My attempt in overclocking A8-5600k- gaming HTPC with no GPU ;)

[bastic]

Hi,
I have decided to sell my stationary bluray player along with laptop, and replace it with HTPC.
I knew I wanted new AMD CPU.
At first went for A6 but changed my order to A8-5600k as it is 4core.
There were not many boards to choose from and I ended up getting
ASRock FM2A75M-ITX AMD A75 Chipset
Had spare 1600MHz RAM so though I will save few £££
To fit everything in I went for Silverstone Sugo SG05 HTPC USB 3.0 Case with 300W Power Supply. I need to fit a bluray drive in it so could go for anything smaller and this case dimensions fit just right on a shelf under my TV.

Optical drive should be with me soon and I went for Sony Blu-Ray Reader for Laptop with DVDRW function Sony BC-5550H-01 - almost forgot to buy slimline power adapter...

Fitted all in ... fan on stock cooler is quite loud - especially coming from watercooled system..that made me order Scythe Shuriken Rev.B Quiet Low Profile

List of components again :
A8-5600k
ASRock FM2A75M-ITX AMD A75 Chipset
Sony Blu-Ray Reader
Scythe Shuriken Rev.B Quiet Low Profile
Sandisk 120GB SSD
Silverstone Sugo SG05 HTPC USB 3.0 Case with 300W Power Supply


When windows was installing I managed to read few reviews and most of them were saying that I should be able to play some games in 720p....I felt like I was smacked in a face... challenge accepted
I want to play in 1080p on 46"

As much as CPU is easy to O/C, GPU isn't...
My attempts on my old RAM were hitting brick wall..silly me..I haven't checked voltages of RAM...Patriot I was running - 1600MHz CL7, needs 1.9V and mobo can only give 1.8 at max...

At the moment, am sitting at 4GHz, NB 2000MHz and GPU at 800MHz.
Before I have upped voltage on RAM I was getting a lot of BSOD.
Now, only now and then games crash on me and I go back to OS - it must be RAM..what else it can be...

So I needed new RAM...luckily for me MM is here
managed to find Kingston HyperX Beast 16GB (2x8GB) 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit for a good price ...yes...16GB for HTPC is an overkill especially you can assign max 2GB to GPU.

Before I install new RAM, I will do few benchmarks with stock settings and settings I use at the minute. After that, will try to push GPU to at least 1GHz.

I have tested system on (went for games I can control with a pad) :
Batman - Arkham City
SW: The Force Unleashed 2
Brutal Legend

all playable. will install fraps to check frame-rates.

will try NFS hot pursuit and War Thunder.

are there any particular benchmarks you guys would be interested in seeing ?
I know Batman has one built in...

Wish me luck

 

[bastic]

reserved for screenshots with results

 

[bastic]

reserved for screenshots with results 2

 

[cheesyboy]

It will be interesting to hear how you get on with the Asrock A75 ITX motherboard. Especially with overclocking; all the feedback I've seen on it is pretty terrible with overheating VRM problems.

I'm planning an ITX build myself in the coming months (probably after Richland appears), so am weighing up the pros and cons of the 3 available FM2 boards.

 

[bastic]

It will be interesting to hear how you get on with the Asrock A75 ITX motherboard. Especially with overclocking; all the feedback I've seen on it is pretty terrible with overheating VRM problems.

I'm planning an ITX build myself in the coming months (probably after Richland appears), so am weighing up the pros and cons of the 3 available FM2 boards.

board was running pretty cool so far..
how would I knoe that VRM is overheating ?
artefacts? like on GPU ?

 

[cheesyboy]

It's worth having a read of the overclock.net Asrock A75 itx thread;
http://www.overclock.net/t/1337304/asrock-fm2a75m-itx-motherboard-fire

Check out the pics in the first post

 

[bastic]

nice..
but it doesnt happen to everyone...will try not to overdo volts...

 

[wolvers]

I'm interested to see your results as I am considering upgrading my itx machine to an A10-5700. I'd go for the MSI board though I think.

 

[bastic]

Need a GPU stress benchmark....fur mark??

 

[bastic]

ok...with faster RAM - faster than 1866, you loose some options in BIOS - for speed of GPU...

I have been doing changes to it in AMD overdrive but after resets it all was going back to defaults - even thought I have set my settings as defaults...

with GPU set from 400 - with ram 1866 you get 760MHZ as default not 400!!! I had no problems but once speed up to 800MHz, now and then games were crashing..

have no time today, but tomorrow will swap this 2400 ram with my 1866 and see if I can push GPU faster...

at default clocks, with 2400 RAM and GPU memory running at 1200MHz, batman AC is playable at full HD in medium details

If I get it to run with 2400 RAM at 800 or faster, it will be playable in high details - no dx11.

 

[bastic]

Have decided that I will return the mobo...
I am blaming it for lack of settings ..especially when it comes to ram over 1866...and for instability...not to mention cases when it sets itself on fire...
Bought it 15 days ago so should be fine...
There are not many mITX boards...any suggestions on which to get?? Was thinking Asus or MSI

 

[bastic]

ok...
seems like I had better results after switching to slower RAM...
Installed 1866 and was able to run GPU at 800MHz no problems - that wasn't possible with 2133 and 2400 RAM even with voltages upped.
I blame MOBO for it as over 1866, option of adjusting GPU speed disappears in BIOS...

so GPU on 800 and its memory on 933.
making batman AC playable in 1080p with medium details.
Overclocking CPU did not make any difference.
Maybe tomorrow will try to overclock GPU to 900/933 to see if I can get it stable.

But batman in medium in full hd works for me