Overclocking issues/observations

[senseidongen]

So following Christmas, I added a proper, branded PSU to my build and decided to mark the occaision by trying a bit of mild overclocking of my A10-6800K APU - specifically of the integrated GPU.

The default base clock is 844 MHz, though I know from reading reviews the clock can go as high as 1013 MHz before stability issues arise. Previously, I had set the clock speed at 894 MHz and this seemed to work fine. This time around, I set the speed to 950 MHz and fired up Assassin's Creed IV.

I set the settings to what I thought it could handle and began the game but I discovered quickly that the frame rate was very choppy and the cutscenes couldn't even keep up with the audio (enabling v-sync actually made this problem even worse). I obviously dialled back the graphics options and this helped but it was still kinda choppy. I suspected the chip wasn't getting enough voltage so I went into the BIOS to see if I could manually adjust it but as far as I can tell, that wasn't possible. To get a baseline, I set the speed back to the default setting and fired up AC IV again - lo and behold, smooth as silk, even at slightly higher settings.

I suspect my motherboard refusing to go above a preset voltage limit is the issue here but I wondered if any one had any thoughts/insights into this - it's not a problem, just out of curiosity for me really.

Specs:

APU: A10-6800K
Mobo: MSI A75MA-E35
Cooler: Corsair H60
PSU: Silverstone 450W 80+ Gold SFX (same as in the Steam beta machines)
RAM: G-Skill Ripjaws-X 2133 MHz CL11
SSD: Samsung 840 250 GB

[Wampum Biskit]

the thing with CPU's is none are the same , some of them may overclock fine , some may not , you may actually have a cpu that doesn't like to get OC'd much..

i have had CPU's i could overclock +30% and i have had them where they started getting unstable at +10%...

[senseidongen]

Publicado originalmente por SyPTo:

the thing with CPU's is none are the same , some of them may overclock fine , some may not , you may actually have a cpu that doesn't like to get OC'd much..

i have had CPU's i could overclock +30% and i have had them where they started getting unstable at +10%...

Yeah I did wonder if that might be the issue too! As I said, I have no desperate need to OC so I'll probably just leave it alone... When I no longer have enough horsepower to run new games at at least 900p (preferably 1080p) I'll stop being a cheapskate and buy a GPU :P

[Casual_Trucker]

Yea you can't over clock with a 450w PSU it is just not going to be stable at all.. your system will hit full load and shut off. get to around 750w with an aftermarket cpu cooler and try it again.

[senseidongen]

Yeah but this system doesn't have a separate GPU - unless OCing is causing the chip to suddenly draw 300W of power, that isn't the reason

[_I_]

overclocking amd cpu/apu on a msi board is a bad idea
http://www.overclock.net/a/database-of-motherboard-vrm-failure-incidents

[senseidongen]

Publicado originalmente por _I_:

overclocking amd cpu/apu on a msi board is a bad idea
http://www.overclock.net/a/database-of-motherboard-vrm-failure-incidents

You say that, but there are no FM2 MSI boards on that list - they're all 700/800 series AM3/AM3+ board... But it's a fairly moot point, as I don't really need to OC. I was just surprised that the only voltage option was the automatic setting with no (obvious) way to raise the upper voltage limit - perhaps as a measure to prevent VRM based failure on their newer boards, I don't know

[Rove]

Hey, did you try AMD Overdrive?

You should be able to raise the voltage with that. I don't recommend doing it though.

I actually think that *IF* it's a power issue that you can't overclock higher then it's just more watts. Watts = volts*amps so freeing up so amps by underclocking the CPU portion might also do the trick. As far as I know there is no way to manually increase amps, only volts can be done on unlocked chips but amps are automatic & not included in any overclocking software available. So anyways I'm curious as to what might happen if you turned the CPU down to free up more power for the GPU?

Would this help stabilize the overclock?

I think that would be much safer than raising the voltage anyways.

[senseidongen]

Publicado originalmente por Rove:

Hey, did you try AMD Overdrive?

You should be able to raise the voltage with that. I don't recommend doing it though.

I actually think that *IF* it's a power issue that you can't overclock higher then it's just more watts. Watts = volts*amps so freeing up so amps by underclocking the CPU portion might also do the trick. As far as I know there is no way to manually increase amps, only volts can be done on unlocked chips but amps are automatic & not included in any overclocking software available. So anyways I'm curious as to what might happen if you turned the CPU down to free up more power for the GPU?

Would this help stabilize the overclock?

I think that would be much safer than raising the voltage anyways.

I've not ventured into OCing before so I hadn't considered Overdrive but as you say, probably not a great idea anyway!

I suspect you're right and that power draw across the chip is reaching an upper limit, even if temperature and overall power consumption isn't (well, not if, I know it isn't!). It had briefly crossed my mind to slightly underclock the CPU and stabilise the system that way - be interesting to see if that works!

I believe you own an A10 too so I'm sure you'd agree that the CPU is disproportionately more powerful than the GPU so yeah, this could be a good plan - I'll report back if I give it a try!

[Rove]

Ya I do own a A10 and I agree that the APU is made to go the route of adding in a dedicated graphics card, either right away or down the road as a upgrade.

I mean the GPU portion of the APU is specifically built to try and aid the CPU, at least that's how they are developing and marketing it with their "HSA" technology. Meanwhile though the CPU is NOT meant to aid the GPU, you are meant to install a separate dedicated card to increase GPU power.

It's still the best consumer integrated graphics out there though so it's worth using on it's own since good dedicated GPUs should hopefully only get cheaper :)

[senseidongen]

I went into the BIOS but my ill-informed choice of motherboard has left me with no options to change except the GPU frequency - I can't change the multiplier, the base clock or the voltage :( the only thing I can do is use the OC genie feature to create an OC for me... which wasn't even stable enough to run a game!

So I'm thinking a decent A88X motherboard shall be my next upgrade and that way, when I'm ready to upgrade to Kaveri (or probably Carrizo by that time) I'll have a compatible motherboard :)

Don't skimp on the motherboard people!

[Rove]

Publicado originalmente por senseidongen:

I went into the BIOS but my ill-informed choice of motherboard has left me with no options to change except the GPU frequency - I can't change the multiplier, the base clock or the voltage :( the only thing I can do is use the OC genie feature to create an OC for me... which wasn't even stable enough to run a game!

So I'm thinking a decent A88X motherboard shall be my next upgrade and that way, when I'm ready to upgrade to Kaveri (or probably Carrizo by that time) I'll have a compatible motherboard :)

Don't skimp on the motherboard people!

You can still try and use a overclocking program like AMD Overdrive, Catalyst Control Center or some 3rd party stuff like MSI Afterburner.

Still a A88X is not a bad idea.

[senseidongen]

So, resurrecting this thread, I finally found a way to underclock the CPU and attempt to stabilise the GPU overclock - I used the Catalyst Control Centre to set the maximum CPU speed down to 3.8GHz from 4.1 and then set the GPU engine frequency to 950 MHz in the BIOS and lo and behold, it works! subjectively smoother gameplay in AC IV and the idle temperature has predictably gone up (as the GPU clock no longer ramps up and down) but the maximum temps under load have gone down by 5-6C... Didn't expect that! :)

[Rove]

Congratz!