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Help me overclock :) (FX8150)

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Backwoods7

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Oct 11, 2012
Hi there,
I just bought a computer from my friend and i would like to overclock my cpu.

My motherboard is Asrock 970 extreme 3 and cpu is AMD fx8150. I know how to overclock but this new piece of machinery puzzles me a bit.

The motherboard supports CPU up to 140W, but i would be able to overclock more than that limit would allow (used a calculator i found). Is it ok to pass the 140W mark or could my motherboard say good bye and burn.

Thank you for reading and helping me :)
 
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The 140w rating is just a guideline if which exceeded does not mean the board will automatically turn into toast. The big limitation on that motherboard will be the 4+1 power phase which will likely cause the down-throttling of the CPU once a certain threshold is passed in the power it is drawing. This is a self-protection mechanism.

But we need to know what the rest of your parts are like because they will have a significant bearing on how well that FX-8150 power hungry heat monster will overclock.

What are you cooling the CPU with? Stock cooler? Aftermarket? and if aftermarket, what make and model?

What is the make and model of your case? How many intake fans and how many exhaust fans does it have, how big are the fans and where are they placed in the case. Good ventilation is critical to keeping temps down.

Make and model of PSU?

Make and speed of ram?

Make and model of video cared?
 
Hi and thanks for helping!
Here is some info:

CPU cooler: Stock fx8150 water cooler
Case: Antec 300 with two stock fans (http://www.antec.com/demo/ThreeHundred/)
GPU: Slightly overclocked 6950 HD (XFX with dual fans)
RAM DDR3: 2 x 4gb 1600mhz (Hyperx)
PSU: Chieftech Super Series 650 W
Also i have some wlan card in a pci-e slot

Hope this helps :)
 
You will do yourself a big favor in all of this if you populate the front panel with two intake fans and if you lay a spot fans inside the case so that they blow air onto the two heat sinks around the motherboard socket area (the NB heatsink and the sink that covers the VRM area between the socket and the back edge of the board where the I/O stuff is. One drawback of water cooling kits is they do a great job of cooling the processor but stir up no air to cool surrounding components.

Having said all that, the first thing you need to do is to check temps with the CPU at stock frequencies and voltages. So, Download and install two free programs: HWMonitor and Prime95. Open HWMonitor on the desktop and leave it open while you run the Prime95 blend test for 20 minutes. Post back with an attached pic of the HWMonitor user interface. To attach pics, first crop and save the image(s) to disc with Snipping Tool in Windows Accessories. Then click on Go Advanced at the bottom of any new post window. When the Advanced window appears, click on the little paperclip icon at the top. This will load the file browser and upload tool and the rest will be obvious.
 
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I can do that, i think i have a few extra fans lying around :)

So i can overclock as much the temperatures / cpu allow me to and the motherboard can take care of itself?
 
Backwoods7 said:
I can do that, i think i have a few extra fans lying around :)

So i can overclock as much the temperatures / cpu allow me to and the motherboard can take care of itself?
Click to expand...

Yes. But don't get your expectations too high. The water kit that comes boxed with the 8150 is pretty minimal so you are not going to get the same results as someone with say the Corsair H-100 or a high end motherboard with 8+2 power phase control.
 
And please create a "Sig" as RGone requested. You will have to wait up to an hour after making your second post before you have access to this feature, however. The sig is very helpful because it causes your system info to travel with every post you make so that those helping you have ready reference to what you are working with. As threads get long the original post containing that info gets buried.
 
Backwoods7 said:
Any suggestions how much i should try to overclock it?
Click to expand...

No. This is something you have to feel your way through a small, safe increment at a time. We don't have much input yet from users having purchased the 8150 with the water kit so we have no idea how well it actually keeps temps down. You might get low 4's.
 
:) Wont be able to start overclockin yet. I will come and report after i hit some limit.
 
Do you have any idea what the temp limits are you should be keeping in mind?
 
Well i read that the cpu temperature should stay under 60C?
 
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There are two temps you need to watch. HWMonitor will display both plus a host of voltages and other temps like with your video card. It's a standard tool we use around here.

The two temps are "core" temp (the critical one if it's accurate. But with the FX CPUs it often reads about 15c too cool) and the "CPU" (socket) temp. You want to keep the CPU socket temp from exceeding about 70c and the core temp from exceeding about 60c. Stop stress testing if either of those things happens but you may encounter instability or down-throttling before you reach them.

Word of caution: Don't get in a hurry and no harm in keeping the thread open until you can try some of these things.
 
Ok thanks. I have HWMonitor installed. Good to know that fx cpu:s often reads too cool. Will watch those temps and stay below them. I will keep the thread open too :) I'll be back, soon i hope.
 
HWMonitor sometimes uses a generic label for the CPU temp sensor reading like TMPINx. So if it doesn't label it with "CPU" it will be in that section. It's just a matter of figuring out which one.
 
Ok did prime for 20 minutes and here are my temperature results (stocks speeds)
Thoughts?
 

Attachments

  • stock.jpg
    stock.jpg
    319.8 KB · Views: 325
Here is a zoomed picture of the temps (came out pretty small in the last one)
 

Attachments

  • stock2.jpg
    stock2.jpg
    117.8 KB · Views: 328
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