1600MHz ram - highest stable NB frequency for M5A99X EVO R2.0 ?

[Sologuy]

This is for an approx 2 yr old build, as per the title, have G.Skill F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM sticks but have never fiddled with NB frequency. Not really interested in OC this ram, have only focused on stable CPU OC. However I am curious as to what would be the best or highest stable NB frequency I can get with my Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 mobo and this ram?

Atm, this area of the mobo bios is set to 'auto', same as HT link. Not sure how much NB volts to use if raising above 2,000Mhz (which 'auto' sets it as)

Thanks in advance for any tips and help with this challenge..

 

[Mandrake4565]

For 2x4g sticks of DDR3 1600 ram you shouldn't have any problem getting the NB freq to 2600. You may need to add Cpu Nb voltage to do so and this will increase heat. Most Fx chips will run the Nb Freq around 2600 with between 1.2 and 1.35 Cpu Nb voltage.

 

[Sologuy]

For 2x4g sticks of DDR3 1600 ram you shouldn't have any problem getting the NB freq to 2600. You may need to add Cpu Nb voltage to do so and this will increase heat. Most Fx chips will run the Nb Freq around 2600 with between 1.2 and 1.35 Cpu Nb voltage.

Thanks Mandrake4565! I'll give those settings a go.

 

[Sologuy]

I raised CPU/NB voltage to 1.315v and started testing with IBT on "high", after 8 runs it completely locked up... personally, I'd rather test on "very high" (more ram) but wanted to see how it would go on high setting first. Temps still under 50C

 

[Mandrake4565]

Are you at 2600 Mhz on the Nb Freq? Just to be one the same page, the Oc on the cpu passes what stress test and for how long? Post up some screen shots of Hwmonitor under load as well as Cpu-Z Cpu, Spd and Memory tabs. It will give a peek under the hood so to speak.

 

[Sologuy]

Are you at 2600 Mhz on the Nb Freq? Just to be one the same page, the Oc on the cpu passes what stress test and for how long? Post up some screen shots of Hwmonitor under load as well as Cpu-Z Cpu, Spd and Memory tabs. It will give a peek under the hood so to speak.

Ok, I'll get around to doing that but not on that machine atm.. Sorry, should have told previously but only tried at 2200Mhz NB and HT link follows as same. Stress test was mentioned before, but its IBT - Intel Burn Test (with AVX extensions)
Btw, I'll be getting 16GB kit @ 2133MHz some time next week, so wanna try & squeeze as much performance as I can from this platform before Zen arrives on the retail scene...

There are other NB voltages in this bios too. I'll have to get a screenshot of the UEFI bios to show...

 

[bob4933]

AMD doesn't play particularly nice on ram. To overclock the **** out of my 8320 to 5.0ghz I had to slow the ram to 1430mhz (something like that anyway). The best results usually come from slowing the ram down and tightening the timings up.

2133 is a bit ambitious for an fx chip, but people have done it. Might have to loosen the timings quite a bit though .

 

[Mandrake4565]

Bob is right, 2133 sticks, especially 16 gigs of it may work but you may need to play around with some voltages some more in order to do so. Faster ram will put more stress on the Cpu Imc as well as the addition of 16g. Do you really need 16g of ram? If you're not using around 85% of it as is or doing some sort of rendering, you're not going to gain anything from it. You may be better off with 1866 sticks with tighter timings.

Additionally, I was a bit confused by your last post, you were able to pass IBT with Avx for how long?

 

[Sologuy]

Thanks for the comments Bob4933 & Mandrake4565, but I don't expect AM3+ platform to work flawlessly with 2133MHz ram & I'm happy to run it at 1866MHz with tight timings. Apart from that aspect, that particular ram will have future with my FM2+ platform & A10-7850K anyway as that's running 1600Mhz ram... In any case, they are making PC game now that require 12GB ram > Batman Arkham Knight

But I digress from my original post in this thread, to answer your question Mandrake4565, IBT ran on 'high' setting and locked the system completely sometime into the 8th run out of 10 designated.

 

[Mandrake4565]

But I digress from my original post in this thread, to answer your question Mandrake4565, IBT ran on 'high' setting and locked the system completely sometime into the 8th run out of 10 designated.

At 4.5 with the Nb freq at 2200 or at 2600? Additionally 2600 is the default Ht Link spd for the Fx, if it's not there already.

 

[Kenrou]

Does this help in any way ? haven't tried to OC the ram, using XMP profile 9-10-9-27 2T 1866Mhz.

AMD FX-8370, 4.7ghz (23.5 x 200)
CPU 1.428v - CPU/NB 1.250v - CPU/VDDA 2.6V
NB 2600mhz / HT Link 2600mhz

 

[Sologuy]

At 4.5 with the Nb freq at 2200 or at 2600? Additionally 2600 is the default Ht Link spd for the Fx, if it's not there already.

So 2600 is default for FX chips? ok, so I"ve been ripped off by "auto" settings in bios for this value.... hmmmm.... can't trust Asus huh?
Anyway, here are some screenshots from IBT stress testing with current settings experimenting as from OP..



However... starting the stress testing again for 2nd time produces this...



Not sure what was happening in 1st run.. GFlops are lower value.. makes me think IBT is not accurate at measuring GFlops reliably? and if that's the case, then how can we be sure its actually stress testing properly without having to resort to something like p95 and run it for hours, something I'll have to consider I suppose. For my usage of this machine, its good enough for gaming simply because no game I've ever heard of stresses all cpu cores 100% for significant periods of time anyway...

 

[Sologuy]

Does this help in any way ? haven't tried to OC the ram, using XMP profile 9-10-9-27 2T 1866Mhz.

AMD FX-8370, 4.7ghz (23.5 x 200)
CPU 1.428v - CPU/NB 1.250v - CPU/VDDA 2.6V
NB 2600mhz / HT Link 2600mhz

This particular ram I use atm doesn't like more than 1.6vdimm, I've gotten away with this screenshot in previous testing just after I built this rig some 2 yrs ago now. This is only on 'standard' setting so 1Gb ram only..



- - - Updated - - -

Quick question = does CPU/VDDA effect multiplier value? I want to try with 23 multi because I know my cpu can do 4.6Ghz with under 1.45v in IBT.

 

[Sologuy]

Ok, getting somewhere now with 2200MHz synchronizing with HT link and stable enough for me..



Will try for 2400Mhz next...

 

[Mandrake4565]

The Cpu Vdda Voltage?

If you are going to use IBT to test for stability I suggest using the IBT with AVX instructions is that the one you are using?

 

[Sologuy]

The Cpu Vdda Voltage?

If you are going to use IBT to test for stability I suggest using the IBT with AVX instructions is that the one you are using?

Yes, though one can't tell just by looking at the version number.

 

[Mandrake4565]

Ok good and no you can't tell by the version numbers.

 

[Sologuy]

So what does cpu/vdda voltage directly effect?

Also in bios of this mobo, it has a total of 3 different NB voltages... tried to get a screenshot with my phonecam but its just not clear enough for posting here..

 

[Mandrake4565]

Cpu VDDA doesn't need to be touched unless you're trying to run really high Cpu Bus speeds which you are not. The Cpu/Nb Voltage is the one that may help when trying to push the Nb Frequency higher.

 

[Sologuy]

This bios has in AI tweaker, as I said before, 3 different NB voltages...

1. CPU/NB voltage (default = 1.20)
2. NB voltage (default = "auto")
3. NB 1.8v voltage (not sure what this does, so I leave on "auto")

So we can see how potentially confusing this can be.. unless 2 & 3 are put there for marketing purposes??