New, need help on overclocking.

[Canis]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and pretty new to overclocking. I've fiddled about a little before but nothing much so was looking for some experienced people to help.

I just upgraded my computer to a fx 8350 and want to overclock it but I don't really know where to start. I tried looking for some decent beginners guides but couldn't really find anything.

My setup is :

Asus crosshair v formula-z
AMD fx 8350
Xigmatek dark knight heatsink
16gb 4x4 kingston hyperx 1600
Ocz vertex 4 256gb
Antec 750 watt PSU
Antec 902 case
2xRadeon HD 5770 in crossfirex ( I just ordered a asus 7970 matrix but its back ordered)

I think/hope that's all the info you need to give me some help?

Thanks.

 

[Robert17]

Start here. Principles are the same, will get you started.

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=596023

 

[trents]

Unfortunately, your choice of CPU cooler will significantly limit your overclock. The only air cooler that seems to allow some decent overclocking of the 8 core BD and PD CPUs is the Noctual D14 and almost everybody is saying that water cooling is really the way to go on those chips. Corsair H100 or custom water cooling is where most folks wind up going.

 

[Canis]

Thanks, Robert I'll take a look.

trents, my cpu cooler can be replaced. I used to have a phenom II 965 BE and it worked well for that, i was running at 4.0 and it kept it nice and cool. I wasn't sure if the cooler would be fine for this cpu or if i'd need to replace it. By the sounds of what you're saying I should replace it with a Corsair H100.

I've been interested in something like that for a while but I've always been worried about it leaking and ruining my computer, is that likely?

Thanks for the help.

 

[trents]

Not likely that it will leak. I really don't hear of horror stories like that with the pre-built, self-contained all-in-one kits much. Mostly, I hear about leaking with people doing their own custom thing, especially when they are new at it. Not to say it never happens with the Corsair units but I just don't here of it hardly at all. I think that is a fear that is greatly exaggerated based on a few isolated incidences.

 

[Canis]

Ok, thanks. I'll look into getting one soonish. I should be able to OC this cpu a little with my current setup though, don't you think? Does anyone have any experience with the 8350 and any tips?

Thanks.

 

[trents]

A little overclocking with the current cooler, yes. One thing to keep in mind, especially with the water cooling kits is that it's generally helpful to add a spot fan to blow on the socket and VRM area of the board. Water kits don't provide the air turbulence in that area that CPU air coolers do since with water kits the fans are on the radiator and not on the cooling block head.

 

[Canis]

So I've been having a little play and I've got it to 4.4 and it seems to be stable. One problem I'm having is getting an accurate reading of the cpu temperature. What would you guys say is the best program to monitor this with in windows?

AMD overdrive is saying its at 12c which is stupid and wrong. I tried CPUID HW monitor pro and it seems to have two places where it says CPU temperature, one is saying 32c and the other is saying 11c. Not sure why it's saying two different numbers?

I've been checking it in the bios and it seems to be around 40ish in there.

This also brings me to another question, what is a decent idle temperature?

Thanks.

 

[RGone]

Idle temps are of very little importance unless they are like 40c since the temp signals from 'within' the cpu are INaccurate at idle speeds and load.

You want HWMonitor to show CPU temp as less than 70c and depending on how new is your version of HWMonitor, you want CPU Core Temps OR 'package' temps to stay 60c or below. Those are good guidelines to follow.

 

[RGone]

They test ALL the coolers with the same 125watt load of heat to displace. FX processors can get that hot and more is my guess. But IF you have one of the very top rated Air Coolers from this list...then you will be getting ALL the air cooling that is available in any brand.

About the 25th cpu down the list is the >> Xigmatek DK-S1283 Which is your Dark Knight.

My Air cooled CPU cooler is the Xigmatek SD128264 Aegir and it has remained in the top 2 or 3 spot now since that models release. A phase change cooler is first on that list followed by the Spire that is fairly new. It pushed the Aegir down to second place in 'real' air coolers since a phase change unit is not an air cooled heat sink. The Noctua D-14 is in the top four of true air cooled cpu coolers. So it is good as well and has already been mentioned.

 

[Canis]

Thanks, RGone. I've overclocked to 4.4 and ran some games and some other stuff with the latest version of HWMonitor and the highest temp registered was 43c cpu and 42.2c package.

I'll take a look at those CPU coolers, thanks for the list and the help.

 

[RGone]

Testing for real stability might show if you even need more cooling. After I have determined stability then, I run 4.5Ghz all the time with Windows power management set to Balanced mode so the high heat generating overclock drops back to about 1400Mhz when not doing anything but surfing the web. When I go to rendering video, then I get 4.5Ghz. Which is plenty IMO. More than that just makes it more expensive to get more cooling for very very little return. Well maybe some sort of bragging thang. Hehehe.

2 Hours of Prime 95 Blend mode would be a good pointer at stability.

These are the types of information that most users supply in order to be able to help them very much. Of course beginning with a setting that is 'known' to pass P95 Blend mode makes good sense, because a failed P95 Blend test is not going to give a baseline of a configuration that 'does' work.

CPU Tab in CPUz from CPUID com

Memory Tab in CPUz from CPUID com

SPD Tab in CPUz from CPUID com

And this is screen capture of HWMonitor (free version) from CPUID com
HWMonitor has been scrolled enough and large enough to show Min/Max of Voltages and includes the CPU CORE TEMPS fully visible.

This capture is made of HWMonitor after it has been open on the desktop logging Min/Max temps and voltages while Prime 95 was running Blend Mode test on all cores for at least 20 mins and then the capture of HWMonitor was made and it shows the Min/Max temps and voltages before P95 Blend was started and while running P95 Blend mode and gives much greater insight into how the system is performing without guessing.

In order to attach screenshots of INDIVIDUAL images as suggested, first crop and capture the images with Snipping Tool found in Windows Accessories or equivalent. Then click on Go Advanced, a button at the bottom of every new post window. Then click on the little paperclip tool at the top of the Advanced post window when it opens. Clicking on the paperclip tool brings up the file browser/upload tool and the rest is fairly obvious.

 

[Canis]

I'll run the P95 tomorrow and take the screenshots and post it all. Thanks again for your help.

 

[Canis]

So I only ran prime 95 for 20 minutes, I will eventually do it for longer but I had to reduce the OC as I was clearly doing something wrong and getting crashes. So can you give me any advice on where to go from here?

Thanks.

 

[trents]

You probably need more CPU vcore. At 1.32 it's pretty low for an overclocked CPU. Monitor temps as you just did, however, if your increase voltage as that will cause higher temps. Try adding .025 volts. Also, go into bios and disable the "green" stuff that causes erratic frequencies and voltages: Cool N Quiet, C1E, C6, Turbo and APM. Then go into bios Control Panel Power Options and configure it to High Performance if it isn't already.

 

[Mandrake4565]

Something else you may want to try is pulling 2 sticks of ram out, running 4 sticks will stress the IMC more and can cause instability. Also you have the RAM OC'ed by raising the FSB you may want to drop it down to 1333 just to see if you can get it stable.

With my 8350 I found anything above 21.5 multi I had trouble finding stability, therefore I used 21.5 and 230fsb to get it to 4.9 ghz. At those clocks I also had the CPU NB V to 1.3, the VDDA V to 2.525 and had my DRAM V at 1.55.

At this point you should put your system specs in your signature, here's how.

 

[Canis]

Thanks for the help guys. So I did another oc I'll post images tomorrow as it's late. I got it stable at 4.3 the only problem is the temps are CPU 70 and Package 64.

That seems kinda high, right?

 

[Canis]

So I left the P95 run for 25 minutes while I brushed my teeth and this is what I got. Temps seem quite high. Anything I can do to lower them without lowering the clock? or am I really limited by my cpu cooler?

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[trents]

That's the absolute max temperature level you should allow. Any higher and you risk damage to components. You really need a water loop to cool that processor. Corsair H100 at least. And because you are using the trial version of HWMonitor (Pro) we have no idea what your CPU vcore is under load.

 

[RGone]

Trents Post # 7 >> A little overclocking with the current cooler, yes.
RGone Post #12 >> Testing for real stability might show if you even need more cooling.

Much better cooling is needed if you want to clock higher to a Prime 95 Blend stable setting.