FX 8320 overclock report

[NC37]

Just want to pass along my results since I've had a heck of a time finding any info on how well the 8320 can clock. Hopefully it helps someone else decide if they want to save money or not.

*Currently I'm stable @ 4.3Ghz, 1.45v. This is on air with Hyper 212+. Turbo is off, usual stuff off.* Old data, refer to update with LLC disabled.

*I tested boot into 4.5 and 4.6Ghz. Crashed in Prime till voltage boosted to 1.48v. But one worker gave an error so I stopped and brought it back to 4.3Ghz for now. 4.4Ghz tested but error happened. Saw some reports of people running these over 1.5v to get higher. CPU is rated to 1.55v in the bios. But I'm gonna let this settle at 4.3Ghz for now. Not quite confident in my cooling setup to push 1.5v and higher speeds just yet. But it appears easily doable. Was able to run a full Cinebench 11.5 @ 4.5Ghz without problem unlike Prime where it crashed.* Old data, refer to update with LLC disabled.

Benches, all I managed to do atm is Cinebench. Sorry, just got the thing. Haven't had a ton of time.

CPU:

Phenom II 945 @ 3.6Ghz: 4.27
FX 3.5Ghz: 6.00
FX 4.0Ghz: 6.84
FX 4.3Ghz: 7.27
FX 4.5Ghz 7.51

GL with 2x GTX 460 SLI:

Phenom II 945 @ 3.6Ghz: 41.14
FX 3.5Ghz: 47.19
FX 4.0Ghz: 50.31
FX 4.3Ghz: 54.30
FX 4.5Ghz: 56.03


If anyone has any ideas I could try to hit higher, I'm open to suggestion. The temps do appear to jump faster as you hit the 4.5Ghz range. But I just wanted to provide this and confirm that I was able to get a 8320 into 8350 speeds.

*Edit* Those interested, check rest. Up to 4.5Ghz. Turned LLC off and it stabilized.

[JDB4LFE]

Hey I also have the 8320. I bumped my volts up to 1.45, turned off the turbo core, etc. Base clock is 220, multiplier x20 up to 4.4ghz stable on prime (MSI 890GXM-G65 motherboard) Scored 7.57 on Cinebench

[de.das.dude]

thats a good improvement over the phenoms. i like it. i currently have the phenom ii 945

[Mathragh]

I should be getting mine next wednesday, so i'll report back once i've got it and spent some time with it.

What do you see as the max core temp when OC-ing btw?

[uuuaaaaaa]

Got 7.06 on my PII 1100T @4Ghz

[suraswami]

If you have Kill-A-Watt device, can you post watts used, idle and load on both stock and OC.

Do you see any improvements in gaming?

[Super XP]

Something is wrong with your Bios setting, because I am running my FX 8120 @ 4.40GHz with all 8-Cores @ 1.375v CPU Voltage. My HTT is @ 2,600 MHz and my NB @ 2,200 MHz. But I also set several bios setting strategically to achieve this stable OC.

When I get the FX 8320 or 8350, I expect either equal OC with same Voltage or higher OC with same Voltage. But I am also using the H100, so my temps are super low.

Here's a glimpse of some settings.

Extreme Overclocking Settings:
AI Overclock Tuner = Manual
CPU Level Up = Cancel
CPU Ratio = 22.0
AMD Turbo Core Tech. = Auto
CPU Bus/Peg Freq. = 200
PCIE Freq. = 110
Memory Freq. = DDR3-1866
CPU/NB Freq. = 2200 MHz
HT Link Freq. = 2600 MHz
Xtreme Tweaking = Enabled
Extreme OC = Enabled
CPU & CPU/NB Volt Mode = Manual Mode
CPU Volts = 1.375v
CPU/NB Volts = 1.45v
CPU VDDA Volts = Auto
NB Volts = 1.15v
HT Volts = 1.25v

Advanced Settings:
ASUS Core Unlocker = Enabled
CPU Core Activation = Auto

[Mathragh]

Originally Posted by Super XP

Something is wrong with your Bios setting, because I am running my FX 8120 @ 4.40GHz with all 8-Cores @ 1.375v CPU Voltage. My HTT is @ 2,600 MHz and my NB @ 2,200 MHz. But I also set several bios setting strategically to achieve this stable OC.

When I get the FX 8320 or 8350, I expect either equal OC with same Voltage or higher OC with same Voltage. But I am also using the H100, so my temps are super low.

Here's a glimpse of some settings.

Extreme Overclocking Settings:
AI Overclock Tuner = Manual
CPU Level Up = Cancel
CPU Ratio = 22.0
AMD Turbo Core Tech. = Auto
CPU Bus/Peg Freq. = 200
PCIE Freq. = 110
Memory Freq. = DDR3-1866
CPU/NB Freq. = 2200 MHz
HT Link Freq. = 2600 MHz
Xtreme Tweaking = Enabled
Extreme OC = Enabled
CPU & CPU/NB Volt Mode = Manual Mode
CPU Volts = 1.375v
CPU/NB Volts = 1.45v
CPU VDDA Volts = Auto
NB Volts = 1.15v
HT Volts = 1.25v

Advanced Settings:
ASUS Core Unlocker = Enabled
CPU Core Activation = Auto

Why are you running 1,45V through that CPU NB All i need is 1.275V for a NB speed of 2530MHz (and HT at the same speed). Also, atleast with my board, stability actually decreased after 1,3V through the CPU NB.

Really wondering what the story is behind this difference ! ^^

[Super XP]

Originally Posted by Mathragh

Why are you running 1,45V through that CPU NB All i need is 1.275V for a NB speed of 2530MHz (and HT at the same speed). Also, atleast with my board, stability actually decreased after 1,3V through the CPU NB.

Really wondering what the story is behind this difference ! ^^

I could try and reduce the NB voltage, but no way can I run the NB any higher than 2200MHz with 1.275v. It may be because Bulldozers IMC is not as efficient as it should. Also I am running all four DIMMs at 1866MHz i.e. 16GB (4GB x4). But I see you have your FX 8120 @ 4.40 GHz also. I believe that is the sweat spot. Any higher and the Volts needs to be pushed high.

[Mathragh]

Originally Posted by Super XP

I could try and reduce the NB voltage, but no way can I run the NB any higher than 2200MHz with 1.275v. It may be because Bulldozers IMC is not as efficient as it should. Also I am running all four DIMMs at 1866MHz i.e. 16GB (4GB x4). But I see you have your FX 8120 @ 4.40 GHz also. I believe that is the sweat spot. Any higher and the Volts needs to be pushed high.

I'm also running 4x4GB of those samsungs at 1866MHz, so that shouldnt be a problem.
I'm pushing it when it comes to the NB though, no matter what voltage, at around 2550-2560 it'll give me weird errors (not exactly when benching, but in windows: seems plausible since its doing all the communication).

But perhaps I got lucky with the NB in this chip, who knows^^

I just did some stability testing at 1 multi higher (resulting at 4530MHz) but that takes +0,03V, and increases temperatures from 52 core to 57 core under prime95, so indeed, 4,4GHz seems to be the sweet spot.

Cant wait till i get the 8320 I ordered^^ people with the H100 seem to be reaching 4,6-4,7 quite easily: link.

[JDB4LFE]

I'm running an air cooler (Evercool Z-Axis Titan Fenrir) and wouldn't dare go past where im at with mine cuz my temps hit 55c'ish on prime. I'm only running 8gb 1600mhz ram (4x2gb). And I lied lmao...My cpu is set at 1.4v (not the previously stated 1.45v). NB Frequency is 2420mhz at 1.296v. HT Link is at 2600mhz (not sure of volts right now). I upgraded from the Phenom II x4 955 (max score on cinebench was like 4.87 with the 240x16 3.84ghz OC i had) and see a solid 20'ish fps increase in gaming with the 8320.

[NC37]

Ok, been tweaking more. Haven't been home long enough to run much of any gaming. Loaded up SWTOR. Didn't seem to improve any, game still jerky. It does that with my i7 laptop too but it overall looks smoother on that.

Started looking into other factors. Then I decided to test without LLC on. I had it off for my PII but I forgot it got switched back on for the BIOS upgrade. One factor I hadn't messed with yet. BIOS recommended it at 1/2 for AM3+ when clocked. But I came across people saying to turn it off and others saying to leave it on, why I didn't change it yet. Switched it off and tested. Temps jumped up real fast in comparison. Rolled back the voltage to stock 1.35v and found it perfectly stable @ 4.3Ghz. Temp at 56C. Bit high. Am thinking about checking my 212+ because there is gaps between the pipes on it. Maybe the AC5 isn't filling them properly.

But during this I decided to test 4.5Ghz with LLC off. Didn't crash. Temps were going over 60C so I quickly stopped. But, it was stable instead of having the same issues. So, appears LLC has been the culprit.

Just about to tune the rest of it. I have the great Samsung 30nm RAM but there is no profile in the bios for higher than 1600 speeds so, gonna have to do it manually. RAM clocking has never been my thing. Attempted a few manual tries based on other results. Couldn't get it to boot.

*Edit*

Checked the 212+, sure enough a side of the CPU and plate did not have any AC5 on it. Compound didn't spread evenly. At least one pipe didn't have any AC5 on it. Filled in the gaps with more and spread it across manually before reseating. This time, temp is down to 52C @ 4.3Ghz. Took a long time to finally get over 50C whereas before it shot over 50C in no time. Gonna try to push 4.5Ghz again later.

*Edit2*

4.5Ghz hit. Need to up the voltage. 1.35v isn't enough. Settling in at 1.3625v seems stable. Tested at 1.375 first but temps start hitting the danger zone. At 1.3625 under Prime this is hitting 58C. At 1.375 its into 60C territory. At this point, I don't think it can be taken higher on air cooling, at least not on my cooler. I may even back it off with it going so close to 60C.

Quick test in Cinebench. Performance is better. Did up the HT a little to 2200. It can do higher. NB doesn't seem to like going over 2200.

CPU:

4.5Ghz @ 1.3625v: 7.72

GL

4.5Ghz @ 1.3625v: 56.52

[Super XP]

It may take about a month before the AS5 properly kicks in and sets. So your temps may be higher than normal or lower than normal.

And what is this LLC?
Also I have to agree, I too have a hard time pushing the NB past 2200MHz. But my HTT loves 2600MHz via my FX-8120 which clocks quite well
When I do get the FX-8320 or FX-8350, I am hoping I can get at least 4.80 GHz with 1.375v, then I can play around with it to gain beyond 5.0 GHz with minor bumps in volts.

[crazyeyesreaper]

LLC = load line calibration it essentiall works to either allow or stop vdroop when clocking

example you might set 1.45 in the bios but under load it might droop to 1.39v

with LLC it can be made better or worse depending on what you need. example on the ASRock board i have now setting it to lvl one means if i set 1.45 i run at 1.45 where as lvl two drops down a notch so on and so on down to level five

[NC37]

LLC = Load Line Calibration. "Enabling this feature adjusts Vdroop, keeping the CPU voltage more constant under light and heavy CPU load."

For PII it had to be disabled. But FX I've seen mixed reports. Some say leave it on, others disable. I can say for certain that with it on I wasn't able to hit 4.5Ghz stable. Needed more voltage too.

Loaded TOR for a bit. Still kinda jerky but it seems a bit smoother. Gonna start upping the main bus then tweaking things. I'll keep an eye on the temps in a month. If its better then I may start pushing higher.

[Doomy]

cpu-nb @ 1.45 WILL KILL IT

[Jstn7477]

I had to turn off LLC on my FX-8150/ASRock 990FX Extreme4 because it caused almost 100mV vdroop. With it disabled, the voltage is ~0-20mV higher than what it is set to.

[Super XP]

Originally Posted by Doomy

cpu-nb @ 1.45 WILL KILL IT

Wait is this the IMC voltage? Because there is two of them, one says NB and the other CPU/NB.

[Jstn7477]

NB is the actual NB, CPU-NB is IMC.

[Doomy]

Originally Posted by Super XP

Wait is this the IMC voltage? Because there is two of them, one says NB and the other CPU/NB.

I have seen 8150's go POP at 1.38v CPU/NB
CPU/NB is the IMC and they can't take a lot of voltage -.- it will BURN its just a qustion of when keep it below 1.228v you should not need more then that .. ever even with 4Dims at 1866 it should not take more then 1.25v
CPU/NB voltage is only to be raised if you are overclocking the "north-bridge BEYOND 2300Mhz) I have NEVER never NEVER seen a amd chip that needed more then 1.30v for the CPU-NB EVER
most Phenom II's and FX chips run anyware from 1.1125 to 1.225

[Super XP]

Originally Posted by Doomy

I have seen 8150's go POP at 1.38v CPU/NB
CPU/NB is the IMC and they can't take a lot of voltage -.- it will BURN its just a qustion of when keep it below 1.228v you should not need more then that .. ever

So I should keep it on AUTO then. Done.
I've been running these exact OC settings for more than a year, everything is running cool. But I will lower that CPU-NB voltage right down to 1.225v which you recommend.

[Doomy]

Originally Posted by Super XP

So I should keep it on AUTO then. Done.

I would't use auto for anything AUTO settings tend to way over-volt stuff
set it to 1.225v and it should be a happy camper

[NC37]

Yeah I had to go manual on my DRAM. It was setting my 30nms to 1.585v when they are way under that.

The rest of my voltages I've left to auto after I confirmed it wasn't overvolting them.

I found my issue with TOR. Used FRAPs to see the fps and it was showing 60fps with heavy chop. So I tried out my DVI again. I've had trouble with this monitor before on the DVI channel. Found a recommendation online to change the cable. May be causing chop if its damaged. Which it could be, I do swap the same cable between PC, PS3, and 360. Decided to test the DVI again while at it. So TOR is 60fps smooth as silk. Some light chop but that is on BW's end.

[Super XP]

I set my CPU-NB volts to 1.225v. And I upped my NB from 2200 to 2400. So far so good, now for some testing.
http://img.techpowerup.org/121104/121104143016.jpg
http://img.techpowerup.org/121104/121104143040.jpg
http://img.techpowerup.org/121104/121104143053.jpg

[cdawall]

Originally Posted by Doomy

cpu-nb @ 1.45 WILL KILL IT

It will only kill it under very certain circumstances such as an immensely low CPU vcore ie 1.2-1.25v or so. As his system is setup now the CPU-NB at 1.45v is just fine. The voltage difference is what kills them. Just FYI on auto the sabertooth defaults to 1.45v obviously its not that unsafe.


Albeit on a Phenom II I have been running 1.4v through mine since I got the second kit of ram. No other way to keep 4 dimms stable at >1600mhz. Vcore however is cranked up to 1.525v so it is balanced fine.