AMD A8 7600 Kaveri overclocking method / worth it?

[Lenovo_138780]

Hello community,

I've searched a number of threads and haven't been able to pin down whether/how I should OC my Lenovo H50-55 PC, model 90BG001LUS.

Here are the specs:
Windows 8.1 x64
8 GB DDR3
AMD A8 7600 Kaveri w/ Radeon R7
3.1 GHz (3.7 or 4.1 Turbo?)
PCI-Express motherboard

Thus far I've tried:

-Downloading AMD Overdrive and looking up Youtube videos, but none are conclusive...

My goal is just to get a little more out of my APU without having to buy a cooling fan, etc. I play mid-level games and would be great to have a little graphics boost with better FPS.

I'm not experienced enough to experiment manually with voltages, etc. On the AMD Overdrive the "auto overlock" option does not work.

I realize using the BIOS would be best to OC, which I'm willing to do just need a step-by-step walkthrough.

I appreciate any/all advice & thanks!

 

[datguy20]

You might be limited in overclocking, depending on the motherboard. That said, here's a general guide to Kaveri http://www.hardcoreware.net/kaveri-7850k-overclocked-benchmarks/ While not the exact chip, it might help guide you in the right direction.

Sorry I can't help much. I've overclocked both AMD FX CPU's and Intel i5/i7's, but never an AMD APU.

 

[BrADASS]

The A8 7600 is a locked card and can't be overclocked. AMDs overclockable cards are designated with a 'k' at the end. The A8 card required for overclocking is the 7650k.

 

[DarkNight15X]

The AMD A8-7600 CAN be overclocked by changing the BCLK, I have overclocked Mine to 4064MHz (4.0GHZ) and Ram running at 2080MHz, I was not able to get it passed 4.1GHz as it boots but freezes half way through windows start up.

Amd A8-7600 at 4064MHz (4.0GHz) @ 1.334V, Turbo-Boost is disabled as it causes the voltage to go up to 1.5V and causes the temps to hit 100C+ in the bios. im using a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo and temps sit at 35C Idle and under load about 58-62C under load. cpu stable

 

[JCLDJB]

Only attempt overclocking the BCLK if you know what you're doing.
What is the Mhz of the RAM you got?

The way I see it, you have 2 options (with the latter being FREE)

1.)
The quickest & easiest way to boost the iGPU (R7 graphics) would be to up the RAM frequency, as the VRAM used for the APU is taken from your RAM.
I.E. RAM at 1866Mhz instead of 1600Mhz will boost your performance & FPS slightly.
2133Mhz will work wonders froma 1600Mhz original set-up.

2.)
Also, I have the A8-7650k and in the Bios I have enabled (Dual Graphics), now I do not have a 2nd GPU, but this enables me to change the Gb of RAM used for the APU from 1Gb to 2Gb - doubling the VRAM capacity & GREATLY INCREASING GAMING PERFORMANCE.
Check in your Bios if this can be done, this won't cost you a thing, only taking 1Gb more from your RAM, leaving 6Gb for Windows System & the game you're playing.


I highly recommend you try option 2, go into the Bios settings, take some pictures of what you see so I can provide a step-by-step approach to see if it is possible.

Happy gaming!

 

[Lenovo_138780]

The AMD A8-7600 CAN be overclocked by changing the BCLK, I have overclocked Mine to 4064MHz (4.0GHZ) and Ram running at 2080MHz, I was not able to get it passed 4.1GHz as it boots but freezes half way through windows start up.

Amd A8-7600 at 4064MHz (4.0GHz) @ 1.334V, Turbo-Boost is disabled as it causes the voltage to go up to 1.5V and causes the temps to hit 100C+ in the bios. im using a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo and temps sit at 35C Idle and under load about 58-62C under load. cpu stable

Only attempt overclocking the BCLK if you know what you're doing.
What is the Mhz of the RAM you got?

I have 1600 MHz. I looked into upgrading and my motherboard only supports up to 1866 MHz... not worth the 1 or 2 FPS in my opinion.

The way I see it, you have 2 options (with the latter being FREE)

1.)
The quickest & easiest way to boost the iGPU (R7 graphics) would be to up the RAM frequency, as the VRAM used for the APU is taken from your RAM.
I.E. RAM at 1866Mhz instead of 1600Mhz will boost your performance & FPS slightly.
2133Mhz will work wonders froma 1600Mhz original set-up.

**thanks, looked into it. but cannot go above 1866.

2.)
Also, I have the A8-7650k and in the Bios I have enabled (Dual Graphics), now I do not have a 2nd GPU, but this enables me to change the Gb of RAM used for the APU from 1Gb to 2Gb - doubling the VRAM capacity & GREATLY INCREASING GAMING PERFORMANCE.
Check in your Bios if this can be done, this won't cost you a thing, only taking 1Gb more from your RAM, leaving 6Gb for Windows System & the game you're playing.

**I don't see any BIOS settings for "dual graphics" options. Maybe I should upgrade the BIOS? I did upgrade it once after purchase a year ago.

I highly recommend you try option 2, go into the Bios settings, take some pictures of what you see so I can provide a step-by-step approach to see if it is possible.

Happy gaming!

 

[JCLDJB]

Yes, try to upgrade it & download the digital manual from the manufacturer's official website.

1 year is way too long to wait for BIOS upgrades... if it's a decent manufacturer, they should release 1-2 per months, if not more/less.

Which motherboard do you have?

Make/Model?

I've got MSI, & their BIOS is really good, the option comes under the main Settings TAB on the upper left, just above the overclocking TAB, I then select GPU (I think..) and as soon as I enable Dual Graphics, a new TAB appears (which wasn't visible or amendable before), giving me the option to go from 1Gb to 2Gb.

It would also only be available if your motherboard supports Dual Graphics, which I believe many do, but certainly not all (community, correct me if I'm wrong please).

So please confirm the Motherboard make/model, I will research it for you & try to help.

Also is it only 1 stick of 8Gb RAM or 2?

This makes MASSIVE difference - i.e. 1x8Gb VS 2x4Gb = the 2x4Gb will greatly improve the APU performance and be way better than a single stick.

Finally, what is the Mhz frequency of your RAM? Anything lower than 1600Mhz is not the best.

**WARNING** Don't really try overclocking the BCLK unless you know what you're doing, this increases everything including the RAM voltagef, and if 1 component doesn't support it, or the motherboard is cheap... you will risk frying something.

Waiting for Motherboard make/model.

 

[Lenovo_138780]

Yes, try to upgrade it & download the digital manual from the manufacturer's official website.
Thanks, I'll try.

1 year is way too long to wait for BIOS upgrades... if it's a decent manufacturer, they should release 1-2 per months, if not more/less.

Which motherboard do you have? I have the Bantry CRB Lenovo motherboard. 31900058 STD. PCI-Express. according to CPU-Z.

Make/Model?

I've got MSI, & their BIOS is really good, the option comes under the main Settings TAB on the upper left, just above the overclocking TAB, I then select GPU (I think..) and as soon as I enable Dual Graphics, a new TAB appears (which wasn't visible or amendable before), giving me the option to go from 1Gb to 2Gb.

It would also only be available if your motherboard supports Dual Graphics, which I believe many do, but certainly not all (community, correct me if I'm wrong please).
I'm pretty sure mine does not...

So please confirm the Motherboard make/model, I will research it for you & try to help.

Also is it only 1 stick of 8Gb RAM or 2?
I have 1 stick of 8GB. I explored the 4x2 option, but if i can't go above 1866MHz, I don't see the point.

This makes MASSIVE difference - i.e. 1x8Gb VS 2x4Gb = the 2x4Gb will greatly improve the APU performance and be way better than a single stick.

Finally, what is the Mhz frequency of your RAM? Anything lower than 1600Mhz is not the best.

I have 1600 MHz 8GB 1 stick.

**WARNING** Don't really try overclocking the BCLK unless you know what you're doing, this increases everything including the RAM voltagef, and if 1 component doesn't support it, or the motherboard is cheap... you will risk frying something.

thank you, I take heed.

Waiting for Motherboard make/model.

 

[JCLDJB]

I haven't researched the motherboard's specs yet but I can tell you now what you can do immediately to improve performance.

Get a 2nd stick of RAM and use Dual Channel.

Think of it this way, a normal PC with dedicated GPU has 2 types of RAM, the GPU VRAM and the CPU's main RAM.
Because both the CPU and the iGPU on your AMD motherboard are trying to access that 1 stick of 8Gb of RAM, you basically halve your performance.

Think of a bridge with only 1 lane, and your CPU/iGPU each have a car, to stay true to the analogy, create another bridge so the cars can get accross independantly of each other.

I had the same thing with my build, talking from experience, my PC came with 1 stick of RAM.
And it sucked sooo bad, the performance was nothing like the benchmarks or clips I had seen for this spec.

I bought a 2nd stick DIRECTLY from the manufacturer, to ensure it was identical to the first (has to be if not they won't work together), and I immediately saw a performance boost, not that the PC needed more than 4-6Gb to run, but the fact you had 2 channels to run data through.

That is your bottleneck.

Worry about frequencies later, do this first, a 2nd stick of indentical 8Gb RAM shouldn't be any more than £30-£40 if it's standard RAM, and you will notice a difference immediately!

Trust me on this - I am sure many other can back me up, even check other review sites, no benchmark I've seen tests this CPU with 1 stick, they always have Dual Channel.

Let me know how you get on.