Raising Voltage Lowers Clock Speed PLEASE HELP!

[Jason H.]

Ok so I have a unstable OC with 4.1mhz at 1.4375 volts. Getting random restarts if too much is going on.

So I tried raising the voltage but if I raise the voltage above 1.4375 the clock drops to 3.1mhz and I dont believe its temps because AMD Overdrive says I have a 35 degree thermal margin when this happens and its AS SOON as I up the voltage.

My question: Why is this happening? I dont believe I can get a stable overclock without raising the voltage higher, I also raised NB VID to 1.1938. Can someone please help? Could it be because my RAM is DDR3 and my APU is DDR4 memory?

More info: Im using the stock cooler but when under load it never goes below 15 degrees C thermal margin. Also during gaming it never goes below 25 degrees C thermal margin.

- PC SPECS -

CPU- AMD A8 5600k
GPU- EVGA GTX 750 1gb
RAM- 6gb DDR3 1333
MOBO- BIOSTAR A55ML2 (fm2+ port I believe)

 

[lumineZ]

Your APU is DDR3...

And you are 110% sure you are not hitting a thermal throttle? since the programs reading from the temp probes might be to slow, since the temps can spike faster then the programs can read.

 

[Jason H.]

Your APU is DDR3...

And you are 110% sure you are not hitting a thermal throttle? since the programs reading from the temp probes might be to slow, since the temps can spike faster then the programs can read.

Im very new to OC'ing so its possible but I HIGHLY doubt it as you will see in the pictures below, the temps never go below 35 degrees celcius when this happens. Its as SOON as I change the voltage it immediately goes to 3.1mhz.

* Settings and Temps BEFORE Raising the Voltage *

*Settings and Temps AFTER Raising Voltage *

________________________________________

So As you can see, nothing looks like it should be throttling. This OC is NOT stable and I believe its because I cannot raise the voltage without the clocks IMMEDIATELY going to 3.1mhz. Ive had random restarts and game crashes with these current settings.

Could the PSU be bad? Its not a good brand at all, I cant remember the name but it starts with a "Sy" n I believe its 400w.

 

[Jason H.]

Also I couldnt even find a stable clock at 4.0 mhz and the boost on this APU is 3.9 mhz so I should be able to get 4.0 - 4.1mhz with stock cooler no problem I believe but I could be wrong. Also I didnt mess with any ram timings but I have 2 missmatched chips, 1 being a 4gb 1333 and another is a 2gb 1333 both dif brands. So idk if my ram is causing issues with any of this as well.

 

[lumineZ]

Could be the PSU, RAM or the MOBO that causes the problem as I see it to be honest.

Try the easy test first and that is to remove the 2 GB RAM modules leaving only the 4 GB in. If that failes swap the 4 GB out for the 2 GB modules and check again.

I am not familiar with Biostar motherboards but from what I have read about them over time is that it aint a good motherboard. And it can have problems with the volt / power regulations causing unstable overclocks.

 

[Jason H.]

Could be the PSU, RAM or the MOBO that causes the problem as I see it to be honest.

Try the easy test first and that is to remove the 2 GB RAM modules leaving only the 4 GB in. If that failes swap the 4 GB out for the 2 GB modules and check again.

I am not familiar with Biostar motherboards but from what I have read about them over time is that it aint a good motherboard. And it can have problems with the volt / power regulations causing unstable overclocks.

Thanks for the response!

Some more details is that I bought this PC about 3-4 years ago and it was basically a rip off PC from ebay. Was advertised to do more than it really could, I dumped 200$ into it and my PSU brand, which I cannot remember the name, I heard was on the blacklist for PSU's, if you know of any PSU brand that starts with "Sy" please let me know. But about 2 years after purchase the PSU would make a loud grinding, idk if it was the fan bearings failing or not but Id have to hit the back top of the PC to make the sound either calm down, or go away completely.

The PC wasnt even able to run light games at medium settings when I 1st bought it so I opted for the gtx 750 1gb and the AMD A8 5600k and so far has gotten me by until now. Im currently saving for a new PC I was just looking to drag as much juice out of this for the next month or so.

Lastnight I lowered the clock from 4.1 to 4.0 with 1.4375 v with a 1.2000 north bridge. So far Ive done everything that has crashed the pc/games with hours and it hasnt crashed yet. I ran a 1 hour stability test with AMD Overdrive and, since stock cooler, it throttles during the test at about 15 degrees C Thermal Margin remaing, dropping from 3.9997mhz down to 1.3mhz, obviously a thermal issue at 100% load.

But typically Im just using about 72% load average n it never goes below 25 degree C thermal margin so I think this new clock is the most stable so far for what I need it to do until I can get my new PC.

The performance increase really isnt much though with this new clock, Im still getting freezing in fortnite randomly and had to lower the graphics back down. But with the 4.1 clock with the same voltage, I was getting no freezing and was able to raise the graphics. SO that 1 little clock is whats making the differance in performance Im seeking.

I noticed when I raise my north bridge vid over 1.2000, it never goes above 1.2000 to hit my target value. Maybe the mobo is just not able to push the higher targets I need to get 4.1 stable.

Ive seen plently of people get it up to 4.5 with less voltage than Im using but they probably have a better mobo with more options. I cant even adjust the NB Core clock in my BIOS and the slider for it is greyed out in AMD Overdrive as you can see in the pics I can only adjust the multiplier, the voltage, and the nb voltage.

Ive already tested my ram recently and they both got the system to boot, however both chips I noticed have different timings in the BIOS. Their frequencies match but the timings are different. So that could be an issue to, or ALL of these things put together.

But I am still running at a 4.0 oc (3.9 on this APU is its Boost so I figured 4.1 would be no problem) with the 1.4375 v but idek if I should keep it because Im not really seeing the performance increase I need. Maybe like 10% better but the 4.1 clock was at least 50% better.

 

[lumineZ]

Well the CPU you got and i will try and be polite... Its not really good.
If you dont have an GPU its great. But once you put an GPU card into the system your onboard grapics goes out the window and all you are left with is an meeeh CPU.
Keep that in mind next time you buy a computer

If you take your PSU, mobo and RAM and put that togetter its more than likely it is the reason you cant OC it as far as you want to. Keep in mind also the silicone lottery. It could be that you have just been very unlucky and cant push it to 4.5 GHz no matter what parts you throw at it.