Constant freezing while stress testing (prime95, occt, etc...)

[caddi daddi]

I have a sabertooth under a 4170 right now and it pushed an 8120 as hard as it would work for days on end, I have had no problems with either of my asus boards that were not self induced. if your going fx it's a very good investment. sure it's got lots of gimmicks, but it's a very good board. that tuf crap refers to a coating on the board.
if you can sit tight, save a few bucks the crosshair is better with the 8 cores.

am I the only one this forum logs out every five minutes? or did i tick a mod off???

 

[trents]

am I the only one this forum logs out every five minutes? or did i tick a mod off???[/QUOTE]

No, you're not the only one. They've changed something on the forum and it times you out. Next time you log in, make sure you check the "Keep me logged in" box. Some change undid that for existing members I think. I was having the same problem.

 

[philzzz]

OK, sooooo finally, the new MOBO is like night and day. The sabertooth allows me to overclock the heck out of my fx with no problems. I really dont know why people would even bother with anything cheaper than the sabbertooth.

What would be the best o/c method for my new setup ? Is it best for me to up the Multiplier more or up the frequency more ? I think higher multiplier heats up the cpu more quickly than frequency ? But gets better results, right ?

 

[tungureanu]

first multi then fine tune with fsb

 

[philzzz]

fsb rather than cpu freq ?

 

[trents]

Most people are finding that the most efficient overclocking is done using a combination of the multiplier and the main bus frequency control.

 

[philzzz]

Hmm... ok... would it be lazy on my part if I would ask you what the best multiplier & fsb settings would be for my build ?

 

[trents]

Well, my approach would be to start the overclock with the fsb. First, lower your ram frequency divider to one notch slower than it's rated for to make some headroom. For instance, if you are running 1866 ram, go into bios and lower it to 1600 of if you're running 2100 mhz ram lower it to 1866. Then run up the FSB to get your ram back to it's rated speed. Then start to use the multiplier to overclock the CPU the rest of the way. You may also need to lower the HT Link Frequency and the CPUNB frequency to make some headroom as those two can cause instability if they get to high. The ram frequency, the HT Link Frequency and the CPUNB frequency are all tuned to the FSB so when you jack it up they all get faster too and they may not be able to keep up with the overclock of the CPU. Does that make sense?

 

[philzzz]

GREAT thanks, I'll try that later tonight. I'll keep you posted thanks again, really appreciated.

 

[philzzz]

PS.. I am having a hard time checking my temps; CPU-Z would show me 55 degrees, but Asus AI would show me 70 ??? Which one do I consider ? Thanks.

 

[trents]

CPU-z? Didn't know that utility reports temps at all.

Use HWMonitor to check temps and voltages: http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

You need to look at both "Package Temp" (what we also call core temp) and CPU (socket) temp. Run 20 minutes of Prime95 blend with HWMonitor already open on the desktop. Then post back with an attached pic of the HWMonitor interface immediately after the test is complete. HWMonitor also reports a lot of other system temps and voltages. Great tool!

To attach a pic with your post, first crop and save the image with Snipping Tool in Windows accessories. Then click on Go Advanced found at he bottom of any new post window. When the advanced post window appears, click on the little paperclip tool at the top which will load the file browser/upload tool. The rest will be obvious.

 

[philzzz]

I'm sorry, I meant 'core temp' and not cpu-z for monitoring temps lol...

 

[philzzz]

Ok, so I tried getting a 4.4 with either higher multiplier or higher freq, with 1.45 Volts, with all the stuff disabled. 2 cores would fail. Any ideas why ?

So far, I have been running a stress test (still ongonig) with 18.5 @ 230Mhz with Auto voltage (offset). The temps are staying under 52 (water cooling, and many fans).

Any suggstions ?

 

[trents]

I don't know which voltage you adjusted to 1.45 but CPU-z is still showing 1.344 as your CPU core voltage. Look for yourself. I believe I asked you to us HWMonitor back in post #31. It will record max, min and current temps and voltages for a number of important hardware components. It seems like you chose to ignore my request and we are still where we were before.

 

[RGone]

2 cores would fail. Any ideas why? Any suggstions ? = Not enough voltage to cpu. Raise voltage to cpu.

Just about everyone who has overclocked an FX-8120 or FX-8150 has found at about 4.3Ghz the next move up to 4.5Ghz takes a hefty Vcore increase. At 4.5Ghz there is another hefty Vcore increase that will be needed. That is why with the information that 'ssjwizard' has found and posted in his 8120 vs 8320 FX comparison thread is pretty handy to know and comprehend.

 

[philzzz]

Sorry, my bad; I thought you would've found the needed info with that screenshot.

Here are the requested screenshots: before, after 20 mins of prime95, and cpu-z after 20 mins of prime 95 as well.

 

[philzzz]

So if my thinking is OK, my REAL CPU temps are 48 degrees, so I should be able to UP the VCORE to get a stable 4.4 without TEMP issues ???

 

[trents]

Both HWMonitor and CPU-z are reporting your CPU core voltage is still 1.344. And since that shows as the max voltage in HWMonitor under load we know the low vcore is not due to Cool N Quiet kicking in at idle. Speaking of that, have you disabled the green stuff in bios like Cool N Quiet, Turbo, C6, C1E and APM? If not, you should.

Exactly what line item in bios did you change to 1.45 that you were thinking is the CPU core voltage? Maybe you had better take digital camera pics of the overclocking sections of your bios and attach them with your next post 'cause something is fishy here. I'm afraid you may be harmfully ove-volting the wrong bios control.

 

[philzzz]

Thanks for all your help, btw -- really appreciated.

I have decided to turn the voltages back to 'offset' mode, and only play with freq and multiplier. I will take a pic of bios and upload.

I was afraid that the vcore modifications were making it all unstable...

 

[philzzz]

Here you go !