Bulldozer Overclocking Guide (Performance Scaling Charts, max OCs)LN2 Results coming!

[zoson]

To those of you testing LinX or IBT... I am kind of expecting bulldozer to really do well here. It's AVX enabled, after all. Please make sure that, like sandybridge requires, you're using the latest avx build of linpack with your IBT or LinX.
I suggest LinX as it's just a drag/drop replace, and I'm not familiar with how to upgrade IBT. Also note that to utilize AVX, you must be running win7 sp1.

Also, if you get low GFlops... You should try as mentioned in this thread previously to disable half your cores (so if you have an 8c, disable 4), to remove any possible cache thrashing.

[BeepBeep2]

To those of you testing LinX or IBT... I am kind of expecting bulldozer to really do well here. It's AVX enabled, after all. Please make sure that, like sandybridge requires, you're using the latest avx build of linpack with your IBT or LinX.
I suggest LinX as it's just a drag/drop replace, and I'm not familiar with how to upgrade IBT. Also note that to utilize AVX, you must be running win7 sp1.

Also, if you get low GFlops... You should try as mentioned in this thread previously to disable half your cores (so if you have an 8c, disable 4), to remove any possible cache thrashing.

I don't think the performance increase is from non-cache thrashing, and you lose about 30-50% performance by doing so.

informal was speculating.

[sin0822]

Thanks for nice information. I have a unsolved question though (regarding this image)

Attachment 121329

Right after see this table, I guess there's some bug in a chip regarding some operation clock speed which sticks together with HTT, L2 speed for instance.
So I've tried the same test with a hope of making another excuse for Bulldozer's low IPC at default HTT.

My comparison settings are:

1. 3.6GHz (200x18) / NB/HT 2.4GHz (200x12) / DRAM 800MHz (200x4)
2. 3.6GHz (240x15) / NB/HT 2.4GHz (240x10) / DRAM 800MHz (240x3.33)
3. 3.6GHz (266x13.5) / NB/HT 2.4GHz (266x9) / DRAM 888MHz (266x3.33)
4. 3.6GHz (266x13.5) / NB/HT 2.4GHz (266x9) / DRAM 712MHz (266x2.66)

Note that for 3 & 4, dram speeds don't stick exactly with 800MHz, so I tested twice for FSB266 under two different dram speeds both distant samely from around 800MHz.

Anyway, my results are totally indifferent - means that higher FSB doesn't make sense at all
(I'm so disappointed that I cannot even make a graph......)

I tested Cache & Memory benchmark, CPU Queen, CPU AES, FPU Julia, FPU Mandel in AIDA64 and Cinebench R10 / R11.5.

Do you think you have any other variable which I (wprobably) missed? - I've only controlled CPU multiplier, NB/HT multipler and DRAM multiplier along with HTT clock.

what benchmark did you use? I have been told by many that the HTT helps a lot with many benchmarks, so i thought that was out of the question. Yes its very hard to use the same speeds for everything.

but what benchmark did you use? That could make all the difference.

[sin0822]

FX is no more NB 3000+ (like X6)

for normal Air/Water cooling?

correct, infact many have trouble with over 2600mhz CPu NB on air/water

for subzero it might be different, but I just went for higher clocks.

Also as far as 8120 vs 8150, it seems that subzero the 8150 do better, much better, but 8120 seem to do great under air.

[trans am]

mine throttled with an earlier BIOS the F5 BIOS, with F6E it didn't throttle anymore.

Trans am, is that the PIS 2200 Cas 7-10-10-28 1.65v T2 kit? I used that same kit! hahaha

yea I did some LN2 last night, ill get my results up on here and some pics, gotta let that videos upload. Ill have it up later tonight or tomorrow. i made sort of like a LN2 prep guide for those who are new and want to try it out. it is something i could have really used when i went to try it.

lol yep same kit!

[sin0822]

hahah our systems are like twins, almost.

LN2 part is coming soon, i am still editing the movies. So i am going to cut it into sections.

[trans am]

hahah our systems are like twins, almost.

LN2 part is coming soon, i am still editing the movies. So i am going to cut it into sections.

Sin send me some footage.

btw are you editing with the BD rig? I use Vegas which is optimized for multi cores. How fast can you render? do you feel any gains from your last setup?

[redrumy3]

Quick question for you guys (:

VCore-1 and Vcore-2 according to Turbo V Evo program for asus seems rather hot, not sure what normal temps for that is but according to program its for the power phase or mosfet area I think.

Still have to tweak voltage for cpu but Still wondering why VCore-1 and VCore-2 is so hot
Quick Screenshot

[sin0822]

are you using a water cooler? or air cooler? if no air is going around the VRM heatsinks then they will get hot.

Switching frequency has a direct impact on the VRM heat output (higher switching frequency=higher heat), as does the power draw of Bulldozer.

Check the Vcore itself, what is it? 1.4v? at 4.5ghz, that is standard, you can try to lower that vcore, but those VRMs will get hot, very hot. especially because of the high power draw of bulldozer. When they get over 90C id start to worry, heat kills VRMs (but very high heat, like 120C+).

if youare using one of those all-in-one water coolers, try to have a fan blow over the memory and VRM.

[Nathan0490]

are you using a water cooler? or air cooler? if no air is going around the VRM heatsinks then they will get hot.

Switching frequency has a direct impact on the VRM heat output (higher switching frequency=higher heat), as does the power draw of Bulldozer.

Check the Vcore itself, what is it? 1.4v? at 4.5ghz, that is standard, you can try to lower that vcore, but those VRMs will get hot, very hot. especially because of the high power draw of bulldozer. When they get over 90C id start to worry, heat kills VRMs (but very high heat, like 120C+).

if youare using one of those all-in-one water coolers, try to have a fan blow over the memory and VRM.

I am cooling it with a Noctua D14.

[sin0822]

interesting, you have Vcore switching frequency control in BIOS, maybe called VRM frequency? you can try lowering it(it might causes some problems if its too low maybe), or if its on auto it could have automatically increased it, you can try messing around with that, but IDk how much it would help, the high temp might be caused by bad contact. otherwise the temp program or sensor isn't reading correctly, or its designed to work that hot.

[Gambit_2K]

A questions for you guys from a relative n00b.

Is there any software that could read the temperature correctly? I've heard that checking HW Monitor should work but I get exactly the same temps with as with coretemp. Same with HWInfo64 (using the version that are in the CPUID Reviewer Kit for AMD FX Bulldozer).

I've heard that coretemp shows ~15c to low so I set the offset in coretemp to 15 to get some kind of reading right now.

[sin0822]

have you tried AMD overdrive?

[mR Yellow]

Thanx for this awesome guide.

Just want to give you a heads up about OCCT stress testing tool. It is being updated. You can get the latest build here:
http://www.ocbase.com/download/OCCTPT4.0.0.zip

[ro.sniper]

Hi guys / gals, just registered on this forum and this is my first post here

Long story short I work in IT as project implementation specialist, with lots of background in servers, firewalls, switches, routing, OSs, telecom, etc... I have been building computers since I was 13 and have always gone the Intel route. At the age of 26 I finally decided to give AMD a try for the first time. I bought without much research (any) a GA-990FXA-UD3 motherboard paired with a FX-8120 chip, 8GB DD3 1866 RAM computer, powered by a Corsair 750TX PSU and cooled by a Corsair H100, inside a Corsair 500R case. My previous machine was C2D E4300 OCed to 3.2GHz and was plenty powerful for my daily use.

I decided to overclock this FX-8120 and these are my stable results so far. I just wanted to ask the more experienced AMD people around here what they think of the temps (cooled by Corsair H100)?

Idle: 32 celsius
Load w/ prime95: 71.2
VCore: 1.392
NB Vid: 1.375
NB: 1.2

[mengchanchai]

thank you for your kindly sharing.
this is my first time to read a very clear procedure to OC.

[desnudopenguino]

Hi guys / gals, just registered on this forum and this is my first post here

Long story short I work in IT as project implementation specialist, with lots of background in servers, firewalls, switches, routing, OSs, telecom, etc... I have been building computers since I was 13 and have always gone the Intel route. At the age of 26 I finally decided to give AMD a try for the first time. I bought without much research (any) a GA-990FXA-UD3 motherboard paired with a FX-8120 chip, 8GB DD3 1866 RAM computer, powered by a Corsair 750TX PSU and cooled by a Corsair H100, inside a Corsair 500R case. My previous machine was C2D E4300 OCed to 3.2GHz and was plenty powerful for my daily use.

I decided to overclock this FX-8120 and these are my stable results so far. I just wanted to ask the more experienced AMD people around here what they think of the temps (cooled by Corsair H100)?

Idle: 32 celsius
Load w/ prime95: 71.2
VCore: 1.392
NB Vid: 1.375
NB: 1.2

to the forums. I'm sure you'll find a lot of useful information here for your overclocking endeavors! I feel like your temps are a little high (especially with a H100), though I haven't played with BD and the new FX series.

[BeepBeep2]

Hi guys / gals, just registered on this forum and this is my first post here

Long story short I work in IT as project implementation specialist, with lots of background in servers, firewalls, switches, routing, OSs, telecom, etc... I have been building computers since I was 13 and have always gone the Intel route. At the age of 26 I finally decided to give AMD a try for the first time. I bought without much research (any) a GA-990FXA-UD3 motherboard paired with a FX-8120 chip, 8GB DD3 1866 RAM computer, powered by a Corsair 750TX PSU and cooled by a Corsair H100, inside a Corsair 500R case. My previous machine was C2D E4300 OCed to 3.2GHz and was plenty powerful for my daily use.

I decided to overclock this FX-8120 and these are my stable results so far. I just wanted to ask the more experienced AMD people around here what they think of the temps (cooled by Corsair H100)?

Idle: 32 celsius
Load w/ prime95: 71.2
VCore: 1.392
NB Vid: 1.375
NB: 1.2

Temps might be a little high but for the most part look in-line with your cooling and vcore.
What voltage do you mean by "NB VID"? CPU-NB or the 990FX chipset? Either way, that's way too high.

I've been building machines since I was 11, however I've got another 10 years to make it to 26

[ro.sniper]

Thanks for the warm welcomes guys!

Some time has passed since my last post so here are some updates:

I kept on struggling with the high temperatures so I decided to get another FX-8120 in order to compare.

Results:

FX-8120 125Watt Serial: 9Y19305J10232
This one keeps giving the following errors with any sort of over-clocking

Reported by component: Processor Core
Error Source: Corrected Machine Check
Error Type: Cache Hierarchy Error
Processor ID: 1

Reported by component: Processor Core
Error Source: Corrected Machine Check
Error Type: Cache Hierarchy Error
Processor ID: 0

I'm pretty sure core 0 / 1 are busted on this one. I have started the RMA process with AMD. Has anyone ever seen these errors on the FX series?

---------------

FX-8120 125Watt Serial: 9Y19305J10385

This is my original CPU. I have re-seated this CPU and have re-applied the thermal compound and was getting 63.5 degrees Celsius. I used AS5 for thermal compound (I know it isn't the best out there). After about 10 days I ran P95 and max temps are around 59 degrees Celsius (guessing the AS5 is now cured).

In conclusion I can over-clock to 4.5GHz without much trouble with decent temps. I'm going to try a push / pull fan combination on my H100 to see if I can over-clock further while keeping the temps down. I can't believe the difference between two of the "same" processors.

Cheers!

[ro.sniper]

NEW processor has now arrived from AMD. From the moment it was sent in for RMA it was about 10 business days to receive new one. Will test this one tonight

Conclusion: RMA process for AMD is pretty painless.

Cheers,

Raz

[negsteri]

Hi all,

New here and new to OC and AMD chips. I just did my first overclock and ran Intel Burn Test, my overclock passed the test but I saw my chip get up to 59C max near the middle of the runs. Is this ok?

I cant seem to get past 4.2Ghz @ 1.28v even with increasing the voltage slightly my PC will crash during stress testing. I dont mind staying at 4.2Ghz was just wondering about the temps. Right now, idle temps are 36-40C on the CPU and VCORE idle temps are 41-43C.

I was also wondering about DRAM - I cant find that setting in my BIOS. I'm running a ASUS Sabertooth 990FX BIOS Revision 1604.

Below are my CPU-Z Screen Caps and my IBT Results:

http://imgur.com/kaD4MrE,qlREdJw,LXFIBwK

http://imgur.com/of7Ej70