AMD A6-3400M Overclocking.

[bruteforcecat]

Ello there everyone.

As a short introduction, I plan on overclocking my AMD A6-3400M relatively soon. The unit itself is about 4-5 years old as is and I assume its approaching the end of its life span as is, may as well learn something new. I understand the bare bones basics about managing heat and power, as well as how its highly advised not to do anything of the sort in a confined space such as a laptop. I'm not particularly looking to send my laptop out in a blaze of glory (As appealing as that may sound). I'm hoping to reach a "Kinda?" short term solution for this aging piece of hardware while I scramble around looking for the extra money to build my first computer. I have virtually no experience with hardware itself apart from understanding the basics of the components. All my knowledge resides in software, which I'd like to expand relatively soon.

Now, Lets get onto the specifications!

Processor: AMD A6-3400M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics (4 CPUs), ~1.4GHz
Memory: 6144MB RAM (DDR3 I assume)
Card name: AMD Radeon HD 6520G
Display Memory: 4056 MB
Dedicated Memory: 1507 MB
Shared Memory: 2548 MB
Current Mode: 1366 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)

CPU temps are usually around 50-55 Celsius at 1.4ghz. (Just compress aired the laptop, could probably use a more in depth cleaning though.)
Its currently winter here with temperatures dipping down well into freezing, I can't say I mind the cold and don't plan on heating the room of which the laptop resides in. It currently sits on a cooling pad which I assume is 200mm. I know it doesn't offer much help in the way of cooling, but at least its a hard flat surface.

I think that covers the basics, first time posting on the forums or talking "tech" with anyone so if I left out anything please do tell me and I'll make sure to get the appropriated information here asap.

Thank you for your time and have a lovely night/morning!

 

[Johan45]

To OCF

Firstly your temps are already warmish for the CPU. That is a laptop so it will be very limited. The bios won't likely have any options to OC so you'll be left with software. You could try using AMD OD(overdrive) not sure if it will give you any options but you will be able to monitor the temps with it and it'll give you a fairly accurate reading of your headroom temp wise. That's where I would start. There are other options that could work but start with AMD OD

 

[bruteforcecat]

-Johan45

I speak to you from the land of DELL Inspiron as I work on my AMD lappy! Thank you for the warm welcome, lets hope I don't cause too many migraines here!
Aye, I figured it was rather warm though I assume that's due to it never being cracked open and given a proper cleaning as well as the thermal paste gone to hell and back. I'd attempt to crack it open...However, the last two laptops I had fooled around with I ended up committing tech-slaughter. I'm sure the Techpriests wont be happy with me...
Here's hoping that I wont end up destroying the computer once I get the parts for that.

As for running AMD Overdrive..
Staring at the program now and already cringing in fear, what do you suppose the max safe temp is and any advise before I begin fooling around. (I have the handheld fire extinguisher nearby as well as a cat for what its worth!)

 

[Johan45]

I don't recall if it's CPU status or system info that gives you the thermal margin. Also check on the clock/voltage tab to see if you can make any changes or if it's all greyed out/ missing

 

[bruteforcecat]

Just checked the CPU Status, that seems to be where thermal margin resides! All the sliders are accessible in the clock/voltage as well. I..I suppose the program I was using to watch my CPU temperature was wrong? AMD claims that it currently sits between 23-30 Celsius on idle at 1.4ghz.

 

[Johan45]

That's the thermal margin it's more of a count down. That number will get smaller as the temperature increases. When it's at 0 that's your max temp. My suggestion at this point would be to run the AMD stability test that's contained in that software and see where the temps go. We should see "IF" you actually have any room to Overclock.

 

[bruteforcecat]

Quite the coincidence how I was playing around and running the test before you said so, idle hands and a curious mind! The test barely bounced between 12-15 Celsius while maxed out.

 

[Johan45]

Right so you only have about 10C to play with. That's not a whole lot. You can try adding one multi if possible and see if it changes much. Not sure if your multiplier will be available.

 

[bruteforcecat]

Starting to look like I may have to crack it open and clean out the heat sink and fan which makes me a little bit more than nervous! Core multipliers were already set to 7x which is what I'm going to assume is the factory default seeing as it says 1400MHz.
Multiplier is available however when I attempt to set it above 7x it defaults back down to 1x until I reset it back to 7. Perhaps I'm needing to adjust voltage slightly or? Apologies for how slowly this is going, I am treading into new and strange grounds!

Curiously enough, the individual cores have been occasionally jumping to 2296MHz. Just a little post script bit of information there.

 

[Johan45]

Yes 7x is max stock clock and what you're seeing is the 2300 turbo function. There should also be a slider that says HT ref clock. Try increasing that by 2-3 and see if it takes

 

[bruteforcecat]

Fooled around a little bit and it doesn't seem I'm able to adjust the HT ref clock.

 

[Johan45]

So if you set it to 203 it just resets itself?

 

[bruteforcecat]

If I adjust the core multiplier it resets itself, I'm unable to adjust the HT ref clock at all.

 

[Kenrou]

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K10/AMD-A6-Series A6-3400M.html

100c max temp and 2300mhz Turbo as Johan45 stated.

 

[Johan45]

Bummer. Might be for the best anyway. Your temps were pretty close to max already. There is other software that might work like SETFSB but you need to find the PLL chip identifier number to set it up.
That is a problem with most laptops, they're made to minimum specs to save $$$. A better cooler might cost an extra 25 cents but to them that adds up over a couple hundred thousand units.
View attachment setfsb_2_1_91_0.zip
View attachment CPUFSB9.zip

 

[bruteforcecat]

-Kenrou
I assume that the 100c max temp is what it can withstand for a short period of time before it melts. Not an optimal running temperature? Or if it is I will gladly boost it up to 2300mhz and go live in my freezer for the next few weeks.



-Johan45
Aye, I understand what you mean by that. Funny thing being this was far from cheap when I bought it. For the same price now I could buy a rather beefy desktop probably capable of playing fallout 4 on max. Amazing how quickly things go out of date now, thank you for all your help thus far. I greatly appreciate it!

 

[Kenrou]

No, 100c is "max safe operating temp". Personally i would try to run it 5c-10c below that but it should be the same as the 62c safe limit on desktops no ?

http://www.cpu-world.com/Glossary/M/Minimum_Maximum_operating_temperatures.html

EDIT : although tbf i wonder at the wisdom of anything running at 100c inside a laptop...

 

[Johan45]

I added a couple of programs to my last post that may help if you're serious. You'll have to do most of the work on your end to get them to work. That is if they will.

 

[bruteforcecat]

-Kenrou
Mmmrh... 90c on a laptop seems to be extremely hot, even though I can't say I know too terribly much about the operating parameters of hardware in general. Regardless, nothing can really be done if AMD Overdrive wont exactly allow me to make any changes.

-Johan45

Thanks Johan! I'll give them a look!

 

[Kenrou]

Intel laptops run into the 80s fine on stock cooling, but even if you want to set a baseline of for example 80, means you still have a lot of headroom to play. On the off-chance you might be worried about damaging the gear before you try the progs Johan linked i would suggest a thorough cleaning