more settings to see what I can get.

Interesting notes about your board to maximize its OC potential...

*To reach DDR3 1866MHz or above, you must install two memory modules and install them in the DDR3_3 and DDR3_4 memory sockets.

4 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 16 GB of system memory

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/produc ... id=3417#sp

You may want to try the 3rd and 4th DIMM slot config if you're getting unknown RAM errors during stress test.

It could be a voltage issue since Dominator RAM calls for 1.65V and the BIOS may be defaulting to 1.5V.

Ok so apparently the voltage is what was holding me back. I upped it to 1.65v and clocked it in at 1666mhz and removed 2 sticks from the ddr3_1 ddr3_2 slots. So far Prime95 is running with no errors. Also managed to get my CPU up to 3.5ghz so far. Still air cooled and running at 48c. However I'm now down to only 4gig memory. Will this amount effect real world performance? I do a lot of modern video games and the occasional audio/video editing.

EDIT: Kind of strange that my memory usage while running Prime95 blend is only at 65%

I run 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair XMS @ 1600Mhz in my rig. I suppose I'd call myself a power user considering the extravagance of my gear, and the beating that I put on it. I don't have need of virtualization too much these days (other than the occasional game install from image on a virtual drive), but @ 3.8Ghz with 8 threads I do A LOT of multitasking. Think video conversion, streaming from ESPN3.com, running all monitors (HWMonitor, CPU-z, Task Manager --> Performance) and Dead Space 2 at full 1080, and my RAM usage barely tops 4GB. That's just this afternoons example.

If you're not trying to hit 1800+Mhz with the RAM, then you should be able to populate all your slots now that you've bumped the juice to 1.65V. Obviously run MemTest or an equivalent to verify, but the errors were more likely cause by inadequate power than by the RAM itself. It is a little less likely, but also possible that one of the DIMM's that you removed may be faulty. The best way to identify that particular issue would be to test each stick individually. If all the RAM tests good and you still run into issues running all of it together, check and see if there's a BIOS update for your board.