OC'ing x6 1055t on Biostar TA990FXE UEFI...pics inside

[JLiRD808]

Only my 2nd OC project ever, and my first was a BE so it was super easy. *And Im on a 970 actually...but 990's more recognizable...wasnt getting any help here*

There's definitely info out there on how to OC the 1055t, but I feel like the Biostar BIOS is different, and doesn't give me the same controls. For instance, where is "Cool n Quiet" controls? I don't see where to disable TurboMode or TurboCore or whatever. I also dont see where to alter the NB frequency or ratio.

I'd like to get it up to 3.6 or 3.8 I guess. I used the "Auto OverClock" (see pic #1) function to get it up to about 3.3, but I'd like to do it the real way. Im at like 19-20 degrees per Speedfan with my Hyper 212+!!

What I think I need to do:
Turn up the FSB in small increments
Turn down the DRAM frequency so the freq isnt higher than the RAM can handle (for DDr3 1866, what is the max?)
Test for stability
When instability is reached, add voltage to CPU & RAM in small increments (<---kinda grey here)

Other grey areas:
HT frequency/speed/width?
PCI-E Frequency

Sorry to be a total noob...I wish the tutorials I was reading were using this same/similar BIOS. I know a lot of it is the same, but those kinda foggy differences scare me a lil.

THANKS!!!

 

[JLiRD808]

Hope I'm doing this right:

 

[JLiRD808]

Ugh no help??

Found this:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Biostar/TA990FXE/6.html

I guess the Biostar UEFI has its pros/cons. It can be used in conjunction with the Windows based T-Overclocker...meh.

This is where Im at now:





A SiSandra report says my FSB is over the chipset freq. I know in some BIOS, this is so easy to adjust. I swear its more complicated on this BIOS lol, Ive read in two places I need a calcualtor & pen/pad. Im just not positive on the calcualtions Im supposed to do, to get ____ number.

I might grab the FX-8150 BE just to avoid thiese complications. Unless I can get some help from someone.....

THANKS!!

 

[RGone]

Just a heads up or FYI, in this forum section, most of us have done our best to suggest users stay away from Biostar and MSI over the last 20 mos or so. They just have not fit well into the mold of overclocking.

Things can change for sure. But glancing at the pics of your bios, that bios does not have many of the settings we normally suggest to adjust when overclocking. At least I don't see them easily. We tweak other brands never having hands on the board itself, because we have seen many many of other brands and have a feel for the other bioses even not having the board. Such at this point is not the situation with your Biostar board.

1. Because you cannot raise the multiplier on that cpu, you must raise the FSB.

2. It seems you are at 250FSB now.

3. All you can do is continue to raise the FSB and reduce the ram divider and CPU/NB divider to keep those from being to greatly over-speeded.

4. Raise the Vcore as the cpu speed increases.

5. Test each speed you attain for a couple of hours to suggest stability.

6. Check Cpu Temp and CPU Core Temp to ensure that they stay below 65c and 55c ish respectively.

7. That procedure I would use with ANY brand of motherboard. With an upward locked cpu.

8. You might check to see if Biostar has a forum. You would expect 'their' forum to be relatively handy with the Biostar mobo.

 

[JLiRD808]

Rgone,

Thanks man! I wish I'd known before I bought. It's less than a week old from Microcenter; I wonder if I can exchange. I made the purchase based on positive reviews on Newegg and elsewhere....at least I know its "not me" lol.

That being said...if I grab the FX-8150 Black Edition, can I bypass all (or a lot) of the incapabilities of this Biostar BIOS? Im new to OC'ing but I recall from from my first OC that BE's are SUPER easy. Just wondering if there would still be some limitations created by the "awkward" Biostar BIOS though....thoughts?

I've got this 1055t at like 3.56 right now and ran Prime95 blend test for 6.5 hours last nite with no errors, so I feel kinda good. I just want to feel secure that I know EXACTLY what I'm doing.....using the controls that most of u guys here use.

So what are the cool mobo/BIOS u guys like to use for OC'ing? Looking for a fast and somewhat future-proof AM3+

THANKS!!!

 

[JLiRD808]

3. All you can do is continue to raise the FSB and reduce the ram divider and CPU/NB divider to keep those from being to greatly over-speeded.

.....

8. You might check to see if Biostar has a forum. You would expect 'their' forum to be relatively handy with the Biostar mobo.

3. Thats what seems to throw me off!! It looks so easy in other BIOS and I cant seem to find where to adjust those parameters here. I can limit the DRAM frequency I think though- is that the same/similar? CPU/NB frequency should be no higher than ______, correct?

8. I will do that too if I decide to stick with this mobo....THANKS!!

 

[RGone]

Okay I went back and looked at the bios pics you did post.

1. From the pics it seems that where it says something is "current", that means that is THE setting or speed.

2. In some of the pics, below the things shown as "current" there are adjustments. Places to change the things shown as "current" above.

3. I do not see from the pics anywhere to change CPU/NB speed. Nor do I see where to change the Ram multiplier to lower the ram speed so you could push the FSB some more.

4. If you have taken pics of the bios 'where' you first go to 'begin' to dig downward in bios to get to the more advanced features for adjusting and your pics show all the adjustments possible. Well then I think I would get another board

5. You have done fairly well in adding speed to your multiplier locked Thuban processor. Could you do more with a more adjustable board? Probably so.

6. Would swapping to an FX processor help? Maybe. At least it would be upward multiplier adjustable and I see an adjustment for that.

7. I (personally) just do not like the awkwardness and lack of adjustments of that board. YMMV.

 

[JLiRD808]

Thanks again!

Already shopping around for a new board. Any brands u prefer? I see some ASRock & Gigabyte boards that rate pretty high and have the specs I need.

 

[LiquidHard]

hi jlird,

to turn off cool n quiet - look under cpu configuration.
same place for turboboost

ram dividers - lower the ram frequency instead as the divider options are just not there. When the frequency is lowered, the dividers also drop for my biostr board

 

[KetoSoi]

I wish I'd known before I bought. It's less than a week old from Microcenter; I wonder if I can exchange. I made the purchase based on positive reviews on Newegg and elsewhere....at least I know its "not me" lol.

As some one who has a TA990FXE, I can only recommend you get rid of it. Its not a bad board, but its not great either. For mild overclocking it does OK, just not great. The other problem is the inadequate amount of fan headers. Aside from all that: After 3 warranty replacements on that board, it now sits in my closet unused, as its far too late for me to return it.

I replaced it with an Asus Sabertooth 990FX R2.0, that has been a GREAT mobo and I highly recommend it.

 

[RGone]

I think KetoSoi may be very accurate. I found this in just the first 10 Egg reviews.

Few of the 'reviewers' at NewEgg were overclocking it seems. They surely don't want to mess with the bios.

The Bios updater isn't reliable. I attempted to update the bios 3 times, the first two times I had to flash the bios to get the computer back and the third the motherboard's backup bios became corrupt and I can't restore it. I've requested a new bios chip from the manufacturer and haven't received a response. Just don't mess with the bios and this board is excellent.

I did research online and found other users who went through several boards that had the same problem as me and ended up having to buy another board of anther brand.

I feel like I got the shaft on this one because I can't afford to eat the cost of the board and buy another one. I know it's not neweggs fault that I am having problems but I don't like that I am stuck with it because I sent the rebate in. I would be willing to eat the $20 refund if I could just get the rest of my money back so I could buy another board.

Simply if you are expecting to run 1866 ram on this board It will NOT work.
And the BIOS is going to die if you try to do so.

first 11 months, until it died. As others have reported, it was stone dead, as though PS was bad. Unfortunately, PS was good, and after some discussion with tech support, they RMA'd the board. Several weeks later board was returned, but it wasn't right - booted fine, but required a 20 minute "rest" before it would successfully reboot. RMA'd it again - this time company paid postage. They sent a new - or at least another - board, but this one wouldn't boot at all. In or out of case, with old PS or replacement, without any peripherals, clearing CMOS, nothing. A new RMA was quickly received, but I'm hoping that they will issue a pre-paid label - notice that my primary "pro" for this board was PRICE

DOA and swapped out a good board to test parts and lost a second biostar board. Two Dead boards and one very a&&:2: off customer.

after 2 months my USB port caught on fire and destroyed my motherboard, they claimed I improperly installed my firewire, however I had no firewire, and they refuse to give me a new one. DO NOT PURCHASE THIS MOTHERBOARD, horrible customer service, there is literally 2 people working at the city of industry biostar location, and Miami doesn't pick up their phone.

 

[JLiRD808]

Got it! Headed up to Microcenter tomorrow to exchange. Kinda busy ATM but I'll post some other options if someone has a min to take a look.

Again, I think they were ASRock & Gigabyte's but I'll have to verify that.

THANKS AGIAN

 

[JLiRD808]

Not as many options at Microcenter as Newegg. Here's one though....any pros/cons off the bat?:

http://www.microcenter.com/product/382952/970_Extreme4_Socket_AM3_970_ATX_AMD_Motherboard

**EDIT**

This one seems to fit the bill also but gets way more attention in the OC communities!! Giga 970 series:

http://www.microcenter.com/product/375772/GA-970A-UD3_Socket_AM3_970_ATX_AMD_Motherboard

TKS AGAIN!