SOLVED My new FX chip is giving me strange problems

I just picked up a FX8120 and a Crosshair V.

The short of the problem is that it starts at high PPD then it drops to 2K over 30mins.

My first folding on it was stock clocks windows7 64. This is where the problem I am having started to show it's self. The max PPD it was doing was 14k then it dropped to 2K over 30mins. I figured it had something to do with the old windows install I was running it on, I shrugged it off and did a clean wipe and install of Ubuntu 10. Same problem with Ubuntu. So now I think it has to be a bios setting. So now I'm back to windows 7 (fresh install) and have been reading forums and messing with the bios trying to fix my problem. After a weekend of playing with it I'm still no closer to fixing it.

can anyone give me some ideas?

It would seem that it's dropping clocks either in power saving mode or in response to high temps. You can confirm either or both with cpu-z and RealTemp. In Windows you have to chose high performance in power settings. The fact that it did it in Ubuntu leads me to believe temps or bios power saving settings are the issue.

After playing around with Asus AI bios software (I found it easier to adjust everything here than in the bios) I believe the "cpu voltage frequency" was the problem, It was set to VRM 550Khz and if I'm right that is for less speed and more stability.

Still learning this mobo and the manual does not really help. If I have any more issues I know its probably the mobo settings and will ask in that forum section.
Thanks.

Motherbords have really come a long way from when first picked one up I remember setting jumpers and dip switches and then getting my first jumper-less mobo was a great evolution. This UEFI BIOS feels unfinished.




On the folding front the chip is performing terribly it gets 14-18K PPD in windows 7. However this is not my folding rig it is my gaming rig so I only fold it when its not in use.

A VRM is voltage regulator module. Adjusting the frequency of the VRMs should let them respond to cpu loading more quickly, but it should not affect the speed the cpu runs. In the case of folding, it may not make much difference since the cpu is under near constant load.

on my 3960X i had an issue with the VRM freq... basically, the higher the freq, the more heat it produces on the regulators/NB... even though the CPU was fine for temps, it throttled due to the heat from the high freq on the NB while folding... Folding at 5ghz for 5-25 min, then the CPU throttles all the way back to 3.3 ghz until the temps cool... basically a roller coaster from 5-3.3ghz giving me TERRIBLE PPD