Initial Overclocking on AMD 8350 and 500 Watt Power Supply
Initial Overclocking on AMD 8350 and 500 Watt Power Supply
Disable turbocore in bios – just turning that single option lowers voltage and temperatures significantly.
Turbocore is no longer useful these days; it will push cores up to 4.2 while reducing others to 3.2/3.4.
Pointless for modern multi-threaded games.
Run prime again, let me know how your CPU cores behave under load.
Use amd overdrive for better monitoring of core speeds, voltage, and thermal margins.
It’s the most accurate software available.
multi-threaded games... many games don't run well in multi-threaded mode, which is why most people still use a 4-core Intel CPU instead of an AMD one. I own an 8350 and it still works fine with turbo enabled for most titles. Yes, when Prime 95 runs all eight cores at once it can reduce temperatures, but only if you're actually using all cores simultaneously. It's better to keep the turbo core active and lower the VCORE slightly to check stability. This usually lowers CPU temps and voltage regulator chip temperatures, since most cores are set higher than needed for default settings.
Disable turbocore in bios – just this one setting cuts voltage and temps a lot. Turbocore is no longer useful these days; it’ll push cores up to 4.2 while lowering others to 3.2/3.4. Pointless for modern multi-threaded games. Run Prime again, let me know how your CPU cores behave under load. Use amd overdrive for better monitoring of core speeds, voltage and thermal margins. It’s the most accurate software available. Now that I’ve turned off Turbocore, I’m seeing fewer drops to 1.4GHz, though it remains common. My temp margin is still around 21°C.
Maxwellmelon - I regret this, but you're entirely mistaken.
I'm familiar with the time I've spent and the work I've put in.
If you apply voltage with turbo turned on, it won't start immediately.
And having turbo on an 8350 is completely pointless — a 200MHz boost on 2 cores while lowering the rest to 3200MHz? That's not worth it. You'd be much better off with 8 threads at 4GHz, even if only 4 are active.
Most games from the past two years, around a dozen, are quite multi-threaded now. The clock switching is harmful and leads to stuttering.
CinnamonBoy -
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B26I8uS...p=drivesdk
This comes from my Google Drive, the batch files are my own, so they're reliable.
Download the link, unzip it somewhere suitable.
Double-click the off.bat file and a black box will appear for a brief moment.
It disables APM at the low level — something you can't adjust in the BIOS settings on that board.
It prevents core frequency changes beyond 50% load.
Try the prime test again; the clocks should now be solid at 4GHz.
Maxwellmelon - I regret that, but your assessment is incorrect. I'm familiar with the board well, both in terms of experience and the modifications I've made. If you apply turbo with voltage, it won't start immediately. And having turbo on an 8350 is not very useful—getting a 200MHz boost on two cores while lowering the rest to 3200MHz isn't worth it. You'd be better off with 8 threads at 4GHz, even if only four are active.
In recent years, most games require heavy multithreading. The clock switching is harmful and causes stuttering.
CinnamonBoy -
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B26I8uS...p=drivesdk
This comes from my Google Drive, the batch files are mine, so they're reliable.
Download the link, unzip it somewhere suitable, and double-click the off.bat file. A temporary black box will appear briefly. This disables APM at a low level—something you can't adjust in the BIOS settings on that board. It stops core frequency changes once the load exceeds 50%.
Try the prime test again; the clocks should now be stable at around 4GHz. As you mentioned, I'm currently running at a solid 4.0GHz with no interruptions. Should I attempt overclocking or keep it as is?
I would leave it alone.
It should be nice that you're using a 125-140w 8 core on a $50 board with a $15 cooler, mate.
That 270 will cost you more in games than the CPU anyway.
By the way - that off.bat command only works once during a single boot, so if you turn off the PC or log off your profile, it needs to be run again.
You can right-click it, make a shortcut, and add it to the startup folder for automatic execution.