overclocking AMD Bulldozer FX6300 6 core

[Shinnywolf]

hi,

im a overclocking neebie so please be gentle with me

i have used AMD Catalyst Control Centre to overclock my sons pc from 3.6mhz to 4mhz

my question is as its a 6 core processor i was expecting it to overclock to around 4.6mhz or higher but AMD Catalyst only allows me to go to
cpu clock 4.0mhz
cpu multiplier x 20
cpu voltage 1.4125

is this the optimal setting?

the mobo is Gigabyte 970A DS3P, does this restrict the overclocking capabilities?

would i get better results overclocking in the motherboard bios rather than using AMD Catalyst?

like i said i am a neebie to overclocking so if anything ive just said sounds retarded i appologise

 

[Chris635]

Hello,
You would be better off overclocking from the bios. For 4.6 ghz you maybe a little high for air cooling. You may need water cooling. It depends on the voltage required to get there (silicon lottery, you gotta love it lol). The bios should allow for more voltage. Start as low as possible with voltage, check for stablity then rinse and repeat until you get to the desired speed. There are many overclocking guides for fx chips.

 

[Shinnywolf]

thanks chris,
i have read through a couple of FX guides for overclocking and to be honest being a noob to overclocking a lot of it goes over my head but we all have to start somewhere right!

i have read some guides where the bulldozer chip can go up to 5.3mhz but water cooling is needed and water and electrics makes me very cautious as one leak and the whole system is ruined so for now i think i will stick to air cooled.

as a basic overclock are the settings correct? dont want to damage the processor as its brand new

 

[AtenRa]

Go to bios,

1: turn off turbo
2: raise multi to 23
3: manually put Vcore to 1.45v

It should work fine at 4.6GHz if you have a good Cooler.

 

[ZGR]

For a good overclock, you just have to be patient and stress test. The lower the voltage, the lower the temperatures and power consumption. All chips are different!

 

[Shinnywolf]

Go to bios,

1: turn off turbo
2: raise multi to 23
3: manually put Vcore to 1.45v

It should work fine at 4.6GHz if you have a good Cooler.

:thumbsup: thankyou, straight forward and to the point, makes my job a hell of a lot easier

also one last point is the 4.6ghz overclock going to have enough power as the build is using a corsair 500w builder series psu and running a single saphire tech radeon 7770hd?

 

[DroctorAgoon]

Hi I was new to overclocking, just built PC a few weeks ago. I have my FX 6300 and mobo M5a97 r2.0 stable at 4.6ghz. I needed 1.46-1.47v to make it stable for a 12 hour prime95 test. I have a liquid cooler - albiet a low end one (H60) and my temps at this level can get a bit high (50c core gaming, 63c core prime95 torture test). I'm not sure how your BIOS compares to mine, but if it's similar I'd be happy to help a fellow noob with what I've learned . Good luck!

 

[Yuriman]

:thumbsup: thankyou, straight forward and to the point, makes my job a hell of a lot easier

also one last point is the 4.6ghz overclock going to have enough power as the build is using a corsair 500w builder series psu and running a single saphire tech radeon 7770hd?

Your power supply should be plenty.

Food for thought though: paired with a 7770, even at stock the FX-6300 is not going to be the limiting factor in *most* games.

 

[Shinnywolf]

its a new build for my son and i was trying to get the maximum setup for him with the given parts.
the graphics card will be updated at a later date, as ive already spent more on this build than i originally planned to so i will make him save up to improve the graphics card
it also helps to educate him in the whole build process if i make him do any future upgrades

 

[KingFatty]

Think of your limitation here as being the cooler for the CPU.

What kind of cooler do you have?

The better the cooler, the higher core voltage you can use, corresponding to the higher core frequency and multiplier. This is also affected by chance and the type of CPU you have.

Some people are happy with a certain air cooler that is a good price and good performance overall, but many choices. If you are using the stock cooler that came packaged with the CPU, then you will not be able to achieve as high of an overclock. Some people have concluded that the additional price for water cooling is not justified by the additional performance, especially with your chip and it's more value-oriented aspects.

 

[Shinnywolf]

Think of your limitation here as being the cooler for the CPU.

What kind of cooler do you have?

The better the cooler, the higher core voltage you can use, corresponding to the higher core frequency and multiplier. This is also affected by chance and the type of CPU you have.

Some people are happy with a certain air cooler that is a good price and good performance overall, but many choices. If you are using the stock cooler that came packaged with the CPU, then you will not be able to achieve as high of an overclock. Some people have concluded that the additional price for water cooling is not justified by the additional performance, especially with your chip and it's more value-oriented aspects.

its a stock cooler at the mo but i do have a artic freezer pro rev2 cpu fan that i can put in. i bought it for my pc but its too big for my case, my sons case is bigger than mine so it should fit

 

[Lat]

At 4GHz (fairly mild overclock for the FX6300), you can probably run at much lower voltages - at or slightly above stock. Until you have the better cooler installed, I wouldn't recommend increasing the voltage significantly.

 

[Shinnywolf]

would increasing the voltage increase the heat generated?

 

[Lat]

would increasing the voltage increase the heat generated?

Yup.

 

[Yuriman]

would increasing the voltage increase the heat generated?

If I remember correctly, increasing frequency has a near-linear relationship with heat output, while voltage is exponential (can't remember if it's squared or cubed).

 

[Shinnywolf]

ive just fitted the artic freezer pro rev2 and i cant put the side of the case back on as its too big for his case too. forgot how huge the heat sink was, its like a radiator

any sugestions on a decent heat sink and fan capable of air cooling a 4.6ghz overclock that will fit in a atx case. looks like i need to go shopping again. this budget build gaming pc for my son is turning out to be less of a budget that i was planning

 

[KingFatty]

coolermaster 212+

 

[Shinnywolf]

coolermaster 212+

looks very similar to the artic freezer pro rev2, are you sure it will fit in a ATX case?

 

[Yuriman]

How much are you willing to spend? 4.2 -> 4.6Ghz is only a 9.5% increase, and if it costs you $40 in heatsink you've increased the price of your CPU by 33% in order to get <10% more performance.

 

[KingFatty]

looks very similar to the artic freezer pro rev2, are you sure it will fit in a ATX case?

Better check the case width. Is your case at least 7.5" wide? I think that would just fit the cooler master. I'm not sure about the arctic freezer, but you are probably correct.

Also, maybe a cheaper solution could be to use your existing cooler, but get a replacement computer case. Sometimes pretty good cases with go on sale for less than $20 (after rebate), which would be cheaper than buying a replacement cooler to fit a really tight existing case.

 

[Shinnywolf]

How much are you willing to spend? 4.2 -> 4.6Ghz is only a 9.5% increase, and if it costs you $40 in heatsink you've increased the price of your CPU by 33% in order to get <10% more performance.

valid point.
the main reason i was overclocking it in the first place was to impress my 13 yr old son who asked for a bulldozer 6 core for bragging rights over his friends. so i thought overclocking it to 4.6 would be the cherry on the cake.
and to be honest i did want to experiment a little before i overclock my intel:whiste:
but when you put it like that
[/QUOTE] increased the price of your CPU by 33% in order to get <10% more performance.[/QUOTE]
it doesnt make sense, especially as his current gpu cant use the extra power anyway

 

[Shinnywolf]

so is the current
cpu clock 4.0mhz
cpu multiplier x 20
cpu voltage 1.4125
safe to run on the stock heatsink and fan.
there are also one front fan and one rear exhaust fan fitted to the case

 

[Yuriman]

Put it under load and see if it's stable, you might not need that much voltage (you can try lowering the volts if it doesn't crash after extended stability testing). I generally use Prime95 Small FFT or Intel Burn Test to get maximum temperatures, though I think P95 blend test is often better for overall stability.

 

[apostolosgt]

hi i managed to overclock fx 6300 at 4730 stable with turbo off

 

[Shinnywolf]

hi i managed to overclock fx 6300 at 4730 stable with turbo off

what cooling system are you using?