AMD FX 8120 multiplier stuck at 17x

[tomdabomb]

Hey guys,
I am very new to overclocking so don't laugh too hard when i say something really dumb .
But I was trying to overclock my AMD FX 8120 to around 4.5ghz but my multiplier won't go past 17x. Is this a problem with the CPU or am I making a mistake. I have the Gigaybyte 990FXa-D3.
Current settingsAlthough its at 220X17)
CPU 220 X20
NB 2200
HT 2200
1333 RAM (corsair vengeance 16gb)
Also if anyone knows any good sites where I could copy settings, then that would be great .
Thanks for any help!
-Tom

 

[RGone]

Also if anyone knows any good sites where I could copy settings, then that would be great = see if there is a good Gigabyte forum. Nothing like that here.

Have you tried a bios update?

 

[GamerMagnet]

i have the 990FXA-UD5. different boards all there own though, but luckily the best FX overclocking guide on the internetz is done by someone with a UD-7. You won't find a guide to OC your exact same board and CPU.

But, to define you can't go above a multi of 17, what do you mean by this. Is it greyed out or does your computer not want to start once you have it set to 17.5. To recall, with my mobo I think I had a bit of issues when I first got my setup trying to go over a multi of 17. Think the computer didn't wanna start. FSB was still at 200. So i flashed to F10b BIOS and haven't had any issues since.

What's your temps like?
Do you have a fan blowing on the VRM's?

 

[LoganG]

Are you trying to OC via the bios or are you using the AMD overdrive software?

 

[bulldog1963]

Hmmm...first i wouldn't really mess with the fsb. leave it at 200 till you get it to stay up. I can go to 4.2 with just the multiplier. after that is starts getting wonky. then back it if and mess with the vcore. And it looks like your NB and HT are pumped up, too. You say you have 1333 ram, but I'd lay odds on that you are at least chuggin' away at 800 on that memory, too.

Finally, my BIOS (which is different from yours, I bet - AMI for me) has a turbo core setting along with a GENIE OC (both in manual and pushbutton) If you have ANY of these things on, they will override your whole system and often they don't play nice and will hang you up at some point. I would go back to stock CMOS and DON'T use AMD Overdrive. Use BIOS to boost your speed.

Oh yeah...you have the stock heatsink on there? bad idea. You said it was running at 40, but that i guess was at idle. depending on what you are doing and your heatsink, you can reach thermal shutdown fast. CoreTemp says TJMax is 90, AMD says 60. I would check your heatsink before you do anything else.

When you are ready to go again, just start slow, with all the crap that will control you in BIOS off, including "green Power" settings and spread spectrum off, just boost your multiplier until it becomes unstable, then add a bit of VCore. You can probably safely do an easy OC of your memory to 1600 but don't screw with memory voltage. The chip can do up to 1600 and your board an do 1877. But just cuz your board can do it, doesn't really mean your sticks and cpu will do 1877.

Just take it slow. That's what I learned here. And just because you see some 8120's humping away at 4.7, doesn't mean YOUR chip will be that obliging to do that. Not only that, these guys usually have some extreme cooling to get it running that fast (you see the video of the "fastest Chip (8150)") Liquid nitrogen to cool it. If you are on air, 3.8 - 4.0 isn't all that bad. That's a 30% overclock.