AMD FX-3600 - Problem Question - Fluctuations on defaults

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Hey OCUK, wondering if someone could help me out. I'm having problems with my FX-6300 processor. (spelt wrong in post title soz!)

Basically my VCORE and CPU Speed seem to be dropping all the time always from the stock 3.5 ghz down to 3.0 ghz.

All settings in bios are stock defaults, windows is in high performance mode etc. I've tried disabling c&c or manually setting speeds but this fluctuating always seems to happen :(

Specs:

  • AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail

  • Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 AMD 760G (Socket AM3+) DDR3 MicroATX Motherboard
  • Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit
  • OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (VTX4-25SAT3-128G)
  • ASUS AMD 3GB 7950 gfx

I've attached a pic from OOCT below with the graph of what's going on, I've confirmed the drops in CPUZ too btw.

I've read online that the VRM chips on my motherboard don't have heatsinks or anything on them, but since I'm not overclocking I wouldn't have thought that would be a problem!

Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

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They don't. And so long as you weren't overclocking that shouldn't be a problem. But it also depends on how much voltage the chip is pulling to run at stock (3.5).

Do you know what the recommended voltage limit for that chip is? Is it pulling 1.34v just to run @ 3.0GHz? It could be that if it's pulling 1.34v to run at just 3GHz, it's pulling considerably more to run at 3.5GHz and the board is ramping it down to protect itself.

My 8320E for instance runs comfortably at 1.32v @ 4.4GHz. But if I want to push it even a bit further to 4.6GHz, it needs 1.4v or more and that starts causing thermal problems (dangerously close to the thermal margin the chip is capable of).

When its running at stock 3.5 GHZ it is pulling 1.24 volts.
When it is running at 3.0 GHZ it is pulling about 1.08 volts.
The VCORE fluctuates between 1.08 volts to 1.45 at times though! It's very weird. This is all on default settings.
 
can you provide us pictures of your bios settings,
The board isn't great but with reduced voltage it should manage a stock fx6300 or at least 4.0ghz at 1.25v -. I imagine the vid is 1.35 and with turbocore enabled it's hitting a ridiculous 1.45v.

You may not be aware but full turbo is 3.8ghz and half turbo is 4.1ghz, for these p-states the voltage can be ridiculously high.
I'd disable turbo core, and change multiplier to 35x.
Then mess around with voltage scaling.
Cool and quiet is not the cause of the throttling, the throttling is due to overheat protection of the vrms in the motherboard.

Shame you didn't have a 78lmt-usb3 because these matx boards hold an fx8 upto 1.45v.

Bios screenshots attached to this post.

Disabled turbo core, still does the same thing.

With regard to switching to x35 multiplier, I assume that means changing bus speed down to 100 mhz? I'll give it a try though and see how it goes!

I ordered some heatsinks for the VRM yesterday which I've now attached to the VRM's, specifically "Enzotech BMR-C1". No change what so ever! Although they do seem to get mighty hot anyway.
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Hi comeradealexi, I'm having the same problem. I've had my 6300 running at 4.6ghz for a year and a half now and only just noticed its doing the same as your CPU. So I've put the CPU back to stock and its still the same.the board I'm using is a gigabyte 990xa-ud3.


Perhaps it is a processor issue then!

I've contacted ASUS support, they suggested installing chipset drivers again which didn't help.
 
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None of that worked for me unfortunately! Even with everything manual set, LoadLine at 100%, still getting drops at all speeds :/

I noticed dnic77 that your board seems to have proper VRAM heatsink, perhaps this is still a VRAM issue when my PC is at load :'( but since I'm not overclocking I don't see why this should be such a big issue, and since I've attached my own heatsinks to them recently.
 
Thanks for your help! :) Am currently on the latest 2001 bios, I'll re-flash though and see if that helps.

I'll also try and find a spare PSU somewhere and see if that helps. Failing that though, I'm guessing maybe a hardware problem?
 
I BRING DATA >:D-

My Cooler: Xigmatek Loki SD963 CPU Cooler
My Idle Temp on Stock Settings: 28 - 30 degrees

Test 1:
LLC: 3.25%
Voltage: Auto
Turbo Core = Auto
Fan Speed: Auto (Not 100%)
Multiplier: Auto (200 MHz)
Ratio: Auto (x17.5 3500 Mhz)
AqD9MLcl.png.jpg
MUeh90sl.png.jpg
CjBlZnml.png.jpg

Test 2:
LLC: 3.25%
Voltage: Auto
Turbo Core = Disabled
Fan Speed: 100 % over 40 degrees
Multiplier: 200 MHz
Ratio: x17.5 3500 Mhz
ogOmS5dl.png.jpg
F3r76dKl.png.jpg
1Bf0DTYl.png.jpg

Test 2 Extended (thought it might be interesting to show graphs when not stressing too)
iedyvRPl.png.jpg
qK08SOKl.png.jpg

Test 3:
LLC: Auto (48.375%)
Voltage: Auto
Turbo Core = Disabled
Fan Speed: 100 % over 40 degrees
Multiplier: 200 MHz
Ratio: x17.5 3500 Mhz
Notes: Temperatures strangely low for this one! Same readings in AIDA
WwgjxSL.png
lZAfBVI.png
fapZpUx.png

Test 4:
LLC: 90.3%
Voltage: Auto
Turbo Core = Disabled
Fan Speed: 100 % over 40 degrees
Multiplier: 200 MHz
Ratio: x17.5 3500 Mhz
EmONXpll.png.jpg
UdKv2Fvl.png.jpg
FWRyTl8l.png.jpg

Test 5: (as suggested by Davedree)
LLC: 0%
Voltage: 1.2
Turbo Core = Disabled
Fan Speed: 100 % over 40 degrees
Multiplier: 200 MHz
Ratio: x17.5 3500 Mhz
Notes: PC hung once for a few seconds during the test.
c2EfKzu.png
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xXEtJaC.png
 
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Well it certainty did it a lot less Davedree! (I've added it as test 5 to the previous post above)

The voltage is still all over the palace, no where near the 1.2 I manually set it to, but it's dipping a lot less for sure.

I'll see what cooling I can add to the VRAM and see how it affects the test, its quite a tight area to get a fan over unfortunately.

I'm guessing this definitely highlights the importance of a decent motherboard, even if you aren't going to overclock since my one is struggling at stock!

Thanks for the link too, I'll have a read :)

So I'm not sure what this concludes in regards to how much the voltage changes? but If I can get some good cooling over the vram and see changes, then they certainty are the culprit somewhat.
 
OOCT reporting errors with current settings now! If I'm aiming for a lower voltage does that mean I'll have to underclock my cpu to get it stable and not fluctuating in speed?

Also, just re-did test 5 without errors and gettings big drops like before, damn this motherboard! Will try a fan now if I can squeeze it in.

Re-done test 5:
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Well, 3.5 is the stock speed, I'll monitor in games etc though and see how it goes. (have re-done test 5 and posted in prev post btw)

Planning on upgrading within the next year or so, you can be sure my next motherboard will at a minimum have decent VRAM cooling ^.^ thanks for your help Davedree :)
 
Just wanted to add, today I extracted some big heat sinks from old motherboards and stuck them over the VRM's with a fan, no difference at all.

Conclusion, cheap board = cheap performance!
 
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