[MediaJunky]

Hey guys, the rig I'm currently working with is;

Asus Crosshair Formula IV
AMD FX-4170
Corsair H70
8GB OCZ Reaper HPC 1600 @ 1.9v (4x2GB)
MSI HD5970
Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 1000W
Cooler Master HAF X

First things first, the motherboard is using a beta BIOS (v3027) in order to support the bulldozer CPU. With this beta there are a number of options missing from the BIOS.

From the manual;

3.3.10 CPU & NB Voltage Mode [Offset]
Allows you to set the CPU & CPU/NB Voltage Mode. Different sub-items appear according to the CPU & NB Voltage Mode item setting. Configuration options: [Offset] [Manual]

CPU Offset Voltage [Auto]
This item appears only when you set the CPU & NB Voltage Mode item to [Offset] and allows you to set the CPU Offset voltage. The values range from 0.006250V to 0.700000V with a 0.006250V interval.CPU/NB Offset Voltage [Auto]
This item appears only when you set the CPU & NB Voltage Mode item to [Offset] and allows you to set the CPU/NB Offset voltage. The values range from 0.006250V to 0.700000V with a 0.006250V interval.

CPU Voltage [Auto]
This item appears only when you set the CPU & NB Voltage Mode item to
[Manual] and allows you to set a fixed CPU voltage.

CPU/NB Voltage [Auto]
This item appears only when you set the CPU & NB Voltage Mode item to
[Manual] and allows you to set a fixed CPU/NB voltage.

Currently the "CPU & NB Voltage Mode" option is missing, which in turn means the CPU and CPU/NB Voltage options are missing, thus means the only way I can set CPU voltage is via the "CPU Offset Voltage" which I'll be honest, I don't fully understand.

I have disabled cool and quiet, turbo core, ai tweaker, etc and set everything to manual.

With the following settings I've achieved a stable 4.8GHz;

CPU Multiplier: 24
HT: 2600
CPU/NB: 2600
CPU Offset Voltage: 0.100000
NB Voltage: 1.175
HT Voltage: 1.275

Prime95 runs for a couple of hours without any dropped workers and gaming seems perfectly stable but I have a few oddities;

1) The machine boots at 1.5v VCORE, but then drops to 1.488v according to HWMonitor and CPU-Z. When stress testing it increases to 1.52 which brings the full load temps up to around 56C, I don't seem to be able to fix the voltage.
2) When trying to run 5GHz (25x200) it seems the above fluctuations cause the Prime95 worker processors to fail or the machine to blue screen.
3) Despite the NB voltage being set at 1.175 the board appears to allow it to run up to 1.25 according to its own voltage monitor and also HWMonitor.

I would love to hear if anyone else has this motherboard with a Bulldozer CPU or any advice on how to proceed from here.

Thanks

[{PGA}AfterShock]

same mobo with same bios but diff cpu though the methods are all the same. since your chip will run at 1.488v you want that as your target voltage so in your bios next to the cpu offset it should show your cpu voltage. you want to use the + or - depending on if your higher or lower than your target voltage so if your cpu voltage shows 1.5 you would change the mode to - and raise the amount of offset a little bit then save and reboot then go back into the bios to see where your at and adjust as needed, also make sure you have LLC enabled for both cpu and cpu/nb this will prevent the voltage from dropping below your target level and LLC will provide a slight voltage boost under heavy loads so in prime you should be somewhere around 1.5v but shouldn't have the huge fluctuations that you have now.

I have to say for whatever reason they decided to use offsets instead of keying numbers in directly it was a stupid decision and very unnecessary since it changes nothing in terms of the end result.

[trents]

Originally Posted by MediaJunky

Hey guys, the rig I'm currently working with is;

Asus Crosshair Formula IV
AMD FX-4170
Corsair H70
8GB OCZ Reaper HPC 1600 @ 1.9v (4x2GB)
MSI HD5970
Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 1000W
Cooler Master HAF X

First things first, the motherboard is using a beta BIOS (v3027) in order to support the bulldozer CPU. With this beta there are a number of options missing from the BIOS.

From the manual;

3.3.10 CPU & NB Voltage Mode [Offset]
Allows you to set the CPU & CPU/NB Voltage Mode. Different sub-items appear according to the CPU & NB Voltage Mode item setting. Configuration options: [Offset] [Manual]

CPU Offset Voltage [Auto]
This item appears only when you set the CPU & NB Voltage Mode item to [Offset] and allows you to set the CPU Offset voltage. The values range from 0.006250V to 0.700000V with a 0.006250V interval.CPU/NB Offset Voltage [Auto]
This item appears only when you set the CPU & NB Voltage Mode item to [Offset] and allows you to set the CPU/NB Offset voltage. The values range from 0.006250V to 0.700000V with a 0.006250V interval.

CPU Voltage [Auto]
This item appears only when you set the CPU & NB Voltage Mode item to
[Manual] and allows you to set a fixed CPU voltage.

CPU/NB Voltage [Auto]
This item appears only when you set the CPU & NB Voltage Mode item to
[Manual] and allows you to set a fixed CPU/NB voltage.

Currently the "CPU & NB Voltage Mode" option is missing, which in turn means the CPU and CPU/NB Voltage options are missing, thus means the only way I can set CPU voltage is via the "CPU Offset Voltage" which I'll be honest, I don't fully understand.

I have disabled cool and quiet, turbo core, ai tweaker, etc and set everything to manual.

With the following settings I've achieved a stable 4.8GHz;

CPU Multiplier: 24
HT: 2600
CPU/NB: 2600
CPU Offset Voltage: 0.100000
NB Voltage: 1.175
HT Voltage: 1.275

Prime95 runs for a couple of hours without any dropped workers and gaming seems perfectly stable but I have a few oddities;

1) The machine boots at 1.5v VCORE, but then drops to 1.488v according to HWMonitor and CPU-Z. When stress testing it increases to 1.52 which brings the full load temps up to around 56C, I don't seem to be able to fix the voltage. This may be due to Load Line Calibration (LLC). LLC may be active and hidden or there may be a manual adjustment. My Asus board has this for both the CPU voltage and the CPUNB voltage.
2) When trying to run 5GHz (25x200) it seems the above fluctuations cause the Prime95 worker processors to fail or the machine to blue screen.
3) Despite the NB voltage being set at 1.175 the board appears to allow it to run up to 1.25 according to its own voltage monitor and also HWMonitor.

I would love to hear if anyone else has this motherboard with a Bulldozer CPU or any advice on how to proceed from here.

Thanks

[Theocnoob]

You sure your 1600Mhz RAM is 1.9V? I've never seen DDR3 desktop modules over 1.65

[Woomack]

many early DDR3 were 1.8-1.9V like Micron, Samsung or Qimonda IC
http://ramlist.i4memory.com/ddr3/

[MediaJunky]

Hey guys, thanks for all your replies.

Does LLC need to be set to Enable or Auto and what is the difference on this board?

I won't see the machine now until next week but will make a few adjustments and see if I can't get the rig running a stable 5GHz, are there any other suggestions on how to achieve this?

Thanks again.

[MediaJunky]

Originally Posted by Theocnoob

You sure your 1600Mhz RAM is 1.9V? I've never seen DDR3 desktop modules over 1.65

Its early DDR3 OCZ Reaper HPC. On OCZ site the specification actually says 1.7v but on the modules themselves, it says 7-7-7-24 @ 1.9v.

Thanks

[trents]

Originally Posted by MediaJunky

Hey guys, thanks for all your replies.

Does LLC need to be set to Enable or Auto and what is the difference on this board?

I won't see the machine now until next week but will make a few adjustments and see if I can't get the rig running a stable 5GHz, are there any other suggestions on how to achieve this?

Thanks again.

That's a good question. The best way to tell what effect each setting will have in the real world is to try each one and note the effect it has on CPU vcore both at idle in Windows and under load as compared to what you set vcore to in bios. HWMonitor is a good program to check this.