Noob Q; overclocking fx8320, am I safe?

Hey

First of my system is:
fx8320 BE
m5a99fx pro r2
Hyper tx3
8gb ram kingston hyperx 1600
generic hdd
gtx660 ti

Ive been messing around and reading up. I would like to oc to 4gh, no more (and I understand that my low-end hyper tx 3 wont allow for much more).

I read that best is mix of fsb and multi, but thus far i only upped the multi to 20, rest at auto. C&Q, APM, Turbo, C6 state etc all disabled.

Havent run prime95 or IBT or anything, but when doing some gaming and having multiple tabs open, temperatures reach at max (according to HWmon), 60 on the socket and 48-50 on the core (package temp).

Now my Q is: If the socket stays under 65 and the core under 55, is this method (multiplier only) overclock a solid and safe overclock?

Cheers,

Multi only is the easiest way to do it as FSB increases bump up other frequencies like RAM and such. I think you have probably reached your thermal ceiling with that cooler, and I realize you have already stated that you know it isn't the greatest cooler, I just think you should hold what you have now until you can get a better cooler. Also increasing voltage manually instead of leaving it on auto may allow you to run with a lower cpu voltage than what auto will give you, which may give you a bit more room with temps.

better cooler ad better board... these 8 cores cpu's need a strong vrm section!

The M5A Pro will alow for a decent clock but that cooler is 'nt going to handle much. Multi OC is fine you can fine tune with FSB if need be. Generally 60c on package and 70c on socket is acceptable. Have you applied any OC at all at this point?

C&Q, APM, Turbo, C6 state etc all disabled...

...Even if technically the cpu is not yet truly overclocked with a multiplier of x20, the power consumption of the cpu has certainly been increased.

FX-8320
Frequency 3500 MHz Default all cores.
Turbo frequency 4000 MHz Max cpu speed no more than 1/2 the cores upclocked.
Boosted P states
#1: 4000 MHz, 1.425V
#2: 3700 MHz, 1.4125V

Low power P states
#1: 2900 MHz, 1.3V
#2: 2300 MHz, 1.1875V
#3: 1700 MHz, 1.0625V
#4: 1400 MHz, 0.95V

With the options disabled as he stated, the cpu now runs 4.0Ghz with ALL the cores enabled. That is very different from using the FX cpu as AMD designed to be used.

His temps gaming have not exceeded the temps we consider safe so he probably is in great shape.

I for one usually want to know and see more about my system though.

I greatly prefer to do as outlined below to get an idea of any expected stability.
RGone...

This is what we need to see for sure and a real good starting point.

Normally during setup and testing we disable C1/E, C6, Cool N Quiet, APM, TurboCore and in windows performance manager itself we set to "performance" mode. ALSO if you have HPC in bios you would ENABLE it. That way there are not "other" settings messing with the overclocking process. Some of those settings are not available on all models of cpu but where in evidence we disable for setup of overclock process.

CPU Tab in CPUz from CPUID com


Memory Tab in CPUz from CPUID com


SPD Tab in CPUz from CPUID com


And this is screen capture of HWMonitor (free version) from CPUID com
HWMonitor has been scrolled enough and large enough to show Min/Max of Voltages and includes the CPU CORE TEMPS / "package" temps fully visible. Latest versions of HWMonitor show the CPU Core Temp as " a Package Temp" and is only shown as a single temp since there were never multple, individual core temp sensors anyway.

This capture is made of HWMonitor after it has been open and running on the desktop logging Min/Max temps and voltages while Prime 95 was running Blend Mode test on all cores for at least 20 mins and then the capture of HWMonitor was made and it shows the Min/Max temps and voltages before P95 Blend was started and while running P95 Blend mode and gives much greater insight into how the system is performing without guessing.



In order to attach screenshots of INDIVIDUAL images as suggested, first crop and capture the images with Snipping Tool found in Windows Accessories or equivalent. Then click on Go Advanced, a button at the bottom of every new post window. Then click on the little paperclip tool at the top of the Advanced post window when it opens. Clicking on the paperclip tool brings up the file browser/upload tool and the rest is fairly obvious.

mudajama said:

I'm assembling a LC for my 8320. I'll report back in a few days when I get it going.

Click to expand...

You should probably start your own thread as it seems you are interjecting information about your own stuff that is not pertinent to what the OP is asking about.