Phenom 2 x4 BE

My specs:
Operating System
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
CPU
AMD Phenom II X4 940 39 °C
Deneb 45nm Technology
RAM
8.0GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 400MHz (5-5-5-18)
Motherboard
MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO.,LTD DKA790GX (MS-7550) (CPU1) 34 °C
Graphics
X224W DVI (1680x1050@60Hz)
1024MB ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series (Microsoft Corporation WDDM 1.1) (ATI AIB)
Hard Drives
977GB Seagate ST31000528AS ATA Device (SATA) 33 °C
488GB Western Digital WDC WD5000AAKS-00A7B0 ATA Device (SATA) 34 °C
39.1GB Corsair CSSD-F40GB2 ATA Device (SATA-SSD) 1 °C
Optical Drives
Optiarc DVD RW AD-7220S ATA Device
Audio
High Definition Audio Device

I can easily unlock and change the multiplier for the CPU, which I did and got from native 3.0Ghz to 3.4, but errored out after about 2 minutes of playing SHIFT 2 . I immediately went back to default settings. I have the stock cooler for the Phenom 2, and was wondering if a more modest (say 3.2) overclock would be safer to go with the stock cooler. It's easily done by changing the multiplier, but I dont want to melt my CPU.
So I'm looking for opinions on trying 3.2, maybe run Prime95 for a while, monitor temps and check stability - if this is what I do, what temp would be dangerous ? No more than 60 ? how do I figure the multiplier to get exactly to 3.2 ?
Thanks .

 

So nobody on at MG has overclocked a Phenom 2 x4 with stock cooling ??
I find that difficult to believe .

 

A 3.0GHZ should be able to hit 3.6GHZ on stock cooling with multiplier of 18 but you'll probably need to increase the vcore to about 1.4v to get it stable.

The biggest variables are the motherboard and the cooling, try setting your sights on 3.4 (17x) at about 1.35v.

 

I was told that the OC to 3.4 would be fine with stock cooling, yet it obviously wasn't , however I didn't change any voltages because the article I read said it wasn't necessary.
Perhaps that was bad information ?

 

The info was good but there are other variables too. Raising the vCore a little is one of them.

It's to do with the quality and cooling of the components as a whole: 'board, CPU and RAM, driven by a quality PSU, in a good case with decent airflow. 1 weak link and it'll always be unstable if pushed. The best thing to do is find a good walkthrough for your 'board as a basis, then look for others with the same 'board, CPU and RAM combo to find the specifics needed to get you on the right track.

I've had a X2 555BE unlocked to 4 cores and clocked to a stable 4GHZ on stock cooling in around 10 minutes, just 3 clicks of extra vCore needed; if I'd been using, say, 4 sticks of RAM instead of 2 or a different 'board, I might not have got it that far, even with another 2-3 clicks of added vCore.

 

I have this case : http://www.google.com/products/cata...efox-a&cid=12775909667355719908&os=tech-specs
With this 850w thermaltake PSU http://www.google.com/products/cata...o0QGeifHECw&ved=0CC0Q8wIwAQ&biw=1680&bih=934#
Can you link me a good resource/forum so I can learn more about how to safely OC my system with my specific specs ? I was hoping to upgrade to a better GPU but it looks like the doctor will be taking all of my savings tomorrow .
I guess that's what I get for not having health insurance ,but that's a whole other can of worms.

 

I just found this, might be easier for you - I aim for 20% overclock anyway, it's usually fine long term:

 

Nice pull - appears to be alot of possibly good information there on overclockersclub.
Thanks .