FX-8350 Overclocking Problems - Clueless on Problem

[Alec Lockhart]

Hello Everyone!

I have a small problem with overclocking with the FX-8350 on an Asus Sabertooth with a 990FX chipset. I have been trying the OC my CPU to 4.5GHz but with some unfortunate luck. I do have experience with overclocking and have done a lot with the FX-8350 but on an Asus M5A99X R2.0 instead. When I overclock I use the stock Vcore voltages with the default preset settings for my RAM running at 1866MHz (I think the voltages were set at about 1.65v). I have also made sure my timings are correct for the RAM, that my DIGI+ Power settings are correct, and that the power saving settings are all off and set correctly. When I try this setup, the system seems very stable and allows for a relatively long Prime95 test run. But unfortunately, this still does not prevent the lurking shark that is a BSOD. I have tried raising the Vcore voltages and made sure that all the settings correspond to the recommended overclocking settings for my CPU. The only other think that COULD be messing with my system that I could think of would be my GPU which I have also overclocked. The only reason why I say this is due to the black screen BSOD (as in Black Screen of Death) I got when my computer randomly fired up from sleep mode during the night. I have no idea why this is happening but it makes me very confused.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[ihog]

OCing tends to screw with sleep modes, at least for Intel. Check sleep state settings for the CPU in the bios.

What's the make and model of your power supply, and what graphics card are you using?

Keep in mind that your CPU might not be able to handle 4.5 GHz, even at any voltage. OCing is all based on luck.

Are your temps in line?

Are the BSODs random other than the sleep mode issue? Which reminds me, can you see if the sleep mode issue is consistent?

 

[Alec Lockhart]

OCing tends to screw with sleep modes, at least for Intel. Check sleep state settings for the CPU in the bios.

What's the make and model of your power supply, and what graphics card are you using?

Keep in mind that your CPU might not be able to handle 4.5 GHz, even at any voltage. OCing is all based on luck.

Are your temps in line?

Are the BSODs random other than the sleep mode issue? Which reminds me, can you see if the sleep mode issue is consistent?

My PSU is an 850 Watt Ultra X4, my main GPU is an MSI GTX 970 and my secondary GPU is a GTX 760 to run my 2nd monitor. The M5A99X motherboard was able to run the FX-8350 at 4.8GHz stable but I gave away that setup to one of my family members when they needed a new PC, so my current CPU is a completely new chip as well as the motherboard (which COULD be it but it is unlikely). For temps, my CPU never went above 60 degrees Celsius (a little hot) during the stress test, but those temps could be based on some of the BIOS setting I had set to increase system stability. For the BSODs, the only time my system crashed with the new settings was in sleep mode after several days of running at that clock (so I had it in sleep mode for all those nights which I would say was about 4). Other than that, the previous trials all ended in a BSOD on the log in screen, so this setup was the most stable.

Also, I would like to know if I should use CPU Phase Control, I have heard that is stabilizes the system further by allowing it access to more power. Is this a good thing to use?

 

[Alec Lockhart]

I might have found a solution but I CANNOT be sure, I just tried this and it might take a little testing to make sure. I have found that each time I try manually setting the default Vcore voltage and then saving, the system resets and the normal default settings come back instead of my chosen manual settings. SO, this requires me to leave all of the voltages except my DRAM alone and in the "auto" state. This might make sense too, because of me setting the Vcore voltages manually, the motherboard might be trying to set the voltages EXACTLY to my manually set ones and might become 'confused' and thus want to reset to normal default settings. While this does make sense to me, I am sure there are tons of different reasonable possibilities on why my motherboard / CPU hates OCing the recommended ways, maybe they are just rebels Ha ha!

Oh, and for the new test, I started at 4.3GHz instead of 4.5. I am really making this an uncontrolled experiment, but so far there has been no crashes or BSODs!

 

[ihog]

Did you reinstall Windows when you installed the new motherboard?

For CPU Phase Control, either set it to off or put it at the highest setting.

My other thought was that your weren't getting sufficient power, so I was going to suggest trying your original settings without the 760 installed.

 

[Alec Lockhart]

Did you reinstall Windows when you installed the new motherboard?

For CPU Phase Control, either set it to off or put it at the highest setting.

My other thought was that your weren't getting sufficient power, so I was going to suggest trying your original settings without the 760 installed.

I did not re-install Windows after I installed the new motherboard, would this be a good idea? Also, I wouldn't think that my 760 would be stealing power as I usually try to run it at minimum settings.

 

[ihog]

You pretty much should install Windows every time you get a new motherboard.

Your 760 may be drawing too much amperage on the 12V rail and taking away from power supplied to the CPU, but that's iffy.

 

[Alec Lockhart]

You pretty much should install Windows every time you get a new motherboard.

Your 760 may be drawing too much amperage on the 12V rail and taking away from power supplied to the CPU, but that's iffy.

Alright, that sounds probable, I will look into it more and see if I need to make an immediate change. Also, thanks for all your help, man! It was really nice of you to take time to help me out!

 

[Alec Lockhart]

Just one more question if you don't mind, do you think that it is a possibility that re-installing windows will fix my overclocking problems?

 

[ihog]

No problem, Alec.

I think that reinstalling Windows might fix the BSODs if they're related to issues caused by not reinstalling Windows after the mobo upgrade. Personally, I'd reinstall Windows either way.

 

[Alec Lockhart]

No problem, Alec.

I think that reinstalling Windows might fix the BSODs if they're related to issues caused by not reinstalling Windows after the mobo upgrade. Personally, I'd reinstall Windows either way.

Now that I look at it, the BSODs were SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION errors which does imply a software-side error. I have re-installed windows, successfully overclocked my CPU (starting at 4.4GHz) and I have tested the stability by running BF4 3 hours straight without any BSODs. In the beginning, I would have never guessed that it was windows that needed to be re-installed. Once again, thank you so much for the help, it really did fix the problem!

 

[ihog]

No problem, Alec! Best regards.