Reducing voltage decreases clock speed. Please assist!
Reducing voltage decreases clock speed. Please assist!
So I have an unstable OC running at 4.1mhz with 1.4375 volts. It keeps restarting when there’s too much activity. I increased the voltage, but if it goes above 1.4375, the clock drops to 3.1mhz and I don’t think the temperatures are right. AMD Overdrive claims a 35-degree thermal margin at that point, which disappears as soon as I raise the voltage again.
My question: Why is this happening? I’m not sure if I can get a stable overclock without pushing the voltage higher. I also set the NVID to 1.1938. Could you help me? Is it possible because my RAM is DDR3 and my APU uses DDR4 memory?
More info: I’m using the stock cooler, but it never drops below 15°C thermal margin under load. Also during gaming, it stays above 25°C.
PC SPECS -
CPU - AMD A8 5600k
GPU - EVGA GTX 750 1gb
RAM - 6gb DDR3 1333
MOBO - BIOSTAR A55ML2 (fm2+ port, I think)
Your APU uses DDR3 and you're very confident you're not experiencing thermal throttling. However, because the programs reading from the temperature probes might be slow, the temperatures could rise faster than the programs can handle. As someone new to overclocking, it's possible but unlikely—based on the images below, the temperatures consistently stay above 35°C during this phase. It seems my voltage adjustments immediately bring everything back to 3.1MHz.
*Settings and Temperatures BEFORE adjusting the voltage
*Settings and Temperatures AFTER adjusting the voltage*
Looking at the data, nothing indicates throttling. This overclock isn't stable, likely because raising the voltage forces the clocks to jump instantly to 3.1MHz. I've experienced random restarts and crashes with these settings.
Could the power supply be faulty? It doesn’t seem to be a reputable brand—I only recall it starting with "Sy" and being around 400W.
Also I wasn't able to locate a stable clock at 4.0 mhz and the boost on this APU is 3.9 mhz, so I thought I should be fine getting 4.0 to 4.1 mhz with a stock cooler, though I'm not sure. Also, I didn't adjust any RAM timings, but I have two mismatched chips—one 4GB 1333 and another 2GB 1333 from different brands. I don't know if my RAM is contributing to any problems.
It might be the PSU, RAM, or the MOBO that's causing the issue, to be honest. Start with a simple test: remove the 2 GB RAM modules and leave only the 4 GB in. If that doesn't work, swap the 4 GB out for the 2 GB modules and see if it improves. I'm not familiar with Biostar motherboards, but from what I've heard over time, they aren't a reliable choice. They can lead to problems with voltage and power regulation, which might cause unstable overclocks.
It might be the PSU, RAM, or MOBO that is responsible for the issue, honestly. Start with a simple test: remove the 2 GB RAM modules and leave only the 4 GB ones. If that doesn’t work, swap the 4 GB out for the 2 GB and see if it improves.
I’m not very familiar with Biostar motherboards, but from what I’ve read over time, they aren’t a reliable choice. They can cause problems with voltage and power regulation, leading to unstable overclocks. Thanks for your help!
More details: I bought this PC about 3-4 years ago. It was essentially a cheap build from eBay, advertised as more capable than it was. I spent around $200 on it and my PSU brand—hard to recall its name, but I think it was on the blacklist for PSUs. If you know of any PSU brands starting with "Sy," let me know. About two years after purchase, the PSU started making loud grinding noises. It might have been fan bearing failure, or maybe it was just a noise at the back of the PC. I tried to press the back top to silence it, but it still happened.
The PC couldn’t run light games smoothly even at medium settings when I first bought it. So I upgraded to the GTX 750 1GB and AMD A8 5600K. It’s been working well so far. I’m saving up for a new PC and plan to use this one for about a month before replacing it.
Last night I lowered the clock from 4.1 to 4.0 with a voltage of 1.4375 and a 1.2000 north bridge. So far, I’ve done everything that caused crashes or instability, but it hasn’t failed yet. I ran a one-hour stability test with AMD Overdrive, and since the stock cooler is working, it throttled down to about 15°C thermal margin—dropping from 3.9997 MHz to 1.3 MHz. That’s clearly a thermal issue at full load.
But usually, I’m only using around 72% load, which keeps my thermal margin above 25°C. So this new clock seems the most stable for now until I get my new PC.
Performance gains aren’t huge with this new clock. I still get random freezing in Fortnite at medium settings, so I lowered the graphics. But with the 4.1 clock and same voltage, I didn’t freeze and could raise the graphics. That small clock change seems to be the main factor affecting performance.
I noticed that when I increased the north bridge voltage above 1.2000, it never reached my target. Maybe the motherboard can’t handle higher targets needed for stable 4.1 operation.
I’ve seen people get it up to 4.5 with lower voltage, but they probably have better options. I can’t even change the NB Core clock in BIOS—it’s grayed out in AMD Overdrive. I can only adjust the multiplier, voltage, and NB voltage.
I recently tested my RAM, and both sticks booted up fine. However, their timings in BIOS are different—frequencies match but speeds vary. That could be another issue or a combination of factors.
But I’m still running at 4.0 OC (3.9 on this APU is its Boost, so 4.1 should be fine) with the same voltage. If I keep it, I won’t see the performance boost I need. Maybe around 10% improvement, but the 4.1 clock was at least 50% better.
Well the CPU you have and I’ll try to be polite... It’s not really good.
If you don’t have a GPU, it’s fine. But once you add a GPU card, your built-in graphics become almost useless and you’re left with just a weak CPU.
Think about this next time you buy a computer.
If you bring your PSU, motherboard, and RAM together, it’s likely that’s why you can’t overclock as much as you’d like. Also remember the silicon lottery—it might just be bad luck, and you won’t reach 4.5 GHz no matter what you try.