New Setup, Need council on OCing. Am I maxed out or can I try diff settings?

[aweaver255]

Have I reached the limit here or can I adjust settings to get a better clock? I have become interested in OCing this year and have done a bit of research and reading but here it seems I must be doing something wrong. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I'd like to be able to hit 4.5GHz at least but it seems impossible. Here's my system:

MOBO: MSI 990FXA-GAMING
CPU: AMD FX-8350
PSU: EVGA 700B1 Series 700W
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Elite 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory
Cooling: Corsair H80i GT
SSDs: Crucial BX200 240GB (X2)
HDDs: Toshiba 1TB 7200RPM (X2)
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB FTW ACX
CASE: Corsair SPEC-03 Red

I've managed to see it stable after 25 minutes in P95 at these settings:
CPU Ratio: x20
CPU/FSB at 220MHz
CPU/NB Ratio: 11
CPU/NB Freq: 2420 MHz
DRAM Freq: 1866MHz adjusted to 2052MHz (Rated for 2133MHz)
HT Link Speed: 12
Adjusted HT Speed: 2640 MHz
CPU Voltage: 1.528 V
CPU-NB Voltage: 1.304 V
DRAM Voltage: 1.64 V
MAX CPU Package Temp reached 50C

These settings clock me in at 4.4GHz at 1.528 V and right at 50C. To me, that doesn't sound like a very good OC but I may be wrong. Shouldn't I be able to reach higher clocks here or what? I must be doing something wrong for it to fail the tests at higher settings, just not sure what to use. Any help/guidance would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[EarthDog]

1.5V at 4.5GHz seems like A LOT of voltage for that clockspeed...

Ill let the AMD people chime in with details, but that seems high.

 

[aweaver255]

My thoughts exactly but any lower voltages and I can't get it to pass p95. I MUST be doing something wrong.

 

[Kenrou]

Voltage way too high as E_D said, you should be using around 1.3v/1.35v for that speed. Go back to stock and use multiplier instead of FSB for overclocking

 

[aweaver255]

I'll give it a shot again, but lowering the voltage by one increment makes it fail in p95, I'll try a test down around 1.35 V or so instead of 1 increment lower and see what I get for results. I'm in total agreement with the voltage being so high to pass.

- - - Updated - - -

Well then, I tried 1.35V and it wouldn't post.

 

[Kenrou]

Go back to stock and use multiplier instead of FSB for overclocking

I had much better results on my old 8370, 4.5ghz FSB vs 4.8ghz multiplier. Save that profile in BIOS if you wish, reset everything back to stock and up the multi instead of the FSB.

 

[DNRDustin]

First things im seeing.
1:The speed and amount of RAM, probabley defintely maybe might be contributing to the amount of VCORE you need for stability(and limiting your OC).
2:That H80i.
3:That Socket Temp(temp1)
4:You posted nothing about the rest of your cooling measures. Get a fan on the vrm!
5:Run blend, and load up some ram if you really wnna test for stability(25 min isnt really long enough to declare stable)
6:I'll post pics to give you some ideas on settings and configuration.

 

[aweaver255]

So you're saying I'd get better clocks with say one stick of RAM vs 4?

 

[DNRDustin]

So you're saying I'd get better clocks with say one stick of RAM vs 4?

without a doubt

 

[EarthDog]

2 vs 4 as you want dual channel...but yes. The more sticks you have the more stress on the memory controller. As Kenrou stated earlier, reset the BIOS, and just push with the multiplier with the ram low. Once you find your CPU overclock, then raise up the ram. To do both at once can leave you wondering which is the culprit.

 

[trents]

Most people don't use the FSB to overclock FX CPUs.

And as others have said, the speed and amount of your memory is surely overtaxing the comparatively week FX integrated memory controller. You'd better look at running lesser amount of RAM at 1866. Running the RAM at high frequencies won't help performance anyway.

At the high core voltage you are using it is remarkable that you are only getting max temps of 50c with that small water cooler. Are you sure you are not getting thermal throttling? And 20 minutes of Prime95 is not adequate to confirm stability. We recommend at least 2 hr. You may find that if you run a longer stress test the temps will spike higher.

 

[DNRDustin]

Some pics for you to get an idea of measures you can take to assist in the OC of your fx8350
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/...l-The-Things?p=7922279&viewfull=1#post7922279

 

[aweaver255]

Ok great, RAM could be the issue. I'll definitely do some tests with 2 sticks VS 4.

After some tests using only the multiplier and keeping the stock RAM speed and voltage I've made a little advancement. Yes I agree at least 2 hrs stress testing to ensure stability, but for finding settings that will pass tests is where I want to start. Unfortunately it's putting me at such a high voltage to get there lol!

Starting with 1.39 V and the multiplier set at 22.5 for 4500MHz I couldn't get into windows. After 8 more tests of bumping up the voltage and getting past BSODs and failed tests in p95, I've reached 1.528V and haven't failed any tests after 1 hr. Max CPU package temp reached 53C.

Redicilous voltage I agree. Temps are awesome though with that being said. Congrats to the H80iGT. Thermal throttling? I wouldn't even know where to begin to monitor that, could you steer me in the right direction so I can see that readout?

P95 is still testing. Based upon what you guys have told me I'm curious to try pulling 2 sticks just to see what I can do with the voltage level. On the other hand it would be pointless to see the results as I want to see what my limit is with all 4 sticks installed. I need all the ram I can get as I do some intensive video editing in After Effects, 3D rendering, as well as some large project files in Photoshop. No gaming.

 

[trents]

With an AMD CPU you should consider limiting your RAM amount to 8gb if you want a max overclock. What kind of tasks do you use the computer for that you felt a need to install 32gb of RAM? Eight is plenty for all but the most demanding applications.

For checking thermal throttling you could use CPU-z and watch the core frequency/multiplier under load in the CPU tab, or you could do the same thing with HWMonitor. To protect itself, the CPU will slow itself down once the thermal limit is reached. This helps it run cooler.

 

[DNRDustin]

You're gonna have to make a compromise. Either keep the speed and drop 2 sticks. Keep all sticks, and drop the speed, or deal with it being hard on the imc and a limited core clock with high voltage. IMO you're gonna kill something expensive if you keep running it this way. Invest in better cooling either way.

 

[aweaver255]

I use After Effects, Premiere Pro, Photoshop, etc... minimum requirements are at least 2GB per core and if you know these programs you know they're RAM eaters.

As far as thermal throttling as you speak of then yes I've been monitoring that and I get around very small fluctuation if any most times.

As of now it's been almost 2 hours, 4.5GHz at 1.55v.

- - - Updated - - -

As far as cooling, so far I've stayed under 53C, which is a perfect operating temp under full load, I'm happy with the 4.5GHz with 4 sticks of RAM. It's just crazy to see the voltage that high and it must be the RAM to blame. Just for giggles I'm gonna try taking 2 sticks out and see the difference and I'll be posting the results here.

I've Google the hell out of this, but does anyone know what the voltage regulations are? AMD says the RECOMMENDED max is 1.55v, but hell, they also RECOMMEND that we don't overclock. I can't find any voltage specs, anyone have any insight?

 

[caddi daddi]

have you tried this at stock?
jumping right to 4.5 might be a little tough, try 4.0 for a start.

 

[aweaver255]

Stock, with 4 sticks of RAM, everything on optimized defaults, the voltage default is set to 1.4v, base clock at 4.0GHz, 4.2GHz turbo.

 

[DNRDustin]

then see if you can boot and blend [email protected]

 

[aweaver255]

Why would I try that DNRDustin? Of course I'd pass at factory settings. Are you confused? Or am I? You're asking me to test my computer at stock? Of course it boots and of course it would pass at factory settings.