Hades Canyon (NUC8i7HVK) Overclocking Issue Help and Support

[Wmrdjenovich]

Hello All,

I'm seeking help with overclocking my Hades Canyon NUC hardware. I'm very new to overclocking so I need some advice on how to troubleshoot, what I'm doing wrong, and how I can do better.

Stock Specs:

CPU: i7 8809G 3.10 GHz/4.20 GHz Turbo, 4C, 8T, BS 100 MHz

GPU: Radeon RX Vega M GH (On Processor) 1063 MHz/1190 MHz Turbo (750 mV), Mem: 4096 MB HBM2 at 800 Mhz (800 mV)

RAM: 32 GB Corsair DDR4 at 2400 MHz

Overclock Config:

CPU: Stock

GPU: 1400 MHz at 750 mV, Mem: 800 Mhz at 800 mV, Power Limit (75% WattMan)

RAM: Stock

The current GPU overclock remains stable when I run Superposition 1080p Extreme and in MS Flight Sim 2020 though experiences small dips in clock speed. I assume this occurs due to dynamic clock speeds from AMD. My goal is to overclock so I can get at least 20 FPS in MSFS 2020 with a mix of medium and high settings.

Issue: Max GPU Temp is at 85 C; however, the system never even comes close as the fans easily keep the temp less than 74 C. This, I believe, meant that I could try messing with the voltage to get better performance. When I changed the voltage up even 1 mV in WattMan, loading anything requiring the graphics card caused an instant system hang or grey screen. Additionally changing the HBM2 Memory even 5 MHz or 1 mV caused a similar situation. I theorize it might have something to do with power though I don't have the knowledge yet to figure it out.

Idea: I also wondered if I could boost my GPU performance by overclocking other components since the GPU is directly tied into the CPU with the i78809G.

Hopefully this gives enough information to give some advice and help me learn a little more about overclocking. Let me know if you need anything else. Thank you for your time!

[powerarmour]

I would say 1400Mhz is already pretty good going, and probably about the limit for the Vega M anyway, ~1350Mhz is more of a reasonable upper limit for the stock vapour chamber.

1400Mhz is the same as what Steve at Gamers Nexus hit with a custom loop:

https://youtu.be/Gz3Knma_wW4

[AlHill]

What you need to understand is that your processor does not support overclocking.  The i7-8809G is a locked processor.  Only X and K (unlockeded) processors can be overclocked.

[powerarmour]

I wouldn't advise CPU overclocking on the Hades Canyon, as it's already within thermal limits at stock.

GPU does have a bit of headroom though however.

[Wmrdjenovich]

Update: So I found that at 1400 MHz the GPU unstable and that performance could actually be lessened by clocking that high. I reduced to 1330 MHz Clock on the GPU and with a 945 MHz overclock on the VRAM and that was stable on benchmarks (Superposition: High 1080p). Further testing found that a stable overclock for MSFS 2020 was at 1290 MHz GPU clock with a 940 MHz overclock on the VRAM. It led to around a 10 FPS boost with some slightly improved settings which was exactly what I wanted. It now sits at around 30 FPS (20 FPS in high demand areas aka. San Fran Downtown) with reasonably great graphics.

In terms of the voltage issue, that was not resolved and I could not change any of the voltage settings on the GPU or the VRAM without an instant grey screen or crash upon loading the superposition benchmark.

@AlHill I'm a bit confused as to your comment about overclocking the CPU and Memory as it remains possible both within the BIOS and with Intel's XTU. You can adjust voltage, clock rates, ect. I have not tested this, though the option remains available and I've seen people overclock other components on the NUC8i7HVK.

In addition, I'm still wondering if anyone has an answer to whether overclocking other components that benefit the CPU lead to a performance boost for the GPU since it's integrated into the CPU on the NUC.

[AlHill]

I specifically said that your i7-8809G is not supported by XTU.  Just look in the supported processors list on the XTU download page.  And, on that same page, read "Intel XTU may or may not work on unsupported processors."

[Alan_J_T]

Sorry but you are not correct

Windows Version 2004, Build 19041.450
Intel® NUC Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
Intel Core i7-8809G 3.1GHz 4.2GHz Turbo 4 Cores 8 Processor's O/C to 4.6GHz
32GB Ram 2x 16GB DDR4 2400+ SODIMMs O/C to 2600
Razer Core X - E-GPU Fitted with a Radeon RX 5700 O/C to 2011MHz
Has been flashed with the Radeon 5700 XT Bios
512 GB M.2 SATA SSD Operating System and Apps
1TB M.2 SATA SSD Game's only Windows and Steam

[Alan_J_T]

@AlHill 

‎08-28-2020 01:43 AM

109 Views

What you need to understand is that your processor does not support overclocking.  The i7-8809G is a locked processor.  Only X and K (unlockeded) processors can be overclocked.

[Alan_J_T]

What you need to understand is that your processor does not support overclocking.  The i7-8809G is a locked processor.  Only X and K (unlockeded) processors can be overclocked.

[Wmrdjenovich]

@powerarmour As an additional note to concerns of temperature. Since I don't mind the extremely loud fan cooling I've kicked up the fans to a custom setting with Duty Cycle: 5%/Celsius starting at 55 C. This usually keeps the temp around 65 C on the GPU with a medium power draw.

[powerarmour]

@Wmrdjenovich 

"In addition, I'm still wondering if anyone has an answer to whether overclocking other components that benefit the CPU lead to a performance boost for the GPU since it's integrated into the CPU on the NUC."

In regards to that, for sure it's a 100W TDP package and the CPU/GPU share the power limits, so if you want to push the GPU power envelope a little more you can reduce the Turbo limit on the CPU to say ~3.8Ghz instead of 4.2Ghz, or even disable Turbo boost altogether to lower the CPU portion to ~35W (you can check this with HWINFO btw), that will certainly give you a little more headroom.

[Alan_J_T]

@Wmrdjenovich 

In addition, I'm still wondering if anyone has an answer to whether overclocking other components that benefit the CPU lead to a performance boost for the GPU since it's integrated into the CPU on the NUC.

Yes it can but not enough to make a big difference and you quickly slam in to thermal problems. 4.2 on all 4 cores will come close to max temp you also have to boos the power limit from 60 watts to 100 watts as if you run all 4 cores at 4.2 it will throttle due to power limits,

I can run all 4 cores at 4.6 for about 90 seconds before thermal throttle kicks in. But it will do it I have most setting in Bios for Voltage set to Adaptive and just bump up the CPU Clocks.

And Due to Intel and AMD Dropping the Ball on GPU Drivers I have added a E-GPU

Intel® NUC Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
Intel Core i7-8809G 3.1GHz 4.2GHz Turbo 4 Cores 8 Processor's O/C to 4.6GHz
32GB Ram 2x 16GB DDR4 2400+ SODIMMs O/C to 2600
Razer Core X - E-GPU Fitted with a Radeon RX 5700 O/C to 2011MHz
Has been flashed with the Radeon 5700 XT Bios
512 GB M.2 SATA SSD Operating System and Apps
1TB M.2 SATA SSD Game's only Windows and Steam

[BHarr8]

You can't get much out of the GPU and CPU in terms of overclocking but the RAM on the other hand can go way above 2400. I run the following kit in 3600 CL16 :

https://www.newegg.com/corsair-32gb-260-pin-ddr4-so-dimm/p/N82E16820236369?&quicklink=true

Obviously you will have 2 extra sticks, I sold mine. Enable XMP and make sure the voltage is 1.35 volts.

If you want most of the benefit for a lot less $ these are probably the best fit for this system:

https://www.newegg.com/ballistix-16gb-260-pin-ddr4-so-dimm/p/N82E16820156243?&quicklink=true

16GB is more than enough for gaming at this level and DDR4 3200 CL16 is is way faster than stock.