Problems overclocking my fx 9370

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jason5906

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Dec 22, 2015
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Hello I am new to overclocking I have the AMD FX 9370 and my motherboard is the Gigabyte ga-990fxa-ud3. I have a x41 kraken so I know I will be good to overclock. I watched this guide but it's been different with my motherboard and the bios https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MckeAmnDeTk

I have got it pushed up to 4.8ghz and all my cores remain at 100% during my stress test and my temp only gets up to ~50-54C while running the CPU stress test. The test never fails and I don't overheat but I do watch it during the test with task manager open on the performance tab and notice that the ghz will be maxed out for the first 5 minutes or so and then it will start to drop down as low as like 2.13ghz during the test. I cannot find much information on what performance should look like during the test but I imagine the ghz have to be maxed the entire time without dropping down.

I have had a hard time overclocking and I am trying to get overclocked without bumping up the base voltage since it is already at 1.4785 stock volts. I had got it bumped up to 1.5 one time and when I tried 1.5125 my monitor would not come on and I had to pull the battery out of the motherboard. I don't need to push the cpu to the max and I would prefer to keep it at the stock voltage. I might need to change some of the voltage settings in the bios? I have left most of them on auto except the Vcore LoadLine calibration.

I have also referred to this video as well for information https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wos7BspiD3o but I mainly do what the first video says as far as I can because I have a different motherboard. If anyone has any insight I would appreciate it.

My main question was should ghz performance ever drop during a prime95 test?

 
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^K1114 is right. Use CPU-Z, Prime95 SmallFFTs, AMDOverDrive's Thermal Margins.

While your x41 kraken might be good for your CPU, it offers no cooling to the VRMs on your mobo. If your mobo overheats, then it will cause instability to your overclock process.

Also, disable all of the power saving features, such as cool n'quiet, c6, apm, and svm.

Post your full specs including PSU and GPU.

Lastly, there is what's called the silicon lottery on CPUs. All Fx CPUs aren't identical. I have heard of users struggle to get pass 4.7 on their fx 8350. There is a chance you hit a wall at 4.8.
 
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Ok, will cpuz show my highs and lows of the stress test? I keep assuming it should be running at full ghz. I just want to get 4.7 or 4.8 stable. I don't care to push up to 5.0. From the video he made it seem that as long as the cores remain at 100% and don't have issues or fail the stress test I was good. I just wanted to make sure I had the best performance and stability.

Here is my computer set up:

Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 Socket AM3+ 990FX ATX AMD Motherboard


AMD FX-9370 Vishera 8-Core 4.4 GHz Socket AM3+ 220W FD9370FHHKBOF Desktop Processor - Black Edition


NZXT Kraken X41 RL-KRX41-01 140mm All-In-One Water / Liquid CPU Cooling Solution


CORSAIR XMS3 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMX16GX3M4A1333C9


SAPPHIRE Radeon R9 270X DirectX 11.2 100364TXSR 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card


HGST Deskstar 3.5-Inch 2TB 7200RPM SATA II 32MB Cache Internal Hard Drive (0F10311)


RAIDMAX RX-850AE 850W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply


SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE250BW 2.5" 250GB SATA 6Gb/s 1x nm Samsung Toggle DDR 2.0 3-Bit MLC NAND Flash Memory (400Mbps) Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)


NZXT H440 Mid Tower Case (White)


I was also thinking of getting another graphics card like the one I had to make a crossfire. Budget wise I could afford that but it would probably be better to save and get a $300-400 card over the crossfire huh?
 
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There are a few conditions when I test for stability,

In Prime95 SmallFFTs (I personally run it from 1-3 hours and consider it stable, some people say min 8, some say overnight, some say 24. I think that's too much.) Every time I increase clock or voltage, I run P95 for 15-20 mins. When I am done and complete satisfy with the overclock process, then I run it for 1-3 hours to ensure the complete stability of system.

1. Cannot overheat. Use AOD thermal margins for AMD CPUs. Overheating will cause CPU to throttle speed. In cases with water cooler, increase case airflow, monitor voltage (in CPU z), and keep an eye on mobo temps as well.

2. Cores cannot fail. During P95 = all cores all 100%

3. CPU core speeds remain at overclocked settings. Clock speeds changing isn't what you want. They are commonly caused by either CPU throttle or power saving features in mobo.

4. Other irregularities. Anything unusual such as crashing, non-responsiveness, and other just weird performance issues points to instability in the overclock.
 
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Ok thank you sir. If I have all the power saving options off in bios and I end up getting drops in my ghz would that be a lack of voltage issue? I will probably try to sit at 4.8ghz to get it stable and I would be perfect with that. I will probably mark this as solved and PM you if I have anymore questions if you wouldn't mind. Thanks again!

Also my kraken x41 should be able to handle overclocking the processor to 4.6-4.8 range shouldn't it? Can the motherboard get too hot and cause issues? I've done a ton of reading with overclocking and I just want to get it stable. I am going to try what you said when I get off work in an hour.
 
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Here is a picture of my bios. I imagine I am having the problem under the voltage settings. Sorry for the crappy phone picture but they are all on auto except the bottom setting is on medium. I have been afraid to mess with any of the voltage settings and I haven't bumped up the voltage since I've put the processor to 4.7ghz. I imagine I will need to up my voltage too? It does run fine for 5-7 minutes then has the vdroop. Let me know if you have any ideas.. Sorry for all the hassle.

http://s156.photobucket.com/user/jason5906/library/CS
 
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Disable C6 state, core performance boost, HPC and APM, and try again.

We'll look at the LLC after.

 
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I took the Vcore off auto and turned off all that other stuff

I just restored the cpu bios to factory settings. I ran a stress test with all the factory settings and all the cores remain stable but my ghz still drops down("vdroops i guess") during the stress test. I don't know if this is supposed to happen but it happens on the default settings just like it does when I try to overclock it. Maybe it is supposed to fluctuate or maybe my stuff is just messed up.
 
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clock speed shouldn't drop and Vdroop doesn't happen in factory settings.

Are you sure that C6 state, cool n'quiet, APM, Svm, core boost, c1e are all disabled?

It could be the quality of your PSU. I know that the Raidmax units by Andyson are not so great.

You can ask these guys from this thread about the quality of your particular PSU, and how it might affect your overclock process. Some of these guys are very knowledgeable on PSUs.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html
 
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Ok thanks. Yea I had all the proper settings. I also have windows 10 installed and I don't know if that causes problems. Who knows what is wrong at this point. So I've made you respond a hundred times
 
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What revision is your motherboard (the latest is 4.1 as they keep on improving the VRM) and how are you cooling the VRM? Did you read this thread? http://www.alphabetcityblog.com/2014/05/taming-gigabyte-ga-990fxa-ud3-voltage.html An FX-9370 is tough on the VRM that has to throttle it to protect itself.
 
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While I don't trust Andyson, nor Raidmax, I suspect VRM issues here. If the PSU weren't up to the job, you'd see crashes, not downclocking. I use HWMonitor when I'm testing, which will track maximum temps, and includes sensors on the motherboard, not just the CPU.
 
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So do you think this is a problem with my motherboard? How do I check exactly which model I have because I don't remember. Like Ghislain said I might be having issues with that.. I have the push pull fan on it but I don't know if I have the version of motherboard that isn't good.
 
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Yeah, but he's got an overclocked 9370 on a system that AMD says requires at minimum, an 850w high quality unit, and recommends a 1000w unit, for stock speeds. Overclocked, that Raidmax unit is very unlikely to provide anything near what an overclocked 9xxx series chip requires, and that's without factoring in the probable ripple or voltage regulation issues that are likely to surface under serious loads. He's also using a discreet GPU card, although it's a rather low end model, so that adds to the equation. The system works, he says he's having issues with stability, not with powering it up, so I guess it could be related, or it could be something else.


His motherboard is a top shelf tier 1 unit. It's one of the few that IS recommended for use with the FX-9xxx series chips. Since he's using a liquid cooler, and makes no mention of additional case fans, then VRM throttling could easily be the problem. With a liquid cooler you no longer have any residual airflow over the motherboard VRMs like you would if you had an air cooler, plus, you either have reduced intake airflow if you've mounted the radiator in front, or reduced exhaust airflow if you've mounted the radiator on the top, so either way, if you don't have much else in the way of case airflow, you're not getting the necessary cooling over the motherboard VRMs. How many case fans and where? Where is the radiator mounted? In what configuration are each fan that is installed?

Get a different PSU as well.
 
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I don't disagree with you, but replacing the PSU won't resolve the VRM issue. There is a difference between officially supporting a CPU and being able to keep it at full load for hours. That motherboard simply isn't up to the task unless the VRM is cooled properly; using liquid cooling is good for the CPU and bad for the VRM unless a fan like an Antec Spot Cool is added to cool the heat sink.
 
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