AMD 8350 and Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3 Overclocking Issues

nmsw

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Jan 2, 2014
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Hey everyone. So I've been having a hell of a time overclocking my processor. No matter how much or little I increase the Voltage from 1.4200V to 1.46875 I can't seem to get it stable and for all cores to run and not crash on Prime 95 for an Hour. I'm not sure if it's some sort of heat issue or if the voltage just isn't high enough but at 1.46875 nothing got past 60 Degrees Celcius on Speed fan. I've read that some people say that certain motherboards shouldn't go over 1.45 volts and for some reason after I changed the settings in my bios for overclocking my computer will boot for a half second and then stop and then boot all the way which I guess is a common problem with this motherboard. Anyways any tips or solutions will help but otherwise until then I'm setting things back to stock voltages and frequencies but leaving motherbaord settings the same until I come back in and fix it.
My Parts are:
CPU: AMD FX8350
MOtherboard: Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3
CPU FAN: Coolermaster 212 Evo
Power Supply: Thermaltake 750 Watt Gold + Rated
Graphics Card: Asus 7870 GHZ Edition
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 3TB
Ram: Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1600MHZ (2 Modules)
It makes me mad because supposedly people with the same mobo, cpu, and cooler were able to get a stable 4.7-4.8 so anything helps. (PS I have another 3 fans besides the one in the very back of the case and the CPU fan for case cooling)
 
Solution

dillonman

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Aug 10, 2013
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What is your multiplier for the CPU? Most of those should overclock to 4.5GHz or so but some people luck out with the silicon lottery and may get a chip that will overclock higher with lesser voltage. In most cases there is something called a voltage wall which you seem to have hit. A voltage wall is when you require dramatic voltage increases to raise the clock speed higher, for instance my 4820k will easily overclock to 4.5GHz with minimal voltage increases, but to get it to 4.6GHz I need to bump up the voltage from 1.29v to 1.375v and its even worse trying to make 4.7GHz stable. So what I'm saying is the difference between 4.5Ghz and 4.7GHz is insignificant especially considering it could shorten the life of your chip, anyways good luck.
 

Backlash Pro

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Dec 22, 2013
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ironic. I have the exact same board and CPU and posted the EXACT same issues. I concluded that that weird few second boot then off then boot again has something to do with the features in BIOS. On stock settings it doesnt do it for me. My computer restarts fine and doesnt cut power. but when I turn off turbo mode, cool n quiet, c1e, etc, then it will do that. I dont think its necessarily a bad thing but i dont know for sure.

I was FINALLY able to get a stable overclock though. I went to 4.2Ghz and only upped the voltage to 1.35. I havent tested lower voltage yet but its the first stable run I have had allllllll day that passed PRIME95. Im not sure if this is unique to the MB or what, or it could be coinsidince, but in BIOS, where you see BCLK frequency, NB, etc, change it from auto to whatever the values are posted. I assumed auto meant it would automatically clock to the numbers on the left column. the last test i ran, and the only one that passed, I just typed in the frequency (2200), the HT link speed (2600) and the BUS frequency (200).

try that and see if it changed anything. Start with a small clock. 4.2ghz. Try it at stock voltage. if it passes, bump up to 4.4. if that doesnt pass raise the voltage a little. Im going to see if I can run 4.2 on stock core volt now.
 
Solution

jghaverty

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Dec 25, 2013
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Just for comparison:
Im running 4.6ghz @ 1.3625 volts, 249 FSB, and 18.5 multiplier with an fx8320 and m5a97 mobo. Dont forget your NB voltage, I had to raise that to get stable.

1.46v seems outrageously high lol. BUT I did get 4.9ghz, and I raised the voltage to 1.45 to get it stable... How high up are you trying to go?
 

Darktanian

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Jan 15, 2012
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I got mine stable at 4.6. My voltage is at 1.368. My multiplier is at 20.5. Bus speed is at 225.8, and the rated FSB is at 2483 Mhz.

If your having problems, then the instability might be caused by your memory. I have the same memory OC'd to 1800 at 10-10-10-28 timings, at 1.575v. at 903 Mhz.

I prefer to use AMD Overdrive over prime 95. http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/amd-overdrive/Pages/overview.aspx

I like the features it has, and the benchmark tool. I got my benchmark to 13442.
 

nmsw

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Jan 2, 2014
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Bojangle12

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Feb 10, 2014
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Im jealous of you. I have the 8320 (basically the same CPU0, the same mobo, and same cooler. My CPU Vcore is at 1.35, and 4.6 GHz, and I just got around 64 degrees C on Prime95 after about 10 minutes. I think that temp is too high. And you can do this for an hour? What temps was it at?
 

nmsw

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Jan 2, 2014
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Thanks! How do I know how much to raise the NB and I was hoping for in the ballpark of 4.6 - 4.7 if I can keep it under 70 celcius because I guess that's a safe number.
 

nmsw

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Jan 2, 2014
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Hahaha no way?! Thanks mate!
 

nmsw

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Jan 2, 2014
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Alright guys so after messing around and doing what you said in the bios and then playing around with AMD Overdrive I am yet to have any success. I haven't even been able to get a steady clock of 3.0GHZ with like 1.4 so I'm really confused and would love it if any of you could make take a few pics of your bios settings so I can see what's similar and different? Thanks!
 

MrVic87

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Jan 23, 2014
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I have the same mobo but with an 8320 chip. I just created a thread about the power cut off then boot up thing. As you mentioned, it must be this mobo that is doing it. I personally don't like how it does that because it didnt do that when I ran stock settings. I will try your advice and hope I can get a stable clock.
 

mamasan2000

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As I mentioned earlier in this thread, it is the Turbo Boost doing the double bootup-sequence. But if you are overclocking, pls turn it off. Turbo Boost raises the voltage a lot when it kicks in. I had set my Vcore to 1.54. Under Turbo Boost it reached 1.60v, yikes! Not good for the CPU. Also its very hard to test stability when your computer will turbo boost at random times and you wont even notice it most of the time.

I also read somewhere that Turbo Boost only activates 4 cores.


And while I'm on the OC subject.
Lower memory speeds will make the CPU cooler, since Northbridge is on the CPU nowadays (memory controller). So I run my memory at 1333Mhz (orig 1600Mhz) with tighter timings and CPU temp drops 5-10 celsius. So from 1600Mhz 9-9-9-24 I change to 1333Mhz 8-8-8-22.
If I would play with bus speed (default 200Mhz) I would also play with memory timings, relax them a little. Like 8-9-8-23 for example.

Heres a 4.7 Ghz OC I found
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7Bc2wfZ_sY
I dont understand a word he says but very simple settings. And I love the music =)