Here is some advice for doing a small overclock.
Here is some advice for doing a small overclock.
I am using an old FX 8350 processor with a 970A-UD3P motherboard card. I have a Corsair H70 cooler, and even though my GPU is an RX 560 that I never tried to speed up, I am going to upgrade it to an RX 580. I don't play modern games much, but there is a real problem where the new graphics card gets too slow for the old CPU. If I overclock the processor just a little bit to fix this bottleneck, everything will work better.
Since you are learning how to overclock, I think it would be safe to try pushing the speed up to around 4.5 if possible, maybe just a tiny bit less because stability is important. I am not going to try to overheat or stress test too hard right now; there isn't really any need for that.
I have watched a lot of videos and read about this stuff before, but I'm still confused. From what I know, you can overclock using AMD Overdrive from the BIOS, or by manually changing the multiplier in your settings. Which one should I use? In my BIOS, I have set the CPU multiplier to 20, so I guess it needs to go up to about 22 or even 24 depending on how stable it gets.
I think you will also need to increase the VCore voltage too. I see numbers like 1.44 floating around online for this chip and board, but I don't know how high that really is just yet. I think we have to stress test things using Prime95 or run benchmarks after changing the multiplier to make sure everything runs cool and fast.
Also, do I need to change any other settings in the BIOS? I am not sure if Cool & Quiet or C6 are even real options for my setup. If I can get to 4.4 voltage without problems, that would be great. Thanks anyway for any advice you can give me!
Ok. So, it's good that you are getting better thermals now, but I'm going to be honest with you. You need a better cooler. That cooler is designed to be a replacement for a stock cooler, giving an entry level user an "in" to using AIO cooling, and for aesthetic reasons. It's not a capable cooler at all. Most entry level 120mm air coolers can do as well as that cooler. So, that is something to think about. For overclocking you CAN get by with a 120mm air cooler on FX platforms, but a decent single tower 140mm cooler is a much better idea, at minimum. Or at least a 240mm AIO. But there's no reason to not see what you can achieve with what you have for now. Also, I wanted to show you this. This is my motherboard recommendation list for...
Look at the heat coming out of your CPU and VRM, check where you're safe, don't try to squeeze too much out of Prime because that's not built in. Just leave it alone and let the stock settings do their thing; using your computer normally is fine for now.
Before you try to boost your FX-8350 processor, do a stress test on the stock speed using AIDA64. Take a photo of your computer at the 10-minute mark and send those results here too. Also download HWINFO64 and put both programs right next to each other on your desk. Run the stress test in Aida64 through the tools menu for ten minutes while you watch the temperatures and voltage levels. If you have enough room (headroom) for a moderate boost, that's good news. When I get all those details from you, I can tell you what BIOS settings to change. Don't use third-party programs to overclock it. Programs like "Cool and Quiet" or "C-states" are meant to save power and might ruin your nice high-speed performance. You could turn them off now while overclocking, but you could turn them back on later if you need more saving features.
Do not use AMD overdrive when trying to set your overclock. ALWAYS set it in the BIOS instead. Any other way is likely asking for problems most of the time. This guide from Jayz2cents, even though I don't love that guy much, uses an ASUS board but most settings will be similar on your Gigabyte card too. If you run into trouble or need more info, there are tons of guides online to help you get started, like this one, but check a few others if you want to learn more. https://www. And for testing heat and stability, which takes the most time, my guide can help you with that. CPU overclocking guide and tutorial for beginners If you found your way here, you probably need basic help or are a pro looking to see if I have any cool insights that you missed. Rest assured, I don't. This site is just... forums. My advice would be to keep C states enabled. Leave Cool N Quiet turned on too. In the Windows power options, go through change plan settings to get to advanced settings for your current power plan, and then switch it to "Performance." Then go to Processor power management and set Minimum Power to 8% while leaving Maximum at 100%. Make sure to save those changes before you exit. For a 4.5GHz speed, set Multi to 22.5 and you will probably need about 1.35-1.36 volts for stability, but you MUST do this slowly. Just saying "ok, 4.5 and X voltage" often fails badly. You should start at a safe point and work your way up. If you have experience, quick and dirty overclocking might give better results by just using tricks, but there is still a reason to follow the proper process even if it's tricky.
Why? Mine worked fine at 4.8GHz and 1.5v right on the same board but with a better cooler (CM Nepton 140XL). The actual temperatures will show me everything I need to know. When you push it hard, OC is pretty clear. The best way to go is AMD Overdrive. I might add one thing: just do it slowly and check what temperature hits zero in the AOD mode.
So yours worked, which means every single one will work too, since they are all basically identical with no special differences like specific parts from the factory, different amounts of RAM, old or new motherboards, coolers, air flow inside cases, power supply strength, Windows version, or anything else. Right? And we just assume things stay stable if they don't get too hot? That's bad advice to give anyone. You should know as well as any other experienced person here or on ANY trusted tech site that if you are going to overclock, no matter whether it is a CPU, RAM, or graphics card, you must also be ready to put in the work needed to make sure it stays stable and won't get too hot, or else don't bother wasting your time trying to set it up.
Even if you count the "silicone lottery," 4.4GHz is not pushing hard at all. It's a mild overclock for the second generation FX chipsets. Maybe it can actually run with less than 1.4 volts. The VRM handles power well enough. After all, the extra boost only adds 200MHz, which could be safely managed even on an OEM cooler.
That's what happened ten minutes later. Thanks so much, and I'm very grateful for your help.