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The key settings in the Windows® XP, Windows Vista® or Windows 7® operating system to adjust before
overclocking the CPU:
• Close all major applications and background tools and save any open documents
• Set OS to “High performance” mode via “Control Panel / Power Options”
• Close any third party hardware / clock monitoring and system information programs
CPU tuning with the AMD OverDrive™ utility:
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE AMD PRODUCT WARRANTY DOES NOT COVER DAMAGES CAUSED BY
RUNNING COMPONENTS OUTSIDE OF SPECIFICATION INCLUDING DAMAGES CAUSED BY
OVERCLOCKING (EVEN WHEN OVERCLOCKING IS ENABLED WITH THE AMD OVERDRIVE UTILITY).
1) open AMD OverDrive (“AOD”)
2) enter the “Clock / Voltage” –tab under the “Performance Control” section
3) the two key sliders are “CPU Core Multiplier” and “CPU VID” – monitor the “Target speed” values
before applying them. Make sure that “Select all cores” is checked
Figure 6: AMD OverDrive™ utility CPU Clock multiplier and CPU VID controls
4) increase the values in small steps (example: set CPU Multiplier from x18 to x16 and CPU VID from
1.250V to 1.300V)
5) Verify stability of the new settings with AOD Stability test or with 3
rd
party multithreaded benchmark
(Cinebench 11.5 or Prime95 for example) or stress tester (OCCT) before increasing the CPU Multiplier
or VID values to the next level. Note that the stress tester must be able to fully stress all CPU cores.
Please refer to “AMD “Scorpius” Platform Technology Performance Tuning Targets” for the expected / optimal
Multiplier and VID values.
HT reference clock slider can be used for finer control over the CPU Core clock. 1MHz HT reference clock
steps are available. This translates to 10-30MHz CPU Core clock steps depending on the CPU Multiplier used.
Note that the motherboard BIOS must enable support for HT reference clock slider – if the BIOS code is
missing then this value cannot be adjusted via AOD. The motherboard vendor may have a software utility
available for this purpose.