970 Extreme3 BIOS 1.80 wont Post when Multi's set to manual

[blakeandsons]

Ive had the 970 Extreme3 w/ bios 1.60 OCing an FX 8320 @ 4.0GHz and 2600 NB frequencies for months now with no issues, some other tweaking as well but here is the issue.

I recently ordered G.Skill Sniper series 1866 (2x4GB)ram to replace my 1600 set of G.Skill and an SSD so I decided I needed to update my BIOS from 1.60 to 1.80 last night as it says it supports more memory models.

If I leave the bios setting to default it fires up no problems, I can even turn off cool and quiet, change ram from 1333 to 1600. BUT as soon as I turn off any of the power saving settings or just change the Multiplier from auto to manual and try and reboot it will not post at all.

It has to be the 1.80 bios since this started it all as far as I can tell. Is there maybe something I'm missing that could be causing this due to the updated bios that will allow me to OC again?

Specs:
ASRock 970 Extreme3 BIOS 1.80
AMD FX 8320
G.Skill DDR3 1600 (2x2GB - 9-9-9-24-2T) 1.5v
XFX DoubleD 7950

Any help is appeciated as I have had this CPU @ 4.7 but never could get it quite stable so dropped it back.

[parsec]

Re: 970 Extreme3 BIOS 1.80 wont Post when Multi's set to manual

First of all, the FX 8320 CPU is not listed in the 970 Extreme 3's CPU support list. The only AMD 8000 series Piledriver processor in the list is the FX 8300. So consider yourself lucky that it works at all.

The "Support 8 Core CPU" marketing statement written on the board may have been accurate in 2011 when your board was first introduced, but that was before Piledriver processors existed. Not to mention generalizations like "Support for AMD AM3+ Processors", which leads people to believe they can use any AM3+ in the board, or that it's appropriate to OC any AM3+ processor in the board.

So you've been able to OC a FX 8320 to 4.7GHz with a 4 + 1 phase VRM design? At least there is a small heat sink on the VRMs, compared to some other ASRock AMD boards. The loss of POST when the power saving options disabled and the multi set to manual is not a surprise IMO.

The 1.80 BIOS may have put the brakes on OCing anything beyond a FX 8300, ignoring the lack of compatibility with a FX 8320. I've read that AMD 970 boards will not allow a FX 8320 to be OC'd, but if that is official or not, I don't know.

My suggestion is to go back to 1.60 BIOS and hope the CPU microcode was not updated in the 1.80 BIOS, or you may get the same behavior with 1.60.

[blakeandsons]

Re: 970 Extreme3 BIOS 1.80 wont Post when Multi's set to manual

Good point, I did not realize that. When I had it at 4.7 I had to put 1.5+v to it and 1.4v to the cpunb so needless to say stress testing was off the table with my 212 evo with push pull 90cfm fans. Would run Battlefield Bad company 2 for an hour or so before locking up though lol.

Back on topic though, can I flash back to 1.60 via USB like a normal bios flash or is there a different procedure for going back? I've read that you can't roll bios versions back on most boards so maybe ASROCK is just really cool.

Thanks for the input

[parsec]

Re: 970 Extreme3 BIOS 1.80 wont Post when Multi's set to manual

IMO, and experience with ASR boards, you can flash back to an earlier BIOS version. But I would only use the Instant Flash method to do that.

I have a USB flash drive that has multiple Instant Flash BIOS versions on it. Instant Flash would display all the BIOS versions on the USB flash drive, and allow you to select any of them.

There are a few situations where you cannot flash to an earlier BIOS version, but I am aware of that only with certain Intel based boards. Checking the list of BIOS versions for your board, it looks like you should be fine.

You should be fine flashing to 1.60, so let us know how it goes.

[blakeandsons]

Re: 970 Extreme3 BIOS 1.80 wont Post when Multi's set to manual

IMO, and experience with ASR boards, you can flash back to an earlier BIOS version. But I would only use the Instant Flash method to do that.

I have a USB flash drive that has multiple Instant Flash BIOS versions on it. Instant Flash would display all the BIOS versions on the USB flash drive, and allow you to select any of them.

There are a few situations where you cannot flash to an earlier BIOS version, but I am aware of that only with certain Intel based boards. Checking the list of BIOS versions for your board, it looks like you should be fine.

You should be fine flashing to 1.60, so let us know how it goes.

Used instant flash to go back to 1.60 from 1.80 and everything is great again. Really appreciate the help, I had already ordered a new 990FX motherboard but canceled the newegg order hoping we could work it out so you also saved me a $117.00 =).

8320 @ 4.0GHz 1.38v
CPU Northbridge @ 2600 1.4v
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR3 1600 9-9-9-24 1T 1.53v

Forgot to mention I bought this board originally for a Phenom X4 965BE but caught a good deal on the 8320 on craigslist.

Thanks again