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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Not yet, but it's easy to determine if that's the issue or not. If the thermal margins are fine (we can't rely on temperatures with an FX CPU) and the CPU throttles, then the VRM is most likely causing the issue (quite common with such a power hungry CPU). Fortunately cooling the VRM may be enough to prevent throttling. In the end it's up to the OP to decide if he cools the VRM better, replaces the PSU or both. He could even get a motherboard that won't throttle when overclocking his CPU to 5 GHz. The link the OP provided is about overclocking a 125W FX-8350, not a 220W CPU. An Asus ROG Crosshair V Formula-Z would probably be better, but it also costs a lot more.
 
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Thermal margins have absolutely nothing to do with what the VRMs are doing. I've seen plenty of systems that had manageable CPU core and package temps, but were throttling the VRMs and could be verified using thermal IR measurements, especially on these 9xxx series chips and further likely when there is a lack of sufficient airflow through the case or directly on the VRMs as is often, almost always the case when liquid cooling is employed since it almost completely removes any residual cooling effects that would be present with an air cooler mounted on the CPU regardless if it's a tower or top down style cooler.

And, further, a crap PSU can EASILY be the entire source of the problem, as can be seen on units that have poor voltage regulation or out of spec ripple, that is known to affect the stability of the entire system including the CPU and VRMs. And that's if the unit is even putting out or sustaining it's rated capacity, which is unlikely with a Raidmax unit, of ANY capacity. I've seen 1000w Raidmax units that couldn't sustain 500w, much less 850 or 1000w.

There are other things that can affect stability than just heat, especially when the MC and VRMs are involved.

 
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Sorry bud, somehow I misread that part of your post. My appologies. We are in agreement.

I'd probably verify this by removing the side panel, pointing a box or standing fan at the motherboard and see if there is still an issue.


That's not meant to be a permanent solution, only a method of determining if that might be the problem, which it almost always is on 9xxx series systems. In every case of a stability issue on a 9370 or 9590 that I've helped with, VRM throttling WAS the issue if a recommended motherboard was being used and an inferior thermal design on a lower end board wasn't to blame.
 
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I just want to get it up to 4.8 then I'd be happy. I don't really want to go for 5 or 5+. Also would I need a 1000w psu if i wanted to run a crossfire with another card like the one I have in there now?
 
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Lets's presume 250W for the CPU, 140W for each R9 270 X GPU and 100W for the rest (motherboard and devices): 250+140+140+100 = 630W (it most likely will never draw that much power from the +12V rail). The 850W CPU provides 849W on the +12V rail. In other words the load should not exceed 75% of the PSU's rating.
 
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Ok, thanks for all the help. I think I will order that PSU and cooler for my VRM unless anyone knows of a better deal on a PSU that would work well. Sorry for the 100 questions and failing on my build! Next time I will just go back Intel =[
 
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This unit would be fine, and is only about 65 bucks after mail in rebate if you get it through NCIX. About 80 bucks through Amazon. It's only semi-modular rather than fully modular, but who cares. You have to use the hardwired portion of the cabling on all systems anyhow, so it really doesn't matter if the 24 pin and 8 pin cabling comes off or not. It's not quite as good as that G2, but the B2 is miles above what you have now.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-110b20850v1


 
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Sorry, Jason, I was away for the holidays. But it seems like you got plenty of help.

^The B2 unit is really good. It is really too bad not many sales are going on. I was able to get the HCG 850m for about $70 before rebate. Looks like the market is sitting on around $100 + rebates.

Rather than CFX two 270x, it might be better to get a single card, like the 290/x/390/970. I found a ref 290 for $200 on Newegg a couple months ago. just have to look around.
 
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Well thanks for all the help.. after consideration I am going to buy another pc because this one has been a bit of a nightmare. I have a really good deal on this computer but I wanted to know if it will be a lot better than my current setup and if anyone would foresee any problems. I know the psu isn't the best but I was wondering if the motherboard would be good. I will be parting ways with my current setup -_-

Specs:

Intel i7 4790K
EVGA GTX 770 4gb 256 bit Video Card
ASUS Sabertooth 1150 v2 Motherboard
16gb of 2133 Mhz RAM
256gb Samsung Evo SSD
2 TB Dell HDD
H100i liquid CPU cooler
NZXT 700 Watt Modular PSU
NZXT H440 Snow White Case


 
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Regardless of which version, or revision, of Sabertooth board it is, it's good. ALL the Sabertooth boards are very solid and dependable, with good overclocking features and very durable designs using quality caps and strong PCBs. That system will spank the pants off that 9370, use a fraction of the power and all at it's stock configuration without even overclocking. Overclocked, the gap just grows.

I don't like the NZXT power supply though. I'm not familiar with ANY NZXT PSU models that are rated well in reviews, testing or general consensus, except maybe the Hale 90 V2, which is still only really decent as a mainstream unit and not so much for use with discreet graphics.
 
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It is the V2. I really appreciate all the help from you guys, this has been my first post on this forum and it has been a really awesome community. I'd upvote all of you who helped if I could somehow. I will keep an eye out for some nice PSU deals and probably stay away from AMD for awhile since it's been my 2nd AMD build in the last year that I have not really cared for.

If anyone knows of a good 700w PSU priced well on amazon I would probably get that since I have a Christmas gift card for amazon. I imagine a 700w will be able to run that new rig? I might eventually do an SLI bridge and have a little overclock on the CPU. If not let me know, since I'm obviously not too great at builds lol >_<

Maybe something along the lines of this?
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperNOVA-Crossfire-Warranty-110-B2-0750-VR/dp/B00KFAFRW6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1451447454&sr=8-3&keywords=700w+psu

 
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The new rig is running good and the NZXT psu is doing fine. Is there any chance that it can mess anything else in my computer? I can still replace it but if I am getting the results I need with it should I just keep it? I know its not near as good as the EVGA 750w but if I don't need to replace it, should I still? Thanks
 
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I wouldn't. Just because it SEEMS to be doing fine, does not mean that it will continue to do so, won't suddenly develop a serious issue or that on a level you can't see, it's not introducing damaging levels of ripple, noise or poorly regulated voltage into the system that will eventually result in the failure of one or more components. There's a reason these guys do reviews of power supplies and make a point of addressing units that tend to not stay within spec, and it's not just that they need something to compare units with each other by. It's because it damages hardware. That's your call though. It's probably ok until you can get another unit, but I WOULD get another unit, and sooner rather than later.
 
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