Its About Time (I learned to overclock)

[Lulu Lulu]

So Iv'e been holding off Overclocking my FX-8320 for quite some time now because I've been slowly taking all the necessary precautions to ensure the longevity of my system. You know, getting a proper CPU cooler, joining an Overclocking community (in Case I break something), Acquiring Stress Testing and Monitoring Software, Doing research on safe thresholds etc. I was gonna hold off until I gotta larger, well ventilated case, but then Winter came by down here in South Africa and since I can't feel my toes anymore I figure this was a sign I unchained this bad boy and see how many Hertz I could squeeze out of it, safely ofcourse.

So... uhm.... where do I begin ?

I know I'm suppose to bring screen shots of my BIOS but for some reason I get an error message when ever I press F12: "Unable to create this File", so theres that. I actually went on online and looked up some videos on overclocking but I figure I should check in with you guys first since I couldn't find any videos matching my specific Motherboard and CPU combination. If theres any information you need from me to give advice then I'm afraid all I can do for now is List my System Specs:
Motherboard: ASRock 970A-G 3.1
CPU: FX-8320 (Stock Clocked)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212X
RAM: Hyper X Fury 8GB Dual Channel
GPU: Sapphire R7 360 2GB (Factory Overclocked)
PSU: Antec HCG 620 (620 Watts)
Case: Generic Case... One front intake and 3 exhaust fans, all Coolermaster SickleFlow X 2000 RPM Fans (Which I can't control for with my Motherboard some reason, so I hooked them up to my Fan Controller, they're really loud).
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit (I hate windows 10 and I won't be upgrading until its absolutely necessary)
Everything Else: Nothing Special... standard Desktop Peripherals

 

[Dpg3456]

orFirst off, check out this sticky: http://www.overclockers.com/forums/...ormance-Scaling-Charts-max-OCs)LN2-Results-co

Secondly, depending on how far you want to go, that cooler wont be able to help much. You should be able to hit 4.2-.5. What are your temperatures without changing anything in the bios?

Before you overclock, there are some settings that relate to power saving stuff that you want to turn off. After that is done, run prime95 or your preferred stress test to get a base line on performance and temperatures. Once your done, add voltage and cpu multiplier. Go slow, just dont boost the voltage and mhz to max immediately. You should be able to get 4.0 with 1.3v or something like that. Other members will have better advice than I do.
The most important thing to do is keep an eye on temps. 55c is the max you want to go on the socket and 70c is the max on the core. Just let it be known that the more voltage you add the hotter the chip will run.

 

[trents]

The motherboard has 8+2 power phase so it should give a decent overclock.

For capturing bios screen shots make sure your USB flash drive is fomatted in Fat32. I would reformat it just in case the partition table is corrupt.

Basically what you want to do is increase the CPU core speed multiplier by 1x increments and monitor package temps (with HWMonitor) while stress testing with Prime95 blend mode for 20 minutes after each 1x core speed multiplier. When you can't pass the stress test, add .025 volts to the core voltage and retest. Repeat that pattern until your package temps reach the 55-60c range. Whenever you fail the stress test add more core voltage in order to stabilize the overclock. Max safe core voltage is probably about 1.5 so don't exceed that. When you "hit the wall" (meaning you can't get it stable without exceeding package temp stability threshold of 55-60c or safe core voltage < 1.5) then stop with the multiplier increases. Back the mulitiplier up 1x and run a two hour Prime95 blend stress test. Tweak the voltage up or the multiplier down if you still aren't quite stable. During each stress test have HWMonitor open to monitor temps and voltages. The goal is to get the highest overclock possible on the lowest core voltage that will allow stability. The big idea is that more core voltage fixes instability issues. Just like if you want a car to go faster you have to give it more gas.

With that cooler you will begin to exceed the stable core temp threshold of 55-60c long before you exceed safe core voltage levels, I'm sure.

This is a basic approach. Some folks like to tweak the CPU/NB (the memory controller) to get a little better memory performance but I would keep it simple if I were you, at lest at first.

We like to see attached pics of CPU-z tabs: "CPU," "Memory," and "SPD" during the process and of HWMonitor to see what max temps and voltages were under stress.

To attach screen shots of the above mentioned utilities use Windows Snipping tool to first crop and save the images. Attach them with your posts using the Go Advanced button at the bottom right corner of any new post screen.

 

[Lulu Lulu]

Okay I'm back, thanks for responding so quickly. so I went and got a Control before I did any over clocking, just to see where my Rig is at:


So first of all the pretty much everything under Temperature and Voltages makes absolutely no sense to me (Why can't they just use simple Recognizable labels), but The CPUTIN Temp seems rather High, is that the Temperature of the Socket ?
Second of all, I want to point out that even though I've got the Turbo Core Enabled in my BIOS, My CPU just wont Boost up to 4Ghz, to be more specific, It won't Boost Up to anything above 3.7Ghz under load. When I'm doing some minor tasks a couple of the cores will hit 4ghz for a few seconds but if I transcode a video in Handbrake it pretty much won't go above 3.7Ghz.

And lastly, I still can't get my BIOS screen capture to work, so I'm just going to have to take a Picture of it or something.

So, Am I good to go ?

 

[Dpg3456]

I believe the CPUTIN temp is your socket and the package temp is your cores. If that is really your socket temp, than you are reaching your temperature ceiling.

Your current vcore (voltage being fed to the cpu) is 1.336v.

About the turbo core, it never worked well for me. Either with the 6300 or the 9590 i had. The cpu must hit certain requirements to initiate turbo mode. Not sure on what it needs to hit turbo mode, but i think its something like 2 cores must hit 100% while other 6 dont. Then those two cores will boost up. Someone correct me if im wrong but this is my understanding.

 

[Lulu Lulu]

DAMN !!!

Yeah I don't think I'm comfortable overclocking with this Case.... Its really cluttered in there, My one and only intake Fan is blocked off by my two Hard Drives and whatever little air that does manage to make it past them must be getting snuffed out by all the cables. Luckily I intend to get the Master Case 5 soon, I'm pretty much only getting it for the larger fan mounts and the separate basement for the PSU, thats where I'l stash my hard drives....

Anyway thanks guys, I don't know when I'l be back but hopefully it'l be soon.

 

[trents]

Yeah, you don't have much socket temp head room which is max stable at something like 65-70c on those CPUs. Does sound like you need better ventilation.

 

[Lulu Lulu]

Hey great news, I just placed an order for the Master Case 5 so I'l be back here in two weeks, I'm also ready to take an electric saw to the left side panel if more cooling is required.

that being said... can anybody help me with my Cooler Master SickleFlow Chassis Fans ? when I first got mine, connecting them to the motherboard (Yes on the 3-pin Headers) caused them to run at at 2000RPMs 24/7. So.... wheres the problem ? is it the Fans or my Motherboard.

 

[Dpg3456]

Awesome. Cooling on the back of the CPU socket is too necessary. I did it and didnt notice much improvement. Having a fan directly blowing on the VRM would be best I think.

Your motherboard should have software that allows you the control the fan curve. Perhaps something like this? http://www.asrock.com/feature/octuner/

The software that came with the motherboard will allow you to control fan speed. Only other way to control fan speed is by completely disconnect the fans from the motherboard and use a fan controller to set the speeds, which i wouldn't recommend unless absolutely necessary.

 

[Lulu Lulu]

Hey thanks for getting back to me so quickly... anyway yeah even the cheapest modern motherboard I know does have a handy and simple method to control the fans in the BIOS.... which is very confusing that mine doesn't. For my CPU I get 2 drop down menus, one sets the CPU's Target Temperature (I have mine set to 50 Degrees C) and the other sets the Default Speed ( mine is set to 1 and thats the slowest), however my CPU Coolers uses a 4-Pin PWM Fan and it works the way I want it to work. The Chassis Fans only get one Drop Down Menu and thats for the Speed, what bugs me is they don't work... like at all. The Chassis Fans just ignore it and Blast at full speed.... infact my BIOS claimed one of them was running at 3000RPM, and that was weird.

I actually never wanted Cooler Master Fans, I originally placed an order for Bitfenix 1000RPM fans, but they were out of stock so I settled for the Cooler Master 2000RPM fans.... Now I'm wondering if I should have waited.

 

[Dpg3456]

Hmm I am not sure about the software not working correctly. My biggest concern with my computer was temperatures and the noise came last. I ended up with 7 server fans. Those are loud af. But with some gaming headset, its not bad.

 

[Kenrou]

anyway yeah even the cheapest modern motherboard I know does have a handy and simple method to control the fans in the BIOS.... which is very confusing that mine doesn't. For my CPU I get 2 drop down menus, one sets the CPU's Target Temperature (I have mine set to 50 Degrees C) and the other sets the Default Speed ( mine is set to 1 and thats the slowest), however my CPU Coolers uses a 4-Pin PWM Fan and it works the way I want it to work. The Chassis Fans only get one Drop Down Menu and thats for the Speed, what bugs me is they don't work... like at all. The Chassis Fans just ignore it and Blast at full speed.... infact my BIOS claimed one of them was running at 3000RPM, and that was weird.

Some motherboards don't seem to like 3pin fans and they only work on full blast (wife's Sabertooth 990fx r2.0 does this), as far as i know there's no fix. My google-fu tells me your case fans are all 3pin ?

 

[trents]

Most motherboards can't control the speed of fans that only have 3 wires/pins since the control mechanism is usually PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) rather than voltage. I have run across boards that do use voltage control but PWM is much more common and more effective. If the fan only has 3 wires or the motherboard header it connects to only has 3 pins then the fan will likely run at full speed . So either get a four wire fan or get different 3 wire fans with lower rpm rating if the noise is an issue.

Lulu Lulu, please create a Signature so that an outline of your system specs travels with every post you make. To do this, click on Settings in the upper right corner of the page and then find Edit Signature down the left side. Refer to mine or one of the other regular contributors for an example of what we like to see in the Sig as far as system information goes.

 

[Lulu Lulu]

Yeah I was wondering how to create a signature but I couldn't find that option anywhere... I assumed that feature was reserved for long time members.

 

[Lulu Lulu]

Some motherboards don't seem to like 3pin fans and they only work on full blast (wife's Sabertooth 990fx r2.0 does this), as far as i know there's no fix. My google-fu tells me your case fans are all 3pin ?

Yep... all three Pin Fans plugged into 3-Pin Headers.

 

[Lulu Lulu]

Boom !!! Check it Out Baby !!!!


Thanks to the Sparse Mesh (Which I don't like) and the Seperate Basement for the PSU and Hard Drives, and the 140mm Case Fans... I have a new control for my Prime 95 Stress Test.

 

[Dpg3456]

Very nice. Now you can OC

 

[Lulu Lulu]

Thank You,

However I'm not ready to OC just yet, I still need to sort out this issue with my Fans since I'm not using my Fan Controller anymore.... I'm going to attend to my Cooling Solution first, I found some cheap Bitfenix 120mm PWM Fans that have a base speed of 500 RPM, once I have this Tiger purring like a Kitten then I'l be ready.

 

[Lulu Lulu]

Alright.. quick update, I managed to overclock my CPU to 4.2Ghz at its stock voltage. I tried hitting 4.4Ghz but even at 1.4voltz it just wasn't Stable, The Socket temps spiked up to 65c and Core 3 Failed on me.... It just isn't going to happen using just the Multiplier... But thats a problem for some other time.


Right now however I was hoping to get some advice on my FSB..... Tampering withit in anyway just causes my not to boot, I got a blue screen fiddling with I think it was the Northbridge Ratio so I left that alone, I switched the FSB from 2200Mhz to 2400Mhz which my Mobob is suppose to be able to do but even though my machine manages to POST, it Freezes during the windows Splash Screen.

 

[trents]

Did you try 4.3 ghz?