So now what do I do..

[Wetsuit29]

Have this fine, totally unlocked computer, Not a Rolls, but not a Ford Pinto...
Gigabyte 990 FXA UD3, AMD FX 6100 Zambezi 3.3 Ghz.
Corsair Hydro Series H60 Cooling.
Sapphire HD 7850 1Gb Gpu
Sunbeam 650 Watt Psu
128 GB Crucial M4 SSD
16 Gb Kingston regular 1600 RAM
1 Tb Barracuda Green HHD
BlurRay Writer
and ....Win 8 Pro OEM

I am new to this new BIOS, I have Award F9, I would like pointers and advise to improve my performance by about 1/3rd. I do not run anything that needs real performance but as I said , I am bored and this is a totally unlocked system....

 

[ivanlabrie]

Overclock the cpu? That will net you a noticeable difference in fps while gaming and general responsiveness while browsing and general use.

You can try changing the multiplier in the bios to get to 4ghz. No need to change anything else at first...Try that and run Prime95 small fft's test for 30 min.
If it passes without errors and temps are fine you can proceed to do some more tweaking.
Try to download hwinfo to monitor cpu temps.
You need to keep cpu temp below 60c to be safe.

 

[kmo_9000]

I always like seeing AMD builds like this. This looks like a fine computer.

Like ivan said, no reason not to overclock it. 4ghz should be easily obtainable with that motherboard and cooler. Just increase the multiplier and the vcore a bit, keep temps below 60 and it should overclock flawlessly.

Increasing the multiplier should be simple, just calculate what number will give you 4ghz.

As far as vcore goes, I'm pretty sure 1.200v is a good starting point. If it is stable after stress testing then you can lower it. If it crashes then increase it. Do this until you find your sweet spot.

 

[Wetsuit29]

This is exactly the stuff that I am looking for...I have a 51 inch Plasma, not so cleaver "Smart" tv that i do MOH on, and this GPU does ok but I may get another later. I want to start here and I appreciate this advise that points me in the right direction. Thank You.

 

[trents]

Kingston "regular" 16gb of ram. Regular? It must not be constipated.

 

[kmo_9000]

And the HHD must be extra hard. A Hard Hard Drive.

OP if you can't fine the settings for multiplier and voltage then take some pictures of the bios and upload them here, maybe someone can tell you what to look for.

 

[Wetsuit29]

Multiplier x20 made 4 Ghz at6 28 c, Voltage on auto but I will go change ti, just cause.

 

[Wetsuit29]

The HHD is hard as I threw it across the room, just to see what would happen and it still works fine.

 

[trents]

And the HHD must be extra hard. A Hard Hard Drive.

Yeah but the applications are "soft" ware.

 

[kmo_9000]

Multiplier x20 made 4 Ghz at6 28 c, Voltage on auto but I will go change ti, just cause.

Check what your motherboard set the voltage at with CPU-Z and use that number as a starting point. Usually Auto will give the CPU way more voltage than it needs, so you should fine tune it down.

 

[trents]

Wetsuit29, what would be most helpful at this point to us who are helping you would be post back with attached pics of CPU-z tabs: "CPU", "Memory" and "SPD".

To attach a pic directly with a post, first crop and save the individual image to disc with Snipping Tool found in Windows Accessories. We don't need the whole desktop and it makes the stuff we want to see too small to see when you capture the whole screen. Then click on Go Advanced at the bottom of any new post window which will bring up the advanced post window. Find the little paperclip icon at the top and click on it to load the file browser and upload tool. The rest will be obvious. You can attach up to three images at a time and add more later if you wish. The CPU-z screens will tell us loads about your system and your bios settings.

 

[Wetsuit29]

My Progress....

Multiplier at 20= 4ghz, CPU voltage at 2.025, the lowest it will go. Prime95 running plus my work never exceeded 40 c. Lots to do as I get used to this BIOS.

 

[trents]

We don't really need the mainboard tab pic of CPU-z. We need the "Memory" and "SPD" in addition to the CPU tab as I said in my previous post. We need to find out more about that "regular" memory.

 

[trents]

I doubt if your CPU voltage is 2.025. It would likely be toast by now if it was.

Disable Cool N Quiet (Look at the low core voltage in CPU-z "CPU" tab at .896), C1E, Turbo, C6 and APM. Then go into Windows Control Panel Power Options and configure it to High Performance if it is not already.

 

[Wetsuit29]

Progress continues, disabled all on list except turbo

Disabled all on list except turbo, which I can not find. Fixed (found) cpu voltage 1.237. High performance set in control panel.

 

[trents]

Notice that the CPU-z tab "SPD" is devoid of values. That's because you have it set to read the values of the ram in "Slot #1" but there is no ram stick in slot #1. Please delete that image and change the slot read to #2 and reattach. The "Memory" tab shows the frequency and timings of your memory as you currently have it configured in bios. The SPD tab shows what the memory manufacturer recommends as far as voltages and timings for various standard frequencies the ram is capable of. It's good to compare the Memory tab with the SPD tab to make sure the bios settings are correct.

"Turbo" might be labled "Turbo Core Boost" or something similar. When it is enabled not all the cores run at the same speed under load. When it is disabled all cores run at the same speed under load.

 

[Wetsuit29]

Have made the corrections, went up to 4.2ghz and 1.267 voltage, temp is 25 c

 

[trents]

Please look at your last post. You gave me a pic of CPU-z tab "SPD" twice, one of slot #3 and one of slot #4. Why did you do that? The memory sticks are identical and will show the same information.

What you have yet to give me is a pic of the "Memory" tab, something I requested back in post #11. Okay, let's try this again. Please attach three pics from the CPU-z interface tabs: "CPU", "Memory" and "SPD" (either slot #3 or slot #4 will do). Come on guy, this part is not rocket science!

We will also have you do a Prime95 blend stress test after we get all the info. Your temp reporting of 25c at your current overclock appears to be an idle temp which is not helpful. We will want to find out what the CPU core and CPU socket temps are under full load and also if the configuration is stable. But first that CPU-z info I requested.

 

[Mandrake4565]

Wetsuit while you are at it, you should put your system in your signature, here's how.

 

[Wetsuit29]

Updated Signature and HOPEFULLY I can find time tonight to finish up....San Francisco, CA, Big storm brewing.