ASRock 970 Extreme4 FX-8350 Unstable with Stock Settings

[pmarcus]

Re: ASRock 970 Extreme4 FX-8350 Unstable with Stock Settings

pmarcus, did you see we were posting the same time of prime95 v27.9?

I just added a link to the 27.9 release.

And yes, it would have been nice to have Emily add the link.

Will give it a try, though the changelog says "no changes only minor bug fixes" So we will see.

Update:

27.9 has the same behavior is 27.7 cores start dropping out after only a few seconds. With the higher CPU voltages both tools run fine.

Also tried IntelBurnTest (aka Intel Linpack) version 2.54. System BSOD and rebooted within 20 minutes. So it definitely isn't the fault of prime95.

All three systems are still completely unstable at stock CPU voltages. Any other thoughts ASROCK? Is there anything we can do to help you reproduce the problems?

[Arni]

Re: ASRock 970 Extreme4 FX-8350 Unstable with Stock Settings

I have the same issue with this motherboard and my AMD FX-8150 cpu. When I run any burn-in test it gives me errors. I used Intel Burn test and OCCT burn test. I am not overclocking anything, everything is working on stock settings. I checked RAM and hard drives, no errors. I wrote 2 emails to ASRock support but did not receive any answer from them. Can someone tell me how much should the cpu voltage be increased to get stability? I hope ASRock will solve this problem.

[- wardog -]

Re: ASRock 970 Extreme4 FX-8350 Unstable with Stock Settings

@ Arni and pmarcus

Turn Turbo off in the bios and retest.

Arni's pic above reminded me that when stressed the FX while in Turbo mode uses half the cores available.

[pmarcus]

Re: ASRock 970 Extreme4 FX-8350 Unstable with Stock Settings

@ Arni and pmarcus

Turn Turbo off in the bios and retest.

Arni's pic above reminded me that when stressed the FX while in Turbo mode uses half the cores available.

Interesting I will try that also. That said, my understanding was that turbo mode was intelligent and only engaged with low thread count operations and should not engage when multi-threaded applications were running. Also, task manager did show 8 cores at 100% utilization at 4GHz during tests. Will certainly try turning off turbo mode anyway to see.

[pmarcus]

Re: ASRock 970 Extreme4 FX-8350 Unstable with Stock Settings

Can someone tell me how much should the cpu voltage be increased to get stability? I hope ASRock will solve this problem.

I found that if I increased the CPU core voltage to 1.3675 on two of the system stability was achieved. On one of the systems I needed to go up to 1.3875 to achieve stability, all other values were set to default.

[pmarcus]

Re: ASRock 970 Extreme4 FX-8350 Unstable with Stock Settings

@ Arni and pmarcus

Turn Turbo off in the bios and retest.

Arni's pic above reminded me that when stressed the FX while in Turbo mode uses half the cores available.

Disabling of turbo mode and setting CPU core voltage back to auto resulted in benchmark crashes within 30 seconds. Sadly it appeared to have no impact. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Chozo4]

Re: ASRock 970 Extreme4 FX-8350 Unstable with Stock Settings

FYI, the Samsung MV-3V4G3D/US is rated at 1.35v. Not 1.5v.

They are actually recommended for both voltage modes of operation according to the datasheet so even then the voltages should be fine without any risk to the chips with 1.575 being the marked recommended maximum.

[Arni]

Re: ASRock 970 Extreme4 FX-8350 Unstable with Stock Settings

I found that if I increased the CPU core voltage to 1.3675 on two of the system stability was achieved. On one of the systems I needed to go up to 1.3875 to achieve stability, all other values were set to default.

thanks, I'll try this voltage. I hope that ASRock will try to find solution to this problem, because otherwise I will send it for replacement for another motherboard. It would be nice to hear something from ASRock tech support.

[profJim]

Re: ASRock 970 Extreme4 FX-8350 Unstable with Stock Settings

An excellent vdroop and Load Line Calibration article from 2007:
AnandTech - Overclocking Intel's New 45nm QX9650: The Rules Have Changed, pages 5 and 6: Intel Processor Power Delivery Guidelines

A web search using: vdroop vs vdrop will provide additional information.

For advanced study, check out Intel Processor Power Delivery Design Guidelines and Specifications: Vdroop Explained - The Tech Repository Forums
Happy reading, especially the The Tech Repository article.

[- wardog -]

Re: ASRock 970 Extreme4 FX-8350 Unstable with Stock Settings

They are actually recommended for both voltage modes of operation according to the datasheet so even then the voltages should be fine without any risk to the chips with 1.575 being the marked recommended maximum.

Digging into spec sheets half-baked is not usually a winning hand while attempting to use as evidence.

I find the easiest method to head to the manufacturers product page HERE for MV-3V4G3D/US. Where it clearly states 1.35v for the model/pn the OP states is in use.

That here in this thread upping voltages to where "stability' is found is IMO indicative of other factors or mitigating circumstances.

[ASRock TSD - Emily]

Re: ASRock 970 Extreme4 FX-8350 Unstable with Stock Settings

Dear all,

I am double checking this issue now and will update the status to you soon.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Thanks!
Have a nice day
ASRock TSD
Emily

[ASRock TSD - Emily]

Re: ASRock 970 Extreme4 FX-8350 Unstable with Stock Settings

Dear all,

Please kindly provide your e-mail for me via PM and I will send a beta BIOS to you for testing it.

Thanks!

Have a nice day
ASRock TSD
Emily

[z24]

Re: ASRock 970 Extreme4 FX-8350 Unstable with Stock Settings

im also having the same issue , with FX8150 ....on the 970 EXTREME 4 mainboard

emily can u kindly send the BETA BIOS to my email address will PM you

thanks jimmy

[Arni]

Re: ASRock 970 Extreme4 FX-8350 Unstable with Stock Settings

Well I put the cpu voltage to 1.3675 as pmarcus recommended, I even turned off Turbo option in bios, but got error again. I then decided to put manually voltage for the RAM to 1.5v (in my case) and it seems to be more stable, but after 5 hours of testing again error. I installed ESXI 5.0 on this computer and also got error after some time. Will try to adjust voltage once more and then will send it for replacement. Maybe there is some kind of defect on my motherboard. Otherwise I don't know what to do else.

[pmarcus]

Re: ASRock 970 Extreme4 FX-8350 Unstable with Stock Settings

Arni,

I think I mentioned in the PM, one of my systems I had to go to 1.3875 on the core and 1.65 on the RAM to get them stable. They seem to be fine overclocked that way and with stock speed. Good luck!