• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

How do I overclock the FX-6300?

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

Skianator

New Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2013
Hey, so I got a Biostar TA990FXE board. This was my first Boistar product. I decided to try this company since ABIT went out of business, and they were my first pick. I wanted to build a cost effective rig, so I could play BF3 with some respectable frame rates. I'm very happy with this board, it does what its supposed to and it does it well, plenty of features also. Anyways, I am using an AMD FX-6300 chip, 3.5 GHz, 4.1 Turbo. I have never overclocked a chip with a turbo feature. My question is, do I turn the turbo off, and then overclock it to whatever speed I want beyond 4.1 GHz? I'm not really interested in going much beyond 4.1 GHz, 4.5 GHz - 4.6 GHz would be ideal. My main goal is to get the RAM up to 2133 MHz, currently its at 1866 MHz, via the BIOS setting. So, If I turn off the turbo I'll be at 3.5 GHz, if I raise this, Ill hit 2133 MHz before I'm even running at 4.1 GHz on the CPU, and I want to be at 4.1 GHz at least. Does raising the multiplier affect RAM speed, or is RAM affected by FSB frequency only? If the multiplier does not affect RAM speed I could get the CPU up to 4.1 GHz and then take the ram up from there with the FSB numbers. How do I proceed? Do I have to lower the RAM speed below 1866 MHz and take the whole thing up from there, or can I use the multiplier to get the CPU up to 4.1 GHz and then use the FSB speed to raise the RAM speed?
 
I wouldn't expect too much in the way of overclocking as that motherboard only has 4+1 power phase components.

What CPU cooler are you using? Having good cooling is critical to overclocking. With that CPU you should not attempt overclocking until you have good aftermarket cooling in place.
 
Well, as I am sure others will tell you, that board only has a 4+1 phase count and therefore may not be the best for overclocking. Answering your question though, yes if you are going to overclock you should turn off the turbo function and while first getting started you should also turn off all of the other power saving features such as cool & quiet. The multiplier increases will not affect the Ram speeds but you are correct that FSB adjustments will. Are you using a stock heatsink for the processor? If so that, along with your motherboard choice, may be a limiting factor in the success or failure of any overclocks as these processors run hot, due to increased voltages needed for a stable overclock. Three programs you should download are CPU-Z, HWMonitor, and Prime95. Go ahead and do a prime95 blend test with everything stock before you start overclock just to ensure everything is running fine before you start, otherwise you may be chasing problems that were there to begin with.

Dang, beat me to it.
 
Thanks for the info. Only 4+1 phase count, well, like I said I'm not looking for a hardcore overclock with this, I only want to get my RAM up to 2133, it should be able to do that. Biostar says the board can do 2200 MHz.
 
that is an okay cooler, though you still probably shouldn't expect any great overclocks. Once you get those three programs installed go ahead and see what kind of temperatures you are getting. Increasing the FSB will increase your RAM and CPU speeds, so getting your CPU to 4.1 then increasing your FSB will result in an overclock > 4.1
 
what ram do you have?
Link to product page?
Also post screen caps of CPU-Z ram tab and SPD tab
 
A CM Hyper TX3? Great little cooler for Athlon IIs and Semprons but it won't get you very far with the FX-6300.

The first thing to do is to check CPU socket temps and package temps under full load at stock frequencies and voltages. To that end, please download and install these two programs: Prime95 and HWMonitor.

When you have done that, open HWMonitor on the desktop. Then run the Prime95 "blend" stress test (choose "just stress testing" the first time you use the program) for 20 miniutes. Before you close HWMonitor, capture it's image to disc and directly attach the image (no linked to a web site). Here's how to do that:

To attach a pic with a post, first crop and save the pic to disc. Snipping Tool in Windows Accessories is great for this. Then click on Go Advanced at the bottom of any new post window. When the advanced post window appears, click on the little paperclip tool at the top. This will load the file browser/up-link tool and the rest will be obvious. You may attach up to three images at a time and if you need to attach more, save the post, reopen it and repeat the process outlined.
 
Thanks for the info. Only 4+1 phase count, well, like I said I'm not looking for a hardcore overclock with this, I only want to get my RAM up to 2133, it should be able to do that. Biostar says the board can do 2200 MHz.

The motherboard is not the only factor in how fast you can run the ram. The other major factor is the ability of the IMC (integrated memory controller) on the CPU die. If the IMC is not stout enough to handle a high ram frequency it will make no difference if the motherboard will handle it.

The FX-CPUs are made to work best with 1866 mhz ram. 2133 is probably asking too much of the IMC.
 
Interesting. Thank you everybody for your input. This will get me going, now I just have to wait for the fan. It will be interesting to see what this thing can do. I should also get a benchmarking program to see if bumping up the RAM will do anything. I'm out for now, later.
 
The FX-CPUs are made to work best with 1866 mhz ram. 2133 is probably asking too much of the IMC.

The FX cups are rated to run two sticks at DDR1866. That is the spec from AMD.

FX-4170 on Sabertooth 990FX runs G Skill DDR2133 with ease.

FX-8120 on CHV runs G Skill DDR2133 with ease.

FX-8350 on CHV runs G Skill DDR2133 with ease.

FX-8350 on Asrock Fatal1ty 990FX Professional runs G Skill DDR2133 with ease.

FX-6300 on CHV runs G Skill DDR2133 with ease.

None of those boards being R1.0 boards have a DDR2133 menu setting so the FSB must be increased to 230 to get DDR2140.
RGone...
 
I am running the 6300 cpu and for gaming it really only needs to be clocked to 4.2-4.4
the fast ram is a real boost for it. over 4.2-4.4 the vcore gets high and it makes a lot of heat for little gain.
1866 ram is the real kicker and 2133 is better.
with the 2133 ram and just stock timings with a low end video card the detail improved and it left no artifacts.
I use hd7770 cards.
 
your making that assumption based off of....? a completely different setup's ability to do it?
 
Back