TheOverclocker Issue 42 | Page 17

nonetheless it is not something that one can remedy with the available options within the BIOS, and perhaps one of those things that will require an update directly from AMD (assuming it isn’t to do with the process or at silicon level). That said, do not expect frequencies over 2,666MHz and perhaps even less than that if you want stability when using LN2. As a consequence of the size of the CPU, contact with all the pins on the board is vital. When cooling the system to such temperatures, there’s a lot of contraction and flexing that is not apparent to the eye, but definitely taking place between all the various materials. This means that losing the contact between the pads and the pins is not unusual, in which case you’ll have to find some creative ways of establishing those contacts again. Be it pushing down on the board/ container (careful if you choose to do this) or using a clamp system, this is likely to be an issue at some point. This isn’t easy to spot as well, but losing memory channels, or failing memory training which was previously stable under load could be a symptom of this. Heating up the container may help here so that contact is established again, but whatever you do, this is a large CPU and of course there are going to be some challenges which come with that. Lastly, this is related to memory as well, but not anything to do with the memory frequency. If you are going to be overclocking this platform, it seems that it is imperative that one keeps the memory at normal room temperature or a little higher. When the memory freezes, the system will become unstable to the point that even booting default settings will prove difficult (that is if the system can pass the POST). The solution used to remedy this involved heating plates under the motherboard, but you could simply use any other means to make sure the DRAM stays nice and warm, despite having a CPU operating at -185’C. Hair d