Beginner in Overclocking, seeking guidance on AMD8320E with ASRock 970 Pro3
Beginner in Overclocking, seeking guidance on AMD8320E with ASRock 970 Pro3
Hi Everyone,
I've been exploring recent discussions and gathered valuable insights from the forums. I'm reaching out to gather your thoughts and advice.
I'm new to overclocking but have grasped the fundamentals quickly. I've learned that for my motherboard setup and constraints, I should avoid excessive voltage increases and focus on maximizing the multiplier while maintaining stable temperatures.
I encountered some issues with random restarts and BSODs related to WHEA_Uncorrectable errors, which prompted me to look into BIOS settings and adjustments.
I reset my BIOS to the default and gradually boosted it to 3.9GHz with 1.25V. I kept the NB voltage steady at 1.25 and lowered my 1886MHz RAM to 1600.
I have a few questions about:
- Cooling performance
- Overclock voltage settings
- Temperature readings
My hardware setup includes:
- Kingston HyperX FURY Red Series - 16 GB (2 x 8 GB, DIMM 240-pin, DDR3, 1866 MHz)
- AMD Black Edition - AMD FX 8320E - 3.2 GHz, 8-core
- Be quiet! Dark Rock TF - Processor cooler, PWM Fan, 6 heatpipes
- Nitro Sapphire R9 380X 4GD - Graphics card, Radeon R9 380X, 4 GB
- Aerocool Strike-X Cube black MATX
- Be Quiet! POWER ZONE 750W ATX23 PSU
- ASRock 970M Pro3 970 Motherboard
My case includes:
- Case fan Shadow Wings 140mm, 1000rpm (top down intake, top exhaust)
- Case fan Silent Wings 3 140mm, 1000rpm (front intake)
- The case has one standard exhaust fan at the bottom.
Regarding cooling:
My motherboard suggests top-down CPU cooling. It's positioned horizontally in the middle of my case, with fans directing air downward onto the CPU. I've angled it slightly to help cool adjacent VRMS.
I placed the top fan as intake since it's directly above the heatsink with dual fans, avoiding the need for two opposing fans close together.
The manufacturer's recommendations seem valid (though I've adjusted them for my setup).
The maximum voltage I would use for an AMD CPU in this generation is 1.5v. I wouldn't worry about going down to 1.3-1.4 as long as temperatures stay manageable. Regarding temperatures, 20 minutes of Prime95 isn't much. I think you'd reach over 70°C within about an hour, which worries me since your cooler seems effective. What kind of thermal paste are you using and how did you apply it?
Hey Faktion,
I'm using DC1 Thermal paste from Be Quiet! It came with a spatula, so I spread it thinly and evenly across the chip before placing the heatsink and cooler.
I just read that adding a dot in the center might help reduce air bubbles?
I think the heat is mainly generated from the voltage, not the current. While I'm gaming and streaming, my temperatures are still around 66°C for the socket. The CPU reached 49°C and the motherboard was between 39-43°C.
I'm also curious if my fans are getting enough power. I have an external fan controller for four fans, but since they're not connected to the motherboard, I can't check their RPM.
My motherboard only supports three fans from it.
I also saw that when the system is stable, BIOS settings like cool n quiet, APM should be reset again to enable them. Is that correct too?
Thanks again!
I re-applied the thermal paste as a dot and have been running smoothly while gaming and streaming for the past weeks. However, my case still feels warm on the side from my graphics card, and the CPU temperature remains around 44 degrees most of the time. Should I re-enable the BIOS settings that were turned off during the O/C process, or should I keep them all disabled? Also, does connecting the fans through the motherboard make them faster than when they run directly from the PSU? My fan-controlled unit has three speeds, but it doesn’t display the RPM.