AMD APU Overclocking Guide Tips/Tricks/Do's/Don'ts/etc

[kfarris]

Hello my fellow Linus Tech Tips members/fans please be advised that this is a work in progress I will update daily! Message me for anything you think I should add to this.   

 

     My name is Kyle Farris,

Today I have decided to do an Overclocking APU Guide as they differ considerably from what I've read around and seen myself. 

 So to start off I will go ahead and list the components that I have used/are using as of date 2012- present. I will also be adding many photo's of benchmarks in games/bench-marking software as well.

  So without further ado here is a list of hardware used for these tests.

 

Motherboards Used:

 ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 FM2

  ASRock FM2A88X Extreme6+ FM2+ / FM2 (<--currently using)

   MSI FM2-A85XA-G65 FM2  (<-- NOTE: This motherboard is a pain to OC)

 

APU's Used: 

 AMD A10-5800K Trinity Quad-Core 3.8GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Socket FM2 100W

  AMD A10-6800K Richland 4.1GHz (4.4GHz Turbo) Socket FM2 100W Quad-Core Desktop Processor - Black Edition

   AMD A10-7850K Kaveri 12 Compute Cores (4 CPU + 8 GPU) 3.7GHz Socket FM2+ 95W (Note: Have yet to order the 7850k APU will get to next month with more to come!)

 

Cases used: 

 Cooler Master HAF XB EVO

  APEVIA X-DREAMER4 Series (<--Note: have BLACK, PINK, SILVER, all are good wish they had purple edition) 

 

Power Supplies Used: 

 CORSAIR HX Series HX750 80+ gold (Modular)

  EVGA 500 B 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified 500W (not modular)

 

Ram Used: 

 G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 speed.

  Patriot Intel Extreme Master, Limited Edition 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 speed ( <--NOTE was able to OC to 2400 speed)

   ADATA XPG™ Gaming v2.0 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400 speed

 

(NOTE: Enable XMP set to 2400C Asrock FM2+ MOTHERBOARD AUTO OC IT NO ISSUES).

 

(NOTE: FOR RAM IN GENERAL) The faster the ram speed on these APU's the better overall performance you will get! I recommend at least 1866-2133 Ideal is 2400 - 2600OC These suckers scream at OC ram speeds. 

 

OS Used/Tested: (NOTE: If requested enough I may try other OS's need at least 5+ requests..) (NOTE: All OS's where installed using flash drives.)

 Windows 7 ult 64bit

  Windows 10 tech preview 64bit and 32bit. 

 

Storage:

 Intel SSDSC2BW240A4K5  (Note: 240gig)

  Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5

   Kingston HyperX 3K SH103S3/120G 2.5.

 

Cooling: 

 Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO (<--Currently using air cooled)

  Cooler Master Seidon 120M (<--NOTE 3 years almost running 24/7 still working (water-cooling).

 

Fans: (NOTE: These suckers are quite but move less air at max speed setting.)

 COUGAR CF-V12H Vortex Hydro-Dynamic-Bearing (Fluid) 300,000 Hours 12CM Silent Cooling Fans.  

  Used stock fans that came with the EVO and the Seidon 120M.

   The cougar fans are just installed in the cases only.

 

Graphics cards used with on-board on/off: 

 EVGA 02G-P4-3753-KR G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 750 Ti Superclocked 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 Video Card

 (NOTE: Was able to OC pretty good with MSI After Burner Software and Win7 Patches/reg-edits)

   MSI R6670-MD1GD5 Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card (NOTE: This sucker really OC's)

 

(NOTE: About config OS to use added GPU as dedicated Physx card. Had some very very shocking results in performance..)  :huh: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that we have the hardware out of the way for now, lets go ahead and move onto the testing software that I used and why I used them.

 

Benchmark Tools Used: UPDATE: 3?

 Prime95 (Not used and will explain why at a later date.)

  Novabench (HDD Benchmark Tool) (NOTE: LOOKING FOR GOOD SSD SOFTWARE STILL)

   3D Mark Software free editions temp (NOTE: NEXT MONTH WILL RUN ALL TESTS AND POST)

    PCMark Basic editions again temp will upload all next month.

     SiSoftware Sandra (gives a good well rounded look at system's performance)

       GeekBench 3 Free edition

        

Games Benchmarked:

 Metro2033

  Resident Evil 5 And 6

   Tomb Raider 

     Thief

      Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn

       Grand Theft Auto IV

        Hitman: Absolution

         Natural Selection 2

          Aliens vs. Predator

           Doom 3: BFG Edition

            Battlefield 4 (apparently it has one and am working on config file for it)

             League of Legends (Does not have benchmark tool but ran some tests anyway)

 

(Let me know if you wish to see more games tested that have built in benchmark tests) Here is a list that I have gathered let me me know if I missed any: 

What Steam games come with benchmark tools?

• Alan Wake
• Aliens vs. Predator
• Arma 2
• Batman: Arkham Asylum
• Batman: Arkham City
• BioShock Infinite
• Company of Heroes
• Counter-Strike: Source
• Crysis
• Devil May Cry 4
• DiRT 3
• DiRT Showdown
• Doom 3
• Far Cry 2
• Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
• Grand Theft Auto IV
• GRID 2
• Hard Reset
• Hitman: Absolution
• Just Cause 2
• The Last Remnant
• Lost Planet 2
• Mafia II
• Metro 2033
• Metro: Last Light
• Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
• Mirror's Edge
• Natural Selection 2
• NBA 2K13
• Quake III Arena
• Quake IV
• Remember Me
• Resident Evil 5
• Resident Evil 6
• Return to Castle Wolfenstein
• Sleeping Dogs
• Sniper Elite V2
• Street Fighter IV
• The Talos Principle
• Thief
• Tomb Raider
• Total War: Shogun 2
• Track Mania Valley
• Unreal Tournament 2004
• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2
• World in Conflict

 

Recording Software Used:

 Action!

 

OC Software Used:

 MSI After Burner (NOTE: FOR ADDED GPU ONLY)

  BIOS

   

 

Monitoring Software used:

 Open Hardware Monitor (NOTE: This thing is amazing!)

  Speccy

   

 

Update 1: (NOTE: WILL POST SOME TEST RESULTS TOMORROW)

 

Okay, so you just installed your OS or have one already installed and want to push your APU just a wee bit more aye? 

 Well to start off I'm going to tell you to go to your motherboards manufacturers website and find your motherboard.

  Check to see if it has a new BIOS update. If it does then go ahead and install it.

   Next I'm gonna need you to make sure all your drivers are up to date and that windows is also up to date.

    After that's out of the way we can go ahead and set everything to stock settings in BIOS.

     To do this look for something called Load Default Values or Settings Click yes (if prompted) save and reboot back into BIOS.

       After that you'll need to locate a setting called CPU voltage control (NOTE: yours may be under advanced CPU Core features or something similar.

        I recommend refereeing to your manual to find the vcore voltage control.)

         Once you have found the Voltage control for you CPU you can now up it by 2 and up your clock speed by 1.

          Example 6800k stock 4.1ghz to 4.4ghz turbo (NOTE: Disable turbo) changed multiplier to x47 (4.7ghz) vcore 1.450 (CPU VOLTAGE).

           Now try running the windows assessment tool to see if it's stable. If it doesn't crash you should be good.

            If it does up VCORE by 2 and re-run the windows assessment tool. Do not offset the voltage it will only cause instability issues..

             On some APU's you will be limited on clock speed due to temperature issues or the buss speed being too slow.

              In which case you will either need better cooling or up the buss speed and the voltage for that as well..

              And maybe even your ram to a higher speed if your ram supports it, it all really depends on your situation..

               It will vary per build as no one usually uses the same hardware as someone else for example..

                Also, it could be simply your power supply is to little, it all depends on your build and if you added a graphics card or not.

 

Now tomorrow I will also be adding a section for overclocking the on-board GPU with or without an ADD in card. And elaborate more clearly on what I am talking  about in the above sections. ^

 

 

 

 

 

 

UPDATE: 2

Just finished setting up build version and am running tests at stock speeds with just the on-board GPU.

 

Version 1A SPECS:

 

Motherboard: ASRock FM2A88X Extreme6+ FM2+ / FM2

APU: A10-6800K

PSU: EVGA 500 B 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified 500W

RAM: ADATA 2x4gig

OS: Windows 7 64Bit

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 

 

Test results with ram speeds at 2400, 2133, 1866, 1600, 1333, 1066, 800. Frame rate is crap at these settings. did no further tests...

http://www.3dmark.com/compare/3dmv/5295864/3dmv/5295918/3dmv/5295926/3dmv/5295940/3dmv/5295955

(NOTE: TEST #1 1866, #2 1600, #3 1333, #4 1066, #5 800.) (NOTE: will continue to update as more tests are done)

(NOTE: if you notice the CPU score was actually better with ram speed at 1066 compared to the others, while the GPU kept scaling better, this was due to it being bottle-necked. Now that it's at 1866 ram speed the bottle-neck has been removed and the system can preform at optimal performance)

 

Now that we are getting ram speed above 1866 we again start seeing the system bottle-neck and in result lose performance.

http://www.3dmark.com/compare/3dmv/5295961/3dmv/5295955/3dmv/5295940/3dmv/5295926/3dmv/5295918/3dmv/5295864

 

(NOTE: TEST #2 2133, #1 1866, #3 1600, #4 1333, #5 1066, #6 800.) (Sorry about the order it's just how it compares the scores..)

 

Finally we get to 2400 ram speed: As you can see it still is being bottle necked like before, but the GPU scales up across the board.

http://www.3dmark.com/compare/3dmv/5295969/3dmv/5295961/3dmv/5295955/3dmv/5295940/3dmv/5295926/3dmv/5295918/3dmv/5295864

 

(NOTE: TEST #2 2400, #3 2133, #1 1866, #4 1600, #5 1333, #6 1066 #7 800.) (Sorry about the order it's just how it compares the scores..)

 

skip to 2:11 min in...

Video link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL1wSSCyFvk  (Ram speed at 800)

Video link: (will update) (Ram speed 2400)

Did no further videos yet, as frame rate is still below desired results worth showing..(all below 30fps)

 

Screen shot showing windows score and settings:

800 

1066 

1333 

1600 

1866 

2133 

2400 

 

 

 

 

Version 2A SPECS:

 

Motherboard: ASRock FM2A88X Extreme6+ FM2+ / FM2

APU: A10-6800K

PSU: CORSAIR HX Series HX750 80+ gold

RAM: ADATA 2x4gig

OS: Windows 7 64Bit

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 

 

Overclocked:

CPU: 4.8ghz

(On-Board) GPU: 950mhz

x13 multiplyer

Ram: 2400 speed (Dedicated 2Gig of ram as GPU memory.)

 

http://www.3dmark.com/3dmv/5296277(Not bad for on-board graphics)

 

Here is a test I did after I added a GTX 750Ti (set as a dedicated physx card) running at stock GPU settings with the above settings: http://www.3dmark.com/3dmv/5296303 (scored P18217  that's 61% better than most)

 

 

 

 

Again please keep in mind that this guide is a work in progress will update daily.   

 

(update: 6-28-2015 7am Pacific time) Due to some technical issues this has been put on hold for 3? days.. sorry for the inconvenience. But when the site had its maintenance done recently I had lots of stuff waiting to go on here and because the site was down for many hours (8+) some unfortunate events occurred which resulted in data loss on my end..

[DigitalHermit]

Following as user of an A8-5600k @ 4.2GHz on a Gigabyte F2A55M-DS2 rev. 1.0 (BIOS ver. F4) cooled by a Deep Cool Gammaxx S40 (full specs in profile)

[kfarris]

Following as user of an A8-5600k @ 4.2GHz on a Gigabyte F2A55M-DS2 rev. 1.0 (BIOS ver. F4) cooled by a Deep Cool Gammaxx S40 (full specs in profile)

Here is a spoiler of what I am getting OC'd the A10 6800k with 750Ti as dedicated physx card... With onboard enabled GPU enabled..( I think it's enabled need to double check) 

http://www.3dmark.com/3dmv/5294181

[DigitalHermit]

Here is a spoiler of what I am getting OC'd the A10 6800k with 750Ti as dedicated physx card... With onboard enabled GPU enabled..( I think it's enabled need to double check) 

http://www.3dmark.com/3dmv/5294181

 

I'm guessing 4.8GHz on the CPU side of the APU?

 

I tried to push mine to 4.5GHz but the mobo and the cooling solution can't handle it with my room temps at 27C at best and 41C at worst...

[kfarris]

Yes 

 

I'm guessing 4.8GHz on the CPU side of the APU?

 

I tried to push mine to 4.5GHz but the mobo and the cooling solution can't handle it with my room temps at 27C at best and 41C at worst...

Dude your temps are way below MAX 24/7 Operation temps... http://products.amd.com/en-us/DesktopAPUDetail.aspx?id=46

Your's is rated for 74C Max 24/7 Operating temp.. And you got a lot of head room to OC that puppy. I recommend starting with a a BIOS update if available for your motherboard. Make sure your drivers and windows are up to date too. 

[DigitalHermit]

Yes 

 

Dude your temps are way below MAX 24/7 Operation temps... http://products.amd.com/en-us/DesktopAPUDetail.aspx?id=46

Your's is rated for 74C Max 24/7 Operating temp.. And you got a lot of head room to OC that puppy. I recommend starting with a a BIOS update if available for your motherboard. Make sure your drivers and windows are up to date too. 

 

That was room temp...

Case temp sits between 32C to 45C...

Core temp is 67C at its highest (full load during a hot summer day in a non-airconditioned room)...

[kfarris]

Are you sure that the CPU block is on correctly? Or tight enough? If it's at 4.2ghz it should run cooler than that.. Like around 46C to 52C. I'd try reseating it maybe you put to little paste on it. that or your voltage is set way higher than it needs to be.. 

[DigitalHermit]

Are you sure that the CPU block is on correctly? Or tight enough? If it's at 4.2ghz it should run cooler than that.. Like around 46C to 52C. I'd try reseating it maybe you put to little paste on it. that or your voltage is set way higher than it needs to be.. 

 

like I said, I live in a warm country...

 

I'll post additional details when I'm using that rig again...

 

I'm using Deep Cool Z5 thermal paste btw... the mounting of the S40 is good... I'll toy with different software to look at the temps...

[kfarris]

Well my room temp is 35C which is 95F right now.. And I'm running tests clocked at 4.1ghz - 5.0ghz and even at 5ghz it's only reaching 71C at full load cranked at 5ghz. at 4.8 it stays around 50C idle and 62C under load. And I am also using air cooling (Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO). So I think it's either too high of a voltage setting or you need to reseat your CPU block..

 

 

Update: I have disabled all cool n quite features and disabled over heat detection features as I am monitoring it all with inferred sensors and some software.

[DigitalHermit]

Well my room temp is 35C which is 95F right now.. And I'm running tests clocked at 4.1ghz - 5.0ghz and even at 5ghz it's only reaching 71C at full load cranked at 5ghz. at 4.8 it stays around 50C idle and 62C under load. And I am also using air cooling (Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO). So I think it's either too high of a voltage setting or you need to reseat your CPU block..

 

Max safe core temp for the 5600k is 71C iirc...

[kfarris]

I am aware of that I am simply saying that your CPU voltage setting is probably too high it doesn't take much voltage to up the core clock speed.. I'm simply saying try downing the CPU volt and see if it will still boot repeat until it doesn't then reset and set to 2 up from where it won't boot re-run the windows assessment score and if it doesn't crash then it's stable (should be might need to run a quick game benchmark to be safe) 

 

(sum it up) less voltage you use the cooler your computer will run even in hot weather..

 

Update: 1 that cooler you have should be sufficient to cool that APU...

 

Update: 2 I have never heard of that thermal paste (but it's all the same).. I am using antec formula 7 nano diamond thermal compound (sigh long name) I use a tone of it and in my opinion the more the better I like it to where it's coming out all 4 sides but not enough to fall onto the motherboard. Thermal paste compound is simply made to help transfer the heat from the CPU to the CPU Block so the less you use the less heat that's gonna get transferred.. 

 

I would take off the CPU block and see if the entire cpu head is covered if its not then you didn't use enough if it is then your good. 

[DigitalHermit]

I am aware of that I am simply saying that your CPU voltage setting is probably too high it doesn't take much voltage to up the core clock speed.. I'm simply saying try downing the CPU volt and see if it will still boot repeat until it doesn't then reset and set to 2 up from where it won't boot re-run the windows assessment score and if it doesn't crash then it's stable (should be might need to run a quick game benchmark to be safe) 

 

(sum it up) less voltage you use the cooler your computer will run even in hot weather..

 

Update: 1 that cooler you have should be sufficient to cool that APU...

 

will try this weekend...

 

multiplier is at 42, voltage is at +0.038V with adaptive voltage set to low...

[ManWithBeard1990]

Can't get my 7850K past 4366 MHz.

[kfarris]

I looked at your motherboards BIOS with the pdf file I downloaded. And under advanced voltage settings their is a setting called CPU Vcore that is the one that controls your CPU. You need to set that manually if you are messing with the clock speeds. Example clock speed 3.8ghz CPU VCORE should be about 1.440 - 1.500 I'd start 1.440 and see if she boots and 3.8ghz if so up clock speed until it doesn't boot reset, up voltage and repeat until you get the clock speed you wanted or until you run out of Temp overhead room..  After each clock increase do a quick windows run assessment to make sure it doesn't crash if it does then up voltage by 2 and repeat until desired settings are found. 

 

But you don't wanna just offset the voltage that can cause sustainability issues..

 

Update: this post is for DigitalHermit

[kfarris]

Can't get my 7850K past 4366 MHz.

What motherboard are you using and ram? Also, do you have a GPU installed on top of the APU?

 

Update: Never mind I see you specs under your profile (sorry lol). 

 

Please give me a few minutes to investigate your issue. Also, if you can post a screen shot or type your BIOS settings in that would help.

[kfarris]

ManWithBeard199

 

Do you have the latest BIOS update? latest one was 2 months ago.. http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/FM2A88X%20Extreme4+/?cat=Download&os=BIOS

Also, make sure drivers are up to date and windows.

 

If you can't get past 4.3ghz then your probably doing something wrong with the settings or it could be that your over heat temperature protection is kicking in and you may have to disable that feature but if you don't watch the temps you could kill your computer..(I take no responsibility for it) Maximum Operating Temperature for yours is 72C

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/AMD-A10-7850K-vs-AMD-A10-6800K