[SOLVED] is it safe? 24/7 with 20% O.C.

[Bobbrugge]

Hi guys,
I have reached the magical, to me anyway, 20% O.C.
I am running 4.7 Ghz on water. Temps at load are low 50's
Voltage is 1.475.
I game with it a few hours a day, stream t.v., screw around on the internet. So it is not at load but maybe 4 or 5 hours a day and not much more than 60% CPU usage.
So, it doesn't get hot, it isn't at it's max voltage, it isn't getting worked to death. Seems like it should be safe, but what do you guys say?
As soon as I get some new case fans, I intend to start folding@home which runs 75 to 80% load, for me anyway. Anything I should be concerned about cranked up that high?
FX 6350
16 GB 2133 RAM
1500W PSU
Radeon r9 270X
Same question for the GPU assuming I can figure out how to get it stable. How high can I SAFELY crank it for 24/7?
Thanks.

 

[eastonco]

Honestly, it is hard to tell you if it is handling it well. Every CPU die is slightly different from the next and no two are exactly the same. It's one of the unfortunate disadvantages to creating microscopic pieces in the CPU. The real way to test it is to put it through some stress testing but honestly I would start off much lower than that because temperature is not the only thing that can kill your CPU and void your warranty.

 

[DSzymborski]

The larger question, given that this is an FX chip, is what motherboard you have. The AM3+ platform is notorious for having a lot of cheap motherboards and in many situations in which you have a stable overclock, I'd expect the motherboard to be the longer-term question than the CPU.

 

[Bobbrugge]

The larger question, given that this is an FX chip, is what motherboard you have. The AM3+ platform is notorious for having a lot of cheap motherboards and in many situations in which you have a stable overclock, I'd expect the motherboard to be the longer-term question than the CPU.

MOBO is asus 970 Pro gaming / Aura. I know the VRM's are less than ideal, but they do have factory heat sinks on them. One of my radiator fans blows down on them and the exhaust fan is right there too, so hopefully they are staying cool enough. I tried to hit them with an infrared camera, but couldn't see any heat. Toying with the idea of reinstalling a 140mm fan to blow directly on them.
The socket doesn't see higher than 65C ish and can go to 72C ish.
So, am I good? Not Good? Razors edge?
Even after some stability testing, I was having weirdness Had to bump voltage up to 1.48xV with my LLC; HWInfo shows 1.512V to 1.52V under load.

 

[DSzymborski]

MOBO is asus 970 Pro gaming / Aura. I know the VRM's are less than ideal, but they do have factory heat sinks on them. One of my radiator fans blows down on them and the exhaust fan is right there too, so hopefully they are staying cool enough. I tried to hit them with an infrared camera, but couldn't see any heat. Toying with the idea of reinstalling a 140mm fan to blow directly on them.
The socket doesn't see higher than 65C ish and can go to 72C ish.
So, am I good? Not Good? Razors edge?
Even after some stability testing, I was having weirdness Had to bump voltage up to 1.48xV with my LLC; HWInfo shows 1.512V to 1.52V under load.

You don't have one of the 760G chipset ones, which was the biggest fear. We regularly see people doing stuff like overclocking the hell out of their FX-8350 on a Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 and then wondering why their motherboard died in six months.

Are you getting the temperatures from AMD Overdrive's thermal margin? It's really the only software you should be doing to monitor an AM3+ CPU; third-party software is notably inaccurate trying to read temperatures on those CPUs.

More air flowing on the board, if practical, is not a bad idea at all for long-term overclocking. But I'm much less worried with your motherboard, which has competent VRMs in a 7+1 config. A FX-9590 could theoretically work in your motherboard, though definitely don't take that as a suggestion as I wouldn't recommend that particular CPU on my worst enemy!

 

[Bobbrugge]

You don't have one of the 760G chipset ones, which was the biggest fear. We regularly see people doing stuff like overclocking the hell out of their FX-8350 on a Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 and then wondering why their motherboard died in six months.

Are you getting the temperatures from AMD Overdrive's thermal margin? It's really the only software you should be doing to monitor an AM3+ CPU; third-party software is notably inaccurate trying to read temperatures on those CPUs.

More air flowing on the board, if practical, is not a bad idea at all for long-term overclocking. But I'm much less worried with your motherboard, which has competent VRMs in a 7+1 config. A FX-9590 could theoretically work in your motherboard, though definitely don't take that as a suggestion as I wouldn't recommend that particular CPU on my worst enemy!

Sweet! So if I understand, the O.C. is probably safe, the air blowing on the VRM's is a good idea but not necessary, and all is good to go.
Is that right?
Can you please explain what a 7+1 config is and how it is beneficial?

 

[CountMike]

Sweet! So if I understand, the O.C. is probably safe, the air blowing on the VRM's is a good idea but not necessary, and all is good to go.
Is that right?
Can you please explain what a 7+1 config is and how it is beneficial?

7+1 in context with VRM means that it has 7 stages(chips) for Voltage and power regulation for CPU and PCI and 1 for RAM.
Poor MBs have 3 -4 of those +1