ASRock 990fx Fatal1ty Killer on going review

HT Link speed is showing 1999.xx and not the 2600 that is stock/default for AMD FX series processors. Some bios writers when doing early bios 'forget' that shett.

Your ram calls for 1.65Volts just to run DDR3-1600 so it is some of the older stuff. I would make sure it has a full 1.65V or a red hair more.

I would set 2T command rate to the ram since I know mine thruputs more on max mem when set to 2T over 1T most of the time. I really have to tweak its skirt off to get more out of 1T and you are not going there.

Now were it my rig just like I did my FatLady, I set 1.4Volts to cpu in bios. I set middle of the road LLC and Asrock LLC is backwards from Asus. When you choose Asrock Max CPU_LLC it gives the least voltage help. That is bass ackwards from Asus.

Then I would check the ram as above.

Then I would make sure the HT Link was correct at 2600Mhz and then at HT Ref Freq or FSB, set it to 205 with the same 21x multiplier you have now and see what happens in P95 Blend mode.

If P95 Blend runs okay make sure you have had HWMonitor running in the background and capture HWMonitor and post up the CPUz > CPU Tab and the Memory tab.
RGone...

Blaylock said:

Bob, you say your vCore is set to 1.4 but CPU-Z is showing 1.35. Check to make sure LLC is set to high. I believe it actually says 100% on our ASRock boards. That should get you closer to your actual manual setting.

EDIT: also I would bump your CPU_NB multi up 2 notchs to 12 (2400) and raise the CPU_NBv to 1.25v. According to Dolks guide at 4.2Ghz your NB should be around 2600. That may help a little with stability as well.

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@Blaylock, I just wrote him this and it is true unless they have corrected their outlook on what CPU_LLC is supposed to do.

I set middle of the road LLC and Asrock LLC is backwards from Asus. When you choose Asrock Max CPU_LLC it gives the least voltage help. That is bass ackwards from Asus.

It took me awhile to find that Asrock had backward CPU_LLC but they did for at least the first 18 months of their AM3+ boards. Don't think they have changed it either.
RGone...

I will do as you gentlemen suggest. As far as the overclocking is concerned, I realized I am pretty much just being gunshy of the voltages.


This setup at 1.5 volts feels really good, but I don't have the balls to stress test it Check out that single core score though! That's starting to breech intel territory... But yes 5.0ghz, I think with watercooling would perfectly doable. Considering this board is rated all the way to 1.55 volts, I feel 5.2-5.3 is feasible. Pretty pleased with 14,000 multi and 2600 single. This chip stock is running 2000 single and 10,000 multi, so thats a 40% improvement over all, which is out standing.


http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/366183


But, as I said, I think 4.2 is the sweet spot for now until I get some SERIOUS cooling. Idling at 45c isn't were I want to be

@Blaylock, the Usb drive must be formatted FAT 32 to save bios captures and I noticed that my saving was partial to particular Usb ports.

Heck it was not until I wanted to flash bios on my CHV using AFUDOS that I found a blurb telling me which Usb slot was considered the 'primary' one when not yet in windows and to put the mouse in that Usb port. Crap, I live and learn I guess.
RGone...

Blaylock said:

Also Bob, there's a reason you have (only) 3 Bios profiles. There's no reason not to have a Bios setting for benching at 5.1Ghz w/ 1.55v and another for 24/7 gaming at 4.5Ghz w/ 1.4v. I actually would recommend it. You wont notice a ton of in game difference but your temps will be mo nicer.

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Ah I'm just horsing around for now. Tomorrow I will stress it to the limit. If it's gonna break, I want it to break while I still have the return period on newegg.


That said, I don't see an LLC setting in the bios! Thats pretty silly honestly.

edit: so what does HT link do exactly? I put it to 2600, and it feels exactly the same, even benchmarks identical. Whats the point of having it at 2600 if 2000 does the same job?

HT Link default speed as set by AMD is 2600Mhz starting with FX series of processor. No real idea why they did it but they did.

I looked at the bios in the downloaded manual for that 990FX Killer board and I did not find CPU_LLC in the bios. Also went to look for later bios and did not see one. I wonder if it is left out of bios by accident or design.

@Blaylock >> I got this from Extreme Systems when a few of them went for the EXT9 when the egg was selling them for $155.00 a few months ago.

Copied:
08-04-2013, 11:09 AM
Asrock has some how FUBAR'ed the labeling of LLC on both the E9 and AM3+ Fatality. This must be a language deal as it is labeled backwards on the Fatality and still is not correct on the E9. "Disabled" LLC can cause excessive Vcore rise when OC'ing, IME. Asrock has been getting input from those of us doing extensive mobo testing and they respond accordingly, unlike many mobo makers.
End Copy.
RGone...

Looking at your HWMonitor attachment.

@bob4933...



RGone...

RGone said:

@bob4933...

View attachment 138377

RGone...

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It definitely seems to be capable of keeping the voltage in a pretty tight range.

Gonester I like you you sign the bottom of you windows snip.

Mandrake4565 said:

It definitely seems to be capable of keeping the voltage in a pretty tight range.

Gonester I like you you sign the bottom of you windows snip.

Click to expand...

I do it so I can have just a clue as to when I made the image. Otherwise, I would not have any idea what I was thinking back then. Hehehe.
RGone...

Hey can someone answer the "cputin" vs "package"? which one isn't supposed to go over 62c?

Left p95 on while I slept, (ran for like 4 hours before never got over 60), but cputin got to 71c and was probably there for a while. Package never got over 60c though. That said, p95 ran like a champ for 12 hours, so Im content with stability.

CPUT1N is what we call Socket/CPU Temp and is generally considered best at <>70c. I would certainly not panic at bouncing up and hitting even 72c off and on under a full P95 Blend load. Most other applications should hardly ever force the temps that high unless the fins on cpu cooling clog over time.

Package/Core Temps are generally best kept to <>62c. Here again it depends on if it bounces up and touches a 'little' more than 62c or if it pegs at 62c or a little more. P95 Blend is a load and that is why it is used for a lot of stability testing. Load the crap out of the cpu and some ram and pass for hours and theoretically, normal use will not cause a crash.
RGone...

RGone said:

CPUT1N is what we call Socket/CPU Temp and is generally considered best at <>70c. I would certainly not panic at bouncing up and hitting even 72c off and on under a full P95 Blend load. Most other applications should hardly ever force the temps that high unless the fins on cpu cooling clog over time.

Package/Core Temps are generally best kept to <>62c. Here again it depends on if it bounces up and touches a 'little' more than 62c or if it pegs at 62c or a little more. P95 Blend is a load and that is why it is used for a lot of stability testing. Load the crap out of the cpu and some ram and pass for hours and theoretically, normal use will not cause a crash.
RGone...

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Ok. All seems fine, I just like keeping temps as low as possible with my rig. As I said, under 4 hours of p95, nothing went over 60, much less 70 lol. Guess after 12 hours stuff gets hot xD

That said, I am glad to see its rock solid stable.

edit: why does my ram keep saying "800mhz"? isn't it supposed to be 1600mhz?

Blaylock said:

That because your ram is DDR3 or Double Data Rate. 800x2=1600

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Right on. Thanks man.





OK gents, I tried, but the temps were scary. I went up to 5.2ghz @ 1.55volts, and the board seemed to hold it ok, but the temps were close to 60c on loading windows. Too much risk for me to go further, sorry.

5.0 @ 1.5v on water cooling would probably be the highest I would go with this bad boy. Felt really good (passes the user test xD), and I don't have much doubt on its stability, but the thermal stuff is too much for my uses right now.


I will be experimenting with FSB overclocking now and report back.

Ok is it "normal" for certain boards to cater to certain things? This board LOVES multiplier, but I can't overclock the FSB to save my life. The highest I could go on any voltage was 4.41 at [email protected]. 216 it dies. Didn't even feel great at 215, and the scores were identical to my 4.2 @ 200x20, which doesn't even make sense. I went up to 1.4 cpu-nb voltage, Im kinda scared to go higher. Yes, I kept HT and NB frequency at close to 2200 and 2600 as possible. Ram was kept below 1600 for stability's sake.

I did leave NB voltage at 1.12. Im assuming I need to raise that a smidge for FSB over clocking?

it would probably be useful if I had LLC on this board hahaha

It's really dumb that it doesn't have it I do appreciate you doing that though. Maybe with a bios update in the future? I dunno.

Mid Impressions roundup ->


After spending probably 15 hours tweaking (yes literally), I have decided to leave this board at 4.2ghz until I get some serious cooling going on. 5.0ghz would be fun to run at, but its too much for my cooling system to handle.

Right now, I am rock solid stable without any heat issues at 200FSB, 20.0 multiplier, 1.25 CPU-NB, 1.4 CPU, 1600 ram, 2600 HT, 2200 NB. This is air cooling setup that Im hoping to streamline soon. 5.0ghz @ 1.5 volts felt really stable and my performance indicators from GB3 gave notable improvements.

I was unable to go higher than 5.0ghz at any voltage, and this board is having difficulty managing FSB overclocking. I believe an fx4300 would be VERY suited to this board for the specs. Running an 8320 gets on the hot side, and water cooling is going to be necessary if you want serious performance.

Notable issues ->
- FSB overclocking sucks. Not sure why, or if its something I'm doing wrong. I was able to get 240+ FSB on my asus board, I can't go over 215 with any voltages on this board at any multiplier. Makes not much sense to me, but it is what it is.

- no LLC! not much to say, other then some annoyance on this.

- when changing tunings, windows starts REALLY slow, even if the clock is faster. Always requires a restart after windows fully loads. After the restart its back to super fast loadings.

Cool things I've noticed ->
- bios pictures are handy
- this board is extremely good at "self diagnosing" problems
- on BSOD during testing, it will post the screen, and then reset automatically, which is cool, as I hate holding the power down or hard resetting.
- 17 usb ports is... quite nice!
- although there is no LLC, it does do a pretty good job against vdroop.



Mid Verdict ->

This is a board for gamers, not enthusiast over clockers. I have no doubts on the stability and durability of this board, but it is clearly intended with gamers in mind. From the aesthetics, to the onboard peripherals, this is intended to make gameplay better, not necessarily max your overclocks.

I believe the best chip to go with this board is the FX4300. Lower TDW, but capability to handle much more would make this an ideal match. At the price I paid (134.99$ on newegg), you're probably not going to get better.
Runs my 8320 fine, and I can get pretty good overclocks out of it, I just don't feel this board is the best solution for die hard perfromance enthusiasts. THAT said, for me, for gaming and music production, this is perfect for my needs. As long as she holds up over time, I give this board a solid 8/10. I'd give the m5a97 4/10 in comparison, and since it died on me after almost no time at all, lets change that to 0/10.


If asrock is listening, to make this a 10/10
-> dont oversell the audio chip
-> add LLC
-> change the bios colors



Depending on taxes, I will be getting a modular power supply and an SSD, and will report back further.

bob4933 said:

it would probably be useful if I had LLC on this board hahaha

It's really dumb that it doesn't have it I do appreciate you doing that though. Maybe with a bios update in the future? I dunno.

Click to expand...

That's probably one of the "cost savers" implemented on the Killer. I had the same issue with a Z87 Killer mobo. Only kept it for a week or so and traded for an Asus.

How odd to even look at, I'm still used to my old school BIOS setups I guess.

OK can someone explain what offset voltage is? Im not seeing any great explanations of it on google searches.


Where the mouse is.

Offset allows you to run your CPU full out when needed but the cores,speed and volts will drop back when at idle.RGone has done a guide for it somewhere in here but I'll let him link it. There should be another option when you set the voltage to manual for offset. If your CPU uses 1.35v at stock but you need 1.45v for you OC you'd set the offset to .1v. Leave all the power saving on in bios and balanced in windows will allow the CPU to cycle up and down as needed.