Amd fx8320 overclock advice

Jonny Casson

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Jul 18, 2014
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I've just recently upgraded my processor from an FX4100 to an FX8320.. Now I was overclocking the 4100 to 4.5 using catalyst control centre and was getting reasonable results, although it was still bottlenecking my graphics card a bit. I'm running a sapphire r9 280x dual x. I want to overclock my new processor I'm just a bit concerned how far I can push it with my current mobo. Any advice would be much appreciated. My full specs are:

AMD fx8320
Cooler master 212 EVO
Sapphire r9 280x dual x
Asus M5A78L-M/USB3
2x 4gb 1333mhz amd ram
Corsair rm850 psu
Silverstone ps07 midi case
(2x front fan, 1x rear fan - cooling is excellent)
 
Solution
I posted the "FX ASUS OC GUIDE" a few posts above, there is a little trick to cool the socket and vrm area a little more.
You use a CM 212 EVO so you could use the fan of your amd stock heatsink and put it above the VRM area to cool it better. This should give you a little extra space for further overclocking.

It's kind of a "ghetto mod" but works out really fine, look at the link below for a image:
http://cdn.overclock.net/c/ca/ca5af39e_VRMFAN.png
First thing...download MSI Afterburner. Best GPU software I've ever used. Then give the Power Limit a small bump +10%. Then bump Core clock up to 1050-1100 and call it a day. Benefits beyond this are minimal. Even at stock the GPU is solid...I know cuz I have it.
 

Jonny Casson

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Jul 18, 2014
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Thanks for the quick responses, it's just the cpu I intend to overclock, not the gpu. The guide you linked to looks pretty good, reckon I will go that route apposed to ccc this time. Still my concern is mainly my motherboard. I've read conflicting things about it, some say it's fine, others that it won't handle the oc due to wattage limitations. So I'm a bit lost really. Anyone know if it can oc an 8320? Thanks.
 

Jonny Casson

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Jul 18, 2014
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Ok, well I've clocked it to 4.1 keeping standard voltage. Actually saw overall temps drop at 4.1 opposed to 3.8 / 3.9. Could have gone further but decided to keep it minimal as I don't want to kill my motherboard. Seems to be fine at this level, so I'll monitor it over a few days gaming usage and see. One thing I did read somewhere is a guide on putting heatsinks on the mosfets of the mobo. Does anyone have experience of this? Is this a viable solution to push my mobo further?
 

fkabs

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Jan 7, 2014
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I posted the "FX ASUS OC GUIDE" a few posts above, there is a little trick to cool the socket and vrm area a little more.
You use a CM 212 EVO so you could use the fan of your amd stock heatsink and put it above the VRM area to cool it better. This should give you a little extra space for further overclocking.

It's kind of a "ghetto mod" but works out really fine, look at the link below for a image:
http://cdn.overclock.net/c/ca/ca5af39e_VRMFAN.png
 
Solution

Jonny Casson

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Jul 18, 2014
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4,510
I couldn't fit another fan in the case, so I've heatsinked the mosfets and the whole Lot is starting surprisingly cool and stable. Pushed the cpu up to 4.5 and getting great results, no errors and no overheat ☺