990fx ud7 and 8120 help

mrbudders · Jan 24, 2012

I have the above mb and cpu. Totally new to oc'ing and would like help trying to get to at least 4.0 stable.

mb: ga-990fxa-ud7
cpu: amd fx-8120 zambezi 3.1ghz
ram: 16 gb kit gskill 1866
PSU: 850 watt (not sure on manufacturer/model w/o opening case
Cooler: cooler master geminiII s524
case: custom
Video: his 5850, saphire 6850

trents · Jan 24, 2012

Here is a preparation assigment:

1. Download and install these three programs: CPU-z, HWMonitor and Prime95. They are standard overclocking software reporting, monitoring and stress testing tools.
2. Disable Cool n Quiet and C1E in bios.
3. Go into Windows Control Panel and set Power Options to High Power.

mrbudders · Jan 24, 2012

I have all 3 programs already. I am not sure where the ce1 and cool n quiet is found in the bios. Have changed the windows setting already.

trents · Jan 25, 2012

Cool n Quiet and C1E are under "Advanced Bios Features". Also turn off Core Performance Boost in the Intelligent Tweaker section.

Now, please upload screenshots of CPU-z tabs: "CPU", "Memory" and "SPD" with you next post. Do you know how to do that? There's a built in tool in the forum for doing so:

To do screenshots and upload them with your pics;
1. Use Snipping Tool in Windows accessories to fame, crop and save the images to disk
2. Click on the "Go Advanced" button at the bottom of any new post window. This brings up the Advanced Post window.
3. Find the little paperclip tool at the top of the Advanced Post window and click on it
4. The image selector/uploader window then pops up. The rest is obvious.

Please do no lump a group of images together on the desktop and upload one pic of all of them. They are so small the details they contain are hard to see when you do that. Please upload each image separately. You can upload three at time max but if you want to add more you can edit the post and do so.

mrbudders · Jan 25, 2012

for some reason the memory tab only shows the amount of memory and nothing else.

RGone · Jan 25, 2012

Upgrade your CPU-z to the latest 1.59; as that is latest I believe.

mrbudders · Jan 25, 2012

sorry it wouldn't let me edit add a pic...figured it out Still missing the rated fsb but did download newest version from developer website

trents · Jan 25, 2012

You can adjust the frame of Snipping Tool with the mouse to eliminate the white border. That's not the only thing missing. If you look in the lower righthand corner of the "CPU" tab you will see the multiplier, the bus speed and the rated fsb are also missing. I wonder if you have an old version of CPU-z? Did you download it from the author's website?: http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

trents · Jan 25, 2012

Try the "CPU" tab again please.

trents · Jan 25, 2012

Okay. Now, with HWMonitor open on the desktop, run the Prime95 "just stress testing" blend test for 20 minutes. Then upload a pic of HWMonitor. That way we can see what the max load temps are and see how effective your CPU cooling is.

It's bed time. I'll check this tomorrow morning.

mrbudders · Jan 25, 2012

hwmonitor

trents · Jan 25, 2012

These are the things to watch in HWmonitor (circled in red).

Right now your core temps are fine and they are them most important ones to watch. TMPN1 is the CPU socket temp as measured from the motherboard. It can come into play if your motherboard has thermal throttling technology enabled.

The thing to do now is to start increasing your CPU multiplier (bios) by .5x at a time and run a 20 minute Prime95 test after every increase. When you start to fail the test (blue screen, spontaneous restarts or one of the six Prime95 core workers drops out) then increase the CPU core voltage a tad (bios) to restore stability. Repeat this process as necessary. Always monitor core temps with every stress test by having HWMonitor open on the desktop. You want to keep the core temps from exceeding about 55 C. Then you are at the wall. Try this and report back with pics of HWMonitor and CPU-z tabs: CPU, Memory and SPD when start hitting the 55 C core temp wall. At that point we may have some suggestions for tweaks.

mrbudders · Jan 25, 2012

ok will do. I just dont see anything circled.Just to clarify, the temp I don't want to reach 55c is the TMPN1 correct?

see the red circles now..

trents · Jan 25, 2012

mrbudders said:
ok will do. I just dont see anything circled.Just to clarify, the temp I don't want to reach 55c is the TMPN1 correct?

see the red circles now..

No. The 55c applies to the core temp section: Cores 0-6.

Neuromancer · Jan 25, 2012

Have you applied the AMD bulldozer hotfixes?

Not sure how it effects overclockability but it improves performance.

mrbudders · Jan 25, 2012

Neuromancer said:
Have you applied the AMD bulldozer hotfixes?

Not sure how it effects overclockability but it improves performance.

Only hotfix I can find has been removed from microsoft (kb 2592546)

mrbudders · Jan 25, 2012

settings in bios are Multiplier 21 voltage +.075(i believe, I will edit after double checking if settings are different) after 20 mins prime95 blend

trents · Jan 25, 2012

Looks like you actually turned your CPU multiplier down from 15x to 14x so that your CPU speed is now 2800 vs. 3000. Why did you do that? You also increased your memory frequency from 1333 to 1600. Your core temps were maxing out at 43c in post #11 and now they are maxing out at 54c which put you at the core temp wall.

The CPU multiplier (called "CPU Clock Ratio" in your biosz) was the only thing I wanted you to increase at first and that by .5x at a time. You must take it off "Auto" to make manual adjustments. Then when it became unstable when running the 20 minute Prime95 blend test I wanted you to add a little CPU core voltage which also needs to be taken off Auto in order to make manual adjustments. For now, put your memory back to 1333.

I know it gets confusing when people use terminology that doesn't exactly coincide with what you see in bios but with experience you will be able to translate.

Psykoikonov · Jan 25, 2012

2800Mhz @ 1.28V and 54C max temp looks like CnQ and/or APM and/or C1E and/or CPB enabled.

trents · Jan 25, 2012

I asked the OP tp disable that stuff but maybe it didn't happen.

990fx ud7 and 8120 help

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