underclocking AMD FX 8350

[madne$$]

Hi Members,

My dad took my old FX cpu when I upgraded to an intel.

He is having issues with DBA of the cpu fan and wants it lowered. I suggested that they run hot and are clocked high frequency. What about underclocking the 8350 to lower the fan noise/heat to save him spending money on a cpu fan.

Will this work?

He is running Linux Mint so unsure of the programs he can download. But he has my old Mobo Asrock 970 pro.

He isnt an high end gamer so wont benefit from the 4.4ghz cpu.

Whats your thoughts?

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

I think you're better off buying an aftermarket cooler like a 212 EVO or Cryorig H7.

 

[madne$$]

Hi Repair Man,

I am afraid at first suggested the be quite cpu fans priced similar to those you mentioned. He replied that 30quid is too much and looked at artic freezer pro 7 and raijnitc adios contact at 11.99quid.

 

[techgeek]

If he doesn't want to put out for a heatsink, you should be able to go into the BIOS and set the multiplier lower than it is now. Without knowing what motherboard you have, I can't give you exact directions.

Also the Raijintek Themis is an excellent alternative to the CM Hyper series and it's cheaper. The Themis outperforms the Hyper 212 EVO by a small margin, but its a little louder than the 212 EVO. However both are going to be much quieter than the stock HSF.

 

[madne$$]

I dont know how good these cheap fans are and how loud they can get. A hot cpu will fire it up for sure. Thats why I thought about underclocking in bios and wasnt sure the lowest volts and frequency the 8350 can reach before it goes NA NO CHANCE lol.

 

[madne$$]

Motherboard: Asrock 970 pro3 AMD +3

 

[techgeek]

Lowering the frequency isn't going to cause any issues as far as stability. It will cause performance to suffer. As for Vcore, no two CPU behave the same. It's like overclocking only in reverse. You could leave the CPU as stock frequency and start lowering Vcore, and stress test in between each change until it fails. Then you can lower your multiplier and try again. You may be able to shed a lot of voltage even at default speeds as Vcore is set conservatively high to make sure the system will POST.

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

Like techgeek said, what you're doing is overclocking in reverse, but the process is still going to take a fair amount of effort on your (or your Dad's) part. You need to lower the multiplier, lower the VCORE, test for stability and adjust if necessary. Rinse and repeat until the noise is at an acceptable level or until you reach a compromise between noise and performance.

 

[techgeek]

So as far as underclocking and undervolting, this is the link to the manual for that motherboard:

970 Pro3 Manual

Please refer to starting at page 41. This is the OC Tweaker. The three settings you need to adjust are: Multiplier/Voltage Change (default is Auto, set to Manual so that you can adjust the next two settings), CPU Frequency Multiplier, CPU Voltage.

This is a copy paste of that portion of the manual:

Multiplier/Voltage Change
This item is set to [Auto] by default. If it is set to [Manual], you may adjust
the value of Processor Frequency and Processor Voltage. However, it is
recommended to keep the default value for system stability.
CPU Frequency Multiplier
For safety and system stability, it is not recommended to adjust the value
of this item.
CPU Voltage
It allows you to adjust the value of CPU voltage. However, for safety and
system stability, it is not recommended to adjust the value of this item.

Now of course you will want to start with lowering voltage. No need to reduce performance if you can accomplish what you need with just lowering Vcore. However if you find the fan is still too noisy, and you've reached the lower limit at that frequency for Vcore, then lower the multiplier. Hopefully you'll be able to lose most of the noise simply by lowering Vcore.