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overclocking an fx-8320 on asrock 970 pro3 r2.0

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  • Overclocking
  • ASrock
  • CPUs
  • Tom's Hardware
  • AMD
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January 15, 2014 2:22:49 AM

hello fellow tom's hardware people.
i was wondering if it will be a good idea to overclock my amd fx-8320? will it void my warranty if i do overclock? here are some of my specs:
> mobo: asrock 970 pro3 r2.0
> cpu: amd fx-8320
> cooler: deepcool gammaxx 300
> gpu: msi twinfrozr iii 7950 3gb
> psu: corsair cx 600w 80+

if you guys recommend or say it would be ok to overclock my cpu at least by 5% and what cpu fan speeds should i use? and what temps would i be getting or be aiming to get?

More about : overclocking 8320 asrock 970 pro3

January 15, 2014 7:52:31 AM

I have my 8350 OC'd to 4.6 stable. With the Corsair H80 cooler I'm using, the temp is at 33c idle. I'm not sure what temps your cooler would provide tho.

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January 15, 2014 9:22:08 AM

There's a bit of a dilemma about the Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0, I have been told not to attempt any overclock with it (except for turning Turbo Core on which pushes it to 4.2 Ghz and Xboost).
Your motherboard is a M5A990FX as I can see from the signature and that's a 6+2 power phase motherboard, marginally better for overclocks.
The 970 pro3 has just 4+1 power phases and it's running an 8 core, so I wouldn't try anything higher than stock settings.

If anyone has more info about power phases/overclock on 970 chipset, please post your opinion.
I am interested about Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0 too as I am running an FX 8350 Stock settings - TX3 EVO Cooler.
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Related resources
January 15, 2014 5:18:32 PM

Otacons said:
There's a bit of a dilemma about the Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0, I have been told not to attempt any overclock with it (except for turning Turbo Core on which pushes it to 4.2 Ghz and Xboost).
Your motherboard is a M5A990FX as I can see from the signature and that's a 6+2 power phase motherboard, marginally better for overclocks.
The 970 pro3 has just 4+1 power phases and it's running an 8 core, so I wouldn't try anything higher than stock settings.

If anyone has more info about power phases/overclock on 970 chipset, please post your opinion.
I am interested about Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0 too as I am running an FX 8350 Stock settings - TX3 EVO Cooler.


what is your motherboard??
and i am a noob but i don't understand this 6+2 or 4+1 power phase can yo please explain it to me?
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January 16, 2014 2:17:09 AM

Osoclocker69 said:
Otacons said:
There's a bit of a dilemma about the Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0, I have been told not to attempt any overclock with it (except for turning Turbo Core on which pushes it to 4.2 Ghz and Xboost).
Your motherboard is a M5A990FX as I can see from the signature and that's a 6+2 power phase motherboard, marginally better for overclocks.
The 970 pro3 has just 4+1 power phases and it's running an 8 core, so I wouldn't try anything higher than stock settings.

If anyone has more info about power phases/overclock on 970 chipset, please post your opinion.
I am interested about Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0 too as I am running an FX 8350 Stock settings - TX3 EVO Cooler.


what is your motherboard??
and i am a noob but i don't understand this 6+2 or 4+1 power phase can yo please explain it to me?


I have the same motherboard you have, Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0 running an FX 8350.
Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0 is a 4+1 power phase motherboard.
The power phase thing is something I have been trying to understand from some weeks but still did not receive any detailed answers about.
Basically 8 cores cpu (for some reason) should be running on 6+2 (minimum) - 8+2 (suggested) power phase designed motherboard, and that is because of the amount of energy an 8 core consumes.
There is people saying that 4+1 power phases are not enough to run 8320 and 8350, even tough, if you look at the website: http://www.asrock.com/mb/cpu.asp?Model=970%20Pro3%20R2.... you will notice that our board even if 4+1 supports officially both FX 8320 and 8350. Now the question is: does it support them in stock frequency or even with a little overclock? that I don't know. Unfortunatly.
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January 16, 2014 6:18:56 AM

Otacons said:
Osoclocker69 said:
Otacons said:
There's a bit of a dilemma about the Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0, I have been told not to attempt any overclock with it (except for turning Turbo Core on which pushes it to 4.2 Ghz and Xboost).
Your motherboard is a M5A990FX as I can see from the signature and that's a 6+2 power phase motherboard, marginally better for overclocks.
The 970 pro3 has just 4+1 power phases and it's running an 8 core, so I wouldn't try anything higher than stock settings.

If anyone has more info about power phases/overclock on 970 chipset, please post your opinion.
I am interested about Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0 too as I am running an FX 8350 Stock settings - TX3 EVO Cooler.


what is your motherboard??
and i am a noob but i don't understand this 6+2 or 4+1 power phase can yo please explain it to me?


I have the same motherboard you have, Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0 running an FX 8350.
Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0 is a 4+1 power phase motherboard.
The power phase thing is something I have been trying to understand from some weeks but still did not receive any detailed answers about.
Basically 8 cores cpu (for some reason) should be running on 6+2 (minimum) - 8+2 (suggested) power phase designed motherboard, and that is because of the amount of energy an 8 core consumes.
There is people saying that 4+1 power phases are not enough to run 8320 and 8350, even tough, if you look at the website: http://www.asrock.com/mb/cpu.asp?Model=970%20Pro3%20R2.... you will notice that our board even if 4+1 supports officially both FX 8320 and 8350. Now the question is: does it support them in stock frequency or even with a little overclock? that I don't know. Unfortunatly.


i'm pretty sure it supports the fx-8320 at stock frequency, and while i play games and put my cpu underload it turbos to 3.7ghz
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a b à CPUs
January 16, 2014 6:41:33 AM

CPU power phases are pretty easy to understand. Think of a power phase as a lane that current can travel from your motherboard to your CPU. This current is controlled by a transistor, or a VRM. This is the CPU voltage regulator circuit.
Think of a very simple 2 phase circuit. Each phase will be operating 50% of the time in order to deliver the power that the CPU needs to operate. In a 3 phase circuit, each phase will be operating at 33.3% of the time. With 4 phases each phase is working 25% of the time, and so on.
With more phases, each transistor has to work for a shorter amount of time, reducing heat and extending the life of that transistor.
So basically if you have 4 phases (lanes) of power going to a power hungry CPU like the AMD 8-core, it has to pull a lot of power, thus heating up the VRMs. While that board will support the FX-8320 at stock frequencies, I doubt you would be able to get a stable overclock out of it. The VRMs on that board aren't heat sinked so they would get hot enough to cause you problems.
I may not have done a very good job at explaining the CPU power regulation circuit, but maybe it helped to shed some light on the subject.
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January 16, 2014 6:48:16 AM

todd1780 said:
CPU power phases are pretty easy to understand. Think of a power phase as a lane that current can travel from your motherboard to your CPU. This current is controlled by a transistor, or a VRM. This is the CPU voltage regulator circuit.
Think of a very simple 2 phase circuit. Each phase will be operating 50% of the time in order to deliver the power that the CPU needs to operate. In a 3 phase circuit, each phase will be operating at 33.3% of the time. With 4 phases each phase is working 25% of the time, and so on.
With more phases, each transistor has to work for a shorter amount of time, reducing heat and extending the life of that transistor.
So basically if you have 4 phases (lanes) of power going to a power hungry CPU like the AMD 8-core, it has to pull a lot of power, thus heating up the VRMs. While that board will support the FX-8320 at stock frequencies, I doubt you would be able to get a stable overclock out of it. The VRMs on that board aren't heat sinked so they would get hot enough to cause you problems.
I may not have done a very good job at explaining the CPU power regulation circuit, but maybe it helped to shed some light on the subject.


Thank you for that. Now it's more clear.
That being said, I can now assume that both fx 8320 and 8350 can only run on Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0 motherboard at STOCK frequency. 4 Power Phases do not allow us to go any higher, doing that you will be at risk and could damage that motherboard.
The maximum " overclock " we could do is to activate AMD Turbo Core (+200 Mhz) or Xboost which I don't know what it does actually. For any higher frequency we should get a 8+2 power phase motherboard.

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January 16, 2014 7:28:03 AM

I would not feel comfortable at all overclocking an FX 8350 or 8320 on that motherboard. You might be able to get away with a mild overclock if you installed heatsinks on the VRMs.
Its very possible to get a mild overclock on a 4+1 motherboard, I've done it many times myself. But the 970 PRO was built to run your CPU at stock speeds only.
I have that exact same motherboard sitting in its box on my shelf. It was retired so that I could buy a motherboard that is much more overclock friendly.
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January 16, 2014 7:43:52 AM

todd1780 said:
I would not feel comfortable at all overclocking an FX 8350 or 8320 on that motherboard. You might be able to get away with a mild overclock if you installed heatsinks on the VRMs.
Its very possible to get a mild overclock on a 4+1 motherboard, I've done it many times myself. But the 970 PRO was built to run your CPU at stock speeds only.
I have that exact same motherboard sitting in its box on my shelf. It was retired so that I could buy a motherboard that is much more overclock friendly.


Would you define the Auto Turbo Core (+200mhz) an "overclock"? should I disable it?
I am not interested in overclocking honestly. Just need to be sure 970 pro3 can run fx 8350 at stock speed without any heat problems or burning anything
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January 16, 2014 3:35:36 PM

I wouldn't worry too much about that. It isn't a sustained overclock and shouldn't cause any issues.
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January 16, 2014 10:31:37 PM

Otacons said:
todd1780 said:
I would not feel comfortable at all overclocking an FX 8350 or 8320 on that motherboard. You might be able to get away with a mild overclock if you installed heatsinks on the VRMs.
Its very possible to get a mild overclock on a 4+1 motherboard, I've done it many times myself. But the 970 PRO was built to run your CPU at stock speeds only.
I have that exact same motherboard sitting in its box on my shelf. It was retired so that I could buy a motherboard that is much more overclock friendly.


Would you define the Auto Turbo Core (+200mhz) an "overclock"? should I disable it?
I am not interested in overclocking honestly. Just need to be sure 970 pro3 can run fx 8350 at stock speed without any heat problems or burning anything


i think auto turbo core is done by the cpu, not the motherboard, since my cpu says 3.5ghz base and 3.7ghz turbo
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January 19, 2014 1:06:58 AM

Have you tried the XBoost yet? any significant increase in performances?
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January 21, 2014 2:17:23 AM

Otacons said:
Have you tried the XBoost yet? any significant increase in performances?


No I haven't tried X-Boost yet. I really do not want to risk any damage to my motherboard, cpu or any other components. And sorry for the late reply :( 

Although I saw a guy on YouTube (named T-Bone) with an ASRock 970 "Extreme3" r2.0 (4+1 power phase) and he managed to use Turbo Core to overclock his FX-8320 to 4Ghz!!!

I don't know if that is his motherboard which seems to be a mild better and a little more expensive, but I doubt that has anything to do with overclocking capabilities as long as it has the same power phase if I'm not wrong.

So would I be save manually tweaking Turbo Core? I have asked the guy and waiting for a response on what he did and how he did to get that 4Ghz from Turbo Core. I have checked my BIOS and it seems that the way to change the overclock on Turbo Core is to manually set it (mine is auto and overclocks to 3.7Ghz).

Here is a link to T-Bone's YouTube channel: T-Bone - YouTube
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January 21, 2014 4:44:08 AM

The 970 Extreme 3 does have heathsinks on the VRMs which the 970 pro3 does not. That basically means it can handle mild overclocking better.
That being said, I just bought a Gigabyte GA-970 UD3P for 70 euros, which has 8+2 power phases and supports great all the FX series, overclock possible up to 5 Ghz! This motherboard is perfect for 8 cores, it's am3+ and has the same chipsets so you won't need to re-install win 7 if you're on retail license.
I suggest you to get rid of your motherboard, as I just did, because having a powerful cpu like 8320-8350 (unlocked which you can overclock all the way) on a cheap and not overclocking capable motherboard doesn't make any sense.

Cheers and good luck! :) 
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January 22, 2014 5:54:21 PM

Otacons said:
The 970 Extreme 3 does have heathsinks on the VRMs which the 970 pro3 does not. That basically means it can handle mild overclocking better.
That being said, I just bought a Gigabyte GA-970 UD3P for 70 euros, which has 8+2 power phases and supports great all the FX series, overclock possible up to 5 Ghz! This motherboard is perfect for 8 cores, it's am3+ and has the same chipsets so you won't need to re-install win 7 if you're on retail license.
I suggest you to get rid of your motherboard, as I just did, because having a powerful cpu like 8320-8350 (unlocked which you can overclock all the way) on a cheap and not overclocking capable motherboard doesn't make any sense.

Cheers and good luck! :) 


I am not rich, and I am not getting rid of my motherboard until I need to. So please help me out here. How much am I able to overclock? Since I have manually set my voltages and cpu clocks because the voltage was too high, can i overclock maybe up to 3.7Ghz?
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January 23, 2014 6:21:33 PM

Your going to have to experiment a bit. Start overclocking 100MHz or so at a time and see if its stable at that overclock. Keep an eye on your temps and you should be able to figure out how far you can push that motherboard.
Personally I wouldn't go over 3.7GHz myself.
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January 31, 2014 10:40:55 PM

I run a corsair h80 cooler and I run a solid 4.5ghz stable without issue with the extreme 3 970 and an AMD 8320. I use amd Autotune. Although I believe you need to use an AMD GPU to have this feature as well. Works great.
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February 1, 2014 5:43:27 AM

todd1780 said:
Your going to have to experiment a bit. Start overclocking 100MHz or so at a time and see if its stable at that overclock. Keep an eye on your temps and you should be able to figure out how far you can push that motherboard.
Personally I wouldn't go over 3.7GHz myself.


Sorry for the late reply, but I did overclock my 8320 to 3.7Ghz stable with no problem, temps don't go above 60 C (70 C max socket) while in BF4.

I was just wondering if I would be able to push it a little bit more maybe to 3.75 or 3.80Ghz ?? I don't want to damage anything so I won't do it until I find someone that's done it . . . And i know the Extreme 3 motherboard is slightly better but sadly I cannot upgrade for another at least 2-3 years.
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February 1, 2014 7:19:29 AM

The other thing I've found with Autotune through catalyst I was able to get 4.4ghz with the standard AMD heat sink. I did get 4.7 liquid cooled although it wasn't stable. With a good processor cooler above 4ghz is certainly doable. I've built 30+ machines with the fx8320 and Asrock extreme 3 R2.0 board and have had no issues so far. Give catalyst a try.
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February 1, 2014 10:41:43 PM

Uguessedit said:
The other thing I've found with Autotune through catalyst I was able to get 4.4ghz with the standard AMD heat sink. I did get 4.7 liquid cooled although it wasn't stable. With a good processor cooler above 4ghz is certainly doable. I've built 30+ machines with the fx8320 and Asrock extreme 3 R2.0 board and have had no issues so far. Give catalyst a try.


That is the Extreme 3, but I have the Pro3 which is essentially the same as the Extreme3 except that it doesn't have vrm heatsink, which i've heard that is a problem when it comes to overclocking
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February 2, 2014 2:56:52 AM

Can't you buy a replacement vrm heatsink that will upgrade that board? I see a lot of them out there for sale for under $20. Maybe that could be a solution for you? Idk I will have to look at both boards next time I buy PC parts. I'm very curious. I've heard other guys doing that although I'm not sure of there's credence in that. Maybe someone else here has more knowledge in that depArtment.
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February 3, 2014 9:19:46 PM

Uguessedit said:
Can't you buy a replacement vrm heatsink that will upgrade that board? I see a lot of them out there for sale for under $20. Maybe that could be a solution for you? Idk I will have to look at both boards next time I buy PC parts. I'm very curious. I've heard other guys doing that although I'm not sure of there's credence in that. Maybe someone else here has more knowledge in that depArtment.


I don't think that will be a good solution since my only nearby store don't sell any vrm heatsinks as far as i'm aware.
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April 13, 2014 9:09:05 AM

I Have the asrock 970 pro3 r2.0 and i am using a fx 8350 i am currently at 4.5ghz stable at 1.344v using a h100i cooler, the only problem i have is that this motherboard does not have any LLC options so i have massive vdroop so i got to set vcore at 1.4 in bios to keep stable, i have made some slight modifications I.E i have made my own heatsink and put them on the VRMS, this stopped any throttling of the cpu, i also modified my 330r corsair case so i now have a 120mm fan set up as exhaust on the back of the motherboard. I haven't tried for 4.6ghz yet but i will :D 
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April 27, 2014 12:09:59 AM

Jaseb87 said:
I Have the asrock 970 pro3 r2.0 and i am using a fx 8350 i am currently at 4.5ghz stable at 1.344v using a h100i cooler, the only problem i have is that this motherboard does not have any LLC options so i have massive vdroop so i got to set vcore at 1.4 in bios to keep stable, i have made some slight modifications I.E i have made my own heatsink and put them on the VRMS, this stopped any throttling of the cpu, i also modified my 330r corsair case so i now have a 120mm fan set up as exhaust on the back of the motherboard. I haven't tried for 4.6ghz yet but i will :D 


hey can you post a picture of your vrm cooling method? i have the same motherboard and a 4.5ghz overclock would be sweet to try. What are your temperatures with the h100i? A picture of the 120mm picture as exhaust would be nice since the website says top down blowing coolers are recommended to cool the motherboard.
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April 27, 2014 3:28:08 AM



Here is a couple photos for you, on the photo of the inside of rig the green is my homemade vrm heatsink and it works wonders :) 

Well temps with the h100i depends on the overclock as of the voltage increase but currently i am trying different things and i am @5GHZ with 4 cores disabled and i get core temps underload of about 50c and now socket temps of about 44c
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April 27, 2014 5:09:16 AM

Im really curious about this heat sink you made! Looks nice! what material, size and what does it cover on the motherboard?
Where exactly does the first fan point to?
Benchmarks and temps would be amazing of the 5ghz with 4 cores

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April 27, 2014 5:30:48 AM

Basically i was clearing out my gramps garage and he had lots and lots of different types of pc parts and i happened to find the green heatsink, not sure what it was for but it was about 7" long and 4" wide so i cut it with a hacksaw to fit over the VRM chips, now because i didn't have thermal pads i used artic mx-4 paste and a tiny tiny dab of superglue to hold in place ;)  The fan you can see facing the motherboard is there to blow air directly on the VRM heatsink and northbridge heatsink. I am still quite new to all this being as this is my first PC/RIG and i built it myself and first time overclocking, I can do benchmarks and temps but what program do i use...??

I normally use HW-monitor for temps but i don't have a bench mark program, i use P95 and OCCT to test for stability but to be honest i don't think there good programs from what i have read for FX series chips but i do not know.
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April 27, 2014 6:05:49 AM

Oh okay that's a great idea! I will have to see if i can find some thermal paste or thermal pads for cheap.
Im just really curious about the single threaded performance since FX chips lack behind on that in comparison to intel solutions. Cinebench is a good place to start as it gives you a direct comparison and lets you pick between single thread and multitthread
Im wanting to overclock on my first gaming rig too :p  If you check on the AMD site there is a "AMD FX Performance Tuning Guide" and it gives quite a good amount of detail about getting the most out of your CPU.
Without that fan could you get to 4.5ghz stable?
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April 27, 2014 6:12:47 AM

yes you don't really need the fan i kust like to do what ever i can to keep temps down, i found that the vrm heatsink was enough on it's own but i found it fun modding so thats why i put a fan there and also on the backside of the motherboard to help with socket temps, i will have a look at cinebench and post results here shortly
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April 27, 2014 6:17:32 AM

Yeah my socket temps can get quite high so i may need to ghetto mount a fan there but i will need to take a look at it. I don't really like the idea of drilling holes there.
Cinebench with max temps (cpu and socket) and voltage would be amazing!
I think if i up the cooling in my case overall i should be fine with only heatsinks of those areas.
Apologies in advance for scattered replies as different time zones :p 
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April 27, 2014 6:28:47 AM

Well i ran cinebench not sure if these scores are good or not as never done this before but as it stands it says i am running 2 cores and 4 threads @5ghz here is results:

CPU = 398 temp hit 52c core and 48c socet voltage is 1.432 vcore
Single Thread= 119 48c core and 44c socket

Also i havent changed any of the bus speed, NB frequency or ht link speeds so i will need to look in to this more as perhaps that can gain us more speed..??
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April 27, 2014 7:24:52 AM

I am not sure as i used cinebench r15..??
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April 27, 2014 7:45:02 AM

ok i just used cinebench r11.5 like they showed and single core was 1.30
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April 27, 2014 4:15:39 PM

Stock speeds the single score score is 1.1
Multicore is 6.9

I dont think 5ghz on 4 cores will benefit much because based on the architecture of the CPU, the cpu is actually 4 modules and 8 cores. so youre actually using 2 modules which is 4 cores (these cores share some cache or something) for not much better performance, higher heat output and power consumption.
Personally i would just overclock all the cpu cores to 4.5ghz and have them all run together.
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April 28, 2014 10:33:32 PM

BTW what parts of the motherboard exactly did you heatsink?
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May 21, 2014 5:07:06 PM

i dont know about you, but i have 970 pro3 r2 and i had stable clocks at 4.3ghz, for weeks, then i thought id give the auto tune a try. it stalled on 5ghz, and started falling at 4.9gig. so i set my clocks to 4.8, which it ran stable for a few days with no over heating. my vlotages were 1.475v on cpu. and had an fsb of 2.4gig. but just the other day i was about to play a game and it just stalled and shut off. i figured the bios had blown up, so id be careful
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May 22, 2014 2:15:02 AM

Well i have been running 5ghz on 4 cores for a month now and temps don't exceed 47c while gaming playing BF4, i also lapped the cpu the other week and that helped slightly but i am happy where it is now so i am not gonna push it too much more until i get my custom loop sorted, was thinking of upgrading mobo to a asus 990fx board but we will see, i have also modded my case i now have a intake fan on side and still have exhaust on back of mobo, i also sprayed the case right up :)  gotta love modding :) 


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May 23, 2014 4:46:26 AM

Well, I also have 970 Pro3 r2.0 using a FX-8320 right now @stock@1.225 using a Hyper 420s (Hyper 212 more-less design)....
I used to overclock-undervoltage my CPU @4.0 Ghz @ 1.225 V using stock cooler....but after 3 weeks buying my new cooler and after about 16 hours of high CPU usage (Bf4,UE4...etc) my OC turned to unstable (2-4 min Prime95 Fatal Error), might due to poor VRM cooling....!!!

I am thinking of cutting my stock cooler(AMD one) in order to place small pieces over my VRMs to cool them using the air that comes out from my CPU cooler...

Dear Jaseb87, can you post a close pic of your homemade VRM heatsink..???
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May 23, 2014 5:02:00 AM

Yeah i will try and do that for you :) 
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May 23, 2014 8:25:37 AM

Jaseb87 said:
Yeah i will try and do that for you :) 


Thank you..... To be more specific I would like to see the place where u have install them because there are some smaller like transistor chips next to them that I dont know if I have to cool them...

My case has perfect air-flow between the fan of my aftermarket cooler and thr rear fan but because there is no heatsink on VRM and the air goes over them without cooling them if I touch the left side of my case near to the CPU area I feel like VRMs are getting hotter then my CPU socket that according to my mobo sensor at full load goes up to 60 C (socket temp- not coretemp that goes up to 43 C)
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May 27, 2014 10:43:24 PM

TheSmallCreeper said:
Well, I also have 970 Pro3 r2.0 using a FX-8320 right now @stock@1.225 using a Hyper 420s (Hyper 212 more-less design)....
I used to overclock-undervoltage my CPU @4.0 Ghz @ 1.225 V using stock cooler....but after 3 weeks buying my new cooler and after about 16 hours of high CPU usage (Bf4,UE4...etc) my OC turned to unstable (2-4 min Prime95 Fatal Error), might due to poor VRM cooling....!!!

I am thinking of cutting my stock cooler(AMD one) in order to place small pieces over my VRMs to cool them using the air that comes out from my CPU cooler...

Dear Jaseb87, can you post a close pic of your homemade VRM heatsink..???


TheSmallCreeper said:
Jaseb87 said:
Yeah i will try and do that for you :) 


Thank you..... To be more specific I would like to see the place where u have install them because there are some smaller like transistor chips next to them that I dont know if I have to cool them...

My case has perfect air-flow between the fan of my aftermarket cooler and thr rear fan but because there is no heatsink on VRM and the air goes over them without cooling them if I touch the left side of my case near to the CPU area I feel like VRMs are getting hotter then my CPU socket that according to my mobo sensor at full load goes up to 60 C (socket temp- not coretemp that goes up to 43 C)


After some quick research asrock does not reccomend using anything but the stock cooler on this motherboard and pretty much any un-heatsinked vrm solution because of the lack of airflow.

These vrms get hot and actually benefit from the downward blowing air that the stock cooler supplies.
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May 28, 2014 8:39:13 AM

Yes .... I have also read that .... However, my goal is to install custom-homemade heatsinks over my VRM so my CPU cooler's fan (Hyper 412s) will be able to also help them stay cool.... What do you think???
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May 29, 2014 2:22:25 AM

Personally i think a higher end motherboard is really sufficient for a stable overclock above 4.3ghz base clock. Putting these VRMs under more heat will just reduce the life time expectancy.

I know its sad news knowing that your motherboard isnt very overclocking friend but i know the feeling :'( 
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May 29, 2014 2:36:21 AM

awesomenessreborn said:
Personally i think a higher end motherboard is really sufficient for a stable overclock above 4.3ghz base clock. Putting these VRMs under more heat will just reduce the life time expectancy.

I know its sad news knowing that your motherboard isnt very overclocking friend but i know the feeling :'( 

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May 30, 2014 11:19:03 PM

Otacons said:
There's a bit of a dilemma about the Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0, I have been told not to attempt any overclock with it (except for turning Turbo Core on which pushes it to 4.2 Ghz and Xboost).
Your motherboard is a M5A990FX as I can see from the signature and that's a 6+2 power phase motherboard, marginally better for overclocks.
The 970 pro3 has just 4+1 power phases and it's running an 8 core, so I wouldn't try anything higher than stock settings.

If anyone has more info about power phases/overclock on 970 chipset, please post your opinion.
I am interested about Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0 too as I am running an FX 8350 Stock settings - TX3 EVO Cooler.


I have the same board, and a 4gb r9 270x slightly oc'd. I'm running an fx 6300 that is stable at 4.6 Ghz. At idle, temps stay just under 30. Neither hyper pi nor prime 95 have brought temps past 58, and it only stays there momentarily then drops back and averages around 54. I wouldn't so much be worried about the power phase. It is important, but not as much for a small oc like you are proposing. I don't know the differences in power consumption between our gpu's, but I know your processor's TDP is 30 watts higher. If your gpu is a two 6 pin setup instead of one, I'd be more concerned with your psu being stressed and running hot. If it's just a 6 pin config you should be fine. Just keep your wiring clean so they don't obstruct your airflow circulation. Make sure you have adequate air flow, and run your stress tests. You should be able to obtain a much higher stable oc, just take your time.
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June 16, 2014 6:45:20 PM

Otacons said:
Osoclocker69 said:
Otacons said:
There's a bit of a dilemma about the Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0, I have been told not to attempt any overclock with it (except for turning Turbo Core on which pushes it to 4.2 Ghz and Xboost).
Your motherboard is a M5A990FX as I can see from the signature and that's a 6+2 power phase motherboard, marginally better for overclocks.
The 970 pro3 has just 4+1 power phases and it's running an 8 core, so I wouldn't try anything higher than stock settings.

If anyone has more info about power phases/overclock on 970 chipset, please post your opinion.
I am interested about Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0 too as I am running an FX 8350 Stock settings - TX3 EVO Cooler.


what is your motherboard??
and i am a noob but i don't understand this 6+2 or 4+1 power phase can yo please explain it to me?


I have the same motherboard you have, Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0 running an FX 8350.
Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0 is a 4+1 power phase motherboard.
The power phase thing is something I have been trying to understand from some weeks but still did not receive any detailed answers about.
Basically 8 cores cpu (for some reason) should be running on 6+2 (minimum) - 8+2 (suggested) power phase designed motherboard, and that is because of the amount of energy an 8 core consumes.
There is people saying that 4+1 power phases are not enough to run 8320 and 8350, even tough, if you look at the website: http://www.asrock.com/mb/cpu.asp?Model=970%20Pro3%20R2.... you will notice that our board even if 4+1 supports officially both FX 8320 and 8350. Now the question is: does it support them in stock frequency or even with a little overclock? that I don't know. Unfortunatly.


The motherboard will run fine at stock speeds, my brothers pc that I set up has the same parts.
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June 16, 2014 6:53:27 PM

Tciceedude said:
Otacons said:
Osoclocker69 said:
Otacons said:
There's a bit of a dilemma about the Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0, I have been told not to attempt any overclock with it (except for turning Turbo Core on which pushes it to 4.2 Ghz and Xboost).
Your motherboard is a M5A990FX as I can see from the signature and that's a 6+2 power phase motherboard, marginally better for overclocks.
The 970 pro3 has just 4+1 power phases and it's running an 8 core, so I wouldn't try anything higher than stock settings.

If anyone has more info about power phases/overclock on 970 chipset, please post your opinion.
I am interested about Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0 too as I am running an FX 8350 Stock settings - TX3 EVO Cooler.


what is your motherboard??
and i am a noob but i don't understand this 6+2 or 4+1 power phase can yo please explain it to me?


I have the same motherboard you have, Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0 running an FX 8350.
Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0 is a 4+1 power phase motherboard.
The power phase thing is something I have been trying to understand from some weeks but still did not receive any detailed answers about.
Basically 8 cores cpu (for some reason) should be running on 6+2 (minimum) - 8+2 (suggested) power phase designed motherboard, and that is because of the amount of energy an 8 core consumes.
There is people saying that 4+1 power phases are not enough to run 8320 and 8350, even tough, if you look at the website: http://www.asrock.com/mb/cpu.asp?Model=970%20Pro3%20R2.... you will notice that our board even if 4+1 supports officially both FX 8320 and 8350. Now the question is: does it support them in stock frequency or even with a little overclock? that I don't know. Unfortunatly.


The motherboard will run fine at stock speeds, my brothers pc that I set up has the same parts.


stock clocks only
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a b K Overclocking
a b à CPUs
a b À AMD
July 12, 2014 6:20:58 PM

Jaseb87 said:
The fan you can see facing the motherboard is there to blow air directly on the VRM heatsink and northbridge heatsink.


I realize this thread is a few months old, but I came across it just today and after reading your notes it occurred to me that you ought to try your configuration with the VRM fan reversed. You want to pull the hot air off the heatsink which will allow fresh cool air to flow in, replacing the hot air you're pulling out with the fan. Just like a radiator on a car, you always want to suck the hot air out. Otherwise, all your doing is blowing hot air around and all over the place. You would probably notice a significant decrease in the temperature of your VRM and Northbridge. As another example, you never see a CPU fan that "blows" onto the cpu. They ALWAYS pull hot air off the heatsink. At least every single fan design that I've ever seen. The only time I've ever seen them blow on the heatsink is a push pull setup in which case you still have one fan drawing the heated air out of the equation.
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