What leads the clock to stop?
What leads the clock to stop?
OC is adjusted to 3.60 GHz from the 3.30 GHz base (it fluctuates between 3.5 GHz and 3.57 GHz – typical?). The clock checks every ~40 seconds for about 15 seconds. At around 63°C it drops to 1.37 GHz. Is the device throttling at that temperature or is there another issue? The BIOS settings are default except for the CPU multiplier.
Wow, that's quite a bit. I don't think many factors influence the CPU much.
I can't give you any details about the case—it's completely random. I only opened it because there was one exhaust fan. The PSU is 500W, MODECOM premium 500, a cheap local brand. I can't check the RAM right now; all I know is it's 2x4GB at 1600 MHz (DDR3). The GPU is a Palit 750 Ti if that matters.
It's best not to push things beyond the standard setup without issues. You're likely in good shape with the default configuration, but adding an overclock will make it much more critical. A reliable power supply is essential for any device beyond simple internet use, especially when pushing performance limits on components like the CPU, graphics card, or RAM. The memory you have should handle the 1600MHz requirement, though some high-end platforms struggled with speeds above 1866MHz or faced difficulties running multiple DIMMs due to weak memory controllers. What kind of CPU cooler are you using?
Yeah, that's the stock cooler then. My suggestion would be to stop. The stock coolers on the FX processors aren't ideal for overclocking. If you're aiming to boost performance, it's strongly advised to use something like the 212 EVO or Gammaxx 400. These models typically cost around 20-30 dollars and can be adapted to newer systems later if needed.
However, the main point remains clear: unless this is just for fun or hobby purposes, it's likely a waste of time. The gains from moving from the stock setup to a higher frequency aren't significant enough to justify the investment—unless you're forced to replace the cooler or plan an upgrade later. Considering the hardware's age, it's almost certain that overclocking will only shorten its lifespan, especially since this board wasn't designed for such tasks and already has limited heatsink coverage on the VRMs.
I owned both an FX4100 and an FX6300 with six cores, so I’m sure 3.6Ghz is a fairly mild overclock. Even with the stock cooler, it should function adequately, though I’d push it to a higher setting when possible. The bigger issue seems to be the VRM overheating. If your case lacks proper airflow and doesn’t allow sufficient cooling around the FETs—which don’t have heatsinks—they’ll overheat and slow down. I tried a similar Asus board with the 6300, but it kept throttling until I added glue-on heatsinks and a fan. Once I increased the overclock to about 4.4–4.5Ghz, it resumed normal performance.
I can see VRM overheating. This is a
really
low-end board. As Drea probably also knows since he's been around for a long time, we get a lot of people who aren't able to even get a 125W running at stock on that board. The good news is that this is one of the 95W CPUs, but there's just not that much performance to wring out of this platform. These Bulldozer CPUs were so underwhelming compared to Intel CPUs at the time and AMD's own previous Phenom II series that they completely killed off AM3+ after the Piledriver CPUs so that they could switch gears entirely in the hope that the Zen microarchitecture would save their bacon. And it did.