Questions about overclocking (FX-8320)

[Mr_Minecraft]

Hello everyone!

So for the past few days I have been overclocking my FX-8320 and have bumped it up from a stock clock of 3.5ghz to a constant 4.4ghz. Here are my questions so I can either continue to push the CPU harder, or back off a little:

1. Is 62c the highest safe operating temp of the 8320?

2. Does over-volting hurt the CPU if it is properly cooled?

3. If over volting does hurt the cpu, regardless of cooling, then what is the highest safe voltage for my CPU?

4. When overclocking and I lose stability in Prime95, do I raise the CPU voltage, CPU/NB voltage, or both? Or do I need to start overvolting other components, like RAM?

5. To keep a stable 4.4ghz, I have had to raise the voltage to 1.5v, is this an abnormal amount?

6. My idle temp is 19c, and my full load temp is 50c at my current settings (4.4ghz, 1.5v). Are these temps normal?

7. Is it safe to adjust voltages from within the OS (via Asus AI Suite II)?

8. I also believe my ram timings are slower than the manufacture's specs, but don't know which numbers to change in my Sabertooth 990fx's Advanced Bios.

My system:
-AMD FX-8320
-Cooler Master Hyper 212+ CPU Cooler
-8gb G.Skill Ripjaws @ 1600
-MSI Hawk Radeon HD 7870
-Sabertooth 990fx R2 Motherboard


Thank you in advanced for all the wonderful knowledge!
-Chris

 

[bartholomew]

This guide should answer all your questions.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1348623/amd-bulldozer-and-piledriver-overclocking-guide-asus-motherboard#

 

[bartholomew]

*Double post*

 

[biopolar]

These are all within my opinions/experiences in overclocking.

1. Correct. 62C is the max temp as stated by AMD. Going any higher than this can decrease the life of your CPU, cause abrupt shutdowns, or even instantly clean you out of a $200 cpu.

2. Depends. Regardless of cooling, over-volting to lets say 2V is a serious risk. Here, there is a potential that a blast of power can surge to your CPU and you're out of a cpu. This is why you must increment voltage during an overclock. Rule of thumb: don't go over 1.5V in vCore.

Now if you have good air cooling and you over-volt to a necessary 1.38V to achieve a 4.4 OC, and stable, you're doing fine.

3. As I said before, going above 1.5Vcore is not recommended. Hitting 1.5V, hell, I'd never do that.

4. The BE editions are unlocked - meaning you can simply adjust the multiplier and the vCore. This is how I prefer to OC. It all depends. If you lose stability in Prime, as long as you are below 1.5V, bump it up in a notch. Save. Restart, test again. If you fail again, being below 1.5V, bump up another notch. Save. Restart OC'ing is different for everyone, and testing is the safest measure.

5. Every system is different. This I cannot stress enough. Your PSU, motherboard and even your specific cpu comes into play. A 4.4 OC needing 1.5 vCore does seems high, especially for air cooling. I would never recommend going about 1.45Vcore ever. Did you test a notch of vCore at a time or did you just click 1.5V?

6. They're fine, very fine.

7. This is personal to a lot of people, or to some a rite, lol. BIOS OC'ing is always my choice. I can control the system, not some 3rd party software doing it for me. A lot of people will always say go BIOS.

8. I've never actually cared to mess with RAM timings, I'm a bit lazy.

 

[Mr_Minecraft]

Wow thanks for the great replies! Biopolar, thanks for taking the time to address each of my questions in good detail.

Now here is how I have been overclocking my CPU, I want to know if this is a "right" way, or if i am messing up.

I reboot and increase the multiplier, then load windows and run prime 95 for 10 minutes. What usually happens at stock voltage is i get 1 or 2 workers that fail, which increasing the voltage fixes. Now what I do to find the proper voltage is open AI Suite 2 and bump up the voltage 1 notch at a time, re-testing with prime95 each time. I read that it is bad to set the multiplier with AI Suite, but does the same go for the voltage? It seems I should not have to be at 1.5v for 4.4ghz overclock. If I do need to change voltage with the BIOS instead, where is the option in the sabertooth 990fx bios? Its VCore right?

Thanks for helping me out guys, I really appreciate it!

 

[biopolar]

Wow thanks for the great replies! Biopolar, thanks for taking the time to address each of my questions in good detail.

Now here is how I have been overclocking my CPU, I want to know if this is a "right" way, or if i am messing up.

I reboot and increase the multiplier, then load windows and run prime 95 for 10 minutes. What usually happens at stock voltage is i get 1 or 2 workers that fail, which increasing the voltage fixes. Now what I do to find the proper voltage is open AI Suite 2 and bump up the voltage 1 notch at a time, re-testing with prime95 each time. I read that it is bad to set the multiplier with AI Suite, but does the same go for the voltage? It seems I should not have to be at 1.5v for 4.4ghz overclock. If I do need to change voltage with the BIOS instead, where is the option in the sabertooth 990fx bios? Its VCore right?

Thanks for helping me out guys, I really appreciate it!

My motherboard comes with an overclocking software which is the same as AI Suite, only called TOverclocker. It has done me nothing but harm. There is a plus sign for vCore to bump it, but the results are usually insane(a bump in TOverclocker = .2V) where as in BIOS you can manually bump by .0125V a notch, by far safer.
As I said every system combination is different. And each setup has its limits. I bold it : limits. The quality of your system makes a difference. My motherboard is the worse the overclock on and has the worse BIOS settings in the world. If I dare try to go 4.6 on this thing, the clocks go crazy, there's insane throttling. I have a horrid OC'ing motherboard. (Goddamnit Biostar, lol)

I would say it's ok to use AI suite if trying to "spot check" a voltage, but for a permanent change of setting, do it in BIOS.

Sounds like you're stressing correctly. Just remember, if it passes the 10minute test, to let it continue into an hour to make sure the cores are further stable. I expect the sabertooth has a uefi bios. You'll have to do some youtube'ing and googling on your part for that. I'm familiar with the Asus RoG mobo's, so I would expect there to be something called "AI or OC Tweaker" in your mobo where all those things are located.
Strange, a board such as yours should be able to get an easy OC without that much voltage.

 

[Mr_Minecraft]

What process do you recommend to find the proper core clock and voltage?

Added: I set up everything according to that guide and my multiplier is 21. The problem is my vcore temps are at 62c and my CPU temp is at 55c. I am nowhere near my desired clock speed though :/

 

[biopolar]

What process do you recommend to find the proper core clock and voltage?

Added: I set up everything according to that guide and my multiplier is 21. The problem is my vcore temps ate at 62c and my CPU temp is at 55c. I am nowhere near my desired clock speed though :/

Hm...
imo, 4.4oc is an impressive oc for the 8320, and on air.
Is 4.4 your desired oc or something higher?

 

[bartholomew]

Its quite impressive that you got 4.4Ghz on your 8320 with a hyper 212+.
What is your Cpu Voltage for 4.4Ghz?

 

[Mr_Minecraft]

When I was running the 4.4ghz overclock, my voltage was 1.5v. I felt that was too high, so I then reset my BIOS to default and followed the guide that Bartholomew posted. I am currently at 4.3ghz @ 1.3625v. I wanted to push my processor alot farther than this, but it seems I have hit a thermal wall.

Is it more cost effective to buy Noctua fan for a push-pull config on my 212+, or to just go out and buy a complete water cooling setup? This is a very stable chip and feel that with a bit more cooling I could hit 4.7-5ghz.

Thanks for the input everyone!
-Chris N.

 

[biopolar]

It has been reported that the push-pull config on the 212 does nothing. Maybe give you a 1-3 degree difference in load temperature. There are many benches that have been done on it and forum'd in toms hardware of its results.
You're trying to achieve a more than 1ghz difference in overclock. I'd recommend going water, a closed loop such as the corsair h100 or h80.
If you want to keep on air, with double fans, you can opt for a nh-14, though it is a bit large.

But, you're sitting on very good voltage for being @ 4.3 Wish you good luck!

 

[Mr_Minecraft]

Hey guys, I have been looking at water cooling units and am having trouble finding the right one. I have a Thor v2 case and am not sure what cooling systems will work in my case. Any info on this?

 

[ohyouknow]

Just check to see if you have double 120mm fan mounts on a single side with ample room between. This is for the 240mm rads like the h100. The thor is a big case if I remember correctly.

An H80i would definitely be a good choice as it is a thicker rad and is only 120mm which will fit on most modern cases.

 

[Mr_Minecraft]

The top of my case has a 230mm fan mount with a fan in it, but when I looked closer i noticed there are mount holes to fit 2 smaller fans side by side. This should fit a 240mm radiator, right?

 

[ohyouknow]

You'll be fine. It'll easily fit a 240 rad

 

[Mr_Minecraft]

Alright, that leads me to ask it its better to run a closed loop system or make it so I can add parts on in the future (non closed loop).

 

[GObonzo]

It has been reported that the push-pull config on the 212 does nothing. Maybe give you a 1-3 degree difference in load temperature. There are many benches that have been done on it and forum'd in toms hardware of its results.
You're trying to achieve a more than 1ghz difference in overclock. I'd recommend going water, a closed loop such as the corsair h100 or h80.
If you want to keep on air, with double fans, you can opt for a nh-14, though it is a bit large.

But, you're sitting on very good voltage for being @ 4.3 Wish you good luck!

was @ 30+° idle and 65° loaded with my 955BE @4.2GHz 1.4v. put in the 2nd fan and changed to 25° idle \ 50° loaded.
going from 1 to 2 fans (push\pull) with 212+ had dropped my temps almost 10° idling (fans @ 5%) and about 15° loaded (fans @ 90%). thats a significant change.
with my new 8320 @ 4GHz idles about 8° \ loads about 30°.
in a Corsair 600T which helps stay pretty cool also.