New Overclocker Here With Tons of questions!

[Pmkrocks]

Hello everyone my name is Paul, I just joined the PC race! First off let me say, why I did not join years ago is beyond me, PC gaming is the best xD! Now to the actual post, how do I even begin to over clock? I just recently purchased my PC parts about 3 weeks ago and had it assembled in about a days worth worth of work by myself.
These are my system specs currently~

CPU: AMD Fx 6300 Black Edition (Currently Auto overclocked to 4.1 Ghz when needed)
Cooler: Master Hyper 212 Evo
GPU: GTX 750 Ti FTW Edition
PSU: 430 Watt Thermaltake
Motherboard: ASUS M5A78L-M/USB3
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB OC to 1866Mhz
Hard Drive: Western Digital Black 7200RPM 1 TB
All in some budget case that looks ugly as sin but does the job

Now for my list of question

1. First off I know my motherboard is not ideal at all for any extreme over clocking, that being said from what I looked up online is that it is possible to achieve some sort of modest overclock if done correctly.

2. Is AMD Overdrive recommend or is it always better to go straight into the bios?

3. What temperatures should I be concerned to see? Currently under full gaming load I hit around 47-50 C ( Games Played Lol, Tera, Star Wars Battlefront, Diablo 3 and battlefield 4 All at 1080P ) At idle it drops all the way to about 37C. *Also I play league Of legends mostly which I know is not CPU intensive and my cpu only hits around 41C while playing League.

4. Is there any program I can use to control my Fans? Both my case fan and CPU Fan? Also What RPM's should they be at in an ideal situation?

5. My main concern is I cannot find a "Safe Operating Temperature" for my motherboard, what should i be looking for in temps, like what is safe and what is not recommenced.

6. If someone can explain in detail all the terms of what I will be doing to my machine that would be great, there are a lot of options on my motherboard that I have 0 clue what they mean and even after looking up most of them I'm not 100% sure what I should touch disable, enable or just not bother with.

Overall if anyone here could help me get started and run me through what I should be doing, looking for and to expect that would be great. I do plan in the next couple months plan on buying a full ATX Mobo that is meant for overclocking but at the moment I want to squeeze the most out of my processor and components. I really like trying to get the most for what I pay for, also I am aware this is a time consuming, delicate process I'm fully willing to put in the research, effort and time to learn this! xD

P.S If anyone can recommend an AM3 + board that is good for overclocking around the 100-150$ price range that would be greatly appreciated! XD Thanks to anyone in advance who helps my newbie self learn the art of overclocking !

 

[EarthDog]

Welcome!

We have a guide for that. Check it out... and report back with further questions. By that point, our AMD contingent I am sure will chime in.

(Bulldozer overclocking guide in my signature)

 

[ATMINSIDE]

2. Overclock from the BIOS, always.

3. Keep the package under 62°C and the socket under 72°C, as read by HWMonitor. This is typically read after about 20 minutes of Prime95.

4. Check the ASUS website for their software to control the temp, it's usually called AISuite. Do a partial install so that you only get the fan control stuff.
There's no set RPM that's best, that depends on the fans and the temps of your components.

5. See above.

6. There's a sticky in the AMD CPU section for overclocking FX chips, go take a look at it. It'll answer this question.

Cheapest board I would recommend for an overclock, GA-970a-UD3H.
Recommended; Sabertooth, Crosshair, Extreme9.

 

[Mandrake4565]

I agree with Atminside but will add, AMD overdrive and also AISuite are good overclocking tools as well. Though learning the BIOS and overclocking through it is always recommended for a daily OC. Note that AIsuite has been know to cause issues when installed. I use AuSuite and Overdrive mainly to push when benching my system and looking for those last few Mhz.

Another less costly motherboard for overclocking is the Asus M5A99X Evo and M5A99Fx Pro. Both really good boards but they do not have the power section if one is looking to push to the limit. For your current setup with a Fx 6300 on Air both boards will likely give you the power needed to push as far as your cooling will allow.

As far as overclocking on the board you have, actively cooling the VRM section of the board will help but it's really not a board for overclocking on.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

actively cooling the VRM section of the board will help but it's really not a board for overclocking on.

This.

 

[ShrimpBrime]

I wouldn't overclock it. The gains for gaming are going to be small.

If you could scrape up some cash.....

Nice little SSD for the operating system and a bigger graphics card will vastly improve your gaming experience.

 

[PetrolHead]

"At idle it drops all the way to about 37C"

That doesn't sound very low, although you don't seem to reach very high numbers either - at least in gaming. My CPU's below 30C when idle, but I have my fans running at full rpm all the time... You'll probably end up running Prime95 at some point. Hopefully you won't have any overheating issues then.

 

[Pmkrocks]

"At idle it drops all the way to about 37C"

That doesn't sound very low, although you don't seem to reach very high numbers either - at least in gaming. My CPU's below 30C when idle, but I have my fans running at full rpm all the time... You'll probably end up running Prime95 at some point. Hopefully you won't have any overheating issues then.

I meant to say around 27c, but currently I have it running at 4.4 stable and idle the cpu is actually at 25 very consistently. I hope this is good :0 !

 

[trents]

I meant to say around 27c, but currently I have it running at 4.4 stable and idle the cpu is actually at 25 very consistently. I hope this is good :0 !

Have you done any stability testing and temp monitoring while stressing with Prime95? We recommend finding an overclocking configuration that will be stable enough to pass the Prime95 blend test for at least two hours. As a general rule with the FX CPUs, you want to keep "package" temps under about 60c and CPU socket area temps under about 70c. HWMonitor (non pro vesion) is a good monitoring tool for socket area temps but on the FX chips it reports package temps that are way too high. Use AMD overdrive for that.

Run the Prime95 blend stress test for about 20 minutes with HWMonitor and AMDOverdrive both open. Post back with attached pics of HWMonitor and report to us what AMDOD showed was the smallest thermal margin temp was for the cores. After you do that once you will know how much to subtract from the HWMonitor reported package temps to get an accurate reading and move to just using HWMonitor.

 

[ssjwizard]

I honestly wouldn't even bother overclocking with that motherboard. I had one for a brief period of time and even though you seem to have a stable overclock the motherboard itself throttles above a 90w power draw even with active cooling on the voltage regulation section(VRM).

 

[Pmkrocks]

Have you done any stability testing and temp monitoring while stressing with Prime95? We recommend finding an overclocking configuration that will be stable enough to pass the Prime95 blend test for at least two hours. As a general rule with the FX CPUs, you want to keep "package" temps under about 60c and CPU socket area temps under about 70c. HWMonitor (non pro vesion) is a good monitoring tool for socket area temps but on the FX chips it reports package temps that are way too high. Use AMD overdrive for that.

Run the Prime95 blend stress test for about 20 minutes with HWMonitor and AMDOverdrive both open. Post back with attached pics of HWMonitor and report to us what AMDOD showed was the smallest thermal margin temp was for the cores. After you do that once you will know how much to subtract from the HWMonitor reported package temps to get an accurate reading and move to just using HWMonitor.

Ok Sorry I have not responded been busy lately. I will update with photos later. Currently I have it overclocked from the 3.5ghz stock to 4.0 ghz and it seems stable and effective. I have ran a prime95 blend test for 3 hours with the cpu not exceeding 49c and the motherboard not exceeding 55c with no crashes or hangs. While gaming everything plays well and does not glitch or freeze up, I have noticed almost no random frame drops or glitches while gaming (Most likely due to the GPU upgrade I just made.). While gaming and doing intensive task my cpu sits around 35c with my socket at 47c. I hope this is good? I had to back step the clock from what my last post as 4.6ghz was kinda wonkey. Also should I have cool and quite, c6 core state, AMD turbo core, and advance clock calibration enabled or disabled? Currently the only one out of those options I have on is the ACC with unleashed mode on and the 3rd and 4th, and 5th and 6th core "unlocked". Thanks again guys! ^_^

I wouldn't overclock it. The gains for gaming are going to be small.

If you could scrape up some cash.....

Nice little SSD for the operating system and a bigger graphics card will vastly improve your gaming experience.

I just upgraded my 750 ftw to a 960 ftw and saw a huge gain (so thank you for that sir ^_^). What I want to get out of my cpu is a mild overclock past its stock speed and to disable these "power saving" and "auto boosting" features that make my computer feel unresponsive when it shouldn't be, as well as games having random hiccups when I obviously have plenty of power to run them.

 

[Pmkrocks]

I honestly wouldn't even bother overclocking with that motherboard. I had one for a brief period of time and even though you seem to have a stable overclock the motherboard itself throttles above a 90w power draw even with active cooling on the voltage regulation section(VRM).

Well with all the power saving features off, my fans running higher and the clocked bumped up to 4.0 Ghz I draw at max like 50w of power? So don't get me wrong but if I'm able to keep my mobo cool (around 50c) and my Cpu under 50c why should I not try? I don't know if you read the original post but I DO plan on buying another mobo in a bit, but my computer fits my needs at the moment so it's not a "need" more than it is a want. I also personally wanted to 1: see what I could get out of this mobo and 2: start small with OCing and learn the process with safer and more manageable figures.

 

[Johan45]

As ssjwizard is saying you're lucky that board will throttle if the VRM get overloaded. Some boards don't and when/if the VRM give up and the board goes they usually take the CPU with them. That's the reason people will caution you about the board.

 

[Mandrake4565]

Well with all the power saving features off, my fans running higher and the clocked bumped up to 4.0 Ghz I draw at max like 50w of power?

A Fx 6300 on all 6 cores is not a 50w chip not even close, it's likely closer to 140w then it is 50w. We all understand the desire to Oc and if you really feel the need to do so on that board get some active cooling on the VRM section. Like the others have stated sometimes when a motherboard fails from pushing it too far, it can take other components with it.

 

[ssjwizard]

Well with all the power saving features off, my fans running higher and the clocked bumped up to 4.0 Ghz I draw at max like 50w of power? So don't get me wrong but if I'm able to keep my mobo cool (around 50c) and my Cpu under 50c why should I not try? I don't know if you read the original post but I DO plan on buying another mobo in a bit, but my computer fits my needs at the moment so it's not a "need" more than it is a want. I also personally wanted to 1: see what I could get out of this mobo and 2: start small with OCing and learn the process with safer and more manageable figures.

If you want to disable power saving features and have the board run at 100% all the time to get what you perceive as a snappy experience go for it. Your CPU load as mentioned by mandrake is almost guaranteed well over 100W if not closer to 150W+. As I mentioned with that motherboard it will appear that you have a stable overclock but if you setup real time CPU speed logging I almost guarantee that the CPU is going to be bouncing up and down between the 4Ghz you set and something around 2.4Ghz. The net effect of this is that your actually averaging a lower CPU speed than if you just left it at stock speed. Disabling the power management features will not prevent this from happening. In the end though it is your equipment and you may do with it as you please.

I would also mention that alot of those times when the system seems slugish after idling for a time its because the HDD has spun down. Upgrading to an SSD makes even slow PCs feel fast. These days they are so cheap its almost impossible to ignore them. Just my 2c.

As ssjwizard is saying you're lucky that board will throttle if the VRM get overloaded. Some boards don't and when/if the VRM give up and the board goes they usually take the CPU with them. That's the reason people will caution you about the board.

Its worse than that actually. So far as I could determine that particular motherboard throttles based on wattage not on VRM temperatures. I had liquid cooling on mine and the VRM stayed nice and cool, but it made 0 difference to the effective CPU throttling I recorded. The harder I clocked the cpu the more intense the throttling would get. I "believed" I had reached a 4.8Ghz overclock on one only to realize the board would spike up to 4.Ghz for a split second then drop down to around 1.4Ghz for a few more seconds ensuring that the overall power output averaged what the board was spec was(95W). Dropping that same CPU down to 4.2Ghz I watched it spend most of its time around 2Ghz.

Plain and simple that board was build to be as cheap as possible, and it has limits in place to ensure it doesn't explode if you look at it funny.

 

[Pmkrocks]

If you want to disable power saving features and have the board run at 100% all the time to get what you perceive as a snappy experience go for it. Your CPU load as mentioned by mandrake is almost guaranteed well over 100W if not closer to 150W+. As I mentioned with that motherboard it will appear that you have a stable overclock but if you setup real time CPU speed logging I almost guarantee that the CPU is going to be bouncing up and down between the 4Ghz you set and something around 2.4Ghz. The net effect of this is that your actually averaging a lower CPU speed than if you just left it at stock speed. Disabling the power management features will not prevent this from happening. In the end though it is your equipment and you may do with it as you please.

I would also mention that alot of those times when the system seems slugish after idling for a time its because the HDD has spun down. Upgrading to an SSD makes even slow PCs feel fast. These days they are so cheap its almost impossible to ignore them. Just my 2c.




Its worse than that actually. So far as I could determine that particular motherboard throttles based on wattage not on VRM temperatures. I had liquid cooling on mine and the VRM stayed nice and cool, but it made 0 difference to the effective CPU throttling I recorded. The harder I clocked the cpu the more intense the throttling would get. I "believed" I had reached a 4.8Ghz overclock on one only to realize the board would spike up to 4.Ghz for a split second then drop down to around 1.4Ghz for a few more seconds ensuring that the overall power output averaged what the board was spec was(95W). Dropping that same CPU down to 4.2Ghz I watched it spend most of its time around 2Ghz.

Plain and simple that board was build to be as cheap as possible, and it has limits in place to ensure it doesn't explode if you look at it funny.

Well then with that all considered I plan on buying a new mobo as I don't like the idea of my cpu be throttled and risk destroying my system. With that in mind what am3+ mobo do you consider that will get the job done but won't break the budget? (looking around 150$ max if possible) Also be able to handle a solid overclock without question.

 

[ssjwizard]

Asus M5A99X http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131874
Asus M5A99FX pro http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131851

Asrock 990 Fatality Killer http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157479
Asrock 990FX Extreme 6 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157576

Gigabyte 990FX UD5 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128817

And the overall best choice for those without ultra deep pockets
Asus Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131877
Also available open box for $133 ATM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131877R

Any of these boards have the power output required to overclock your chip to its full potential. Also taking a quick glance at the 970 offerings at this time it looks like their overall quality has gone up a bit since I wrote my article on AMD motherboards. Id say anything in the top 10-15% of those boards should also do fairly well. Things to look for are 8+2 phase VRM design, VRM heatsink, and especially if its marketed compatible with the 93xx and 95xx series AMD chips as these are 200W+ CPUs. I highly recommend spending on the Sabertooth IF you can as I own one and so do a TON of other members here, but any of the boards I listed should do a fine job. If your not sure when you pick one post back and you can get our opinions.

Best of luck!

 

[Pmkrocks]

Asus M5A99X http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131874
Asus M5A99FX pro http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131851

Asrock 990 Fatality Killer http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157479
Asrock 990FX Extreme 6 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157576

Gigabyte 990FX UD5 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128817

And the overall best choice for those without ultra deep pockets
Asus Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131877
Also available open box for $133 ATM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131877R

Any of these boards have the power output required to overclock your chip to its full potential. Also taking a quick glance at the 970 offerings at this time it looks like their overall quality has gone up a bit since I wrote my article on AMD motherboards. Id say anything in the top 10-15% of those boards should also do fairly well. Things to look for are 8+2 phase VRM design, VRM heatsink, and especially if its marketed compatible with the 93xx and 95xx series AMD chips as these are 200W+ CPUs. I highly recommend spending on the Sabertooth IF you can as I own one and so do a TON of other members here, but any of the boards I listed should do a fine job. If your not sure when you pick one post back and you can get our opinions.

Best of luck!

Well I'm looking to buy the sabertooth when I get paid next week with this newer, better job I have and the best part is they carry that board and will match the internet price as well xD.

 

[Mandrake4565]

The Sabertooth is one of the best boards for overclocking the Fx chips, second only to the Crosshair V Formula which is overkill for most people. Good choice.

 

[Pmkrocks]

I just got the Sabertooth (Might I say this ***** is sexy!! I just finished pulling apart my PC and putting it back together with a new sexy saber tooth mobo! There alot more settings in this bios, how would you recommend starting an oc? I turned all the power saving features off and added a cpu ratio of 20x to have the speed set to 4.0ghz right now it is running well. Anything else I should enable or disable? Anything to change or play with?

- - - Updated - - -

The Sabertooth is one of the best boards for overclocking the Fx chips, second only to the Crosshair V Formula which is overkill for most people. Good choice.

Thanks man! i just purchased and installed my sabertooth! Loving it so far compared to the 50 dollar mobo.

- - - Updated - - -

Asus M5A99X http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131874
Asus M5A99FX pro http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131851

Asrock 990 Fatality Killer http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157479
Asrock 990FX Extreme 6 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157576

Gigabyte 990FX UD5 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128817

And the overall best choice for those without ultra deep pockets
Asus Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131877
Also available open box for $133 ATM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131877R

Any of these boards have the power output required to overclock your chip to its full potential. Also taking a quick glance at the 970 offerings at this time it looks like their overall quality has gone up a bit since I wrote my article on AMD motherboards. Id say anything in the top 10-15% of those boards should also do fairly well. Things to look for are 8+2 phase VRM design, VRM heatsink, and especially if its marketed compatible with the 93xx and 95xx series AMD chips as these are 200W+ CPUs. I highly recommend spending on the Sabertooth IF you can as I own one and so do a TON of other members here, but any of the boards I listed should do a fine job. If your not sure when you pick one post back and you can get our opinions.

Best of luck!

Just got the saber tooth and installed it. Any steps in proceeding to oc with this board?