My current PC: (Yes I'm poor)
Motherboard: Asus A55BM-E
CPU: AMD A10-7870K (Overclocked to 4.2Ghz @ 1.35V, undervolting done in AMD Overdrive every time I startup, since motherboard BIOS doesn't have CPU Vcore settings)
CPU Cooler: Cryorig C7
Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050Ti (Overclocked in MSI Afterburner +200Mhz Core clock & +500Mhz Memory clock)
RAM: 2 x 4GB Team Elite 1333Mhz
PSU: G.Storm 500W
Case fans: None at the moment, planning to get 1 intake and 1 exhaust fan
HDD: Toshiba DT01ACA100 (1TB)
OS: WIndows 10 Pro
I wanted to overclock my APU since it is bottlenecking my GPU a bit. As mentioned above, I overclocked my A10-7870k to 4.2Ghz, but I undervolt it in AMD Overdrive to 1.35V (Default voltage is at 1.4625V) every time I start up for lower temperatures. When I tried to push it to 4.3Ghz (with 1.3625V in AMD Overdrive) it goes to windows fine, but when I run Cinebench R15 repeatedly for a few times, a BSOD shows up with the error code "CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT". The APU was just staying at mid 50C (It starts to throttle at about 64C-65C) so it wasn't overheating. When gaming with 4.2Ghz @ 1.35V, it just stays at mid to high 40C and rarely goes up to 50C (unless it is a hot day).
Is the BSOD happening because of the cheap motherboard or do I need to turn the voltage up more for stable overclock at 4.3Ghz or higher? I know this APU can go to even higher clock speeds.
I have a Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H motherboard and should I swap out my current motherboard for more overclocking potential? It has more features and more overclock settings in BIOS. Also I think A88X chipset is better for overclocking.
If I swap out my current Asus motherboard for the Gigabyte one, I think I have to update the BIOS for it to work with my A10-7870K. (The Gigabyte motherboard is in another PC with an A8-5600K, and currently with BIOS version F1, but only BIOS version F4 or newer will work with FM2+ APUs)
Are there anything I have to pay attention to? Any tips for updating BIOS?
If I swap the two motherboards, do I need to reset the BIOS on the both motherboards first? Do I also need to uninstall the motherboard drivers first?
Will I get better overclocks with the Gigabyte motherboard? I've seen people pushing this APU to 4.6Ghz or even higher. (Default base clock is 3.9Ghz and boost clock 4.1Ghz)
One more question, will I encounter any problems with Windows activation? My current Windows 10 Pro is already activated. But I've heard that changing key components (motherboard, cpu, etc.) will make Windows 10 think that you are on a new PC and need a new Windows product key.
Should I also swap out my 2 x 4GB 1333Mhz RAM for a 8GB 1600Mhz stick? Which will perform better or there are barely any difference?
Motherboard: Asus A55BM-E
CPU: AMD A10-7870K (Overclocked to 4.2Ghz @ 1.35V, undervolting done in AMD Overdrive every time I startup, since motherboard BIOS doesn't have CPU Vcore settings)
CPU Cooler: Cryorig C7
Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050Ti (Overclocked in MSI Afterburner +200Mhz Core clock & +500Mhz Memory clock)
RAM: 2 x 4GB Team Elite 1333Mhz
PSU: G.Storm 500W
Case fans: None at the moment, planning to get 1 intake and 1 exhaust fan
HDD: Toshiba DT01ACA100 (1TB)
OS: WIndows 10 Pro
I wanted to overclock my APU since it is bottlenecking my GPU a bit. As mentioned above, I overclocked my A10-7870k to 4.2Ghz, but I undervolt it in AMD Overdrive to 1.35V (Default voltage is at 1.4625V) every time I start up for lower temperatures. When I tried to push it to 4.3Ghz (with 1.3625V in AMD Overdrive) it goes to windows fine, but when I run Cinebench R15 repeatedly for a few times, a BSOD shows up with the error code "CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT". The APU was just staying at mid 50C (It starts to throttle at about 64C-65C) so it wasn't overheating. When gaming with 4.2Ghz @ 1.35V, it just stays at mid to high 40C and rarely goes up to 50C (unless it is a hot day).
Is the BSOD happening because of the cheap motherboard or do I need to turn the voltage up more for stable overclock at 4.3Ghz or higher? I know this APU can go to even higher clock speeds.
I have a Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H motherboard and should I swap out my current motherboard for more overclocking potential? It has more features and more overclock settings in BIOS. Also I think A88X chipset is better for overclocking.
If I swap out my current Asus motherboard for the Gigabyte one, I think I have to update the BIOS for it to work with my A10-7870K. (The Gigabyte motherboard is in another PC with an A8-5600K, and currently with BIOS version F1, but only BIOS version F4 or newer will work with FM2+ APUs)
Are there anything I have to pay attention to? Any tips for updating BIOS?
If I swap the two motherboards, do I need to reset the BIOS on the both motherboards first? Do I also need to uninstall the motherboard drivers first?
Will I get better overclocks with the Gigabyte motherboard? I've seen people pushing this APU to 4.6Ghz or even higher. (Default base clock is 3.9Ghz and boost clock 4.1Ghz)
One more question, will I encounter any problems with Windows activation? My current Windows 10 Pro is already activated. But I've heard that changing key components (motherboard, cpu, etc.) will make Windows 10 think that you are on a new PC and need a new Windows product key.
Should I also swap out my 2 x 4GB 1333Mhz RAM for a 8GB 1600Mhz stick? Which will perform better or there are barely any difference?
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