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AMD FX-8350 overclock with ASRock 990FX Fatal1ty Killer problems

4K views 23 replies 8 participants last post by  Jimjunior11 
#1 ·
Greetings, I hope I'm writing this on the right place.

I've been messing with this motherboard and cpu, I have already read a lot of things about this combo and overclock with the FX cpu's and 990FX chipset, but I can't find any clarifying answer about overclocking with this motherboard.
Sadly I already have this computer for 3 years now, and I realised late that this board is not the best for overclocking, so far I've apparently reached 4.4ghz with 1.4 volts (1.43v on the uefi and drooping for 1.39/1.4 and even less, because this board has no LLC options)

I have passed more than 6 hours of OCCT, but, the problem, even apparently being "stable", begins when the "Package" reaches around 68ºC and the "CPUTIN" goes up to 94ºC, after that throttling takes place, and temps stabilize on 65ºC on the Package and 80'sºC on the CPUTIN, while the cpu is at 100% load but with the frequency dropping every couple of seconds from 4400mhz to 1400mhz, and it will continue like this till the end of the test.

I have many, but really many things to question, so much wont be in this post because I'm actually kinda lost at the moment and thinking that overclocking this will be impossible... so my main question is, while stress testing makes the cpu throttle back to idle clocks for some seconds, doing this to maintain the temperature controlled on the CPU and VRM's I assume, even if it passed after 6hours of testing, is it "stable"? If no real world workload will butcher my cpu like OCCT, is this viable or simple no because its getting to hot?

Sorry for the long and mess post, but as said, I'm kinda lost with this and sad at the same time, because I would like to get some overclock out of this, and my brain is full of questions in need of answers
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The specs:

AMD FX-8350 cooled by Noctua NH-U12P SE2
ASRock Fatal1ty 990FX Killer
G.SKILL TridentX 2400mhz DDR3
ASUS AMD Radeon R9 280X DirectCU II TOP
Enermax REVOLUTION87+ 850W
Case is Zalman Z11plus, all fan slots occupied except the one of the bottom of the case, PSU doesnt allow it
ph34r-smiley.gif
 
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#2 ·
Sorry to hear about your troubles! So, if I'm reading what you wrote correctly, you're having some temperature problems. I don't know much about the Noctua you're running, but have you tried re-applying thermal paste and re-seating it? I would probably start with that and see how your temps do. Also, the amount of thermal paste you previously applied could be affecting your temps. I started OC'ing back in the socket 754 days and I have always put a small dot, about half the size of a grain of rice, of thermal paste on my CPUs and have always had great temps under air. I've done this on everything from the old 3000+ Newcastle to my previous 8150 and 8320. I've been watching guys on youtube apply thermal paste and a lot of them are saying to put a criss-cross pattern on your CPU which seems like far too much. Let us know how this turns out!

[EDIT]

When you install your heatsink and fan, keep pressure on it during installation. In other words, once the heatsink has made contact with the CPU, make sure that it does not lift away from the CPU. Keep it against the CPU and rotate it slightly back and forth before tightening it down. This will help to remove any small air bubble there might be in the thermal paste.
 
#24 ·
Sorry to hear about your troubles! So, if I'm reading what you wrote correctly, you're having some temperature problems. I don't know much about the Noctua you're running, but have you tried re-applying thermal paste and re-seating it? I would probably start with that and see how your temps do. Also, the amount of thermal paste you previously applied could be affecting your temps. I started OC'ing back in the socket 754 days and I have always put a small dot, about half the size of a grain of rice, of thermal paste on my CPUs and have always had great temps under air. I've done this on everything from the old 3000+ Newcastle to my previous 8150 and 8320. I've been watching guys on youtube apply thermal paste and a lot of them are saying to put a criss-cross pattern on your CPU which seems like far too much. Let us know how this turns out! [EDIT] When you install your heatsink and fan, keep pressure on it during installation. In other words, once the heatsink has made contact with the CPU, make sure that it does not lift away from the CPU. Keep it against the CPU and rotate it slightly back and forth before tightening it down. This will help to remove any small air bubble there might be in the thermal paste.
I wish we could "thumbs up" someone's advice with an emot....oh, 👍
 
#3 ·
When I upgraded, I went from the 960T all the way to a 8350, and I was really surprised how much additional heat was generated. It is especially prevent during overclocking. Small vcore increases can send temps through the roof. The socket temp is what really seems to raise quickly.

I originally had a Xigmatech dark knight, which was fine for the 960t running 6 cores, but couldn't keep up with the additional load from the 8350. I'm not sure a lot of air coolers can.

The problem you'll have is keeping the socket temp cooler, because that's probably what's triggering it to throttle. 90C, if accurate, is dangerously hot.

Is it stable? It's possible. When I was using the older xigatech heatsink it would also throttle, but using normal applications, it would not, and I never once had any issues with games or other software...

It may not be mathematically stable, but stability is relative to what you're using it for.
 
#4 ·
Honestly, the 8350 really needs to be on water cooling, in my opinion. Any small amount of research on these chips will tell you how hot they run. I had an 8150 and an 8320 on a corsair all in one cooler, and now I have my 8350 on a custom water loop. At 1.5v @ 5ghz I never see over 50c. It's a hot beast and trying to oc it on air will only go so far.
 
#5 ·
But if the CPU is cooled enough and the VRM is the thing heating more, and causing the possible throttle, isn't watercooling worse because the VRM gets less air moving and refreshing it?

Nevertheless I may leave it and not overclock, I would really like to, but oh well, and now that I'm working I don't have money nor time
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#6 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkGamma View Post

But if the CPU is cooled enough and the VRM is the thing heating more, and causing the possible throttle, isn't watercooling worse because the VRM gets less air moving and refreshing it?

Nevertheless I may leave it and not overclock, I would really like to, but oh well, and now that I'm working I don't have money nor time
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I've got the crosshair v formula z and I can tell you the vrms get pretty warm with the oc setting I'm running, but I've never encountered any thermal throttling due to them over heating in any way. I have zero air flow over them and they seem to hold up just fine. If you're worried the vrms getting hot, you could rig a little fan so they're getting some sort of air flow or just buy a water block for your board, if they make them, and just cool the whole dang thing
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#7 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by ozzy983 View Post

When I upgraded, I went from the 960T all the way to a 8350, and I was really surprised how much additional heat was generated. It is especially prevent during overclocking. Small vcore increases can send temps through the roof. The socket temp is what really seems to raise quickly.

I originally had a Xigmatech dark knight, which was fine for the 960t running 6 cores, but couldn't keep up with the additional load from the 8350. I'm not sure a lot of air coolers can.

The problem you'll have is keeping the socket temp cooler, because that's probably what's triggering it to throttle. 90C, if accurate, is dangerously hot.

Is it stable? It's possible. When I was using the older xigatech heatsink it would also throttle, but using normal applications, it would not, and I never once had any issues with games or other software...

It may not be mathematically stable, but stability is relative to what you're using it for.
This. Heat is your enemy. Your board isn't the best for much above medium overclocks; it has much trouble dealing with the heat generated when attempting to go above 4.5 GHz. If you're definitely staying on AM3+ platform for the next 1-2 years, you may want to consider selling your current board and getting a Gigabyte 970-UD3P, or Asus 970 Aura. They're both superior electrically, and can be found for less or the same as what you can get for your AsRock 990. Otherwise, go AM4.
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If you don't want to switch out your board, you're really going to have to engineer a space for a small fan behind the socket and one blowing directly over the VRMs. This will definitely allow your board to sit easily at 4.5 GHz, and probably deal with 100-200 MHz above that when ambients are cooler. FX-83xx really starts to open up at 4.6+ GHz, but is also unfortunately exactly where most chips start falling off the voltage efficiency curve, and waste heat becomes a significant issue to surmount. I've found my 8320e has a fantastic sweet spot at 4.5 GHz, so that's where I keep it. My board can handle 4.8, but the heat output and energy consumption isn't worth it for 24/7 usage.
 
#8 ·
^^ Yes, some boards just don't like heat as compared to others. I would also agree to go AM4 if you're not interested in purchasing a new AM3+ board and attempting to further OC that 8350. Although, you did mention money is a potential limiting factor right now so you may just try rigging up a small fan to hit the VRM with some air movement.
 
#10 ·
Have you read the info on the asrock web page. I just bought one it can handel the 8350. so what type of cooler are you using? I'm new but from all the info ive read it's got to be a issue wit your cooling unit.
I am going with the Cosair H100i to cool my beast(8350) Also like the guy stated too much is not good(Thermal paste) ive read a grain of rice. yea like cars cooling system if you got air I the system it's
gonna run hot. Check that first.
 
#11 ·
Invest in a liquid cooling system. You can go on Cosair's web page they have deals on refurb coolers that they give a good warranty on. Cosair stand behind their product. If you don't want the H100,you
can go with the H80 series. It will cool better than what you got If I don't understand something about Cosair Product I call them and have them explan . I do a lot of research on what I want months before I buy.
 
#13 ·
Dark Gamma, how are your fan's flowing push pull or what config are your fans. Take time to also see how you air flow is going. Go t Cosair web page and look under shop go to cooling and look
for refurbs you will see. I am not saying you are but ive notice a lot of people don't take time to read and do research. We live in a instant world, sometimes we overlook small details. Check out the Cosair
webpage and see what you think.
 
#16 ·
I was able to push my 8350 to 4.6ghz but on a MSi 990FXA Gaming mobo, I got an 8370 I am able to push further but the board won't take any more than 4.74ghz. Check my sig for cooling, I use a line of fhp141's to keep maximum airflow over the cooler. The top always runs cool to the touch even when the cpu has been stressed to max. Not just any cooler will work with the 83xx cpu's, you should have 4 heatpipes and a 12cm fan at the very least, stock heatsinks aren't made to oc.
 
#17 ·
I was just asking if with the "CPU Thermal Throttle" option off it would be a risk of frying the cpu if it would not throttle because of getting too hot...

You can check this and the other topic to better understand my currently doubts and problems, and you can check my sig to see my cooling.
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Thanks for the help.
 
#18 ·
i have the exact same board and cpu and im running my cpu at 4.7ghz@1.488v stable i also ran it stable like that with a evo 212 keep it in the 65c with the beastly heatsink
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lmao (no lie honest) the problem is even tho you turn off the thermal throttling fuction it still will do it at around 80c on the socket so for me to get it stressed with out it throttling i had to put a small 3000rpm on the vrm and a 120mm 212 evo fan on the back of the board and it hovered around 73-75c on the socket and my cpu stayed around 50c since i am water cooling lol but ya there is tricks and ticks with this board but the socket temps are a big issues is all but besides that is a great board
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here is a pic
 
#20 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomlintm View Post

i have the exact same board and cpu and im running my cpu at 4.7ghz@1.488v stable i also ran it stable like that with a evo 212 keep it in the 65c with the beastly heatsink
biggrin.gif
lmao (no lie honest) the problem is even tho you turn off the thermal throttling fuction it still will do it at around 80c on the socket so for me to get it stressed with out it throttling i had to put a small 3000rpm on the vrm and a 120mm 212 evo fan on the back of the board and it hovered around 73-75c on the socket and my cpu stayed around 50c since i am water cooling lol but ya there is tricks and ticks with this board but the socket temps are a big issues is all but besides that is a great board
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here is a pic
Nice!!

My problem is not having space to get fans around those areas.... but besides that, what test you used and how did you test the overclock?
 
#21 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gen Patton View Post

Nice custom loop.
thanks its not finished i wanted to get it up and running to see how it looked till i got my front rad in the mail
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkGamma View Post

Nice!!

My problem is not having space to get fans around those areas.... but besides that, what test you used and how did you test the overclock?
there is always a way to get fans in there one way or another i used 80mm or smaller fan on the vrm heatsink and i had to keep the back side panal off to use a 120mm+ fan size on the back of the board lol

for testing i used ibt avx 20passes but it wasent stable my pcie link speed and drivers were showing up weird numbers and **** so i wasent 100% stable but stable enough to play games tho lol but i relized that i need a sabertooth or crosshair v to keep the socket temps from going out of controll lol
 
#22 ·
I don't know how I could reach to everyone, but to all that helped both on this thread and on the other one I would like to give my best thanks!

Sadly I'm gonna call this a quit and stay stock, even at 4.3 my cpu starts to get really hot and throttling, I believe I know why sadly, my ram is at 2400mhz, rated at this frequency, and by default the XMP profile puts 1.4v on the cpu/nb voltage. I've been testing, trying and what not, and my conclusion is that I can even get my CPU voltage kinda low, like 1.32v, but the CPU/NB voltage below 1.37v messes all up completely, so since it throttles and I already have my memory with an high frequency, for as much as I would like to have a little more mhz on the cpu, I guess its a price to pay for the 2.4GHZ on the memory.

Really, thanks all!
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