990FX Extreme3 and FX9590

Hello, I build a system using the ASRock 990FX Extreme 3 and as CPU I used the AMD FX-9590.

Fred wrote: Hello, I build a system using the ASRock 990FX Extreme 3 and as CPU I used the AMD FX-9590. The message when starting the PC: The CPU is not in the CPU support list. And the seems like to halt. BIOS updated to V1.9.  Is there a trick or something to get it working with this motherboard? I was not familiar with the CPU support list, this is all new for me. I only heard that I would need a 990FX motherboard. I've build 3 systems, and would be a lot of work to break it down and replace the boards. In another post, somebody claimed to build a system using the same board and this CPU. http://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=2117&KW=fx9590&PID=10900&title=help-please#10900 Does ASRock plan to make this compatible in newer BIOS versions? is there a BETA version or newer version than v1.9 on the support page? Please help.

Yes, an FX-9000 series processor requires the 990FX chipset, but there is more to it than just the chipset.

You've built three systems like this?   I'm sorry, but you should have researched this better before you bought those boards.

From the 990FX Extreme3 specifications:

- 4 + 1 Power Phase Design
- Supports CPU up to 140W

http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/990FX%20Extreme3/?cat=Specifications

The FX-9590 is a 220W processor.

Let's look at the description of the 1.90 UEFI version your board has in it:

Add warning message when unsupported CPU installed.

http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/990FX%20Extreme3/?cat=Download&os=BIOS

The message you see when starting the PC is the 1.90 UEFI/BIOS version doing its job, sorry to say. The FX-9590 is an unsupported CPU.

This board was made incompatible with an FX-9590 with the 1.90 UEFI/BIOS version, which is a good thing and ASRock did the right thing by doing that. This means that earlier UEFI/BIOS versions would not stop the board from starting with an FX-9000 series processor. ASRock will not, and should not, add a new UEFI version that allows an FX-9000 series processor to work in this board.

Have you seen what AMD and ASRock recommend for a 990FX and FX-9590 PC? Scroll down to see the Minimum System requirements:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/990FX%20Extreme9/

A board's CPU support list is nothing new, and every mother board should have one.

There is nothing that can be done to "fix" this, or at least fix it so this board and processor can work together properly. There is a work-around you could do, at your OWN RISK, which I do not recommend, but will mention later. It is really not difficult to figure out.

As wardog said, the CPU Voltage Regulator Module (VRM) on this board, and on the vast majority of AMD 990FX chipset boards made by any manufacture, are inadequate to deal with the power requirements of the FX-9590. That is even at stock speeds, when over clocked, even more out of the question.

When the CPU is under heavy load for long periods, even at stock speed, the VRM parts will over heat and if the CPU/chipset does not have VRM over heating throttling protection (new Intel processors do, AMD, none I am aware of) the VRM chips will fail. You can easily check this is happening, simply touch the VRM heatsink, along the left side of the CPU, while running a CPU stress test. If you can keep your finger on the heatsink for a couple seconds, you're lucky.

The CPU cooler being used, and the PC case ventilation are all factors that contribute to this problem. Tower style CPU coolers, or AIO liquid CPU coolers, that are required to keep an FX-9590 cool, do not circulate any air over the VRM heat sink, if there even is a VRM heatsink. That makes the situation even worse.

We get questions generally similar to yours all the time in the forum, can I use FX-8300 series processors on inexpensive AM3+ 970 chipset boards. Most of the time they are ~$50 retail boards, with even fewer VRM phases than your board, without any heat sink on the VRM chips at all.

I'm not sure whom to blame for this situation. IMO AMD really is the one who started the idea of, "Use any AM3+ processor in any AM3+ board", which is simply false. Sure, the FX series evolved over time, the FX-9000 series arrived later in the AM3+ history. No one thought it would need as much power as it does. But it does and mother board manufactures were stuck dealing with AMD's anything goes policy.

I call it that because Intel does not allow boards used with their high performance processors to be built with inadequate VRM designs. The funny thing is the Intel boards have much better VRM designs, yet their processors, even when over clocked, use much less power than a stock FX-9590.

What is the work-around? I gave you clues already. The 1.90 UEFI/BIOS stops the PC from starting with an FX-9000 series processor. That was added in version 1.90. Which means earlier versions...

There it is, from AMD too.

I checked the instructions included in the box of my FX-9590, which I've had for a while now, so it's not been updated recently.

The "fine print" in these instructions does say to check AMD's website for a list of supported mother boards for the FX-9000 series processors, and appropriate CPU coolers.

Of course, at that point you already have the CPU, and most people buy their mother board at the same time.