Issues with AMD FX 8120

[JuvenileJonesy]

I will start by listing my specs;

CPU: AMD FX 8120 (Corsair H80 Liquid Cooling)
MOBO: Sabertooth 990FX
GPU: SLI GeForce GTX 460 x2
RAM: 8g Corsair Vengeance running at 1333spd
PSU: Cooler Master Silent Pro 700W
SSD: 64GB (OS)
HDD: 1TB (Games)
CASE: NZXT Phantom (5 Fans)

Ok, to begin I picked the CPU up today and after installing it I was constantly encountering BSOD and advice from the forums lead me to updating my BIOS which I did not know was out of date. That fixed the random crashes. However, my goal for this processor is to OC to about 4.5ish though when I enter BIOS and change the Turbo Core to Enabled it causes the BSOD on Windows desktop after turning on with the message, "a clock interrupt was not received on a secondary processor". Also CPU-C is reading my speed as jumping between 1750mhz and 3883mhz where as Windows and BIOS is reading 3.91mhz. If I am unable to OC with the factory prebuilt options then I find it hard to believe I will be able to move past it and begin changing multipliers to reach my OC desire. If you can help point me in the right direction on how to fix this issue I would appreciate it. Please be specific when doing so as I am still a newbie and please no stuff like ditch it and switch to intel I want to make this work not replace it.

Thank you.

 

[noob2222]

If its having problems running turbo without changing anything else, id be suspicious about receiving a faulty chip. Sometimes it just happens. That error is usually related to the cpu not getting enough voltage to stabilize the faster clocks. Including its own tubo clock.

As for the cpu speed fluctuating that's fairly normal. What voltages is asus ai reporting during operation. Cpu z will actually be off from tha asus software. Edit: I think it may be just AOD that reports voltage different. not at my computer atm

 

[JuvenileJonesy]

Vcore: 1.332v
3.3V: 3.311v
5V: 4.971v
12V: 12.148v
VDDA: 2.496v

 

[noob2222]

What speed is it running when at 1.332V. The voltage should change as the speed does

 

[JuvenileJonesy]

Its at 3.8mhz set on performance through asus easy mode bios. Other than that I'm not sure what your asking for.

 

[noob2222]

Ok. The problem with turbo with the way asus ez oc works is your pushing the cpu too far. When I get home ill give a rundown on the bios settings for my 4.7 oc.

 

[JuvenileJonesy]

Ok. The problem with turbo with the way asus ez oc works is your pushing the cpu too far. When I get home ill give a rundown on the bios settings for my 4.7 oc.

Thank you, please be specific on what I should change if possible.

 

[noob2222]

First a little on why BD is so different than the Phenom line for overclocking -- and why power draw is sooo high on the reviews

the voltage is highly variable on the fx chips. at stock idle it should be 0.875. At normal non turbo it ranges from I believe 1.18 to 1.25. I don't remember the C1E voltages but they were lower than that, probably ~1.05 to 1.125 range. Turbo maxed the voltage to 1.41V


Here comes the inherent problem with overclocking BD because of what I just stated. OC will work fine at 4.0 ghz at say 1.3v for example. In order to achieve 1.3v, you have to set the bios as offset mode to +0.05V. Say the variable voltage requests a lower power state, 1.18V, +0.05V you set in the bios, now its only 1.23V, but stable 4.0 ghz is 1.3v.

Each time the chip does this it enters a state where its doesn't have enough voltage to work properly, and may or may not crash right away. All too often, the result is to up the voltage to where the low voltage is the 1.3V, but now its +0.12V in the bios. high voltage is now 1.25+.12=1.37. It doesn't crash now but running more voltage than needed.

Wich is also why turning off turbo is a MUST. 1.41V +0.12V = 1.53V


To compensate there is a bios option that must be turned up. Load Line Calibration, or LLC. Set that to its highest setting. This alters the variable voltages for each state, instead of 1.18V to 1.25v, its just 1.18V to 1.19V (it still varies slightly even on maxed setting) so now your offset will put 1.3V when you want 1.3V

Also, for stability, bump the other voltages slightly, specifically CPU NB, CPU HT ~+0.01V to +0.03V This seems to help considerably without bumping the cpu voltage.

Never let the cpu NB bus exceed 2600 mhz, it will never be stable. Sometimes a slightly higher voltage to the memory itself will help.


With that said, here are my settings.
If its not listed, then its on auto or the stock settings.
The first thing I did was disable C1E under the cpu settings. This eliminates the 14X multiplier settings your seeing

Advanced tab settings

AI OC tuner - manual
CPU Multiplier 17.5 < this will vary obviously.
Turbo Mode - disabled < spikes the voltage way too much
FSB - 267 mhz < helps with some programs and stability over high multiplier oc. Also affects memory speeds, adjust accordingly
Memory frequency will have to be set according to what memory you have. Mine is 2133 rated and thats what it likes.
CPU NB frequency 2403 mhz <<< KEEP THIS UNDER 2600
HT Frequency < 2670 < keep under 3200, will have to adjust for stability
EPU power saving - disabled
Load Line Calibration - Ultra <--- this is very important
CPU NB LLC - extreme
Phase control - optomized
CPU & NB voltage mode - Offset (ez tune usually changes this)
CPU voltage - +0.081250 < this will vary depending on chip performance. this setting here is 1.344V in normal operating and 0.960V idle
CPU NB voltage - +0.018750 < helps with stability
Dram voltage < set according to your memory
NB voltage 1.12500
HT voltage 1.22500

This should get you close to where your cpu will run, you can start off with the multiplier around 16 (4.3 ghz) Im betting right now asus ez oc put it at 15.5 with 250 mhz fsb.

It seems the BD chips have a sharp breaking point with speed and voltage. This is where you want to find your efficient overclock. At this point the cpu voltage will have to be raised considerably for even another 100 mhz. This usually ranges from 4.4 ghz to 4.8. I can achieve 5.0 ghz on this chip, but the voltage required is 1.475 and an increase in temp by just over 10C. not worth it for 300 mhz.

Finding that sweet spot may take some time, (took me about 2 months of tweaking, playing for a week at the current settings, and testing, but some people enjoy tweaking their system to get the maximum that their cpu has to offer.

 

[wr6133]

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,review-32395-5.html

You know you have at best sidegraded.... arguably downgraded

 

[noob2222]

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,review-32395-5.html

You know you have at best sidegraded.... arguably downgraded

his 1045T was running at 3.1 ghz. the 8120 will be much easier to hit 4.5+ ghz. the 1045T would need at least 3.8 to keep up with that.

And their chart ... lol, 4170 at the top of AMD ... looks like the chart is striclty focused on cpu speed for single threaded games. no way the 4170 is better than the 8150, especially in Battlefield 3 MP, and any other multi-thraded game.

 

[JuvenileJonesy]

First a little on why BD is so different than the Phenom line for overclocking -- and why power draw is sooo high on the reviews

the voltage is highly variable on the fx chips. at stock idle it should be 0.875. At normal non turbo it ranges from I believe 1.18 to 1.25. I don't remember the C1E voltages but they were lower than that, probably ~1.05 to 1.125 range. Turbo maxed the voltage to 1.41V


Here comes the inherent problem with overclocking BD because of what I just stated. OC will work fine at 4.0 ghz at say 1.3v for example. In order to achieve 1.3v, you have to set the bios as offset mode to +0.05V. Say the variable voltage requests a lower power state, 1.18V, +0.05V you set in the bios, now its only 1.23V, but stable 4.0 ghz is 1.3v.

Each time the chip does this it enters a state where its doesn't have enough voltage to work properly, and may or may not crash right away. All too often, the result is to up the voltage to where the low voltage is the 1.3V, but now its +0.12V in the bios. high voltage is now 1.25+.12=1.37. It doesn't crash now but running more voltage than needed.

Wich is also why turning off turbo is a MUST. 1.41V +0.12V = 1.53V


To compensate there is a bios option that must be turned up. Load Line Calibration, or LLC. Set that to its highest setting. This alters the variable voltages for each state, instead of 1.18V to 1.25v, its just 1.18V to 1.19V (it still varies slightly even on maxed setting) so now your offset will put 1.3V when you want 1.3V

Also, for stability, bump the other voltages slightly, specifically CPU NB, CPU HT ~+0.01V to +0.03V This seems to help considerably without bumping the cpu voltage.

Never let the cpu NB bus exceed 2600 mhz, it will never be stable. Sometimes a slightly higher voltage to the memory itself will help.


With that said, here are my settings.
If its not listed, then its on auto or the stock settings.
The first thing I did was disable C1E under the cpu settings. This eliminates the 14X multiplier settings your seeing

Advanced tab settings

AI OC tuner - manual
CPU Multiplier 17.5 < this will vary obviously.
Turbo Mode - disabled < spikes the voltage way too much
FSB - 267 mhz < helps with some programs and stability over high multiplier oc. Also affects memory speeds, adjust accordingly
Memory frequency will have to be set according to what memory you have. Mine is 2133 rated and thats what it likes.
CPU NB frequency 2403 mhz <<< KEEP THIS UNDER 2600
HT Frequency < 2670 < keep under 3200, will have to adjust for stability
EPU power saving - disabled
Load Line Calibration - Ultra <--- this is very important
CPU NB LLC - extreme
Phase control - optomized
CPU & NB voltage mode - Offset (ez tune usually changes this)
CPU voltage - +0.081250 < this will vary depending on chip performance. this setting here is 1.344V in normal operating and 0.960V idle
CPU NB voltage - +0.018750 < helps with stability
Dram voltage < set according to your memory
NB voltage 1.12500
HT voltage 1.22500

This should get you close to where your cpu will run, you can start off with the multiplier around 16 (4.3 ghz) Im betting right now asus ez oc put it at 15.5 with 250 mhz fsb.

It seems the BD chips have a sharp breaking point with speed and voltage. This is where you want to find your efficient overclock. At this point the cpu voltage will have to be raised considerably for even another 100 mhz. This usually ranges from 4.4 ghz to 4.8. I can achieve 5.0 ghz on this chip, but the voltage required is 1.475 and an increase in temp by just over 10C. not worth it for 300 mhz.

Finding that sweet spot may take some time, (took me about 2 months of tweaking, playing for a week at the current settings, and testing, but some people enjoy tweaking their system to get the maximum that their cpu has to offer.

On the CPU Voltage you put 0.08 as the starting numbers did you mean 0.8 because its saying lowest is 0.67

 

[wr6133]

1045T 6 REAL cores

8150 8 Psuedo Cores

The hex core will outperform it in threaded applications. Thats been proven time over time since FX released.... things dont use its pretend cores properly.

Its not an upgrade like i said sidegrade bordering on downgrade. Best thing is to switch BACK to the 1045T and see what OC you can push there. The Thuban core will hit 3.8+ and at that speed will out do the FX wherever you OC the thing too.

 

[noob2222]

On the CPU Voltage you put 0.08 as the starting numbers did you mean 0.8 because its saying lowest is 0.67

Change the voltage mode to offset

 

[JuvenileJonesy]

When you say FSB your talking about the cpu bus/peg freq correct. Just wanna make sure

 

[noob2222]

yes

 

[JuvenileJonesy]

When dropping the cpu multiplier do I adjust voltage I was unclear on this. I changed your CPU Multiplier from 17.5 to 16 and running it right now at 4.42ghz. I ran it at 17.5 but as soon as windows came up I got BSOD.

 

[amuffin]

Kind of ironic how you wouldn't overclock your 1045T, and now you have problems with FX.

 

[JuvenileJonesy]

Kind of ironic how you wouldn't overclock your 1045T, and now you have problems with FX.

I wanted to overclock the 1045T however it could not push to the limit I want, I am very happy with my decision. Now I'm wondering why your on here just picking on my decision, you could help or just let noob finish the fantastic job he is doing.

 

[noob2222]

When dropping the cpu multiplier do I adjust voltage I was unclear on this. I changed your CPU Multiplier from 17.5 to 16 and running it right now at 4.42ghz. I ran it at 17.5 but as soon as windows came up I got BSOD.

multiplier and voltage are what has to be played with to find the stable settings. from this point, you have to try adjusting in small steps to see if you nee more voltage for increased speeds.

most have been able to get to around 4.7 but voltages range from 1.32 to 1.45. A lot of where you end up will be with testing temperatures.

 

[JuvenileJonesy]

multiplier and voltage are what has to be played with to find the stable settings. from this point, you have to try adjusting in small steps to see if you nee more voltage for increased speeds.

most have been able to get to around 4.7 but voltages range from 1.32 to 1.45. A lot of where you end up will be with testing temperatures.

So as I push the Multiplier +0.5 How much is a good range to push the voltage and am I pushing all voltages at once?

 

[noob2222]

go multiplier first, if its not stable, then up the voltage. you should only have to mess with the cpu voltage. Id suggest staying under 1.45V. (+0.18V in the bios)

If you keep going up and end up at 1.45V and it doesn't seem to help, then try bumping the other voltages once to see if that helps any. if not, then that may be your chips brick wall.

 

[noob2222]

Kind of ironic how you wouldn't overclock your 1045T, and now you have problems with FX.

btw, people get just as frustrated with Intel, often more so considering a lot of them are for temps over 90C

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/330607-28-fast

Looks like this intel system is about to be thrown across the room.

but some people can't help but to try and make AMD people feel bad, jealousy me thinks is the root cause.

 

[JuvenileJonesy]

I have it running at 4.55ghz right now and when running stress test on blend from prime95 4 of the 8 core tests where crashing immediately. Not sure if that means anything also running around 50C at full load. Also if you click my banner for CPU-Z you can see im running at 1.35v at full load.

 

[loneninja]

I have it running at 4.55ghz right now and when running stress test on blend from prime95 4 of the 8 core tests where crashing immediately. Not sure if that means anything also running around 50C at full load. Also if you click my banner for CPU-Z you can see im running at 1.35v at full load.

[url]http://valid.canardpc.com/cache/banner/2314476.png[/url]

If cores are crashing in Prime95 but windows hasn't BSOD while running prime than your close to stable but not there yet. Eventually windows will BSOD and your going to get random program crashes and data corruption over time. I haven't personally overclocked FX but Xbitlabs.com needed 1.394V to get stable 4.5Ghz on an 8120. They have results for the 4100,6100, and 8150 too.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/amd-fx-8120-6100-4100_9.html#sect0

 

[noob2222]

might need to bump the voltage one more tick to stabilize prime95. its extremely finnicky, sometimes I still get one core dropout ((core 6)between 1 hr and 3hrs usually), but windows and games never crash. 50C is a pretty good temp.

The asus board is a beast, I love it.

Also, just a side note, when you get a core drop, you can see the difference with CMT working. the other half of that module (core 7) will start finishing calculations faster than the rest.