System Freezes After Overclocking FX-8350

[john01dav]

Hello,

 

I have an ancient FX-8350 CPU, and, as I can not afford to update, have decided to overclock it. It comes with 4GHz by default, and I have it running at 4.4GHz with good temperatures (never exceeding 50°C, even under intense synthetic load). This has given me a very welcome performance boost, but has also introduced one issue: system freezes. Specifically, at seemingly arbitrary times, and not necessarily when it is under intense load, the system entirely freezes: I can't move the mouse, the clock stops ticking, videos stop playing, the last ~half second of sound loops, etc. This has happened so far when the system is booting up, when watching a video, and when logging into a heavily modded Minecraft server (pins one core at 100% for several seconds, moderate increased usage on the other cores), but has not happened at all during extensive testing with synthetic loads on all cores (sysbench cpu benchmark with modified settings to continue running for several hours, searches for prime numbers). I am using Ubuntu Linux as my operating system, and I overclocked using the multiplier in the bios. I have verified via /proc/cpuinfo that my CPU is, in fact, running at 4.4GHz, give or take a few MHz. I am unable to check my CPU voltages because I have not found a Linux program that can do this reliably, although it is set to 3.3V in the bios with ~12% load line calibration, and putting it up to ~50% prevents the system from starting up with various CPU-related error messages appearing on screen, seemingly from the kernel. I do not have a Windows license available to check violtages using Windows.

 

What do these symptoms indicate? How do I fix that/those issues? Is there any Linux program that can give me more detailed information about my CPU (ie. reasons for shutdowns, actual voltages)?

 

Thank you.

 

EDIT: In some cases, although rarely, the computer shuts down then goes to the motherboard screen and proceeds booting, without intervention.

[xentropa]

The random restart points to insufficient power.  Increase your cpu voltage.

 

Freezing is due to a hard memory error, which means the system is just inherently unstable at that point.

[Kamjam21xx]

Yeah id get a newer cpu if you can. Overclocking is overrated, as the stability gains from not over clocking or even underclocking like a xeon... many times is worth it.

[faziten]

Motherboard brand and model?

FX were known for overheating the VRM in most motherboards.

[john01dav]

I have since gotten my laptop, with a much better cpu, back from repairs (I thought it was going to take at least another few months at the time of posting), I no longer need help in this thread.