[SOLVED] is cpu overclocking and cpu ratio the same thing?

[Bag of Potatoes]

as mentioned in the title, im just confused coz people say a320 mobos dont support overclocking and meanwhile my a320 mobo have "cpu ratio" that can be played with. in cpu ratio if i put 42 that means my cpu clock will go 4.2ghz right? so is it the same as overclocking? it's an "emaxx a320 gaming" mobo. im pretty sure this one's a less known brand. also is 1.3V ok for overclocking or is it overkill? thanks

 

[Darkbreeze]

Making changes to the CPU ratio and voltage settings are the same as overclocking, underclocking or undervolting, depending on which way exactly you are making changes. So yes, it's overclocking. And you should not do it without making sure you are also doing the stability testing along the way to make sure the overclock is stable. Nobody can tell you what voltage, whether 1.3v or some other settings, is necessary for a stable overclock since every CPU behaves differently and every motherboard has an affect on things as well.

The main reason you should absolutely not overclock on an a320 motherboard whether it allows you to or not is because the A320 chipset boards come with very weak VRM/Power delivery configurations and it's likely you'll experience problems with VRM thermal throttling or even burn your motherboard out potentially. I would avoid it.

 

[drea.drechsler]

as mentioned in the title, im just confused coz people say a320 mobos dont support overclocking and meanwhile my a320 mobo have "cpu ratio" that can be played with. in cpu ratio if i put 42 that means my cpu clock will go 4.2ghz right? so is it the same as overclocking? it's an "emaxx a320 gaming" mobo. im pretty sure this one's a less known brand. also is 1.3V ok for overclocking or is it overkill? thanks

A320 chipset motherboards don't allow CPU overclocking. As I understand it, the BIOS for those boards often allow you to change CPU multipliers but it will have no effect on actual CPU clock speed nor performance.

I'm not sure about CPU Vcore voltage adjustment, but if you CAN change it with actual effect your best course would be to lowering it with offset adjustments. Test for stability as Dark recommends, of course, but under-volting like that helps the processor run cooler.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Pretty sure this is a Chinese manufacturer, who likely has no agreement with AMD or is not required to play by the same rules as the majority of partners. Or just doesn't care and has enabled ratio unlocking on their bios. It doesn't mean that it's a good idea or that the board itself is capable enough to handle the increased voltage required to make an increase in multiplier stable though. Honestly, never heard of emaxx, so I assume Chinese independent.