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My first overclock - HELP!

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post picture of cpuz memory tab also.

PS: you rpms on fan2 seem a little high; 675,000 RPM?

my case has a built in fan controller that all my fans are connected to. im not sure if my computer really knows how fast there going but i leave the controller on full blast at all times.
 
so i did some research on my own regarding overclocking with this specific board, and found this interesting review from someone with a similar setup.

"By FashionLover (BG, ohio) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: ASUS Socket AM3/AMD 880G/USB3.0/Hybrid CrossFireX/A&V&GbE/Micro ATX Motherboard s M4A88T-M/USB3 (Personal Computers)
There's a ton of great options in the BIOS for overclocking this board; however almost none of them work! I have an Phenom 1090T X6 Black Ed. proc. installed and the ONLY way to succsessfully overclock it is to choose a PRE-defined overclock profile. From there I am able to take it from 3.2 GHZ to a very stable 3.5 GHZ which runs Prime95 w/100% load at 35 C (pretty amazing for the stock cooler) using the 10% overclock profile (the highest PRE-defined avail.) other then that every other method I attempt leaves me with a system that will NOT boot. I've been doing this for over 10 years I'm A+ certified, and I still CANNOT figure this out. when trying to call ASUS tech support, the line is busy during all hours of operation and I mean you don't even get a machine just a busy signal.

The rest of my upgrades include AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2 GHz 6x512 KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Processor - Retail HDT90ZFBGRBOX Corsair 4GB Dual Channel Corsair DDR3 Memory for Intel Core i5 Processors (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9)

If your looking for a good budget board spend the extra $30-40 on an MSI. Not sure about ASUS's more expensive ROG boards but this one is my first ASUS board and probably my last. I hope this review helps you out!

UPDATE! : when in Bios you must enable the "Unleashing Mode" to OC. I didn't try this before because I already have a hexacore so there was no cores left to unlock. running at 3.7Ghz"

Now, i found the setting he referred to as "Unleashing mode" and i see that cpu voltage has gone to where we want them(i set Vcore to 1.45v and the multiplier to 19.5). However, HWMonitor is no longer able to read CPU Temps! i did further research and have found that other ASUS board users(not just the m4a88t-m, but many different asus boards) have this problem. it appears the only way to monitor temps is to turn off unleashing mode!! here are the results of P95 blend test after a full hour. all tests said passed? what to do from here?

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However, HWMonitor is no longer able to read CPU Temps! < This happens with 'any' AMD motherboard since turning on unlocking, unleashing, ACC and the like 'kills' the CPU Core Tempu output for reading by monitoring software.

Many of these cheaper Mobos have odd/strange or even somewhat crippled acting bioses for sure. Why I got a 'real' overclocking mobo, but that is not here right now.

So with No CPU Core Temps, you need to now know what IS the difference in temp between the CPU Core Temp and the CPU Temp. That difference can be subtacted from the CPU Temp to give you an approximate CPU Core Temp, since unleasing kills that temp read-out.

EDIT:
Looked at your graphic image and if I subtract about 10c from the CPU Temp, then the CPU Core Temp is about 44c and good as far as I am concerned.
END EDIT.
 
EDIT:
Looked at your graphic image and if I subtract about 10c from the CPU Temp, then the CPU Core Temp is about 44c and good as far as I am concerned.
END EDIT.

So is there room to continue? bump the multiplier to 20? Leave Vcore @ 1.45v?
 
20x multiplier and 1.45Vcore may not be enough Vcore. Try it and see if P95 Blend mode fails and add Vcore if it does fail.
 
i finally got something stable but the Vcore seems a bit high to me. these are the numbers i have during the 10th hour of P95. they dont look too bad. however i noticed worker #4 stopped working. i had to change a lot of my bios settings to get this to work.

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Has that Vcore gone that "high" on its own? Or you set it up higher?

It maybe that Load Line Calibration is forcing the Vcore to cpu that high. I don't think the LLC is adjustable? What settings for Load Line Calibration? Auto, Enable and Disable only? Try it disabled and see if the Vcore stays lower. That cheap board seems a real pain to get to work well for heavy duty overclocking.
 
Has that Vcore gone that "high" on its own? Or you set it up higher?

It maybe that Load Line Calibration is forcing the Vcore to cpu that high. I don't think the LLC is adjustable? What settings for Load Line Calibration? Auto, Enable and Disable only? Try it disabled and see if the Vcore stays lower. That cheap board seems a real pain to get to work well for heavy duty overclocking.

i set vcore to around 1.51. Loadline calibration is set to 0%, it has many different percents you can put. ill post a screenshot of the bios if youd like, there not as bad as you think.
 
photo.JPG

Windows would not boot with loadline calibration set to auto(bios says it sets it to 51.6) memory is set to 1360MHz with a 9-9-9-24 timings.
 
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CJI87 said:
i set vcore to around 1.51. Loadline calibration is set to 0%, it has many different percents you can put. ill post a screenshot of the bios if youd like, there not as bad as you think.

No it really is as bad as think, at least as regards how it works. Hehehe.

Okay, I did help someone with one of those boards a few months ago. Found a link of a review that was testing the LLC settings. They settled on 19% I believe the number was. Earlier speculation had the %'s being backwards. 0% was Max LLC and 100% was Minimum LLC. Such a situation would explain why Auto at 51% would not work, since you need more LLC and the lower % being actually more LLC would boost voltage more. 19% or smiliar might be just enough LLC boost that HWMonitor would not wind-up showing 1.61 Vcore at times when under load.

I would certainly experiment with LLC like 3%, 7%, 11%, 19% and so forth to see if you can get enough LLC boost to be stable but not have that ginormous Vcore when loaded. It is of course up to you. Luck man.
 
I started with 35% for LLC and slowly worked my way down till i got to 12%. the vcore seems to have dropped a little(but still high, no?). i also manually set the memory to 1360MHz, could that be overclocked as well? temps seem fine. any other suggestions? im definitely getting there. also no failed workers on p95 after an hour. heres the screenshot.

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Good deal...

From what you write, I can see you are learning 'your' board. Something noone else can do.

Looks to me like the Vcore dropped by right at 0.11 volts and that is a good thing with you doing your own slow tweak down of LLC. I don't like how it works but that is what it is. Much Better.

Because LLC on most of that line of boards works that way, you have little choice but to put up with a little high Vcore under load. You can try to lower a small amount the Cpu Voltage itself and leave LLC at 12% and see if the Max Voltate to the cpu can drop a little BUT still stay stable. What CAN happen is that you lower the 'beginning' Vcore and the system is unstable when not loaded and that is not good either.

Temps look great for that much Vcore.

I tell you what you might try and it just occurred to me. ADD a little more Vcore to the CPU voltage instead of trying to reduce it. That might allow you to change LLC to 18, 19, 20 or 21%. That would give a little bit more Vcore at first but might keep the LLC jump even less. And the end result is the Vcore does n0t go as high. You might be able to make Max Vcore show up in HWMon as only 1.49V. That would be freeken great.

Then bump CPU Freq/FSB or whatever you bios calls it from 203 to 205 and get just a little more total CPU speed and you would probably be 'golden' if P95 Blend mode does n0t fail. That would give you very close to 4.1Ghz and good numbers for that board. Ram would be running slighly clocked more as it would jump with raise of FSB from 203 to 205 and the whole thing might be just great.

Need to see ALL three captures of CPUz, the CPU, the Memory and the SPD tab and one capture of HWMonitor now that we are close. I can see HT Freq and CPU-NB Freqs when I see all three captures of CPUz. Of course HWMon so can see temps and voltges Min/Max. Luck man.

I started with 35% for LLC and slowly worked my way down till i got to 12%. the vcore seems to have dropped a little(but still high, no?). i also manually set the memory to 1360MHz, could that be overclocked as well? temps seem fine. any other suggestions? im definitely getting there. also no failed workers on p95 after an hour. heres the screenshot.

View attachment 119162
 
From what you write, I can see you are learning 'your' board. Something noone else can do.

Looks to me like the Vcore dropped by right at 0.11 volts and that is a good thing with you doing your own slow tweak down of LLC. I don't like how it works but that is what it is. Much Better.

Because LLC on most of that line of boards works that way, you have little choice but to put up with a little high Vcore under load. You can try to lower a small amount the Cpu Voltage itself and leave LLC at 12% and see if the Max Voltate to the cpu can drop a little BUT still stay stable. What CAN happen is that you lower the 'beginning' Vcore and the system is unstable when not loaded and that is not good either.

Temps look great for that much Vcore.

I tell you what you might try and it just occurred to me. ADD a little more Vcore to the CPU voltage instead of trying to reduce it. That might allow you to change LLC to 18, 19, 20 or 21%. That would give a little bit more Vcore at first but might keep the LLC jump even less. And the end result is the Vcore does n0t go as high. You might be able to make Max Vcore show up in HWMon as only 1.49V. That would be freeken great.

Then bump CPU Freq/FSB or whatever you bios calls it from 203 to 205 and get just a little more total CPU speed and you would probably be 'golden' if P95 Blend mode does n0t fail. That would give you very close to 4.1Ghz and good numbers for that board. Ram would be running slighly clocked more as it would jump with raise of FSB from 203 to 205 and the whole thing might be just great.

Need to see ALL three captures of CPUz, the CPU, the Memory and the SPD tab and one capture of HWMonitor now that we are close. I can see HT Freq and CPU-NB Freqs when I see all three captures of CPUz. Of course HWMon so can see temps and voltges Min/Max. Luck man.

Thanks RG, I really appreciate all the help, and patience with something as tedious as teaching someone how to overclock. this has proven to be a very difficult task.

Ive definitely been working with lots of different LLC's. I also checked out some CPUID validations other users have been posting on there 1100t's and noticed a lot of them have been using lower multipliers with higher FSB's to get to the lower Vcores, while still maintaining 4+GHz.

I tried this 225MHz FSB and got a very stable overclock with slightly better numbers(about a minute after i posted my last screenshot of CPUID, Max Vcore went from 1.54v to 1.55v, the one im posting now was after 9+ hours of P95 blend with no failed workers(it has remained at 1.54v for over 9 hours). I know its a miniscule improvement, but an improvement nonetheless.) Should I try higher FSB with lower multipliers in order to keep the Vcore down and still work with the LLC?

I'm going to leave these settings and try different LLC's for now, but I'm really looking to get it in the high 1.4v range. The board is very picky about the FSB numbers its willing to boot. Memory appears to be exactly where i want it, no?
Untitled.jpg SPD.jpg memory.jpg
 
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Thanks RG, I really appreciate all the help, and patience with something as tedious as teaching someone how to overclock. this has proven to be a very difficult task.

Ive definitely been working with lots of different LLC's. I also checked out some CPUID validations other users have been posting on there 1100t's and noticed a lot of them have been using lower multipliers with higher FSB's to get to the lower Vcores, while still maintaining 4+GHz.

I tried this 225MHz FSB and got a very stable overclock with slightly better numbers(about a minute after i posted my last screenshot of CPUID, Max Vcore went from 1.54v to 1.55v, the one im posting now was after 9+ hours of P95 blend with no failed workers(it has remained at 1.54v for over 9 hours). I know its a miniscule improvement, but an improvement nonetheless.) Should I try higher FSB with lower multipliers in order to keep the Vcore down and still work with the LLC?

I'm going to leave these settings and try different LLC's for now, but I'm really looking to get it in the high 1.4v range. The board is very picky about the FSB numbers its willing to boot. Memory appears to be exactly where i want it, no?

I appreciate the kind word about patience alright enough, but on the other hand I am torn by not being somewhat blunt about that I guess maybe 'class' of motherboard. They just don't cut it for me.

I think that cpu 'should' be stable at 4.1Ghz at just about 1.475 Vcore. You even with your persistence and upping FSB and dropping multiplier will never get there on that board. The LLC does not work correctly and the LLC voltage *overshoot* is just too great and then too variable to let you get what would be the best Vcore action.

You are having to do your 'learning' to overclock on a board that is working azz-backwards. 0% LLC should mean that LLC does not move the voltage upward under load at all. That is by definition of what LLC is in the first place.

Say you had had the best board made with the 890FX chipset which was the CHlV by Asus. Remember the 990FX boards are out and in my opinion the CHV by Asus is the best. I digress. If you were using CHlV 890FX board you would set a Vcore. Run Prime 95 Blend and if you set 1.45Vcore to the cpu you would look and see how much the Vcore fell "below" your 1.45Vcore setting and choose and LLC setting of say Medium, High, Ultra High and I cannot remember the last one, but it is something like Extremely Ultra High.

One of those settings would almost to the hundredth of a Volt raise the Loaded Vcore BACK up to what you set in bios. None of that % stuff that seems good. None of that % stuff that is azz-backwards from what LLC should do. Which is raise the LOADED Vcore BACK to what is set in bios when the processor is under load.

But the board you have is (forget being backwards in setting) adding Vcore to the CPU in such an over-voltage type of manner that you cannot get the Vcore down as far as it should be able to have happen. Good boards by any manufacturer should not have LLC that acts like that. My CHV does not act stupid even when LOADED to hale and back with a power hungry FX processor on it. I can choose a 'named' setting that will almost replace exactly the difference of LOST Vcore under load to just about the hundredth of that lost Vcore when loaded. That is 'good' working LLC. Load Line Calibration. Load Line ADJUSTMENT if you will. Calibrate or to "adjust".

Any brand of good AMD or even Intel motherboard that has LLC should work pretty close to how I described in the paragraph above. No matter who makes the board.

So is my "patience" really a good service to you or a dis-service? I am wondering. So I am being that 'blunt' by describing how a good board should act. Your current board does not and never will work as it should. I expect that you will always have to put more Vcore to the processor than is 'truly' necessary. Is your current voltage just TOO TOO dang high? NO it is not. You are now P95 Blend stable for hours. There are many in these forums with stuff that will not nearly run P95 Blend that long stabily. Their CPU Temps get too high. Yours are not too too high. You can get anywhere close to 4.0/1 Ghz stable and quit working so hard with a board that is never going to as it 'really' should. You are very much close enough to enjoy your computer some.

You have shown great initiative and forebearnace in doing things on your on. You have the idea down pat for a board that is not as it should be. You have done good mostly on your own and doing much of your own searching. That is somethng few that come for help can or will do. I commend you hghly for that inner ability.

Tweak it all you want to now. Up FSB drop multiplier or whatever, but the hard truth is you likely will never get to the place I would prefer to be with a board and appropriately working LLC. You have the idea of what to do with what you have. Tweak all you want but know that as long as you have not more temps than you do now and the Vcore stays at no more than 1.55, heck man call it a day and use your rig. No sort of program will ever load your system down like 9 hours of P95 Blend. Or let me say that a little more accurately...92% of the programs that most people use will n0t load their system to the extent that P95 Blend does. That is why we test stability with P95 Blend. Load it to hale and back and if it passes for extended periods of time, then we can feel pretty confident the system should be stable in average daily use.

You have it close; oh so very close. I would use it and know in my educated heart what to look for in a WELL working board the next time. Luck to you man.

RGone...ster :chair:
 
+1 @ rgone. Been reading along the whole time; though you have a $90 board, it seems to be yours just doesn't want to b OC friendly. Have you updated the bios, assuming there is one? maybe even an older bios version? probably nothing you can do, but i wanted to say awesome attempt and fortitude.
 
FINALLY!!!

hey all!

Just wanted to say thanks for the help. after days of persistent tweaking I finally achieved my goals. over 4GHz on a $51 dollar motherboard!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My last question is, is this safe for a everyday use? i do not leave the computer on 24/7. When I'm done, I shut it off.

This is an excellent forum with dedicated members. ill be back for sure on my next rig(lol I'll remember to invest a little more on the mobo next time) here are my numbers and BIOS settings.

FINAL.jpg photo.JPG
 
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If you are at 'least' 2 hours stable with Prime 95 in Blend mode then all below is a good thing for sure.

Vcore shown dropped below 1.5V is a good thing.

Temps of 56c CPU and 48c for the cores is a good thing.

4.0Ghz and change is a good thing.

All your tweaking paid off. Is a good thing.

Congratulations, seems a job well done.

RGone...ster.
 
So.....

after 6 months of heavy use, this board has finally crapped out.:facepalm: i decided i wanted to stay with asus and go with the Crossfire V Formula-Z. everything else inside my case has remained the same.
Now windows will not boot, and the bios screen is in the wrong resolution or something but it does not fit on my screen!(im able to use the bios but its difficult in that im unable to see all of my options)..
the last motherboard had an IDE and a SATA port so i was able to dual boot(the older ide drive has windows 7 64 bit, the sata has vista32) the new board does not have a IDE port so im just trying to get the vista 32 going but no avail!(the option to boot the IDE drive is still there even though the drive is not connected, could this also be part of the problem?) the microsoft loading screen pops up for about a second before i get my bluescreen, the computer restarts and repeats said process over and over..

any help would be appreciated.

Edit: should i just start a new thread with this issue...?
 
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You could start a new thread if you wish with the new CHV-z board. Likely get more look sees. Most don't care to read thru all the posts as I just did to get to here and find out it is a different deal altogether.

I will say this though right up front. You need to put a Sata drive on the system and format and install Win7 or Win8 or whatever newer O/S you are going to use. The differences are too far apart between the CHV-z with AMD chipset and the old board with Nvidia chipset.

Attach and run Sata drive with AHCI enabled since it is a shade faster and will be already set that way and the O/S AHCI aware, if you decide to get an SSD drive for your booting drive.
RGone...
 
You could start a new thread if you wish with the new CHV-z board. Likely get more look sees. Most don't care to read thru all the posts as I just did to get to here and find out it is a different deal altogether.

I will say this though right up front. You need to put a Sata drive on the system and format and install Win7 or Win8 or whatever newer O/S you are going to use. The differences are too far apart between the CHV-z with AMD chipset and the old board with Nvidia chipset.

Attach and run Sata drive with AHCI enabled since it is a shade faster and will be already set that way and the O/S AHCI aware, if you decide to get an SSD drive for your booting drive.
RGone...

hey rg! good to see your still around.

yes currently the only drive hooked up to the system is a SATA with a previous install of windows vista 32bit.

i have since removed one stick and am down to 4gb of memory (the manual says not to use more than 3gb if running a 32bit os) still gets to the microsoft loading post screen the bluescreen followed by a reset and repeat...

im trying to do a system restore as i type this but im doubtful its going to work, ill be sure to update.
 
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