M5A78L-M/USB3 with FX6300 - BIOS advice

[Herr_Koos]

Hi all,

I've seen a number of claims that this board is not really suited for running FX processors. The 4+1 power design and lack of VRM cooling are usually quoted as reasons. (I have another thread asking about the VRM - http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2973638/vrm-circuit-cooling.html#xtor=EPR-8809).

Given that the mobo manual is of little help in explaining what the BIOS settings do, I was hoping that someone with experience of this board or a similar one could perhaps advise on whether the various CPU-related BIOS settings can have any real-world effect on performance?

Note that I'm not referring to overclocking here. I would like to know whether settings like ACC, C6 state, C1E support, Cool n Quiet, Turbo Core, or any other settings will impact CPU performance. Any tips on BIOS configuration for optimal performance for an FX processor such as my FX6300?

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[clutchc]

Changing any of those settings will not make a noticeable difference in performance. But it may make the cooler louder and the machine less stable. You can probably get some mild OC'ing out of that board if you stay away from increasing any voltages. Asus is a solid manufacturer. See how far you get with just raising the multiplier alone. Turn off Turbo first for best results.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Usually the 125w 8 cores , are the ones that are unstable on that setup , FX6300 at stock should be fine without BIOS adjustments.

 

[Herr_Koos]

Changing any of those settings will not make a noticeable difference in performance. But it may make the cooler louder and the machine less stable. You can probably get some mild OC'ing out of that board if you stay away from increasing any voltages. Asus is a solid manufacturer. See how far you get with just raising the multiplier alone. Turn off Turbo first for best results.

I suspected as much. I have taken some steps to improve my cooling (new thermal grease plus turning the TX3 through 90deg, which I didn't realize was possible until recently).

As a result, the CPU runs much cooler than it did before, and I am more confident about giving it a small multiplier bump.

Does C6 state or ACC make any difference when attempting an OC?

 

[Herr_Koos]

Usually the 125w 8 cores , are the ones that are unstable on that setup , FX6300 at stock should be fine without BIOS adjustments.

So I've been led to believe, yes. Thanks for the assurance.

 

[clutchc]

Changing any of those settings will not make a noticeable difference in performance. But it may make the cooler louder and the machine less stable. You can probably get some mild OC'ing out of that board if you stay away from increasing any voltages. Asus is a solid manufacturer. See how far you get with just raising the multiplier alone. Turn off Turbo first for best results.

I suspected as much. I have taken some steps to improve my cooling (new thermal grease plus turning the TX3 through 90deg, which I didn't realize was possible until recently).

As a result, the CPU runs much cooler than it did before, and I am more confident about giving it a small multiplier bump.

Does C6 state or ACC make any difference when attempting an OC?

It won't hurt to try it disabled. C6 is just a "deeper" sleep state than C3. I've never had an issue with it myself... either enabled or disabled.
ACC is Asus name for core unlocking in BIOS. You won't need to delve into that unless you want to disable cores for some reason. The FX-6300 has no disabled cores to unlock. ACC was popular back in the Athlon/Phenom and Athlon/Phenom II days. AMD would sell CPUs with one or more cores disabled either for marketing purposes or due to defective cores. ACC gave users the ability to try to use those cores.

 

[Herr_Koos]

Changing any of those settings will not make a noticeable difference in performance. But it may make the cooler louder and the machine less stable. You can probably get some mild OC'ing out of that board if you stay away from increasing any voltages. Asus is a solid manufacturer. See how far you get with just raising the multiplier alone. Turn off Turbo first for best results.

I suspected as much. I have taken some steps to improve my cooling (new thermal grease plus turning the TX3 through 90deg, which I didn't realize was possible until recently).

As a result, the CPU runs much cooler than it did before, and I am more confident about giving it a small multiplier bump.

Does C6 state or ACC make any difference when attempting an OC?

It won't hurt to try it disabled. C6 is just a "deeper" sleep state than C3. I've never had an issue with it myself... either enabled or disabled.
ACC is Asus name for core unlocking in BIOS. You won't need to delve into that unless you want to disable cores for some reason. The FX-6300 has no disabled cores to unlock. ACC was popular back in the Athlon/Phenom and Athlon/Phenom II days. AMD would sell CPUs with one or more cores disabled either for marketing purposes or due to defective cores. ACC gave users the ability to try to use those cores.

Well for this board, ACC actually has a number of settings. From the manual:

Advanced Clock Calibration [Disabled]
Adjusts the processor’s overclocking capability. When this item is set to [Auto], the BIOS automatically adjusts this function. When this item is set to [All Cores], the processor has the best overclocking performance. When this item is set to [Per Core] , the processor’s overclocking capability is enhanced. Configuration options: [Disabled] [Auto] [All Cores] [Per Core]

ACC also inclues this:
Unleashing Mode [Disabled]
Enable the Unleashing Mode to get full computing power of the processor. However, this might make your system unstable depending on your processor’s overclocking capability. Configuration options: [Enabled] [Disabled]

You can apparently even specify an overclock percentage for all cores or per individual core.

 

[clutchc]

It appears that Asus' ACC has been enhanced since I last used it. Give it a try in different modes. It might be helpful, or it might just be hype talk.

Here's an interesting video guide to basic OC'ing of the FX-6300 if you're interested. But he too ignores ACC in his OC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9uXysmgPi8

 

[Herr_Koos]

It appears that Asus' ACC has been enhanced since I last used it. Give it a try in different modes. It might be helpful, or it might just be hype talk.

Here's an interesting video guide to basic OC'ing of the FX-6300 if you're interested. But he too ignores ACC in his OC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9uXysmgPi8

Thanks. I've turned it on with everything else at stock, set it to All cores, +2%, and noticed zip so far. Will keep trying though.

 

[madmatt30]

The overclocking guides dont help much on an old amibios board like this.

There's nothing wrong with the vrm set, it's only 4 phase but those caps are good quality.
The sets not heatsinked though & tower coolers remove airflow over them.

You'll do 4ghz still no doubt at all -

Turbocore off
Multiplier 20
Try voltage at 1.36 or so (you can probably do less buts its not an unsafe figure)
Se llc to 33% (should pull 1.38v or under 100% load on all cores)

 

[Herr_Koos]

The overclocking guides dont help much on an old amibios board like this.

There's nothing wrong with the vrm set, it's only 4 phase but those caps are good quality.
The sets not heatsinked though & tower coolers remove airflow over them.

You'll do 4ghz still no doubt at all -

Turbocore off
Multiplier 20
Try voltage at 1.36 or so (you can probably do less buts its not an unsafe figure)
Se llc to 33% (should pull 1.38v or under 100% load on all cores)

Thanks, I'm aware of the VRM issue and will try and see what I can do about the airflow.

You bring up another interesting variable: LLC. I'm not 100% clear on what it does and what the effect of changing it will be. I'll give it a shot sometime.

The main thing that bothers me about the way the CPU performs, even at stock values and with very good temps, is when I for instance run Prime95 or Intel Burntest. I know that Turbo doesn't work if all 6 cores are fully loaded, but I would expect to see all cores at least pull at a steady 3.5GHz, maybe even 3.8, with fairly stable voltage. However, the frequency and voltage is all over the place. Looking at HWinfo64, the cores constantly fluctuate between 3.0 and 3.5Ghz, and voltage jumps between 1.2 and 1.288 per core. This happens right off the bat, so according to me VRM overheating is not to blame here.

Is this expected behaviour or is the board regulating the CPU too aggressively, as some folks have suggested? Is there anything I can do to fix this?

 

[madmatt30]

Its the board regulating stuff too aggressively & amd turbocore itself.

Essentially disable turbo core & c6 states - set your multiplier to 19 for 3800mhz (you will not have to touch any voltage settings) it will do that entirely at stock.
The standard vrm setup + the tx3 will handle that easily with no problems.

Boot to windows

Download & unzip this to desktop.

http://www68.zippyshare.com/v/28540088/file.html

My own upload so entirely safe.

Double click the off.bat file

This disabled p states under load at low level.

Run your prime test now & smile ;-)
This batch has to be run on every cold boot to do its job - or you can create a shortcut & place it in the windows startup directory to run auto on boot.

I'm at work so if you have any questions I'll reply when I can.

 

[Herr_Koos]

Its the board regulating stuff too aggressively & amd turbocore itself.

Essentially disable turbo core & c6 states - set your multiplier to 19 for 3800mhz (you will not have to touch any voltage settings) it will do that entirely at stock.
The standard vrm setup + the tx3 will handle that easily with no problems.

Boot to windows

Download & unzip this to desktop.

http://www68.zippyshare.com/v/28540088/file.html

My own upload so entirely safe.

Double click the off.bat file

This disabled p states under load at low level.

Run your prime test now & smile ;-)
This batch has to be run on every cold boot to do its job - or you can create a shortcut & place it in the windows startup directory to run auto on boot.

I'm at work so if you have any questions I'll reply when I can.

Fantastic! Thanks for the help. I will give it a shot when I have time. Should I leave Turbo and C6 off permanently? What about CnQ?

 

[madmatt30]

Just turbo & c6 mate , leave c&q enabled or it'll run at 3800mhz even at idle loads which is kind of pointless,& overinflates idle temps too.

 

[madmatt30]

Oh & windows power options - set to high performance if you haven't already.

 

[Herr_Koos]

Oh & windows power options - set to high performance if you haven't already.

Yes, already played with that. Made little real difference from what I could see.

Do I still fiddle with LLC? Not sure what the effect of the various settings are.

 

[madmatt30]

It'll make a difference once you disable turbo & run that tweaker batch file.

Llc is for fine tweaking voltages & getting the best overclock with the lowest possible voltage.
At 3.8ghz I wouldn't worry , & I honestly wouldn't push much more without some vrm cooling first

Looked at your other thread , I'm firmly in the airflow over vrm sinks camp mate personally, once you stick those sinks on with thermal pads which is the only way to do it the heat transferral is honestly not that great.

Ideally a downbloweing cooler is best, I use a raijintek Pallas on mine & managed 4.6ghz with vrm temps of 35c, I run daily at 4.3ghz , CPU temps 55c, vrm temps below 30c - under prime testing.
The Pallas is a blinding cooler for boards like this!

 

[madmatt30]

It'll make a difference once you disable turbo & run that tweaker batch file.

Llc is for fine tweaking voltages & getting the best overclock with the lowest possible voltage.
At 3.8ghz I wouldn't worry , & I honestly wouldn't push much more without some vrm cooling first

Looked at your other thread , I'm firmly in the airflow over vrm sinks camp mate personally, once you stick those sinks on with thermal pads which is the only way to do it the heat transferral is honestly not that great.

Ideally a downbloweing cooler is best, I use a raijintek Pallas on mine & managed 4.6ghz with vrm temps of 35c, I run daily at 4.3ghz , CPU temps 55c, vrm temps below 30c - under prime testing.
The Pallas is a blinding cooler for boards like this!

 

[Herr_Koos]

It'll make a difference once you disable turbo & run that tweaker batch file.

Llc is for fine tweaking voltages & getting the best overclock with the lowest possible voltage.
At 3.8ghz I wouldn't worry , & I honestly wouldn't push much more without some vrm cooling first

Looked at your other thread , I'm firmly in the airflow over vrm sinks camp mate personally, once you stick those sinks on with thermal pads which is the only way to do it the heat transferral is honestly not that great.

Ideally a downbloweing cooler is best, I use a raijintek Pallas on mine & managed 4.6ghz with vrm temps of 35c, I run daily at 4.3ghz , CPU temps 55c, vrm temps below 30c - under prime testing.
The Pallas is a blinding cooler for boards like this!

Two birds with one stone then!

I have a spare 80mm case fan lying around and thought about rigging it to blow down on the FET's. Would this be any good? I love the performance of my TX3 Evo and would not like to spend money on yet another cooler.

Thanks so much for the advice, it's really appreciated.

 

[madmatt30]

An 80mm fan if you can find a way to mount it flat facing the mosfets will drop temps immensely yes.

 

[Herr_Koos]

Worked a treat! Processor is steady at 3.8, and 3dMark Firestrike score is a good 2.5% better overall, and over 6% up on the CPU score. This will be a very good starting point for further tweaking.

Thank you so much!

 

[madmatt30]

Worked a treat! Processor is steady at 3.8, and 3dMark Firestrike score is a good 2.5% better overall, and over 6% up on the CPU score. This will be a very good starting point for further tweaking.

Thank you so much!

no problemo matey happy to help

add that off.bat file to startup & it will run on boot which is honestly what you want.

to do that

right click off.bat
select create shortcut
right click the shortcut it creates,select cut

open windows start menu/programs
right click the startup folder
itll open up a window
right click & paste into there

job done.

it wont make a massive difference with 3dmark as it only honestly uses a couple of cores,what it will absolutely do is minimise fps drops in games A LOT

turbo core was a good option in 2012 when the fx chips were designed & most apps/games were dual threaded at best & the remaining cores were mainly used by background processes.
thats a bygone era now though,there isnt much that doesnt use 4 threads minimum ( despite what people will tell you)

those clock & voltage drops created by the turbo feature cause absolute havoc with anything that uses more than 3 threads nowdays,& thats honestly one of the reasons that amd chips get a bad rap for gaming by the ignorant many.
buy an fx,disable turbocore,set yourself a decent little base clock boost - job done ,instant improvement in just about anything.

ever want help pushing things a little more you can always pm me mate no problem at all.

 

[Herr_Koos]

You've been extremely helpful, so thanks again.

Just as a final question; would you suggest sticking to 3.8 until I get some VRM cooling?

 

[madmatt30]

4ghz probly fine mate - may need a voltage or llc bump - may not - depends on the chip.

Try it at 20 multiplier , worst case you'll get a bios post fail or errors in prime.
No problem changing it back again.

Just use the Asus probe software that came with the board yo keep a check on board temps , they're good up to 60c but I'd be happier mid 40s max.

 

[Herr_Koos]

4ghz probly fine mate - may need a voltage or llc bump - may not - depends on the chip.

Try it at 20 multiplier , worst case you'll get a bios post fail or errors in prime.
No problem changing it back again.

Just use the Asus probe software that came with the board yo keep a check on board temps , they're good up to 60c but I'd be happier mid 40s max.

Noted, thanks. What are the values for LLC and in which direction do you change it?