FX 6300 stuck at 1.4GHz

[bigmac4me]

My FX 6300 is stuck at 1.4Ghz. It is overclocked a little bit. When I enable Cool 'n Quiet in bios it allows all 6 cores to run at the overclocked speed (4.5Ghz) and is stable for gaming. I don't want any power saving features enabled. I've disabled APM, TurboClock and the only C-state option I have in bios. Bios is updated to the latest 1.40 revision. I have all cores unparked and high performance mode selected in Windows. The multiplier is also locked at x7 in cpu-z. I had read in another thread that someone was having this issue with their FX 4100 and the troubleshooting options there didn't seem to work. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

P.S. Is it normal for a computer to skip the loading screen from a cold start-up rather than a restart? My restart is taking way longer than a cold boot! Also it defaults to stock clocks on a cold start up until I enter bios and save changes and exit again.

Edit: The fast boot is a feature of the motherboard apparently. It allows it to boot to the Windows Start Screen in like 3 seconds.

System Specs:
ASRock 960GC-GS FX
FX 6300 3.5 (Oc'd to 4.5Ghz) (stuck at 1.4Ghz)
4GB G.Skill 1866Mhz 9-10-9-28 2T
1TB WD Blue 7200 RPM
Sapphire R7 260x 2GB GDDR5
700 Watt CoolerMax Power Supply
Windows 8.1 x64

 

[caddi daddi]

what does cpu-z show when you load the cpu with prime 95?

 

[bigmac4me]

After Restarting from Windows

After a restart, as you can see only 2 cores jump up to the overclocked speed. The rest seem to be parked, whereas w/ Cool 'n Quiet enabled all cores will start off at a stock speed of 3.5+ Ghz after a cold boot, then after a restart all will be running at 4.5Ghz. It seems to be a weird hickup in the system. I uploaded a pic of the speed with Prime 95 as well. Only two cores are at the higher speed. I've also tested with PerformanceTest and during this time my scores are much much lower than stock settings because the CPU is not being fully utilized. I've also used the CoreParkingManager app and registry edits to disable any core parking.

 

[RGone]

Most likely the image below describes the situation...



RGone...

 

[bigmac4me]

Even at default clocks the same situation is happening so I don't see how it could possibly be the board. And how could it be possible that it's 3.5 on core #0 and core #1 and 1.4 on the other 4 cores. Stock clock doesn't work unless Cool n Quiet is enabled. Wouldn't it be better to disable it?
Also GPU frames in CS:GO are like 400fps then it drops to 100fps. I'm so confused. Please help.

 

[Johan45]

I'm leaning towards RGone's suggestion at this point my self, that the board, when all the power savers are turned off and turbo disabled isn't really up to running this FX cpu that you have. What happens when it's set to default in the bios? Does it run normally when it's all set back to factory?

 

[RGone]

Did a little search of the ASROCK 960GC-GS FX motherboard...

...interesting results were seen. Boards that try and be all to everything have always seemed suspect in some area.


AMD FX6300 Not compatible with ASROCK 960GC-GS FX motherboard

The up and down responses in that thread from May of 2014, indicate the "iffy" nature of those boards that try and be 'all' to everything.

I went to Amazon Com to read the user reviews there and in the first two pages of reviews, the cpus used were older Deneb type cpus and not the FX series. Most bought the board for a failed AM2 type motherboard and using older DDR2 type ram. Seems much more suited to older cpus than the newer FX variants.
RGone...

 

[bigmac4me]

@Johan45 Even with all power saving features disabled it won't run the stock clocks. The two cores will be stuck at 1.4Ghz and then only after a restart or a F2 then save and exit through bios will two of the cores clock up to 3.5Ghz (stock speeds). As of now I have enabled Cool n' Quiet so that all of my cores are up and running at 4.5Ghz however, I'm getting weird FPS drops in game now. I don't know if that's because Cool n' Quiet is enabled or if it's my GPU. I mean I have an adequate power supply I suppose.

 

[Johan45]

What I meat was at factory settings. When everything is set to default in bios. So with C&Q enabled it'll run all cores at 4.5 , the frame drops are most likely yor motherboard throttling the CPU as a form of protection. That board isn't adequate in my opinion to run the 6 core FX at 4.5 GHz as RGone pointed out in that pic you have a very poor power delivery system in the board. Compare that red rectangle area to the power system on my Sabertooth



See that row of 10 chokes and big heatsink compared to your 3 and no heatsink. This is what we're referring to. This are is responsible for ensuring the CPU has steady power and if it's substandard it has a hard time doing that which creates a lot of heat and instability.

 

[bigmac4me]

FPS drops are occurring at default bios options as well. The GPU usage in MSI Afterburner will shoot up to like 99% then drop and the frames will come back several seconds later. All games running in fullscreen. I've checked the clock speeds with GPU-z and even when they are only in 3d mode (highest clocks) the frames will continue dropping then coming back. It's really annoying. An example would be like 200+ FPS in CS:GO then a drop to about 30-40 (unplayable) FPS.

Edit: This happens in all games like Sims 4, etc.

 

[trents]

bigmac,

You seem not to be comprehending (or unwilling to accept) what RGone and Johan45 are trying to tell you. They are saying that the board you have is not up to running the FX-6300 under load, even at stock frequencies and voltages. Yes, the FX-6300 is listed as being compatible with the board on ASRock's website but that sometimes means only that the system will boot and operate normally when used for undemanding tasks like word processing or surfing the net. The proof is in the pudding. We see this all the time on the forum with lower end boards and FX CPUs. It's a shame that the motherboard manufacturers aren't more honest about this but it is a fact.

Having said all that, the problems you have been having could be heat related. In your posts you make no mention of having done any temp monitoring under load. Neither do you make any mention of what kind of CPU cooler you are using or how good the ventilation is in your case.

Please do this: At stock frequencies and voltages run a 20 minute Prime95 blend test with HWMonitor (non pro version) open in the background. At the end of 20 minutes, capture an image of HWMonitor so we can see what the max temps were. Make sure the program interface frame is expanded so we can see "Package" temp. The post back with the image attached.

 

[chrisjames61]

FPS drops are occurring at default bios options as well. The GPU usage in MSI Afterburner will shoot up to like 99% then drop and the frames will come back several seconds later. All games running in fullscreen. I've checked the clock speeds with GPU-z and even when they are only in 3d mode (highest clocks) the frames will continue dropping then coming back. It's really annoying. An example would be like 200+ FPS in CS:GO then a drop to about 30-40 (unplayable) FPS.

Edit: This happens in all games like Sims 4, etc.

You should to listen to what these guys are saying. You also have to look at that pic Johan put up. That is what a motherboard looks like that actually works with a four, six and eight core FX cpu.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Wait, this motherboard only has a 2+1 VRM? I'd be hard-pressed to trust it with a Phenom II X4, much less an FX chip.
That thing looks like it's good for old Athlon/Sempron chips and nothing more.

 

[chrisjames61]

I can't believe that boards bios has AGESA code for FX cpu's.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

I can't believe that boards bios has AGESA code for FX cpu's.

It only has up to 95W chips listed, for what that's worth.

But, I wouldn't trust it to supply more than what a 55W CPU could take.

 

[RGone]

Another long read in thread about that board and FX-6300...

...
How can I check if my fx6300 is faulty?

RGone...

 

[mimart7]

It is a $45 board, nothing you can do, will make your cpu run at 4.5 Ghz consistently, let alone at stock speeds. Motherboards, and power supplies are the 2 things you should not cheap out on when building a rig. Others here, will offer advice as to what boards will meet your needs.

 

[bigmac4me]

Thanks for all of the help everyone! I just gave up on trying to have a fast system after reading all of those posts and turned back on all of the power saving features in the bios and reset the clocks leaving everything on auto. I'm not having the frame rate drop issue and everything is back to normal. I guess I'll be okay with it since I did only spend $40 on the board and I do occasionally receive the 4.1Ghz from the turbo boost haha.

 

[chrisjames61]

$40 was way too much. If you are into eBay sometimes you can get some decent 990FX boards for like $60-$80. It takes some work but they are there.

 

[Valcourt]

i have the same probleme

well i have the same probleme with my 6 core FX and i changed the CPU, to the 8 core 8350 FX and it still does the same but i feel it less because i have 8 core. So the probleme is on the motherboard. Oh and by the way i have a MSI 907 gaming motherboard.