Can't change CPU voltage on MSI 990xa-GD55 Mobo

[levelchaser]

Does anybody know why I can't increase the CPU voltage beyond 1.346000 V on my MSI 990xa-gd55 motherboard? I've tinkered with practically everything in the BIOS, and searched loads of forums and haven't found my answer. :/

 

[Solarstarshines]

your PSU isn't enough you are probally cutting it close as it is

 

[levelchaser]

your PSU isn't enough you are probally cutting it close as it is

it's a 500 watt PSU. Is there anything I can do to change this and is there any other way to monitor PSU usage/stability other than adding up all of my device voltages?

 

[levelchaser]

With $92 in my paypal can anybody recommend a PSU that would be around 650-700 watt and modular? The only one I could find that really fits is this one: Newegg.com - OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom
but i'm not sure how I feel about OCZ.

 

[Solarstarshines]

your PSU isn't enough you are probally cutting it close as it is

it's a 500 watt PSU. Is there anything I can do to change this and is there any other way to monitor PSU usage/stability other than adding up all of my device voltages?

Think of it like this when you Oc anything it takes a little more every component takes a decent amount your video card is a minimum 500 at best

you OC the videocard more juice you are trying to up pc performance more juice more fans you add more juice

so you want to get something to compensate for that extra bump you need

this is a good deal http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

 

[levelchaser]

your PSU isn't enough you are probally cutting it close as it is

it's a 500 watt PSU. Is there anything I can do to change this and is there any other way to monitor PSU usage/stability other than adding up all of my device voltages?

Think of it like this when you Oc anything it takes a little more every component takes a decent amount your video card is a minimum 500 at best

you OC the videocard more juice you are trying to up pc performance more juice more fans you add more juice

so you want to get something to compensate for that extra bump you need

this is a good deal Newegg.com - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply

Yeah I understand, it just never crossed my mind really I completely forgot. I'm looking for modular PSU's only. :/

 

[Thorsen]

Purchased that same OCZ for my case. Its pretty nice (lol and I am using the same mobo)

The 8pin to CPU power is a little short and crosses over the board (will reach, but just barely)

I ordered this extender as well for cable management. Newegg.com - KINGWIN Model PCI-02 12" EPS 12V 8-Pin Power Extension Cable F-M

Both PSUs here look nice and with discounts and rebates are pretty good deals.

Are you still using stock cooling? if you are OC'ing I would get a better Heatsink.... Not sure if you are seeing good temperatures or not (I have not OC'ed mine yet) but am using an aftermarket cooler.

 

[levelchaser]

Purchased that same OCZ for my case. Its pretty nice (lol and I am using the same mobo)

The 8pin to CPU power is a little short and crosses over the board (will reach, but just barely)

I ordered this extender as well for cable management. Newegg.com - KINGWIN Model PCI-02 12" EPS 12V 8-Pin Power Extension Cable F-M

Both PSUs here look nice and with discounts and rebates are pretty good deals.

Are you still using stock cooling? if you are OC'ing I would get a better Heatsink.... Not sure if you are seeing good temperatures or not (I have not OC'ed mine yet) but am using an aftermarket cooler.

I am using stock cooling. However at a 4.4 ghz overclock my temps don't even go above 47c during stress tests. I know stock cooling sounds lame, but it's doing fine for me so I don't plan to upgrade right this moment. In the future I will definitely take a look at it though. I'm not shooting for any crazy overclocks. 4.6ghz will make me happy.

 

[Thorsen]

Thanks for info back. was wondering what this board was capable of myself

 

[levelchaser]

Thanks for info back. was wondering what this board was capable of myself

I love the mobo for being so middleground. It's not crazy, yet it's still considered high quality. I've been using it for like around 2 months. Once this PSU comes in hopefully I'll be able to get a stable overclock of 4.6 and then i'll be all set. Last thing on my list to get is an SSD! If you're curious about anything else just ask.

 

[Thorsen]

Just built a computer similar to what you got going except I am using the 6 core FX instead. I am also planning on overclocking, but I have been tremendously busy so I have not done much at all to the computer:

http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware-devices/254683-new-build-advice-needed-2.html#post2119074

Any advice on what you did for your OC? multiplier first? then voltage? I know the BIOS for this board has lots of options....


If I can, I will see if my BIOS has more listed since I have a 700PSU


Scratch that lol... I have a completely different board. using the gigabyte 990X... geez total blonde moment there sorry....

 

[levelchaser]

Just built a computer similar to what you got going except I am using the 6 core FX instead. I am also planning on overclocking, but I have been tremendously busy so I have not done much at all to the computer:

http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware-devices/254683-new-build-advice-needed-2.html#post2119074

Any advice on what you did for your OC? multiplier first? then voltage? I know the BIOS for this board has lots of options....


If I can, I will see if my BIOS has more listed since I have a 700PSU


Scratch that lol... I have a completely different board. using the gigabyte 990X... geez total blonde moment there sorry....

Yeah it's fine. Your 6 core fx should be just as capable of overclocking as mine. I only used the multiplier. It was pretty much the easiest thing ever. I used y cruncher as a CPU benchmark because prime95 and a couple others wouldn't load all 8 of my cores. When you do your benchmark make sure to open task manager and check to see that all cores are properly being stressed. Other than that it's pretty straightforward.

 

[Solarstarshines]

It is better to Overclock FSB and Multiplyer

He can do a cinebench run and it will give a weak score

I have a FX8120 I recently as of today matter of fact bumped my CPU from 4.44Ghz to 4.5 Ghz flat I overclocked my Corsair vengeance to 1800mhz from 1600mhz on stock voltage some ram can do this but i do have an option to bump it up to 1.65 if i push it and get 2000mhz out of it

anyway my Multi is at 20 FSB 225
v-core 1.42 with a droop to 1.39. 1.40
also bumped my NB voltage up one notch forgot what setting but just 1 increase
Turbo off i have heard of people leaving it on and getting a bigger clock when turbo kicked in but i would leave it off

you can pretty much adjust the ram to the correct timing instead of it being default 1333 mhz

leave core control auto

my Cinebench is 7.33 7.35 give or take

last time I have my v-core all the way to 1,44 and my capacitors under the Heatsink exploded you know the area where OC genie is i never used it


Had to RMA my board and I saved all my hardware but hell i was kinda playing it safe only going to 4.44 but got the guts to do 4.5 again but im doing it under a lot lower v-core and settings alltogether

 

[BernardBlack]

With $92 in my paypal can anybody recommend a PSU that would be around 650-700 watt and modular? The only one I could find that really fits is this one: Newegg.com - OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom
but i'm not sure how I feel about OCZ.

Grab a Corsair GS700, can get one at Best Buy for like 83.00. It's Bronze certified and not modular, but the best quality for the price.

 

[levelchaser]

Sorry to necrobump, but I just purchased a 675 watt PSU and have it all set up. I'm still being limited on the voltages that I use for the CPU. Any ideas?

 

[levelchaser]

lol it turned out the PSU was never the problem so I didn't really need to buy one..Wish I would have bought GW2 instead. Oh well I guess it's nice to have more power and a modular psu. :/

I fixed it by flashing to a much older version of the bios (like 3 updates back). I guess with all of the newer versions they try to prevent people from raising the voltages for some reason.

4chan.org/g helped me out by suggesting to manually flash the bios to the latest one instead of using M5, and while I was on the BIOS update site I saw all of the changes they were making and got the idea of trying an older one.




My new issue now is that even with ALL of the retarded/controlling features DISABLED in the BIOS. My CPU voltage is still controlling itself. For example: I boot up with it set to 1.44 volts, but if I go back to bios it'll have turned itself down to 1.2 volts. I don't believe I have any sort of tuning software installed. Only monitoring software like core temp cpuz etc. Any ideas what the issue is? I might resort to a fresh flash/fresh install of windows if I can't figure it out.

 

[Thorsen]

Do you have all of the management stuff disabled in BIOS.. like cool and quite and anything that says.

Have been studying what changes I will need to make. here is a good vid I have found:




Another question is if the CPU is locked. you might not be able to change the voltage on the CPU...

How to Calculate the Voltage for a Locked CPU | eHow.com

Also posting this for my own reference later

How to Overclock a PC: 12 steps - wikiHow

 

[levelchaser]

My CPU is unlocked, and like I said everything is disabled in the BIOS. I contacted MSI and they told me to try a new BIOS. It did not allow me to raise the voltages, but it did allow me to get a stable overclock of 4.3 ghz. They said they can swap out my board, but there's no way I'm going without my PC for like 2 weeks lmfao.

 

[Solarstarshines]

My CPU is unlocked, and like I said everything is disabled in the BIOS. I contacted MSI and they told me to try a new BIOS. It did not allow me to raise the voltages, but it did allow me to get a stable overclock of 4.3 ghz. They said they can swap out my board, but there's no way I'm going without my PC for like 2 weeks lmfao.

2weeks try like almost a Month in a half I had to RMA board took forever and i droped it off at the door of MSI :shock: go figure called several times to go pick it up they had mailed it somewhere else again like wtf

anyway the PSU did change some voltage settings for me but going back to a old bios isnt going to give you a better overclock because of raising voltage

if the voltage is locked at a point it is almost obvious the CPU doesnt need it that high to run at a good overclock

if you are defaulting back to 1.2 v-core then you should be only raising it to 1.3 range with the new bios on stock you should be able to multiply to 4ghz

now if your oc isnt stable then you are probally crashing it with that high fsb 250 ?

how overclockable is your ram what is default and what have you raised it too ?

just asking some questions because i worked around the voltage block and tweeked other voltages to get me stable

 

[levelchaser]

Do you have all of the management stuff disabled in BIOS.. like cool and quite and anything that says.

Have been studying what changes I will need to make. here is a good vid I have found:




Another question is if the CPU is locked. you might not be able to change the voltage on the CPU...

How to Calculate the Voltage for a Locked CPU | eHow.com

Also posting this for my own reference later

How to Overclock a PC: 12 steps - wikiHow

My CPU is unlocked, and like I said everything is disabled in the BIOS. I contacted MSI and they told me to try a new BIOS. It did not allow me to raise the voltages, but it did allow me to get a stable overclock of 4.3 ghz. They said they can swap out my board, but there's no way I'm going without my PC for like 2 weeks lmfao.

2weeks try like almost a Month in a half I had to RMA board took forever and i droped it off at the door of MSI :shock: go figure called several times to go pick it up they had mailed it somewhere else again like wtf

anyway the PSU did change some voltage settings for me but going back to a old bios isnt going to give you a better overclock because of raising voltage

if the voltage is locked at a point it is almost obvious the CPU doesnt need it that high to run at a good overclock

if you are defaulting back to 1.2 v-core then you should be only raising it to 1.3 range with the new bios on stock you should be able to multiply to 4ghz

now if your oc isnt stable then you are probally crashing it with that high fsb 250 ?

how overclockable is your ram what is default and what have you raised it too ?

just asking some questions because i worked around the voltage block and tweeked other voltages to get me stable

well the other issue with this board is that it won't run my ram at 1886. I have to downclock it to 1600. If i try to run it at 1886 in windows it says only 7.97GB is usable.