AMD FX-8350 bios settings advice

[Nils Berlijn]

Hello!

I am a bit confused about my bios settings for the AMD FX-8350 processor.
Since a few days I have this processor in my PC.
But I am still struggling with the bios settings to optimize this processor for games.

PC specifications:
MB: ASRock Extreme3 870 R2.0
CPU: AMD FX-8350
CPU-COOLER: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 EVO
CPU-COMPOUND: Arctic Cooling MX-4 Thermal Compound
GPU: ASUS R9 280X-DC2T (3GB DDR5)
DDR: Kingston KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX (2x 4GB ) PC3-12800 (DDR3-1600)
SSD: OCZ Agility 3 60GB
HD: Western Digital Blue WD10EZEX, 1TB
PSU: Corsair GS800 "2013"

I don't have plans to Overclock because I have just an CM-TX3-EVO Cooler and I am afraid that my CPU will burn than, I guess this processor is fast enough by it's own.
But it will be fine if I get the maximum out of this processor to start by setting the right bios settings.
I hope you guys can give me some advice wich options I shall Enable or Disable.

For example:
Overclock Mode (Auto)
Spread Spectrum (Auto)
CPU Active Core Control (Disabled)
AMD Turbo Core Technology (Auto)
AMD Application Power Management (Auto)

Multiplier/Voltage Change (Auto)
HT Bus Speed (Auto)
HT Bus Width (16 bit)

DRAM Frequency (Auto, DDR-1333)

DRAM Voltage (Auto, 1.653V)
CPU Load-Line Calibration (Auto)
NB Voltage (Auto, 1.145V)
HT Voltage (Auto, 1.20V)
CPU VDDA Voltage (Auto, 2.56V)
PCIE VDDA Voltage (Auto, 1.81V)
SB Core Voltage (Auto, 1.10V)

I researching al ready for day's, but I am really lost now.
For now I was thinking to Disable, Spread Spectrum, AMD Application Power Management, Cool 'n' Quiet, Secure Virtual Machine, Enhanced Halt Sate(C1E), Core C6 State, CPU Thermal Throttle, Aggressive Link Power Management

And set the DRAM Frequency to DDR-1600, because the modules are 1600 XMP or something.

If someone can give me some nice advice, that would be great!
Thank you in advance!

I made also some pictures of the different Bios options:

 

[clutchc]

If you aren't O/C'ing, Id leave everything at default settings. But yes, change the memory to the sticks' 1600MHZ.
Don't change anything else in BIOS unless you know what you are doing and what each parameter affects. There is nothing to really change anyway if you aren't an O/Cer. Did you remember to set your SATA mode to AHCI instead of IDE when you installed Windows (7?)?

To get the most out of your SSD, be sure to follow these guidelines: http://www.computing.net/howtos/show/solid-state-drive-ssd-tweaks-for-windows-7/552.html

 

[Nils Berlijn]

Thank you for your reply!

I know how AHCI works, and Windows is installed in AHCI modes yes.
For the SSD I did all the tweaks al ready.
But that article is very usefull!

Currently my system runs on Windows 7 64 Bit.
But when I got my hardware stable I want to install Windows 8.1.
Than I will remove the current 2x 250 GB disks and put the 1 TB disk in for games and data.

About the bios settings. I know in general where all the options are for.
But with my previous processor (AMD Phenom II X2 555 3.2 GHZ) unlocked and overclocked to AMD Phenom II X4 B55 3.8 GHZ. I disabled all the power saving features.

I was thinking to set these bios settings for my setup (disabling all the power saving featueres, to get the maximum performance?). And is it general to put Spread Spectrum on disabled? I also heard that it's better to turn the AMD Turbo Core Technology and AMD Application Power Management on Disabled, is that true? (Because the Turbo never works correctly, and APM is saving power what means lesser perfomance?)

• 
  OC Tweaker
  ■ Spread Spectrum Disabled
  ■ CPU Active Core Control Disabled
  ■ AMD Turbo Core Technology Disabled
  ■ AMD Application Power Management Disabled
  ■ DRAM Frequency DDR3-1600

• 
  CPU Configuration
  ■ Cool ‘n’ Quiet Disabled
  ■ Secure Virtual Machine Disabled
  ■ Enhanced Halt State(C1E) Disabled
  ■ Core C6 State Disabled
  ■ CPU Thermal Throttle Disabled

• 
  Storage Configuration
  ■ SATA Controller Enabled
  ■ SATA Mode AHCI Mode
  ■ AMD AHCI Bios Rom Disabled
  ■ SATA IDE Combined Mode Disabled
  ■ Aggressive Link Power Management Disabled
  ■ Hard Disk S.M.A.R.T Disabled