Need clarification on small overclock

Hey hey,

I am just stepping into the realm of CPU overclocking and have been doing some reading and looking for some clarification please.

Setup:
AMD A8-6600k
Gigabyte GA-F2A55M-DS2
Win 8.1
8GB RAM Corsair Vengeance
Cooler Master Seidon 120v v2 w/Gelid GC Extreme Compound
Nvidia MSI GT630 2gb
Corsair CX600M PSU

I've heard of someone running this CPU at 4.5Ghz 1.35V. Now when I went into the Bios I changed the CPU Clock Control to 105.00Mhz which set the CPU Freq at 4.09Ghz. I also noticed by doing this it automatically changed my Memory Freq over 1600Mhz.

1. So when the person was running 4.5Ghz where would be the settings to get the 1.35V? Or is this done automatically somewhere?
2. Do I need to change a setting somewhere to prevent the Memory Freq from changing?

Welcome to the Forum Zombie!

What you changed was the Bus speed(a.k.a. FSB). That will overclock your CPU, memory and North bridge. I would recommend a different approach.

In the Bios you should be able to adjust the CPU Multiplier. The stock multi will be 19.5 (19.5x200=3900Mhz). Adjust this up one notch at a time to overclock only the CPU. You will get to a point when the CPU will become unstable and need more volts. Find the setting in BIOS that says vCore or CPUv and bump that up a notch or 2. It is always best to do this incrementally to maximize your OC.

Download the free versions of CPU-Z and HWMonitor and post images of your OC like this to help us help you.



Also here's a nice guide to read. It's not the same processor as yours but the terminology and steps will be the same.




EDIT: Also, I'm not familiar with your motherboard but from what I see online it may limit your overclock.

Welcome to OCF Zombie_System

Yes raising the bus speed will raise the ram speed. There will be a setting in bios which allows you to raise and lower the frequency manually in steps. Same as the voltage you'll find that in there as well. My advice would be for you to check your manual to help you locate these options.
Here's something else to have a look at which might help you along as well. http://www.overclockers.com/overclocking-amds-llano-apu/
Your CPU is newer but the technique is the same.

Ok so I found the CPU clock and set it to 42 (4.2Ghz); now if I'm trying to get to the 4.5Ghz 1.35V I need to set my CPU V to 1.35? I'm gathering that is correct; as of right now I've left the CPU V on auto.

45c seems to be an average CPU temp from HWMonitor; is this too high with the Seidon or is that about right? Heavy loads in Warframe seem to get me around 55-70c though it seems to average 66c.

I would suggest stepping your overclock one step at a time instead of jumping to the finish line. IF you're able to get to 4.5Ghz then let's try and get there safely. To answer you're question, yes you will need to set you're vCore manually.

Before we set the OC lets turn off some energy saving options. In Bios please disable Cool-N-Quiet and C6 if you have these options. Also set you CPU fan speed to manual and max setting to maximize cooling for the time being.

Allow me to correct myself before someone else does Stock for this CPU is 3900Mhz (39x100). So I wouls set the multi to 40 and the CPU vCore to 1.200v. Here are the P-States for this CPU and is just a guideline to what you might need voltage wise at a specified speed.

#1: 4200 MHz, 1.35V
#2: 4100 MHz, 1.275V
#3: 4000 MHz, 1.2V

This isn't a rule, but a guide line you may very well need less.

We also need to keep an eye on your temps while doing this. The 2 temps to watch closely are your socket temp and your package temp. I'm not seeing your socket temp listed, maybe Johan can help out with that.

@Johan, do these APU's run around the same temps as the AM3(+) CPU's?

- - - Updated - - -

You'll want to download the free version of Prime95 so we can test the stability of the system. This will generate some heat which is why we want all your fans at max settings. Once we find out the max temps for this CPU we'll know if there's enough headroom to continue.

Thanks for the info.

Right I've set it to 4.00Ghz and manually maxed out fans, now before I blow anything up; I went to where the CPU V is at and it shows as AUTO. I click on it and nothing happens, I type 1.200 and enter and it rolls back to AUTO, I hit + and it shows +0.000V if I hold + down it starts rolling the numbers up +0.724 ect. Do I take it that I hold + down until it gets to 1.200v and hit enter or is this altering something else?

EDIT: I feel weird about whether the Seidon is doing enough if it can idle 55-65c when getting into desktop for awhile; then usually it can lessen to 40c's. I kind of assumed it would have netted better results.

Addressing temps.

Your Seidon is a decent AIO cooler. It's not great, but not bad either. Here's a list of how it compares to other coolers. keep in mind the test used a 125w heat source and your CPU is only 100w so your results should be better. That said I think you may need to re-seat the water block. 55-65c at idle is horrible. You should be in the upper 20's. We also need to find out what the sockets temps should be around and if your board even has a sensor for that ( it should). The fact that there are no heatsinks is an indicator that it's not going to be great for OCing, but that's not always true.



Voltages.

That looks to be a voltage offset. Leave that at auto or zero. What you're looking for is either CPUv or vCore. Like this.

Well I think I'm stuck with the cooling problem first at this stage.

I reset the pump to the CPU and used Cooler Master's own compound and it's resulting in worse temp readings I'm averaging 70-72c. I've been posting on the Cooler Master forums about this so far and no luck with a single come back. The only thing I can think of is maybe swapping the cables around though I know I've got them set right now; the pump is connected to the CPU Fan and the radiator/fan is connected to the System Fan.

Edit:
I've got some pic's of the Bios CPU Vcore settings; this is the only place I can find where there is any Vcore settings.

PIC1: Default settings


PIC2: I've hit + once and it changes AUTO to NORMAL.


PIC3: I've hit + twice more and it's changed to 0.006V

UPDATE:

Been sat here watching temps move around on AMD OD and HWMonitor and they don't seem to be remotely similar. I've got 40c on AMD OD and 70c on HWMonitor.

I know APU's run hotter and have read them to be ok to run 70-80c; idle and load are two different things though. Is there a possible false reading from HWMonitor?

PIC1: Default


PIC2: Hit + once.


PIC3: Hit + twice more.


This is the only place I found CPU Vcore settings and if I type 1.200 over the top of AUTO and hit enter it just shows AUTO still.

Yes, that is where you will set your voltage, but I would agree that we need to figure out these temp issues first. Don't bother using AMD OD's temps as they arn't actual temps but a margin before overheat. i.e. you have 40c before it's to hot. Most of us find that confusing and would rather know what the actual temp is. HWMonitor should provide a more accurate reading of this. It is possible for your sensor to report the wrong reading at idle but I can't recall one ever being that far off. I need to do a little research for you and see what I can find out about this board and its sensors.


EDIT:

OK, after a quick check these APU's do monitor temps differently than the typical CPU's and some versions of HWMonitor are simply not compatable. (Understanding APU Temps)

One of our long time members Trents had this issue a while ago and found that using Gigabyte's EasyTune software gave better readings than the other programs. I think we should start using that and see where we're at. It's pretty unlikely that you're hitting 70c at idle. If you don't have EasyTune I'm sure it's on the Gigabyte site in the downloads section. Let's get an accurate temp reading before we proceed to far.

I've been in contact with Cooler Master about the temp issue and they had me reset the entire unit after having reconfigured the radiator position in case and "gently shaking" it to ensure there are no bubbles in the pump.

That's interesting about the HWMonitor temps not showing correctly; I did forget that AMD OD is in reverse. I do have ET6 installed I just avoided using it as literally everyone suggested bios tweaking vs software. That being said there are no temp monitors in ET6; there is a very strange looking... fan control section?


EDIT: Never mind I found it... and the temps look good!

You're right AMD OD shows distance to max so if it says 40c then you still have 40 degrees till you reach you max.
I would use it myself over the easytune

There you go that looks much better than 70C! LMAO.

OK, lets start from the beginning. You should Make your adjustments in the Bios and just use the software for monitoring. In Bios manually set it back to default 3900 and set the fans to max. Turn off any power saving features that are available for that board (CnQ, C6, etc). I'm not seeing any from the Bios images I can see online so you may have to look around to find them. Hit your "+" on the vCore until you reach 1.200v and go back to your main menu. Hopefully your menu looks like the one I posted. If so your vCore should read 1.20v. Press F10 to save and exit.

You should now be booted at stock freq 3.9 with 1.20v. Open OverDrive and EasyTune to verify. If everything looks good open up Prime95 and run blend mode for about 20mins. This will put a high load on your system and generate plenty of heat. What we're checking for is system stability and cooling performance from your AIO before we overclock it.

Things to watch for. If your temps get to high and you get close to your Thermal Margin stop the test. Personally I would stay about 5-10c from your margin to be on the safe side. Also, If P95 starts throwing errors or freezes or blue screens that's an indicator that you may need to increase voltage for better stability.

After about 15-20mins your AIO should be nice and toasty warm. While P95 is still running take a screen shot around the 20min mark. End the test and post the results so we can see what your max temp were and CPU vCore under load.

One problem after the other on this one!

When I go to CPU Vcore and hit the + it maxes out at +0.300v.

Gonna go out on a limb here and say the mobo isn't the best option for overclocking despite what Gigabyte said about it being good for OC. Maybe I'm pigeon holed into using software to OC for the time until I upgrade the mobo and CPU.

OK NP. That's you vCore offset. Leave that at auto or Zero. Post a screen shot of what voltage adjustments you do have. You may not have the options needed to hit 4.5Ghz but we can probably get you to 4.2G as that's the turbo speed.

Here's the main screen... sorry my phone is glaring really bad off the screen for some reason. It's running at 1.440V

Sorry was out of town over the weekend. Is this where you adjust the voltages? It looks more like the main screen. Also, is this after setting the vCore manually to 1.200v?

No worries; I got drown in work.

The last pic was the default settings from the main screen. I've had to resort to using AMD OD to overclock as the bios doesn't appear to have a place for me to set Vcore aside from what I've mentioned before with it maxing at 0.300v

Must not be the best mobo to be doing this from.

OK, no worries. In truth I've been pretty swamped myself.

I believe we can get you a decent overclock using that vCore offset option on your motherboard. If it were my rig I would use AMD OD to find a stable clock/vCore setting then use the vCore offset in Bios to match that setting.