I think you're right, I got screwed with the 550 I have as it doesn't unlock as I was promised.Originally Posted by BlindShot
Pretty pointless running a 2-core processor on this level of motherboard.
I think you're right, I got screwed with the 550 I have as it doesn't unlock as I was promised.
Pretty pointless running a 2-core processor on this level of motherboard.
You should be able to manually OC considerably higher than 4200 MHz. when you get around to tuning your system.
I have not found any performance advantage to BIOS V1.70/1.80/1.90 in Win 7 but I do know that Asrock indicates that 1.90 is required for Win 8. BIOS V1.90 also does away with the stupid John Fatality face in BIOS graphics and boot, etc. and is much better IMO.
The silver arrow should work well. I've used a lot of Thermalright HSFs over the years and they are top quality IME.
Thanks. Ye I was lucky as my mobo came with V1.90 BIOS and I am running Win 8 PRO. Will start soon to manually OC. Thanks for all your inputs so far
Glad to help! If your mobo came with V1.90 then it's a fairly recent production, say in the last ~3 months or so based on the BIOS date posted on the website. If they did any minor tweaks, you should have the latest and hopefully greatest mobo.
Win 8 is suppose to be a few percentage points faster than Win 7 on the FX processors as Microsucks reportedly improved the sorting/delivery of threads to the cores.
I love my new ASRock Fatal1ty. I went to the dark side. http://valid.canardpc.com/2654641
This particular thread is about the Asrock 990FX model Fatality mobo.
Wow no kidding.
He just pointed it out as you running the X79 but I take you posted in wrong threadWow no kidding
I was a big Amd fan for a long time. I came here to see how much everyone likes the ASRock 990fx board. I'm not a Intel fan boy looking to start crap. I do a lot of crunching for team Extremesystems and Intel just makes more numbers.
No problem. Well I came back to my beloved AMD from both Z77 and X79 and yes not as quick if you looking at number crunching and certain benches but for me in day to day usage my amd feels no different. I see a slight lower max fps in games with my AMD compared to my 3770K and 3960X I had but average FPS similar. I am truly happy with my 8350 and I am sure I will be even more once I OC my chip closer to 4.9-5.0mhz. Had the AsRock Z77 OC and man that is a sweet mobo but this 990FX Fatal1ty is great. Just loving it.
My 10 year old son wants a Fatal1ty board like mine. He would love the 990fx with my old AMD 720be as a starter.
BTW, anyone who is going to explore the limits of your CPU/RAM would be wise to download BIOS V1.8 and V1.9, unzip and load them both on to a USB flash drive. The reason for this is that the Asrock BIOS can get confused and go into a "stupid loop" if you have a crash or need to power down for a freeze. Sometimes disconnecting power from the PC for 10 seconds will clear things, but not always. Sometimes the BIOS re-set button on the back of the case/mobo will re-set things but not always. Storing your favorite BIOS configs. is helpful.
When the BIOS goes into it's "stupid loop" you will see wierd things like when you make BIOS changes to CPU/RAM frequencies, they do not actually change, even though the BIOS shows them as changed. The only means to fix the confused BIOS chip, without replacing it, is to flash to the other BIOS version you have on your USB drive. Use the 2.0 USB port and Instant flash in the Advanced screen. Otherwise you'll think that you're testing a configuration that you really aren't.
I use Core Temp, CPU-Z and OCCT to quickly check what the real frequencies, latencies, etc. are. You can boot into Windoze with the newly loaded BIOS and then re-boot and flash back to the original BIOS version you were using and all will be fine.
Last edited by AMDforME; 01-29-2013 at 10:01 AM.
Thanks for heads up. I must get better cooling before I will attempt higher speeds.BTW, anyone who is going to explore the limits of your CPU/RAM would be wise to download BIOS V1.8 and V1.9, unzip and load them both on to a USB flash drive. The reason for this is that the Asrock BIOS can get confused and go into a "stupid loop" if you have a crash or need to power down for a freeze. Sometimes disconnecting power from the PC for 10 seconds will clear things, but not always. Sometimes the BIOS re-set button on the back of the case/mobo will re-set things but not always. Storing your favorite BIOS configs. is helpful.
When the BIOS goes into it's "stupid loop" you will see wierd things like when you make BIOS changes to CPU/RAM frequencies, they do not actually change, even though the BIOS shows them as changed. The only means to fix the confused BIOS chip, without replacing it, is to flash to the other BIOS version you have on your USB drive. Use the 2.0 USB port and Instant flash in the Advanced screen. Otherwise you'll think that you're testing a configuration that you really aren't.
I use Core Temp, CPU-Z and OCCT to quickly check what the real frequencies, latencies, etc. are. You can boot into Windoze with the newly loaded BIOS and then re-boot and flash back to the original BIOS version you were using and all will be fine.
The sweet spot for most FX-8350's seems to be ~4.6-4.7 GHz. Some will make it higher, but many won't and still run P95/OCCT for hours without errors. Good cooling helps in that it allows higher Vcore, but IME once you find the optimum Vcore, CPU-NB and CPU frequency combination, it takes a lot more Vcore for only another 100 MHz. CPU speed. If you're just OC'ing to see how high you can go then it might be worth it. If you're looking for a rock solid PC then the 100 MHz. may not be important considering the increased power consumption required and the resulting thermal load.
It's worth noting that IME the FX CPUs OC a little differently than past CPUs in that more Vcore or CPU-NB voltage beyond the optimum voltage, can actually cause system instability - even when CPU heat isn't an issue. Thus it takes quite a bit of testing to find the sweet spot for your particular CPU.
You can isolate the other hardware components such as RAM and test one item at a time by underclocking the RAM and using P95 small FFT or small file set in OCCT. This way you eliminate most of the testing of RAM and concentrate the testing on the CPU. Once you find the max frequency for the CPU, then you can under clock it and test for the max RAM frequency.
Once you know that information, then you can try to combine the information keeping in mind that RAM frequency above ~1333 MHz. - 1600 MHz. doesn't make hardly any system performance improvement at all. (RAM testing software greatly exaggerates the changes compared to actual system performance). It's always better to use the highest stable CPU speed and live with whatever the RAM frequency is stable.
The final test in P95 should be "blend" and in OCCT - "large data set", so that it tests the CPU and RAM well to insure complete system stability. Several people have documented that the CPU Vcore and frequency can change lower when in manual OC mode - if the mobo VRM circuit gets too hot. The VRM circuit will cut the Vcore voltage/CPU frequency and VRM phases in some cases, to cool the VRM circuit.
You can observe this using Core Temp, HW Monitor and F-Stream on Asrock mobos. The Vcore/CPU will fluctuate continuously when the VRM reaches this set temp. until the stress test is discontinued. In some mobos this can cause P95/OCCT to error out.
Last edited by AMDforME; 02-02-2013 at 02:34 PM.
UPDATE: 2-16-13
I have confirmed that in P95 stress testing the VRM circuit can overheat and throttle the CPU frequency and voltage. Unless you run your PC @ 100% load for anything other then stress testing, this should not be an issue. I was able to cool the VRM heatsink by adding a second high flow 120mm fan to my CPU HSF on the exhaust side. This is directly over the VRM heatsink so it blows some air across the heatsink in addition to cooling the CPU a little better. Depending on what HSF you use, you may be able to do this, though it really isn't necessary unless you are running an FX-8xxx model CPU under 100% load, OC'ed to ~4.5+ GHz. @ 1.4+ Vcore for long periods of time.
There is a bug in BIOS V1.90 when you run RAM above 2133 MHz. The BIOS doesn't change the CPU-NB frequency above the normal 2200 MHz. even though it appears to in the BIOS.
For those who might be interested in the Fatality Professional mobo, Asrock has discontinued this model so if you want one you had better buy now as suppliers are exhausting their inventory. The Asrock Extreme 9 is a similar new AM3+ mobo but it does have some differences in particular only one PCI slot vs. two PCI slots on the Fatality mobo. Both boards appear to be good so if you don't need the features of the Fatality AM3+ mobo you will likely be happy with the Extreme 9.
Last edited by AMDforME; 04-22-2013 at 10:33 PM.
Confirmed that this model is now EOL, possibly the last hurrah? Requested from Asrock HQ to solve certain RAM issues
BIOS L1.93
http://www.filedropper.com/asrock990fat
pw is YMMV
Enjoy
'He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose' - Jim Elliot
Click on the pic to download a free pdf sample of the bestselling book!
What RAM issues are/were you experiencing? Did the Beta BIOS V1.93 fix the issues? V1.91B fixed the 2133 MHz. RAM speed not allowing a proper CPU-NB frequency above the default 2200 MHz. Even though the BIOS would allow you to change the CPU-NB frequency higher, it didn't actually increase the frequency.
L1.93 bios link has broken.
I e-mailed Asrock to inquire what the diff was between V1.91B and V1.93. They did not respond which is unusual IME.
...
Last edited by V-FrIeNd; 05-10-2013 at 08:29 PM.
Asrock HQ send me the 1.93 Bios.
from Asrock TSD (Asrock_TSD@asrock.com.tw)
Dear Sir,
Thanks for contacting ASRock.
The BIOS L1.93 as attachment improve DRAM compatibility.
Sincrely yours.
ASRock TSD.
reupload mf link > http://www.mediafire.com/?12nbi4s83ozanof
Asrock had taken down BIOS V1.93 because it had some code issues that caused corruption in some systems. When did they send you BIOS V1.93?
oh I dont know about this issues.
thanks for info. I will return to 1.91, but 1.93 not cause corrup in my system (use for 5 days no problem).
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks