Should I get a new cooler (FX 6300)?

[FPSRazR]

Do I need a new cooler (FX 6300)?

So I got my first gaming pc and decided to oc my fx 6300. These were my results:

3.5 - 4.1 Ghz @ 1.2125v Max temp: 45-54 degrees
4.2 Ghz @ 1.23125v Max temp: 58 degrees
4.3 Ghz @ 1.25v Max temp: 62 degrees
4.4 Ghz @ 1.3125v Max temp = 70 degrees (yes I know its well above the recommended temps but I was just seeng if it was stable)
BF4 multiplayer 1hr: 50-54 degrees

These temps were all from HWinfo64 after 20-30 mins 100% load in a Prime 95 blend test except for 3.5 ghz which gave me 48 degrees after 1hr. All power saving options in the bios were turned off with llc to high/ultra and current to 130% for cpu & cpu/nb. Voltages set manually; everything stock except cpu of course. Ram: 1600mhz, NB: 2000mhz and HT link 2400 which were all stock. Only multiplier was changed, not the fsb. Obviously turbo was off as well. Note all tested frequencies were stable at the test I mentioned and all were stable during 1hr of bf4 multiplayer

Now for my question: This cpu cooler, the
zalman cnps9500a led that im using now seems to be doing a good job up until 4.4ghz where the voltage required is too much for this cpu cooler. Note: Its a spare one that my dad had lying around and i thought i might try it, not one id buy since its like 4 years old I think. My voltages seem low for an fx 6300, and im thinking I got lucky with this chip. But this cooler isn't great when compared to others like the hyper 212 evo. My question is that is it worth the max £30 i would spend to get a hyper 212 evo or similar? Would I reach 4.6/7/8 with low temps (cos that would make it worth it)? Also my ram can go up to 2133mhz. How do I oc it to that? Using the fsb?

BTW: I have 2 80mm side and 1 120mm front intake fans and 2 exhausts on the rear and top of my case. The cpu cooler's fan is facing downwards at the gpu cos it can only be oriented vertically and I didnt think to face it upwards to the top exhaust fan until after I'd installed and since its a headache to install I left it like that. Oh yeah and these are my specs:FX 6300 - ZALMAN CNPS9500A LED CPU COOLER - ASUS M5A97 EVO R2.0 - 8GB (2x4GB) G.SKILL RIPJAWS 2133MHZ RAM - MSI GAMING R9 270 - CORSAIR HX620 PSU - ZALMAN Z11 PLUS CASE - KINGSTON V300 120GB SSD - WD 500GB HDD

 

[Johan45]

You're not likely to get too much more out of your OC with more air cooling. 4.5-4.6 is about average. A "good" cooler might get you into the 4.8 range but no guarentees, it really depends on your CPU and where it'll need the "extra" volts that these FX run into. What I mean is at some point the voltage needed to get that next 100 MHz just keeps getting bigger. There are some decent AIO water coolers that might get you a bit higher. But in the end cooling is king on these chips and those of us who chase the "big" clocks all run with water.

 

[ShrimpBrime]

Yes definitely get a new cooler.

This one is only 49.99$ free shipping. IMO this would be the most bang for the $$.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8245954&CatId=499


GLHF!

ShrimpBrime

 

[FPSRazR]

You're not likely to get too much more out of your OC with more air cooling. 4.5-4.6 is about average. A "good" cooler might get you into the 4.8 range but no guarentees, it really depends on your CPU and where it'll need the "extra" volts that these FX run into. What I mean is at some point the voltage needed to get that next 100 MHz just keeps getting bigger. There are some decent AIO water coolers that might get you a bit higher. But in the end cooling is king on these chips and those of us who chase the "big" clocks all run with water.

If im going to get 4.5/6 max on air then ill probably save some money for some liquid cooling. Could u recommend me one for max £60-70 (maybe £80)?

 

[FPSRazR]

Yes definitely get a new cooler.

This one is only 49.99$ free shipping. IMO this would be the most bang for the $$.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8245954&CatId=499


GLHF!

ShrimpBrime

Thanks for the reply, but the link doesn't take me to a specific cooler, just a range of various ones

 

[trents]

The Zalman CNPS 9500A is a very dated aftermarket cooler. But the temps you mention: are they CPU socket temps or CPU "package" temps? What software did you use to monitor temps?

Nearly all the veteran overclockers around here use a 20 minute Prime95 blend test to stress the CPU and use HWMonitor (non pro version) running in the background to check temps, socket and package temps. We really can't answer your question unless you use the same tools we do.

 

[FPSRazR]

The temps were the package from HWmonitor (non pro version) and the tests I used were 20-30 min prime 95 blend tests with coretemp to monitor cpu load. Only reason im using the 9500a is cos I had it lying around and thought I might as well try it instead of using the stock cooler which is worse

 

[trents]

You should be monitoring CPU socket temps as well. That one may or may not have "CPU" as part of it's name but it will be in the TMPINx section. If you will post a pic of the HWMonitor interface captured just after running a stress test we will help you sort it out. Do you know how to post a pic? First, crop and capture the image. Snipping Tool in Windows Accessories works great for this. Then click on the Go Advanced button at the bottom of any new post window. When the advanced post window appears, click on the little paperclip icon at the top. That will open the file browser/upload window and the rest will be obvious.

 

[RGone]

Makes answering about overclocking an AMD cpu easier.

In bios disable C1/E, C6, Cool N Quiet, TurboCore (if there), Disable APM and in windows power manager set to "performance mode". Then do as below.

CPU Tab in CPUz from CPUID com

Memory Tab in CPUz from CPUID com

SPD Tab in CPUz from CPUID com

And this is screen capture of HWMonitor (free version) from CPUID com
HWMonitor has been scrolled enough and large enough to show Min/Max of Voltages and includes the CPU Core Temps; which are n0w called Package Temps, fully visible.

This capture is made of HWMonitor after it has been open on the desktop logging Min/Max temps and voltages while Prime 95 was running Blend Mode test on all cores for at least 20 mins and then the capture of HWMonitor was made and it shows the Min/Max temps and voltages before P95 Blend was started and while running P95 Blend mode and gives much greater insight into how the system is performing without guessing.

In order to attach screenshots of INDIVIDUAL images as suggested, first crop and capture the images with Snipping Tool found in Windows Accessories or equivalent. Then click on Go Advanced, a button at the bottom of every new post window. Then click on the little paperclip tool at the top of the Advanced post window when it opens. Clicking on the paperclip tool brings up the file browser/upload tool and the rest is fairly obvious.

How to actually attach images to the forum and not use a link to some outside location where image is stored. Store the image within the forum.

You can attach more than 3 pics at one time by going back up to browse another file and uploading it.

 

[FPSRazR]

Ok i disabled all the features you said to, and booted to windows.

Here is the CPU tab of CPU-Z:


Here is the Memory tab:



And here is the SPD tab:



And lastly, here's my HWmonitor readings. Note that the max cpu voltage of 1.200 was never reached during the prime 95 blend test; the cpu vcore fluctuated between 1.152 and 1.164 (sometimes 1.176) during the test and was 1.188-1.200 before and after the test.



Now is it me or are those temps a bit low for stock settings at load, even considering that i have an aftermarket cooler, albeit an 8 year old one.

________________________________________________________
First Build:
MOBO: ASUS M5A97 EVO R2.0
CPU & COOLER : FX 6300, Zalman CNPS9500a LED
MEMORY: G.skill Ripjaws X 2133Mhz 8gb (2x4gb)
POWER SUPPLY: Corsair HX620 (620w)
VIDEO CARD: MSI Gaming R9 270
HDDs/Optical drives: 120gb Kingston SSDnow V300 SSD (boot driive), 500gb Western digital HD, no optical drive
SOUND DEVICE: Onboard
O/S: Windows 8 Professional 64-bit
CASE: Zalman Z11 Plus, Intake: one 120mm in front and two 80mm in the side panels blowing air over the HDD rack, Exhaust: one 120mm on the rear and one 120mm on the top

 

[trents]

Those temps look about right to me for stock voltage. It is normal for voltage to fall off a little from what you set it to in bios. There is an offset for this in bios called Load Line Calibration ("LLC"). Your CPU socket temps at a max of 47c are running a little warm compared to your package temp max at 34c max. In overclocking of the FX CPUs we recommend a max socket temp of about 70c and a max package temp of about 60c. Keep that in mind. But as of now you have quite a bit of room to overclock. As you begin to add voltage to the CPU you will see those temps rise and you will run into the temp wall fairly quickly with that cooler I imagine.

 

[FPSRazR]

Ok thanks i guess i'll just start overclocking now and see where i get to

 

[trents]

What will be your strategy for overclocking. You can use just the multiplier and that's the simplest way but not the best. The best way is to use a combination of the multiplier and the FSB but it means having to manipulate several more variables in bios.

 

[FPSRazR]

Im gonna sart with the multiplier and once I hit thermal limits on whatever voltage ill try a mix of fsb and multiplier and see where I get to

 

[FPSRazR]

So i managed to oc my fx 6300 to a max stable clock of 4360Mhz (21x207.69). with cpu vcore set at 1.275 in the bios and llc set to ultra/high. Didn't touch memory, nb and ht clocks cos they only increased by about 60mhz each. I got these temps after running a prime 95 blend test for 20 minutes with no cores failing.



When i tried 4.4ghz it didn't get stable until 1.3v but that gave me temps of around 70 core and 75 socket which is obviously too high.
3.5 -4.1 was stable at 1.2125v and gave me temps in the range 48-54 degrees and 4.2 was stable at 1.23125.
And 4.3ghz was stable at 1.25v and gave me these temps:



So what do you think?

 

[Johan45]

Looks good at 4360, you have rached you limit on that cooler.

 

[FPSRazR]

Do you think i got a good chip, cos those voltages seem low to me. i see most people with fx 6300s reaching 4.4/4.5ghz with 1.4-1.45volts. Also what cpu cooler (under £40 preferably) would let me reach maybe 4.7/4.8ghz and keep my temps low?

 

[Johan45]

Do you think i got a good chip, cos those voltages seem low to me. i see most people with fx 6300s reaching 4.4/4.5ghz with 1.4-1.45volts. Also what cpu cooler (under £40 preferably) would let me reach maybe 4.7/4.8ghz and keep my temps low?

First thing you should do is aim for a 2 hour P95 blend test to establish a goo stable setting. It's time you should put up a signature as well. A lot of factors can affect the OC on the FX CPU such as memory and NB speed. 1333 mem with a 2200 NB speed is a lot easier for the CPU to run that 2000 memory and 2500NB. Plus you're still on the low side for an Overclock. Once that CPU starts to eat up the voltage it can escalate fairly quicly, for example 4360 at 1.296v for that next hundred may need 1.35 then the next 1.4v etc. and the gap typically gets bigger with each jump in MHz.
As for a cooler that'll get you to 4.7/4.8 unless you have a "good" CPU then it's not likely you'll get there on air. A good air cooler may get you to 4.6 or a bit more. So it's up to you if you want to spend your money for another 200 MHz or save up a bit more and go for something better.

 

[FPSRazR]

i know my cpu is stable at 4.4ghz at 1.3125 since i tried it (but it was too hot after 20 mins), so im guessing a hyper 212 evo can handle up to 1.45 volts from what ive seen on other threads which could give a clock of 4.7ghz hopefully, Otherwise i'd just save up for a much better one. Also my cpu fan is facing downwards at my gpu, does that affect the temperatures much? And lastly what do you mean by signature?

 

[Mandrake4565]

A Cm 212 Evo should get you around 4.5 stable 2 hours prime, higher depends on the chip, motherboard, case and ambient temps. Here's how to put in a signature like you see at the bottom of mine and Johans posts. It lets us know what is in your system without having to look at the top of the thread everytime