FX 6300 overclock-help, first time overclocking

[Vladdy95]

So, I have decided to overclock my FX 6300. I would't normally be doing this, but I got a GTX 970 and read something about bottle necking with that particular configuration. I have never overclocked anything, except messing around and failing in afterburner a little bit. I have an Asrock Extreme3 970 and a Xigmatek Gaia cooler. Can someone tell me how much would I need to overclock so that my FX 6300 will not bottleneck with my GTX 970? Right now, upgrading is not an option and I am planning on waiting for Broadwell or Skylake. 

[Fate]

It will bottleneck in quite a few games no matter how high you realistically overclock it, but overclocking will definitely boost your FPS in those games where you're bottlenecked.

 

That motherboard however is only 4+1 Phase VRM so I would advise against overclocking (6+2 is recommended for stock operations on 63xx and 83xx and I would say it's pretty much required for overclocking, with 8+2 recommended), people have reported throttling even at stock clocks on that board. You may be able to get a couple hundred MHz out of it though.

[Vladdy95]

Hm, so would upgrading to an 8350 help?

[Priller]

What ram do you have?

 

I would try to increase core speed without changing voltage first and monitor temps. 

[Vladdy95]

I have this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231718&nm_mc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-  

I ordered 2 sticks. so maybe increase it gradually and see how far I can go?

[Fate]

Hm, so would upgrading to an 8350 help?

Not at all in most games (most games the FX-4300 performs very similarly to a FX-8350 because they don't take advantage of the cores).

It's a possibility that if you did upgrade to an 8350 your VRM's would throttle on that motherboard.

If I were you I would just save up for an i5 as there's no use in investing further into AM3+ at this point.

 

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[Priller]

I have this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231718&nm_mc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-

I ordered 2 sticks. so maybe increase it gradually and see how far I can go?

 

I would just start increasing core speed step by step until you run into instability. Make sure you have set your ram speed and timing manually and that your ram voltage is set to 1.525V as it accounts for any vdroop in ram voltage.

 

Monitor VRM, Core, and socket temps as you go.

[Vladdy95]

Not at all in most games (most games the FX-4300 performs very similarly to a FX-8350 because they don't take advantage of the cores).

It's a possibility that if you did upgrade to an 8350 your VRM's would throttle on that motherboard.

If I were you I would just save up for an i5 as there's no use in investing further into AM3+ at this point.

 

(remember to quote people (bottom right of their message) so they receive a notification)

Valid point. The only reason I went AMD is because that was my budget. I am saving for an i7 and a good mb, so I will upgrade in the next few months. I mostly play World of Tanks and War Thunder (not CPU intensive games), so I will likely not need the extra processing power.

[Vladdy95]

I would just start increasing core speed step by step until you run into instability. Make sure you have set your ram speed and timing manually and that your ram voltage is set to 1.525V as it accounts for any vdroop in ram voltage.

 

Monitor VRM, Core, and socket temps as you go.

Thanks for the advice. I'll start as soon as my new case arrives and I'm able to fit my graphics card into the system.

[Un4tural]

as pointed out the motherboard doesn't really have the power delivery for overclocking, what i could say to try is disabling couple of cores, making it basically a 4300 and then overclocking with 4 cores active, it should decrease the power required while boosting single core performance to boost them fps a little bit. 

 

I might be wrong, but in my half asleep brain simulations this works alright. got an 6300 myself, its not a bad cpu, especially for the money, but amd really needs to release new platform and new cpus instead of rehashing the living hell out of these... with mild frequency boosts... 

[Vladdy95]

as pointed out the motherboard doesn't really have the power delivery for overclocking, what i could say to try is disabling couple of cores, making it basically a 4300 and then overclocking with 4 cores active, it should decrease the power required while boosting single core performance to boost them fps a little bit. 

 

I might be wrong, but in my half asleep brain simulations this works alright. got an 6300 myself, its not a bad cpu, especially for the money, but amd really needs to release new platform and new cpus instead of rehashing the living hell out of these... with mild frequency boosts... 

Interesting idea. Yeah, bulldozer was kind of a let down from the beginning, but AMD keeps thinking it's a good idea to try and reanimate it for some reason.