Goal: 5Ghz on fx8320

[Blaylock]

I wouldn't worry about TMPIN2 we see alot of faulty reading on that one (always 128c oddly enough).

For your CPU temp, verify that you have CPU core unlock set to disable as you have an 8 core. doubtful that's the issue but never hurts just to look.

 

[Mandrake4565]

wow, i just got my sabertooth in and i've got to say i'm highly impressed! i haven't had an opportunity to try and overclock it yet, but it's on its auto-overclock thing and it's clocked right now at 4.55Ghz with 1.30vcore (barely hitting 41C full load).

I went ahead and am running the built in stability test in AMD overdrive utility, so far it looks totally stable. If this is any indication of what's to come, I'm liking what I see! Thanks so much everyone for your exceptional advice. I'll keep you all updated.

Lets see a SS of the Mem and Spd tab I bet the Auto Overclock dropped the memory speed.

 

[caddi daddi]

a couple of things,
#1, this board does not like overclocking software. we have just helped a guy that had issues with overclocking software and i have had many issues also.

#2 auto tune as far as i have seen uses the fsb to clock with, this is good but not great.

#3 do an interwebs search for "amd fx processors unleashed | a guide to performance tuning with amd overdrive and the new amd fx processors".

you will find when you read this there are a few things overdrive cannot do on the fly.

 

[caddi daddi]

oh, and do like mandrake asked please.

 

[Kamel]

thanks again for everyone's support.

i have no plans of using overdrive to overclock, i'm going to do it the old fashioned way. i am only using overdrive to look at settings, not change them. just booted into my first very modest overclock.

i'm at 250fsb x 16, 4ghz. 1.30vcore (the SPD of my ram). i'll see if it's stable and keep tweaking accordingly. this will probably take me a while so don't hold your breath lol. once i get a good fsb/multi/vcore combo and understand better what i can get, i will begin adding some things to the mix that i'm not yet familiar with like CPU NB, NB voltage, etc. also keep in mind i am still waiting on my ram and power supply so whatever i discover i'm hoping to improve upon once i complete my rig.

also, good call on the core unlocking bug. it was enabled (must have been left over from last user, as this was a used board. i'm going to reset the bios to factory settings then redo my settings to make sure there aren't any other weird stray settings). the package temp is still reading 10C/50F though. i think i read somewhere that the package temps aren't accurate until it reaches a certain temp? not a big deal, it seems accurate under load and there are other places it shows the CPU temps.

going to do a prime95 test and see what temps/stability we're looking at with this initial overclock. i'm hoping low temps and good stability but we'll see. i was going to wait to post a screenshot of my results, but then i realized i might BSOD while running prime and lose this nice long post i just wrote lol

 

[Kamel]

not exactly breaking any speed records here, but looks like i'm off to a good start. i'm gonna go ahead and start with the multi and see how far i can go before having to up my vcore

 

[Kamel]

hit my first barrier with 1.3vcore at 250x18, 4.5ghz (well, i was going in 1x chunks of multi instead of .5 so i didn't test 250x17.5). since my temps were not even in the ballpark of 55C i decided to up my vcore to 1.375 and changed LLC from off (normal) to high.

everything looks very stable, but i'm now concerned about which temps i should be looking at. should i be looking at the package temps only, or should i also be looking at the CPU temperature? there is a HUGE difference between the two now. my CPU is showing 58-59C, where the package is only showing max 45C. i'm going to imagine i need to be looking at the package temp since that's what overdrive indicates? any insight would be MOST appreciated!

in other news, sorry for flooding this thread. i'll look for an answer on my own but i'm sure you guys probably know better than some random blog i find on the net

 

[ShrimpBrime]

Can you DL coretemps and run that for the cores. http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

the package temps don't look right with a Cpu temp of 59c. In retrospect a good cooler will have the Cpu core temps close to the Cpu socket temp (the cpu temp at the top of the list in HWMonitor.) Usually the core temps are a little hotter.

Nice low v-core though!

 

[Kamel]

thanks for the tip! after further experimentation, the CPU temps shown are totally bunk. i've seen it read way high when i KNOW it wasn't that high (67C on basically a non-oc profile), then when i got my vcore up around 55C it was reading 57C. either the module is messed up for my particular board, or all of these boards are strange like that.

i've grown confident in the vcore temps shown in the package section though. they exhibit exactly the temps i expect them to.

still working hard at finding the right balance for my system lol. i was able to get it stable up to 250x19 1.4875 vcore. now i've backed my multi down to 17 and am seeing how high i can go on the FSB. i'm at 275 right now stable.

i have noticed in a few different configurations i see the multi change on its own to 7. is this a part of an overheat protection or something? i've not let it go over 55C except for the occasional spike to around 58 in a few isolated cases.

i'll keep working at it and see what i can come up with. looks like rgone is probably right about the 4.8 barrier. i do think my ram and PSU are somewhat limiting though, not sure. my PSU has made some distinct clicking sounds during a few of the higher overclocks. watching the voltage doesn't look like it is causing the voltages to go crazy, but the regulators might be working overtime if my PSU isn't giving out good power. i got an 850w Seasonic on the way. right now working with a 600w ocz mod extreme pro. it's decent, but especially with the water cooling being powered by the PSU i don't think it's enough

 

[Kamel]

ugh, i figured the strange change to 7x multi on its own had to be some sort of thermal throttling or something like that... so i loaded the defaults on my mobo, and removed all of the power saving options... it's still doing it. i think i might call it a night, but i think i can definitely hit my goal of 4.8 stable even though i haven't cracked the nut quite yet.

any insight on the issue of the multi changing to 7x on its own randomly would be very helpful

 

[Kamel]

well, according to google i'm not the only one with this problem lol. it was doing this during a prime95 test which is why i thought it wasn't related to power saving features (and, well, i had disabled them all).

i reset the BIOS and put everything to stock. changed my raid settings so i could boot then checked it again. it was still doing it. then i decided to run prime95 at stock again and it stopped changing to 7x multi so clearly this behavior after changing to stock was AMD Cool & Quiet.

i think either the AMD cool and quiet was somehow getting enabled when it wasn't supposed to be (it was disabled in the BIOS, and it was during a time of 100% CPU usage), or it might have been throttling somehow? not sure, but it looks like everything is running fine now. going to try and change my bios version see what happens

 

[ShrimpBrime]

my PSU has made some distinct clicking sounds during a few of the higher overclocks. watching the voltage doesn't look like it is causing the voltages to go crazy, but the regulators might be working overtime if my PSU isn't giving out good power.

Yea wait for that 850 watter. you won't have any issues with that

I like the 250 bus for the ram divider. Easy pickings for 1000mhz effective ram speeds.

 

[RGone]

@"Kamel". Make a signature. Put what you have now in signature. You can update signature as things change.

Make sure you put which Sabertooth 990 you have by Rev X.X and Bios version.
RGone...

Put up Sig at OCF.

New Shortcut method for putting a Signature with your system information following your every post so people can know what is in the case that they are trying to assist with. You can use something like what is shown in my signature as a good template of needed information Thank you.

 

[Johan45]

everything looks very stable, but i'm now concerned about which temps i should be looking at. should i be looking at the package temps only, or should i also be looking at the CPU temperature? there is a HUGE difference between the two now. my CPU is showing 58-59C, where the package is only showing max 45C. i'm going to imagine i need to be looking at the package temp since that's what overdrive indicates? any insight would be MOST appreciated!

That CPUtemp is the socket/CPU area including you fets and VRM it is a true reading and indicates you may need some additional cooling in that area. Don't let it get over 70c

 

[Kamel]

Thanks for your input guys. I updated my sig like you suggested Rgone.

Johan, I just am not sure that sensor is functioning properly because like I said it's shown some strange values, like when it should have been working harder than ever it was showing a low temp but when it shouldn't have been hot at all it was showing some very high readings.

Do you have any specifics of where I would need to provide better cooling? Is it the heatsink on the mobo next to the CPU that needs more air flow?

 

[Kamel]

i think i might go ahead and do it anyway, but i was thinking about getting a water block for my voltage regulators. do you think this would help the socket temps (i'm guessing not?)

also i don't think i've got enough room to mount my current chipset block on the northbridge but i could put it on the southbridge. do you think there would be any benefit to adding a waterblock to the north or south bridge?

 

[Kamel]

alright, because of the design of my case i'm thinking an intake fan instead of exhaust will make the most sense nearest the CPU. so i replaced the fan i had in there with a beastly panaflo 120mm (104cfm) and changed the direction from exhaust to intake

just idling at stock clocks, i felt the heatsink over the vregs/mosfets and it was hotter than i expected. hopefully this will help. thanks for the advice johan

 

[Johan45]

Ok Kamel HWmonitor shows it as the CPU and the package is the actual core temps. Typically with the 8350 a 10 degree spread is expected. It works that power section very hard.
Here's one thing I did. I mounted a fan behind the mobo to move some cool air around and it dropped my temps a lot.



You can also mount fans somehow to blow directly on the VRM heatsink. Trents has a good pic floating around but I can never find the darn thing.

 

[Kamel]

good idea! thanks again for all of the advice johan. i believe you're right, after this change it is only getting up to 46C full load with my highest attainable OC so far (19x250). also looks like my CPU isn't running as hot either, which i didn't expect but welcome! lol

i'm gonna keep going and see how far i can go with my new configuration

 

[Johan45]

Here's a link to when I first built my 8350 rig but using a M5A99FXpro board. I tried what you did with switching the exhaust around, you'll see some pics. Eventually I jammed the rad in the back of my case and switched back to exhaust with a Sabertooth board. I found the fan on the back to be enough for cooling the socket.