Help getting past 4.3 on my FX4100 with all-in-one liquid

hotshot308

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Feb 13, 2013
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Hello, im looking to push my Fx4100 past 4.34 ghz. current OC is stable and prime95 tested. I have all power related settings turned off (except CPU LLC) and disabled turbo core. cannot seem to get any higher clock or memory speed. Fairly new to overclocking (this will be my second system) but i know this processor can handle more. Is my motherboard the only thing holding me back? can i go any higher without upgrading? My hardware is :
Asus M5a97 (not R2 or EVO model)
AMD Fx4100
corsair GS600
4GB G.Skill ripjaws 1600Mhz (CL9 1.5v)
XfX DD HD 7850 2GB
antec Kuhler H20 620

Current Stable Values:
4.34Ghz (222 x 19.5)
Vcore 1.36(in BIOS) 1.416 (actual) i believe i have LLC enabled to compensate for intense Vdroop.
Memory : 1484 (in BIOS) 742 (CPUz) at 1.55v
NB: 2227
HTT: 2675
temps:
core: 31 Idle 51 Prime95
Socket: 10-12 Idle 38 Prime95
 
Your motherboard isn't the best one for overclock, but also is almost impossible that you can get above those 4.3GHz stable, even with that cooler. AMD can overclock very good, but also have a limit, and that OC that you got from that CPU is very good.
 

hotshot308

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Feb 13, 2013
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shucks. well does anyone have suggestions on a motherboard thats less than 200$ that would allow for a higher overclock? i do plan on upgrading to a vishera eventually. I want a new MOBO first tho.
 

hotshot308

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Feb 13, 2013
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o0 newegg done goofed. But either way ive read a some not too good stuff about MSI's 990FXA-GD65 VRM's. im between getting GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD5 and ASUS M5A99FX PRO R2.0. I really like asus products so i think i may go with the Asus board
 

hotshot308

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Feb 13, 2013
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update: 4.5 hours of prime95 at 4.5, no crash yet :)
Current Stable Values:
4.34Ghz (238 x 19)
Vcore 1.44(in BIOS) 1.476 (actual)
Memory : 1584 (in BIOS) 792 (CPUz) at 1.55v
NB: 2140
HTT: 2615
temps:
core: 35 Idle, 61 Prime95

Bumping up VDDA from 2.5 to 2.55 in bios seemed to stabilize it... IDK why

 

full_out

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Aug 17, 2011
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I had my FX-4100 stable at 4.7ghz on a GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3. Very nice board for overclocking. I basically just raised the CPU multiplier. Don't overclock the RAM though, as I found it made it very unstable. I think I had my voltage at around 1.43V.
 

hotshot308

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Feb 13, 2013
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i do plan on getting an 8350 or similar processor in the coming months but ide like to upgrade the motherboard first. This motherboards max HT is 2400 without increasing base clock, and its not able to keep steady voltage.
 

full_out

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Aug 17, 2011
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As a previous FX owner I have some advice. Take that ~ $200 for a board, and ~ $200 for a CPU and put it into an i5-3570K and a Z77 board. I did and have seen amazing gains. The FX doesn't touch an i5 setup. At stock, it completely destroys an overclocked FX.
 

full_out

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Aug 17, 2011
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But if you are willing to spend ~$200 on a board, just save it. Then when you were planning on buying the 8350 you will have enough from the saved $200 from the board. Spending money on a new board to get 400mhz more on that chip is a waste of money, trust me, I did it.
 

full_out

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But besides that. Put your NB and HTT back to stock clocks. Then only use the CPU multiplier to bump up the frequencies. Don't bother with the FSB. Then leave your RAM at it's stock 1600mhz. I found messing with the NB, HTT, and RAM speeds just created tons of instability issues.
 

hotshot308

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Feb 13, 2013
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agreed, but no matter what NB,HTT, and Dram speeds are at ( even 1333 10-11-10-27) i was not able to get above 4.3. i saw minor increases in FPS in planetside 2 by upping HTT to 2600 and i passed prime95 at 1600 cl9, so im going to leave it for now.