New to OC FX6100 TEMP and STABILITY

[WCrowder]

Hello all. This will be my first OC as I just built my computer. I have the FX 6100 with a Gigabyte 990X MOBO. I went into the BIOS and turned off all the "green" programs, CIE, and C6 and all that jazz. Anyhow, changed the CPU multiplier to 20x, which I believe puts me at 4.0ghz. I also have set the Vcore to 1.300. I don't know if I need to set this to more or less, but I am running at temps of 50C right now and it's been running for about 30 minutes now. I am running Prime95 and HWMonitor and was just wondering how long it needs to run before I know that it is stable. Also, do I need to adjust voltage any so I don't get higher temps? Thanks a lot!
This is after 40 minutes. Running Coolermaster Hyper101

 

[trents]

We recommend running the Prime95 blend test for at least 2 hrs. to confirm stability. 20 minute Prime95 stability tests are appropriate at the front end of the overclock process when you are getting things dialed in but longer testing is necessary to confirm.

Is that 50c temp a core temp or a CPU temp? It's core temp. I should have looked at your pictures and actually it's showing 52c.

 

[WCrowder]

I just now reposted the temperature log and the Prime95 run time. I believe it is for the CPU temp. It is now at 52C core temp across the board. Thank you for your response time.

 

[trents]

FX CPU core temp sensors are notoriously inaccurate and often seem to report temps 10-15c too cool. I have a huge concern about your CPU cooler, the Hyper 101. That is totally inadequate for that CPU if you will be overclocking. What is the make and model of your case? Poor case ventilation can also cause high temps. Most people are saying core temps on the FX CPU should be limited to about 60c and CPU socket temps should be limited to about 70c. One of the TMPINx lines in HWMonitor would be your CPU socket temp. Hard to tell which one but I would ignore those 100c+ readings because they are bogus. Focus on the current temp column.

 

[WCrowder]

I have the RAIDMAX blade case, and added the side fan to help a little with the push and pull effect. Do you think that a Kuhler H2O 620 would help out with the OCing? If not, what fan would you recommend instead of the Hyper 101?

 

[trents]

I think the Kuhler H20 620 would be a definite improvement but if you could afford the Corsair H80 it would be even better.

 

[WCrowder]

OK so I am probably going to go with the H80 then. I don't think the 30 dollar difference is going to matter much when it comes down to it. Are my vcore settings ok for the 20x on the CPU? I don't want to bottleneck it, but the Prime95 has been running for about an hour and some now and nothing has changed. Also, these temps are due to the Cores being maxed out correct? They won't be running this hot all the time, or so I hope. So what other things in the BIOS can I tweak to find the sweet spot for RAM OC?

 

[trents]

What is right for vcore is whatever it takes to make the cores stable with safe temps. If you can pass at least 2 hrs. of Prime95 blend then the vcore is good. It's actually quite low now at 1.3. The FX CPUs don't scale well in oveclocking with regard to core frequency increase vs. vcore increase. After a certain point they require a lot of vcore to progress with the core speed overclock and this results in a lot of heat.

 

[WCrowder]

Ah, I see. Well that makes sense. More voltage = more heat. So if it is stable, does that mean that I can stop running the Prime and then do a benchmark on my CPU dependent game? I just don't want the temps to get too high.

 

[trents]

Temps should pretty much peak within about 20 minutes of running the Prime95 blend test. After that you will just see the temps cycle within about a 4c range. Peaks occur at about 20 minutes and again at about 50 minutes. There is still value, however, in running a longer stability test in that different integer sets in memory and cache are tested over time.

Yeah, you can run a benchmark if you want.

You can also try a little higher overclock if you want.

You mentioned you have the "green" stuff disabled and you specifically included in that C6 and C1E. What about Turbo and APM and Cool N Quiet?

 

[WCrowder]

What would be the next multiplier? I don't want to run over a whole lot, as my game EQ2 is pretty CPU intensive and I don't want the temperature to spike a lot. I got the Kuhler 620 today at Best Buy for $40.00. They had it on sale as they are not carrying as many PC products for building now. I had to remove the side fan due to the radiator size on the 620, but I am thinking about upgrading my case to the one that you have, the HAF. I hear nothing but good things about it and the amount of fans you can place in them is phenomenal. Do I need to up the vcore as well when increasing multiplier or wait for crash and throttle down?

 

[WCrowder]

I forgot to add that I have disabled anything Turbo, APM, Cool and Quiet. Maximum fan capacity and it sounds like a ghost.

 

[WCrowder]

This is the 20 minute bench with the new Kuhler installed.

 

[trents]

You only need to increase the vcore if you cannot pass Prime95 stress testing. Failing it can take the form of BSOD, lockup, spontaneous restart or if you are very close to stable one of the Prime core workers will drop out while the others keep going. It will not harm anything if you fail the test. It's the only way to know. Try the next .5x increase in the multiplier. Speeding the cores up brings some temp increase but not as much as adding vcore. But your temps show you probably have a little room for maybe another small increase in CPU speed and vcore. Try it. Nothing to lose. Your temps are probably closer to unstable than doing any kind of damage. Now, I assume you are using the manual bios controls to overclock and not some software program.

 

[WCrowder]

I sure am using the manual BIOS. I like the layout that the Gigabyte motherboard has. I had an MSI before and the OC functions were really odd. I am about to leave the Prime95 test running for about 6 hours and see what the results are when I come back from carving my pumpkin. What do you think the maximum clock rate is for the FX 6100? Also, would the 8150 be a good choice in processor? I am thinking of building another computer.

 

[trents]

With the motherboard you are using and the cooler you have just bought I think the 6100 is more appropriate than the 8150. The 8150 draws a lot o power when overclocked and produces a lot of heat. Anything less than the Corsair H100 is not advisable for that chip in my opinion and the Asus Crosshair and Sabertooth motherboards are even challenged by the power draw.

I can't tell you what would be the top clock to expect out of the 6100 but because it's TDP is lower than the 8150 you might very well wind up getting a higher overclock on it anyway.

 

[WCrowder]

How hard would it be for me to create my own water loop system? I thought about maybe making the tubes to run into the computer instead of them being all inclusive. Any good websites to buy parts from?

 

[trents]

Well, I've never built one myself but people do it all the time. I would research it very well if I were you and ask around on the Water Cooling section of the forum. I think to build a good custom water cooling loop it will cost you more than what you could by one of the all in one self-contained already made for you ones. I'm thinking $200 or more is what I've heard but that might be to cool the motherboard chipset and the graphics card too. Just to cool the CPU might be quite a bit less than that.