AMD 960T CPU Upgrade

[storm-chaser]

My weakest Phenom II rig runs a B75 unlocked to a Deneb X4 @ 3.0Ghz. This CPU has a locked multiplier so for overclocking we had to use the FSB technique. Running the FSB at 240Mhz we were able to achieve a 3.6Ghz overclock but it's just not enough! The quest for more horsepower must go on!

I've been planning to upgrade this for quite some time procuring parts and whatnot. We are moving to an AMD 960T which runs stock at 3.0Ghz and turbo up to 3.4Ghz. Since it is black edition we can really maximize performance as well - and O/C details will follow.

Yesterday, I ran into a little snag when my 585 watt power supply bit the dust after starting the new system. Needless to say, I had to do some janky repairs to get this system back online, the procedure of which I will detail below. The build phase is 99% complete, with the only task left to mount the SSD drive and clean up the wiring. Pictures and updates to follow.

First, I had to go hunting for a capable power supply. I settled on an Antec 400W model SL400. This PS is definitely OLD and not really built to handle the power demands of a 110W quad core processor, so we had to perform a few upgrades to make it work. First, I took ATX 4 pin power connector off my broken power supply and we had to graft that in to work with my Antec PS.

The upgrade involved using a standard Molex connector that you might find on a fan, and grafting in the 4 pin ATX power plug. This only left me with the orange, 3.3volt wire to deal with:

Molex Connector:

Once that was done, we grafted the remaining orange wire on the ATX 4 pin to one of the pre-existing 3.3 volt orange wires on the Antec PS:

Here is a better look at the ATX 4 pin we need for the Phenom 960T power delivery:

Once the orange wire was grafted in, I did a trial run and the system posted! Guess we will see how long the trusty 400 W Antec survives!

Here is my nice new 960T!

More pics to follow, we are nearly there!

 

[hat]

Not sure how much better you'll get with that 960T. I had a 1090T at one time and ran into problems after 3.6GHz. I could probably have tweaked it more, but it was only in a secondary system, so I didn't give it my full effort.

Cool job butchering that Antec though (I mean that in a good way). FWIW, the 20 pin would have fit in the 24 pin slot in the board without those modifications though, and I'm pretty sure that has more to do with PCI-E power, it shouldn't affect the CPU much. Better to have it than not though.

 

[GoldenX]

The quad ones should reach up to 4.2GHz, maybe 4.3, but you need a good heatsink for that.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Ghetto mod is ghetto I was looking at the PSU and thinking, why....just why? then again it's a 10 year old PII chip so why the hell not lol though with your mods has that increased the +12v any? as that PSU can barely supply 200w and is more for the P3/AMD Athlon era and you'll be supping close to 150w with that CPU overclocked taking into account the rest of the system, that's without a GPU.

If it wasn't such an old system in all aspects I wouldnt be thinking about how long the PSU will last, more like what else is it going to take when it does blow.

 

[hat]

That's just what this guy does, he enjoys messing around with older hardware like this. And, of course, don't forget once you start doing ghetto things, there's always room for more ghetto things! He could rig up two power supplies to run it together.

 

[storm-chaser]

Here we are with a moderate overclock. MMM I can already smell my new PSU burning up (JK) I know the chip is good to 4.2Ghz on my other Biostar mainboard. But the 960T is a great chip. These chips hold their value very well and I would even go as far as to say this chip or the 1100T was the best chip AMD produced until Ryzen. Plus, if you get a 960T you have a couple advantages right out of the gate:

First, they are actually based on a Thuban x6 with two cores disabled. Using ACC you can enable those hidden cores I would say they are stable about 40% of the time. Which is a pretty good rate if you go ahead and buy them in bulk like I like to do. This particular CPU does not unlock and that's why it's relegated to my older hardware and why I have no qualms blowing it up if that's what happens.

The second reason these chips are awesome is because it actually houses six cores it runs very cool. Ambient temps here are in the high 80s and looking at core temp right now I'm idling around 87* and under load about 95*. Really makes for a nice cool running system that can handle the heat very well. I have a hyper 212 for cooling which has been great.

 

[hat]

Nice, not bad. That's higher than what I could do with my old Phenom II 550.

 

[newtekie1]

Unlocked the 960T to a 6-Core!

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Love the old skool feel to this but man, that PSU will blow out when any kind of load gets put on it.

I need to dig out the parts I bought for a Athlon 1200 Win98 retro build complete with a geforce 2 GPU, just need to get a Windows 98 CD as I don't have an ODD in my main rig to burn one, slight oversight when I bought all the parts

 

[storm-chaser]

Here we are at 4.1Ghz... this is about has fast as I can go with this mainboard (Biostar TA970) and 111W according to HWMonitor…

Look at those temps! That's with the case closed up and it's about 85* ambient here!

 

[GoldenX]

Those 6 core were very cool, unrealistically so.
I loved my high binned 980be. Could reach 4.6GHz with low ambient temps.

 

[storm-chaser]

Those 6 core were very cool, unrealistically so.
I loved my high binned 980be. Could reach 4.6GHz with low ambient temps.

That's impressive - I cannot wait for the winter months to do some real overclocking. I just purchased another 960T that unlocked all six cores and clocks to 3.8. Cost me $40 - still probably the best bang for your buck if it unlocks stable.

EDIT: You might be wondering why I have all these 960Ts... well... it's a long story.

But I've ended up getting a new 960T about once a month here... reselling what I don't use or what doesn't unlock... it's been a fun project it's always great getting new tech even if it is ten years old.

 

[eidairaman1]

Here we are at 4.1Ghz... this is about has fast as I can go with this mainboard (Biostar TA970) and 111W according to HWMonitor…

View attachment 105974

Look at those temps! That's with the case closed up and it's about 85* ambient here!
View attachment 105973

Ultimate oc board was an Asus Crosshair 5 or Sabertooth R1.0, Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 they took out core unlocking but left core enable and disable.

 

[Mr.Scott]

Temps are wrong. Don't believe them. Side effect of unlocking is you lose your temp sensor.
Best guess based on my experience with unlocked chips is add 10-12c to what the sensor says and you'll be close.

I loved my high binned 980be. Could reach 4.6GHz with low ambient temps.

 

[storm-chaser]

Temps are wrong. Don't believe them. Side effect of unlocking is you lose your temp sensor.
Best guess based on my experience with unlocked chips is add 10-12c to what the sensor says and you'll be close.

Word... BUT, the chip is not unlocked in this form. It's clocked as a plain jane 960T.

Here is what I get from AIDA64. Look at the delta between CPU and CPU Diode...

I imagine you are correct then... add 10-15 for real temp

 

[AlwaysHope]

storm-chaser, that's really pushing it isn't it?
With that old PSU unit, I'd be quite cautious about ruining the mobo & other components attached to it.
But that's just me, your values are different & I respect that.

 

[storm-chaser]

storm-chaser, that's really pushing it isn't it?
With that old PSU unit, I'd be quite cautious about ruining the mobo & other components attached to it.
But that's just me, your values are different & I respect that.

This is literally like my third or fourth "reserve" system, so I don't have any concerns about the hardware (but I'm not worried, more on that later). The motherboard is not a great overclocking piece and has been relegated to reserve duties. The processor is a spare unit that doesn't unlock. The video card is literally a Frankenstein unit that's been pieced together and the rest of the hardware is just spare stuff from my parts bins.

Just a Sunday evening project for me! I can't get enough. As for the power supply, well, I don't think it will fail in a way that's going to cause me heartache. I've had plenty of PSUs fail over the years but never in a way that's taken other hardware with it.

I guess we are all invested in this as much as I am at this point and we will see how long this experiment lasts... I will report my findings going forward. Might even add the Radeon HD R4870 as it pulls a good deal more power than the current GPU and hence will put more stress on the PSU.

For now, I have built yet another system I can test and tune with, made from inanimate spare parts. I think it will be a win

 

[AlwaysHope]

Ahhhhhh, the good ole' HD 4870! had one of those with my old E8600 system but only 512Mb Vram. Now THAT brings back memories...

 

[hat]

Hmm... could you get your hands on an Agena Phenom? I'd be interested to see what you could do with one of those.

 

[storm-chaser]

View attachment 105978

Damn Scott!! 895Mhz on CL6? That's just insane bro!

Hmm... could you get your hands on an Agena Phenom? I'd be interested to see what you could do with one of those.

Never owned one. I skipped over that generation completely so I don't know much about how well they overclock.

Hoping someone might chime in here about their overclocking capability or lack there of.

 

[GoldenX]

3,4 tops. Maaaybe 3,7 with a lucky one.

 

[storm-chaser]

Before I left last night I fired off a quick 20 minute torture test and everything appears to be stable. System was left on overnight. The system definitely has some janky repairs, not even mentioning the video card debacle. The temp sensor went bad in my 5770 so I have spliced in a 4 pin fan connector on the end and have it wired and connected to the CPU fan port on the mainboard. I then have the CPU fan running to one of the standard fan ports. Using the fan control built into the motherboard I can reduce fan speed (and more importantly excessive noise) by choosing "quiet" mode - effectively bypassing my bad fan controller on the GPU... This is the only option I had left, short of actually replacing the fan on the HD 5770.

Once the system POSTS, the fan controller takes over and system runs nice and quiet.

Later today I will have another look at the system and get some updated temp readings and whatnot. See if my power supply survived the night.

 

[Fouquin]

My favorite thing about the 960T is that it still has the turbo function enabled like all the other Thuban chips. So you can push a very nice OC on the 4/6 cores, then set the turbo another 400-500MHz higher for single-thread applications. Have your cake and eat it too!

 

[storm-chaser]

I've been busy stability testing the rig and with the case open it does well but if I put the cover on and let it run the temps slowly creep up to 70*C and higher. So for now, I know I need to stay away from high demand applications and work loads. The computer build is nearing completion, just needing a little AMD sticker for the case.

Fouquin,
My motherboard does not seem to allow for customizing the turbo functionality of the CPU. I have a static overclock across all 4 cores at 4.1Ghz...

 

[Durvelle27]

Sell the board and CPU for a newer plateform