AMD A10-7850K on Asus A88x-Pro overclocking help

[koolzero]

I recently upgraded my system and I want to squeeze as much performance out of it as I can.

When I run AI Suite III to overclock I seem to get different results. I had my system running at 4.2 GHZ and it was fairly reliable but then yesterday I got a crash out of the blue. I've seen sites where they've overclocked this CPU to 4.7 but I'd be happy with a solid 4.4 - 4.5 GHZ.

When running AI Suite III what causes it to crash during overclocking, it doesn't appear that CPU is getting too hot.

I'm a novice and I worry if I try to overclock in the bios I'll damage something so I need some advice to try and go about this the right away. I also seem to read conflicting information. I've seen one article talk about matching the NB frequency with the DRAM Frequency and I also read that I should turn off AMD Turbo mode.

I'm not sure where start exactly. Right now I've set my CPU clock speed back to default. The only thing is I have my memory upped so it runs at 2133 MHz.

Games I've been playing: Rise of the Tomb Raider and Just Cause 3.

If you can point me in the right direction I'd greatly appreciate it.

Here is my system info:

Corsair Carbide Series 200R Mid Tower ATX Computer Case
Fans on top, Front, Door and back.
Asus A88X-Pro
AMD A10-7850K
Gigabyte GTX 980
Cooler Master EVO Hyper 212 (Fan blowing out back)
16 GBytes Memory (G.Skill F3-2133C908GBXH X's 2)
Samsung EVO 500

 

[Johan45]

First thing to OCF koolzero
Using BIOS isn't too hard. You have an unlocked CPU so mostly you'll just need to change the multiplier. I would uninstall AISuite III as it can cause some instability itself. You should run this cleaner after uninstalling AISuite https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?34503-AI-Suite-III-Cleaner . You'll need AMD OverDrive for temp montitoring and something for stress testing like Prime95.
Next go into BIOS and in the AI Tweaker section set AI OC Tuner to manual and verify your ram settings speed/voltage/timings. Next in the Digi plus section set both load line calibrations to high and both current capability to 120%. Then go to the advanced tab at the top and under the CPU configuration set AMD powerNow to disabled, CPB disabled and C6 to disabled. At this point I would reboot, go to windows and do a quick stress test to check temps and stability at stock.

 

[koolzero]

Is Fan Xpert in AI Suite III not any of use? I thought it was an effective way optimize fan function. I went ahead and uninstalled it now my fans seem to be quite a bit louder. I do have speedfan installed and running in the background. My cpu fan is running at 2000 rpms right now.

I'll try the bios setting changes that were recommended.

 

[Johan45]

You want them to run fast when OCing. Just AISuite in general can be trouble some. If you want install it later but just pick the parts you want.
I'm just about out for the night but lemme know how you make out. Basically raise multi test watch your temps while testing if it fails add some voltage and try again. AMD OD will tell you when you run out of headroom for temps.

 

[koolzero]

Ok, I got those settings made in the bios and I was able to boot up to Windows. I was going to run prime 95 next. I didn't touch the speed of my CPU yet.

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Why does AOD not show any information under fan control?

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One more thing, do I need to disable turbo core? If I do need to how can it be done from the bios. It seems to be grayed out now in AOD.

 

[Johan45]

Don't use the software to OC or disable anything right now just use it to monitor temps. I think I missed EPU which should be disabled and turbo is located in the advanced> CPU> core performance boost setting to disable.

 

[koolzero]

Is it bad that I'm overclocked to only 4200 and my thermal margin is only 6.1? Does that indicate my cpu cooler isn't doing a very good job?

 

[DNRDustin]

It means you are at the edge of your cooling limits, or you need to adjust your fan curve. Personally I set my fans to 100% at 10-15c below my max temp.

 

[koolzero]

I set my CPU fan in bios to max when I get to 50C so far in prime95 I've hit 57C according to speedfan and only have 5.5c left on my thermal margin in AOD. My fan speed is running at 2033 rpm and I'm overclocked to 42. My voltage is 1.325. So if I'm reading this right AMD recommends to stick right around 60-61C for the A10-7850K when at full load?

Do you think the EVO 212 isn't cooling well? Maybe I need to consider adding a second fan to the EVO to see if that might help? You don't think it could be incorrectly installed do you?

Now I have 5.4c left...

I played a little tomb raider awhile ago and I don't think it taxed my system as badly as Prime95 is, it seemed to run really well though and didn't crash or hang up or anything, but I only played for about 30 minutes.

BTW my core temp is reading 65C is that too high?

Thanks for all of your help! I really appreciate it.

 

[DNRDustin]

If you have any doubt about the cooler install, remount it. A second fan "could help" but I don't have any experience with your cooler, so I couldn't say. I'm curious when and where your reading that 65c core temp. Earlier in your last post you say speedfan read 57c, which would be inline with a 62c max that you're seeing in AOD.

 

[koolzero]

I was seeing a 65c for core temp in speed fan. That may not be very accurate though. I couldn't find out if or where AOD displays core temp. Speed fan reported my CPU temp pretty much stopped climbing at 57C.

 

[Johan45]

I'm not sure speed fan is accurate with the AMD APUs I know when they were released the only soft that seemed to work was AMD's and it only gives a margin. You can always try downclocking the iGPU. Not sure if that'll help but I'm sure it couldn't hurt since you're not using it.
Is the vltage set in BIOS yet or is it still on auto. If still on auto then you're likely getting more than you think.

 

[koolzero]

I got my CPU voltage set to auto. It seemed like when I was trying to set it to manual and put it at a low voltage at first right around 1.25 I would get clock watchdog timeout or whea uncorrectible error blue screen. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. What's a good starting point?

Also, out of curiosity, what does turning off AMD powerNow, CPB and C6 do for overclocking? I ask just because I did a few quick benchmarks inside CPU-z with it still enabled and my tests weren't bad. Does disabling these just squeeze out more power?

I'll also try to figure out how to down clock the igpu and see what that does to my thermals.

Thanks

 

[trents]

I got my CPU voltage set to auto. It seemed like when I was trying to set it to manual and put it at a low voltage at first right around 1.25 I would get clock watchdog timeout or whea uncorrectible error blue screen. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. What's a good starting point?

Also, out of curiosity, what does turning off AMD powerNow, CPB and C6 do for overclocking? I ask just because I did a few quick benchmarks inside CPU-z with it still enabled and my tests weren't bad. Does disabling these just squeeze out more power?

I'll also try to figure out how to down clock the igpu and see what that does to my thermals.

Thanks

In simple terms, disabling these things prevents wide swings in voltage and frequency and helps with stability when overclocking. These are power saving technologies.

Adding a second fan for pull on that cooler will not improve temps much. Maybe 1-2c. The cooler is not especially deep-bodied nor are the cooling plates packed very closely together. I would remount it first.

What method did you use for applying the thermal paste? Disengage the cooler base as carefully as you can and observe the spread pattern of the thermal paste. Did you get good coverage? The best way to apply thermal paste ("TIM") is to squeeze a pea-sized blob in the center of the CPU. Don't try to spread it. Instead, lower the cooler and begin to tighten the mounting screws in "X" pattern, turning each one 1-2 turns each before moving to another one. Let the pressure of the mounting mechanism spread the TIM.

 

[koolzero]

I spread it all over the CPU. So I should take off the fan wipe the processor off with some alcohol and reapply just a pea sized glob to the middle?

Putting the EVO cooler on was quite the PITA. When I was screwing it down the screw driver slipped off the screw and I hit the motherboard. I thought I nicked the board and ruined it but fortunately it didn't seem to cause any damage because it's been a few weeks since that happened.

But, if you think this could help I am willing to bring my self to trying it..

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BTW, I'm only idling but my cpu is clocked at 4300 and I'm showing 37C in speedfan with a 49C ish Thermal Margin. I'm really wanting to avoid removing the fan if at all possible. What do you think, should it be cooling better than this? That seems pretty decent to me, but i'm a noob ;-)

 

[DNRDustin]

If that's how you applied it, I would reset the cooler if I were you. A small pea in the center will do.