Can I overclock a FX-8320 + Asrock 990fx Extreme3 + Hyper 212 EVO to 4.0ghz?

twneal · May 1, 2016

I read several threads that claim the 990fx Extreme3 is not good for overclocking. But I only want to increase the clock enough to make my 8320 equivalent of a 8350. Is this practical, or am I asking for trouble?

My CPU fan is a Hyper 212 EVO by the way.

If practical, please let me know specifically what I should increase/enable/disable in my bios. I'm new to overclocking and don't want to fry my board.

anti-duck · May 1, 2016

The 990FX Extreme3 has a 4+1 power phase unfortunately. Saying that, you can overclock on it, I just personally wouldn't and would advise against it. If you do go for it, CPU's have varying points at where you'll have to increase the voltage exponentially to get another few MHz out of it, you want to find that point and back it off a bit so you're not stressing the VRM. Decent motherboards with a 6+2 or higher power phase can just push right past the point of diminishing returns until no matter what they do, they get crashes and then back it off a tiny bit until they find stability.

Here's something from http://www.overclock.net/t/943109/about-vrms-mosfets-motherboard-safety-with-125w-tdp-processors -

Phaedrus2129 said:
Failures on motherboards with higher phase counts have been relatively infrequent if at all. Most of the culprits for VRM failures are the lower end 4+1 phase and 3+1 phase motherboards that aren't equipped to handle processors that consume lots of power and may be overclocked. Smaller 4+1 phase systems or less on CPUs can be particularly risky due to the fact that each transistor must be capable of outputting more current and heat. This is why you normally see motherboards with low phase count failing (i.e. catching fire, frying, overloading), often on motherboards from only certain manufacturers or certain particular motherboards.

However, the motherboard brand/maker and their quality control can also define the quality of a VRM system. For example, the majority of 2010-released MSI AMD motherboards with 4+1 phase or similar, heatsinked or not, did not have good quality and were prone to failure. This was due to the utilisation of transistors that may not be properly rated, driver chips not properly rated, and lack of VRM over-current protection. However, the Biostar TA890FXE, which comes with a similar-sized 4+2 power phase, was not failure-prone. It featured high amperage rating per transistor; completely rock-solid.

An 8+2 phase system may not necessarily provide any more current than a 4+1 phase if the amount of amperge capacity throghout the VRM system is the same; however, the 8+2 phase system would still do so with more efficiency, stability, and with less heat output. The situation of power phase count can be summarized in the following two sentences (in case the above was too long and complicated for you) by OCN PSU editor Phaedrus2129:

Phaedrus2129 said:

However, as a practical consideration, many VRMs with more phases can supply more power. I mean, assuming you want to output 64A, it's usually cheaper to use sixteen 8A transistors than four 32A transistors. So more phases makes it cheaper to make the VRM more powerful (usually). So a VRM with fewer phases will often (but NOT ALWAYS) be less powerful, since making it more powerful is more expensive.

Click to expand...

Here's a good guide by JayzTwoCents - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MckeAmnDeTk&ab_channel=JayzTwoCents

Just note that the options in your BIOS are going to be called something different, so before you follow that guide, look at what features he's disabling, and learn what they're called on your motherboard.

twneal · May 3, 2016

anti-duck :

The 990FX Extreme3 has a 4+1 power phase unfortunately. Saying that, you can overclock on it, I just personally wouldn't and would advise against it. If you do go for it, CPU's have varying points at where you'll have to increase the voltage exponentially to get another few MHz out of it, you want to find that point and back it off a bit so you're not stressing the VRM. Decent motherboards with a 6+2 or higher power phase can just push right past the point of diminishing returns until no matter what they do, they get crashes and then back it off a tiny bit until they find stability.

Here's something from http://www.overclock.net/t/943109/about-vrms-mosfets-motherboard-safety-with-125w-tdp-processors -

Phaedrus2129 said:
Failures on motherboards with higher phase counts have been relatively infrequent if at all. Most of the culprits for VRM failures are the lower end 4+1 phase and 3+1 phase motherboards that aren't equipped to handle processors that consume lots of power and may be overclocked. Smaller 4+1 phase systems or less on CPUs can be particularly risky due to the fact that each transistor must be capable of outputting more current and heat. This is why you normally see motherboards with low phase count failing (i.e. catching fire, frying, overloading), often on motherboards from only certain manufacturers or certain particular motherboards.

However, the motherboard brand/maker and their quality control can also define the quality of a VRM system. For example, the majority of 2010-released MSI AMD motherboards with 4+1 phase or similar, heatsinked or not, did not have good quality and were prone to failure. This was due to the utilisation of transistors that may not be properly rated, driver chips not properly rated, and lack of VRM over-current protection. However, the Biostar TA890FXE, which comes with a similar-sized 4+2 power phase, was not failure-prone. It featured high amperage rating per transistor; completely rock-solid.

An 8+2 phase system may not necessarily provide any more current than a 4+1 phase if the amount of amperge capacity throghout the VRM system is the same; however, the 8+2 phase system would still do so with more efficiency, stability, and with less heat output. The situation of power phase count can be summarized in the following two sentences (in case the above was too long and complicated for you) by OCN PSU editor Phaedrus2129:

Phaedrus2129 said:

However, as a practical consideration, many VRMs with more phases can supply more power. I mean, assuming you want to output 64A, it's usually cheaper to use sixteen 8A transistors than four 32A transistors. So more phases makes it cheaper to make the VRM more powerful (usually). So a VRM with fewer phases will often (but NOT ALWAYS) be less powerful, since making it more powerful is more expensive.

Click to expand...

Here's a good guide by JayzTwoCents - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MckeAmnDeTk&ab_channel=JayzTwoCents

Just note that the options in your BIOS are going to be called something different, so before you follow that guide, look at what features he's disabling, and learn what they're called on your motherboard.

Thank you! If I properly cool the VRM (mofset heatsinks, fans cooling the VRM from in front and behind the board) would it be safe to overclock on my board? Or is VRM heat not the only issue with 4+1 boards?

anti-duck · May 3, 2016

I had a Gigabyte 970A-UD3 with an FX 6300 that I overclocked to 4.5GHz, the 970A-UD3 along with the UD3P (aside from a few bad revisions) are the best 970 chipset motherboard's for overclocking, bar none, it's not up for debate. They each have LLC and a true 8+2 power phase with beefy heatsinks, but they would still literally burn my hand off if I touched them, and that's with a 95w (at stock) 6 core processor and an 8+2 power phase, I doubt you're going to be able to cool a 4+1 power phase sufficiently with a power hungry, 125w (at stock) 8 core processor. Saying that, absolutely max airflow if you are going to overclock on that board, you might be able to bang the CPU frequency up a notch, but keep an eye on those temps.

Your specific motherboard has been known to throttle stock 8320's and 8350's due to VRM temperature.

Heat isn't the only issue, a higher phase count is going to regulate power better too, though a 4+1 with quality components will regulate power well anyway.

twneal · May 3, 2016

anti-duck :

Funny you mention that, I actually have already experienced that problem. Once I discovered the throttling was the board's VRM overheating I stuck fan on the back of the board behind the VRM and the problem went away. This gave me the idea that if I applied heatsinks to the mofsets and cooled from the front as well, I might even be able to overclock a bit without raising the voltage. Perhaps I'm asking too much, but I just bought an HTC Vive and most of its applications are bottlenecked by my CPU so I'd really like to overclock if I safely can.

Someone in a different thread pointed out that my motherboard is actually recommended for overclocking on overclock.com. Not sure what to make of that since everyone else seems to think it's not worth trying.
http://www.overclock.net/t/946407/amd-motherboards-vrm-info-database

How would I keep an eye on VRM temps?

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Can I overclock a FX-8320 + Asrock 990fx Extreme3 + Hyper 212 EVO to 4.0ghz?

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