Bulldozer Overclocking Guide (Performance Scaling Charts, max OCs)LN2 Results coming!

[sin0822]

Bulldozer OC Guide!
Everything you need to overclock bulldozer properly.

By Sin0822


Here is a preview video of what is to come:

This is an overclocking guide for those who are advanced overclockers, and those who are brand new. I have step by step for those who are new, as well as performance charts for those who are experienced:
Memory Scaling
CPU-NB Scaling
HT Link Scaling
High HTT and HT Link Scaling
Higher memory and CPUNB + HTLink Scaling
Multiplier + HTT Scaling
Voltage Scaling

Materials:Motherboard, with 990FX Chipset- I used GIGABYTE 990FXA-UD7CPU FX series is what this guide pertains too, I used an FX 8120Memory, high speed dual channel is best; I used Kingston HyperX as well as some G.SkillsCPU Cooler, you want a good cooler, AMD FX runs on the hotter side. I used Antec Kuhler 920Good powerful PSUCorsair AX1200GPU, I used GIGABYTE GTX 570StorageMicroCenter 64GB SSDCase, I used a custom made display caseBulldozer BIOS, you need to update the BIOS to the latest!!!!!! I used a special BIOS for my testing BIOS G2BIOS F6EStress testing programbenchmarksPatience990FXA-UD7
990FXA-UD5
990FXA-UD3

Methods of Overclocking:
1. Multiplier Overclocking:HTT increase:Increasing the Voltage: On air you only need a touch of the CPU-NB VID, and the CPU VCore. On the GIGABYTE boards you increase them over a base voltage(VID), and that base voltage is listed. I will talk about it more later, but please be careful.
4. Secondary Multiplier OC: This basically means OCing the CPU-NB multiplier, the HT-Link Multiplier, and the DRAM multiplier. The purpose is to get those segments up to a faster speed, to try and increase the overall system performance.


Voltages:

#1 CPU VCore: Stock varies, but safe on air up to 1.45-1.5v or 55C, whichever comes first. For 24/7 keep it under 1.4v or 45C, whichever comes first. That is my recommendation to avoid electron migration and voltage/heat degradation. This voltage can be increased on the GIGABYTE boards by setting a Plus (+) or Minus (-) value on top of a predetermined voltage. After disabling Core Boost, that voltage WILL decreased to 1.175 from 1.375 (or something along those lines), so that changed my final voltage as the offset was different. That means if you set all your settings from a fresh CMOS clear, your vcore will change significantly, so disable core boost and restart and then set your settings.


#2 CPU NB VID:#3 NB Voltage: This voltage is the 3rd voltage that might need to be changed. It controls the voltage of the Northbridge of the board. Its stock 1.1v, but you can safely take it up to 1.2v. It can help one get a higher HTT/FSB than 265mhz, as well as help with high memory clocks.


#4 DRAM Voltage:NB/PCIe/PLL Voltage Control:CPU PLL Voltage:LLC (Load Line Calibration): A setting used to counter the drop of voltage under loads, the droop varies with loading, but it is used to keep the CPU within TDP when loaded. But it also helps drop temperatures. If you do not have LLC available, then please find out how much the drop under 100% load is compared to idle voltage, and set the voltage that much higher so that your load voltage is what you want it to be.

!Warning!:

I take no responsibility if you kill your hardware, overclocking is up to you, and overclocking will void your warranty.

Overclocking Settings:

#1 CPU Clock Ratio:#2 CPU Northbridge Frequency:Disable Core Performance Boost. It is like turbo.


#3 CPU Host Clock: This is the Front Side Bus, or better known on AMD as HTT. It is the base bus frequency that is multiplied by all the multipliers. On air you are looking at around 275-300mhz max. It is good to use a combination of HTT and multiplier for CPU clocking, it will improve performance rather than just using multiplier alone. It is also important to note that NB Voltage can help raise the maximum limit. For the same CPU frequency with decreased multiplier and increased HTT, we will need a bit more Vcore, than if it was just multiplier X stock (200mhz) HTT.


PCI-E Clock:DRAM E.O.C.P: is like automatic memory/system OC.

Profile1 is the Intel XMP equivalent, and it will also change your memory voltage. Setting this to anything other than disable will change up the CPU Multiplier, the HT and CPU NB Multipliers, as well as DRAM multiplier, and HTT/FSB. I have listed the multipliers that it changes and what too for each memory setting. You can note that under DDR3 2000, everything is left at stock. It is interesting to note that this setting keeps the HT Frequency and CPUNB frequency equal to each other. We will look at the impact this has in a little bit.


#5 Set Memory Clock: this will allow you to manually set up your memory multiplier, the maximum is 9.33 which will result in a 1866mhz memory speed. You need to increase HTT/FSB more to get higher memory frequencies.

Here are the DRAM timingsHow do we OC Bulldozer?

#2 Decrease that high Vcore until you fail to POST(get into the BIOS). Try 3 voltage steps lower at a time, so from 1.45v down to 1.3v, and then go one step after that. Keep going until you fail to POST. Then get back into the BIOS, as the GIGABYTE boards have auto OC recovery and it works pretty well. Set your vcore 2-3 notches higher. So if you went down to 1.2v and it failed now push back up to like 1.24v or something.

[sin0822]

[absic]

Re: Bulldozer Overclocking Guide (Performance Scaling Charts, max OCs)LN2 Results com

Thanks for this guide and your efforts. Good luck with the next phase!

[sin0822]

Re: Bulldozer Overclocking Guide (Performance Scaling Charts, max OCs)LN2 Results com

thanks man, here is what i did last night CPU-Z Validator 3.1

[studmark]

Re: Bulldozer Overclocking Guide (Performance Scaling Charts, max OCs)LN2 Results coming!

Bulldozer OC Guide!
Everything you need to overclock bulldozer properly.

By Sin0822


Here is a preview video of what is to come:

This is an overclocking guide for those who are advanced overclockers, and those who are brand new. I have step by step for those who are new, as well as performance charts for those who are experienced:
Memory Scaling
CPU-NB Scaling
HT Link Scaling
High HTT and HT Link Scaling
Higher memory and CPUNB + HTLink Scaling
Multiplier + HTT Scaling
Voltage Scaling

Materials:Motherboard, with 990FX Chipset- I used GIGABYTE 990FXA-UD7CPU FX series is what this guide pertains too, I used an FX 8120Memory, high speed dual channel is best; I used Kingston HyperX as well as some G.SkillsCPU Cooler, you want a good cooler, AMD FX runs on the hotter side. I used Antec Kuhler 920Good powerful PSUCorsair AX1200GPU, I used GIGABYTE GTX 570StorageMicroCenter 64GB SSDCase, I used a custom made display caseBulldozer BIOS, you need to update the BIOS to the latest!!!!!! I used a special BIOS for my testing BIOS G2BIOS F6EStress testing programbenchmarksPatience990FXA-UD7
990FXA-UD5
990FXA-UD3

Methods of Overclocking:
1. Multiplier Overclocking:HTT increase:Increasing the Voltage: On air you only need a touch of the CPU-NB VID, and the CPU VCore. On the GIGABYTE boards you increase them over a base voltage(VID), and that base voltage is listed. I will talk about it more later, but please be careful.
4. Secondary Multiplier OC: This basically means OCing the CPU-NB multiplier, the HT-Link Multiplier, and the DRAM multiplier. The purpose is to get those segments up to a faster speed, to try and increase the overall system performance.


Voltages:

#1 CPU VCore: Stock varies, but safe on air up to 1.45-1.5v or 55C, whichever comes first. For 24/7 keep it under 1.4v or 45C, whichever comes first. That is my recommendation to avoid electron migration and voltage/heat degradation. This voltage can be increased on the GIGABYTE boards by setting a Plus (+) or Minus (-) value on top of a predetermined voltage. After disabling Core Boost, that voltage WILL decreased to 1.175 from 1.375 (or something along those lines), so that changed my final voltage as the offset was different. That means if you set all your settings from a fresh CMOS clear, your vcore will change significantly, so disable core boost and restart and then set your settings.


#2 CPU NB VID:#3 NB Voltage: This voltage is the 3rd voltage that might need to be changed. It controls the voltage of the Northbridge of the board. Its stock 1.1v, but you can safely take it up to 1.2v. It can help one get a higher HTT/FSB than 265mhz, as well as help with high memory clocks.


#4 DRAM Voltage:NB/PCIe/PLL Voltage Control:CPU PLL Voltage:LLC (Load Line Calibration): A setting used to counter the drop of voltage under loads, the droop varies with loading, but it is used to keep the CPU within TDP when loaded. But it also helps drop temperatures. If you do not have LLC available, then please find out how much the drop under 100% load is compared to idle voltage, and set the voltage that much higher so that your load voltage is what you want it to be.

!Warning!:

I take no responsibility if you kill your hardware, overclocking is up to you, and overclocking will void your warranty.

Overclocking Settings:

#1 CPU Clock Ratio:#2 CPU Northbridge Frequency:Disable Core Performance Boost. It is like turbo.


#3 CPU Host Clock: This is the Front Side Bus, or better known on AMD as HTT. It is the base bus frequency that is multiplied by all the multipliers. On air you are looking at around 275-300mhz max. It is good to use a combination of HTT and multiplier for CPU clocking, it will improve performance rather than just using multiplier alone. It is also important to note that NB Voltage can help raise the maximum limit. For the same CPU frequency with decreased multiplier and increased HTT, we will need a bit more Vcore, than if it was just multiplier X stock (200mhz) HTT.


PCI-E Clock:DRAM E.O.C.P: is like automatic memory/system OC.

Profile1 is the Intel XMP equivalent, and it will also change your memory voltage. Setting this to anything other than disable will change up the CPU Multiplier, the HT and CPU NB Multipliers, as well as DRAM multiplier, and HTT/FSB. I have listed the multipliers that it changes and what too for each memory setting. You can note that under DDR3 2000, everything is left at stock. It is interesting to note that this setting keeps the HT Frequency and CPUNB frequency equal to each other. We will look at the impact this has in a little bit.


#5 Set Memory Clock: this will allow you to manually set up your memory multiplier, the maximum is 9.33 which will result in a 1866mhz memory speed. You need to increase HTT/FSB more to get higher memory frequencies.

Here are the DRAM timingsHow do we OC Bulldozer?

#2 Decrease that high Vcore until you fail to POST(get into the BIOS). Try 3 voltage steps lower at a time, so from 1.45v down to 1.3v, and then go one step after that. Keep going until you fail to POST. Then get back into the BIOS, as the GIGABYTE boards have auto OC recovery and it works pretty well. Set your vcore 2-3 notches higher. So if you went down to 1.2v and it failed now push back up to like 1.24v or something.

thanks