Issues with my AMD A10 7870k

[Daniel Thomas]

I seem to be having an issue where I get a blue screen message asking me to "reinstall windows" when I overclock my ram from 2133mhz to 2400mhz. Now let me explain, I know my mobo can handle 2400mhz because its stated on the box, and on the website I bought it from, as well as it being listed in the BIOS itself. I have Kingston Hyperx fury 2X4 8GB ram in dual channel with out the box clocks at 1866mhz, my motherboard is a Gigabyte A88XM-D3H, and I am using an AMD A10 7870K as well. I manage to clock the ram from 1866mhz to 2133mhz, but the only way I am able to get it stable is if I set the voltage to 1.6V, and if I go up to 2400mhz, then I get crashes that send me to a blue screen, and sometimes the system won't boot at all.

I've read about plenty of people managing to clock this exact same ram to 2400mhz and even a little higher, but for some reason when I try to do it just doesn't seem to want to work. I've tried adjusting the voltage again to 1.65V, adjusting the timings (unfortunately I'm not that knowledgeable of timings to really understand what I'm doing here, but I get the jist of it), as well as messing with the North Bridge clock speeds. Now here is the weird thing about the North Bridge, I understand that it is suppose to be 3x the frequency of my RAM's clock speeds, but when I set the NB anywhere past 2100mhz the system crashes. Which is quiet odd because my manual clearly states that it supports up to 6000mhz OC for the North Bridge, so I'm not understanding this part. Your true clock speed is suppose be calculated as half the RAM's base which in my case is 1866/2=933, so in theory my NB OC speed should be 2799mhz, but like I said it will just crash.

With that being said, the whole point is that since I'm relying solely on the APU, for now, I don't have a dedicated GPU in my system, so I really need to advantage off as much power as I can squeeze out of this system, meaning fast RAM speeds, or anything and I know I can get more but it just won't budge for me. Also, I have updated the BIOS and everything, so could someone be kind enough to help resolve my issue?

 

[brispuss]

To have successful overclock of the memory to 2400 MHz, the APU will probably have to be overclocked a bit as well. The APU officially supports up to 2133 MHz memory.

Suggest start from scratch by clearing CMOS.

Start computer and run CPU-Z or HWiNFO program to determine DIMM's SPD settings. Note DRAM voltage and timings for 2400 MHz (1200 MHz as shown in CPU-Z or HWiNFO), and whether there is an accompanying XMP or AMP designation as well.

If there is a XMP or AMP designation for 2400 MHz DIMM operation, then in BIOS set either the XMP or AMP for 2400 MHz DIMM.

If there isn't an entry of XMP or AMP in the DIMM's SPD at 2400 MHz, then in BIOS set DRAM frequency, voltage, and timings as per details noted when running CPU-Z or HWiNFO.

In BIOS, increase APU frequency multiplier a bit (CPU Clock Ratio)
Save and exit BIOS.

Reboot and see what happens. If still have issues, then increase APU core voltage (CPU Vcore) a bit and try again. Might have to increase CPU multiplier a bit again also.

 

[Daniel Thomas]

To have successful overclock of the memory to 2400 MHz, the APU will probably have to be overclocked a bit as well. The APU officially supports up to 2133 MHz memory.

Suggest start from scratch by clearing CMOS.

Start computer and run CPU-Z or HWiNFO program to determine DIMM's SPD settings. Note DRAM voltage and timings for 2400 MHz (1200 MHz as shown in CPU-Z or HWiNFO), and whether there is an accompanying XMP or AMP designation as well.

If there is a XMP or AMP designation for 2400 MHz DIMM operation, then in BIOS set either the XMP or AMP for 2400 MHz DIMM.

If there isn't an entry of XMP or AMP in the DIMM's SPD at 2400 MHz, then in BIOS set DRAM frequency, voltage, and timings as per details noted when running CPU-Z or HWiNFO.

In BIOS, increase APU frequency multiplier a bit (CPU Clock Ratio)
Save and exit BIOS.

Reboot and see what happens. If still have issues, then increase APU core voltage (CPU Vcore) a bit and try again. Might have to increase CPU multiplier a bit again also.

I'll try boosting the APU frequency and increasing voltage what would be a safe voltage for the APU? Also, checking my timings and voltage at 2400mhz frequency wouldn't be possible because the computer won't start up, so I wouldn't be able to open up CPU-z to check those things.

 

[brispuss]

Which specific model/part number of Hyper X Fury memory are you using?

Don't exceed core voltage of ~ 1.53 V. Suggest just changing the frequency multiplier first (maybe several times, if necessary), and if still have issues, try increasing core voltage just a little, and repeat if necessary.

 

[Daniel Thomas]

Which specific model/part number of Hyper X Fury memory are you using?

Don't exceed core voltage of ~ 1.53 V. Suggest just changing the frequency multiplier first (maybe several times, if necessary), and if still have issues, try increasing core voltage just a little, and repeat if necessary.

The part number is KHX1866C10D3/4G.

 

[Daniel Thomas]

So I'm still not having any luck getting the system to boot up into windows. The furthest I've gotten was to the load screen where you see the windows icon, and the little dots circling at the bottom, then it freezes, and crashes into a blue screen which causes my computer to reboot itself. Still not sure what the issue is, maybe it is my North Bridge holding me back. I have it clocked to +.15V as well as the frequency set to 2100mhz (as high as my mobo is allowing me to go for now). Also, I should have mentioned earlier back that my motherboard only supports up to 2400mhz on the DRAM, so If I was to increase the multiplier any higher than that it wouldn't allow me, or it would crash. Any fresh ideas?

 

[brispuss]

Had trouble finding specifications for Kingston HyperX Fury with part number KHX1866C10D3/4G.

Suggested DRAM settings for running the HyperX @ 2400 MHz: - DRAM Voltage 1.65 V; DRAM timings 11-12-12-35, CR=1T or maybe 2T if having problems.

Increase APU frequency multiplier by x1 and try again. Increase APU core voltage a bit as well.

Raise the NB voltage a bit as well. Don't exceed around 1.325 V for the NB voltage if running computer frequently (24/7).

It requires a lot of testing and patience to get the settings right.

 

[Daniel Thomas]

Had trouble finding specifications for Kingston HyperX Fury with part number KHX1866C10D3/4G.

Suggested DRAM settings for running the HyperX @ 2400 MHz: - DRAM Voltage 1.65 V; DRAM timings 11-12-12-35, CR=1T or maybe 2T if having problems.

Increase APU frequency multiplier by x1 and try again. Increase APU core voltage a bit as well.

Raise the NB voltage a bit as well. Don't exceed around 1.325 V for the NB voltage if running computer frequently (24/7).

It requires a lot of testing and patience to get the settings right.

Tried it still no luck. By the way I have installed Windows 10 earlier today, doubt that would change much, but thought it would wise to mention. I tried the timings, kept the voltage at 1.65V, adjusted APU frequency a few times up to 4.3ghz and voltage up to . 085V, boosted NB up to .165V. So I tried testing this, and actually it just gets to the point where my bios freezes up, which then takes a few times of shuting my computer shuting down and starting it back up to get it back to BIOS again. Also, last time my BIOS language randomly changed to german.

Basically, its telling me that I must be doing to much volting or something. Still can't figure it out. What I still don't know is what is a safe voltage for the APU, so I can know the parameters to stay to avoid overvolting my APU. If you want I can take pictures of different parts of my BIOS, and some of the errors I'm getting to show what is up.

 

[brispuss]

As mentioned previously, don't exceed APU voltage of about 1.53 V. And don't exceed NB voltage of 1.325 V (for sustained computing).

It is a matter of trial and error to get the right settings.

Suggest DRAM Command Rate be set to 2T, and leave DRAM voltage at 1.65 V, and timings at 11-12-12-35.

Try minute adjustments of APU and NB voltages.

Pictures (particularly of BIOS DRAM and APU settings) might be useful!

 

[Daniel Thomas]

As mentioned previously, don't exceed APU voltage of about 1.53 V. And don't exceed NB voltage of 1.325 V (for sustained computing).

It is a matter of trial and error to get the right settings.

Suggest DRAM Command Rate be set to 2T, and leave DRAM voltage at 1.65 V, and timings at 11-12-12-35.

Try minute adjustments of APU and NB voltages.

Pictures of BIOS DRAM and APU settings might be useful!

I'm wondering could this be a potential issue, but what if I switch the RAM channels. According to the manual I have them placed in the proper channels which is DDR3_slot 1 and DDR3_slot 2(Channel A) for optimal performance, but what if switching to 3 and 4(Channel B) could potentially solve the issue?

 

[brispuss]

You could try switching the memory around and see what happens (particularly try slots DDR3_3 and DDR3_4).

Could also try just ONE module at a time and see how that goes.

 

[Daniel Thomas]

You could try switching the memory around and see what happens (particularly try slots DDR3_3 and DDR3_4).

Could also try just ONE module at a time and see how that goes.

Okay, I'll try this out in the next few days because I won't be home for a couple days.

 

[Daniel Thomas]

I'm back, and I tried switching the RAM around still didn't manage to get anything to work. So, I went searching for people who have been having similar issues with the same RAM and mobo, but couldn't find any that had the same APU, and matched up my rig exactly. I read up, and came to a conclusion that, one its either something with the RAM and the OC setting on my motherboard that the RAM doesn't like, or two bad memory controller on my APU. Since I'm certain the latter couldn't be the case, then I'm going to have to fall back on the first one. The thing is that unfortunately this particular match up of RAM with my mobo just don't get along it seems, so with that being said I'm going to stick with my current settings at 2133mhz and lower the timings a bit (If the system will allow) until I get my GTX 960 in a month, or two.

Besides I read that going from 2133 to 2400mhz wont get me much of gain in FPS anyway, so at least I should get something out of lowering timings, and also I noticed that Windows 10 has boosted my frames in games such as BF4 that seemed to be under performing before. Before I was getting 30FPS, or sometimes dips to the low 20's at 768p medium setting, and now I'm getting 40+ at times. Its weird though because I've seen video's where people are playing it at 1080p on medium settings at the same frame rate, whereas I can barely brake 20 unless I'm looking at the sky, and no difference with Mantle turned on. I haven't fully tested this claim about Windows 10 much, but I will later today when I wake up. Anyways I digress, thanks very much for trying to resolve my issue, but not everything can be changed unfortunately.

 

[brispuss]

Thanks for the feedback.

Yes, I was also thinking that the particular set of memory does not like to be overclocked with the current system configuration. It may because of limitation due to memory module characteristics, or maybe due to some limitation with the memory controller, or maybe both components.