Setting up new Rig - help

[BennieboyUK]

Hi chaps,

Got the 460's in SLI all sorted now, stable at 875mhz and .... wait for it... load at 56 on the temp 24/7, which I have to say, I am pleased with.

So moving onto the 950 (I never intended to do F@H with this but hey...) I did have a stable clock at 4.2, bumped it to 4.4 and all was fine, however the temps where a fraction higher than I wanted (around 76 load), so for the sake of stressing everything I took it back down to 4.2

Now this where the problem came.

I set it back to 4.2 (21x200) and rebooted, the PC boots fine, into windows etc. however I have noticed, just before it POSTs it "clicks" about 5 times before booting. I think the click is from the HD about to spin up, then stopping, then starting again. I am SURE this didnt do it previously.

If I load "default" settings in to the BIOS, no pause/clicking, it is super fast into the POST.

So being a bit older than I used to be and having a little less cash, I had a small brown trouser moment and reset everything back to default.

Now, I had a think about it, and I have been wondering. I set the VOLTS for the CPU to Auto, from day one. I am wondering is the system "testing" what volts to place onto the CPU to get it high enough to boot?

I am sure I have volts set to auto before, CPUZ showed it as 1.376 @ 4.4

Before I go and do a royal messup can anyone advise futher and/or confirm my statement about the volts.

I really want to go in and set volts at 1.376 but im a little scared to do it - from my research into the 950, 1.376volts at 4.4 is rather good.

[StreetSam]

Originally Posted by BennieboyUK

I am sure I have volts set to auto before, CPUZ showed it as 1.376 @ 4.4

I very much doubt it the vid for a 950 is 0.800-1.375V if your CPU needed 1.376 to run at stock speeds it would never do 4.4GHz with the same voltage, or at all. You must have set it manually.

[BennieboyUK]

Originally Posted by StreetSam

I very much doubt it the vid for a 950 is 0.800-1.375V if your CPU needed 1.376 to run at stock speeds it would never do 4.4GHz with the same voltage, or at all. You must have set it manually.

Sorry I think we misunderstood each other, auto set the volts at 1.376 for 4.4, stock it was only 1.150 from memory.

Any idea what I should try volts wise at 4.2?

[Tesla effect]

Been overclocking my 950 too. Temps start to get high under air from 1.35v upward. I'm struggling reach a stable 4.2GHz as well, thought I'd nailed it after finishing 1/2 a bigadv only to bsod 10% into the next WU . Try 1.325v manually & stress it under Prime 95 & take it from there, auto tends to be over generous.

Just to add despite my optimistic advice, in BIOS I'm adding +0.260v for 1.36v but this new M2 BIOS (MSI X58 GD65) has a low VDroop option that pumps in an extra 40-50mv boosting vcore to 1.4v under load, f@h temps hitting 80c .

4.2GHz is pretty much the reaching the limit so unless cooling with water high temps are to be expected I guess. I'm using a Fenrir but going to swap it out for a Frio that I was going to use it on a 'new' rig I've cobbled back together but the NB heat sink is too big! Got a Scythe Kama Angle on another rig that will solve the issue so as I will be swapping at least 2 coolers I may as well get the best one on my X58 machine.

[StreetSam]

Originally Posted by BennieboyUK

Any idea what I should try volts wise at 4.2?

Well 1.35V would be a good place to start, but manually, if that works for a few hours in Prime 95 (on all cores) then lower it a click, and repeat till you get a failure. Raise it by a click and run F@H, at some point it will fail so raise it another click. At 4.2GHz I would guess that you'll needed more QPI and CPU PLL voltage as well.

[littlepuppi]

Originally Posted by BennieboyUK

Sorry I think we misunderstood each other, auto set the volts at 1.376 for 4.4, stock it was only 1.150 from memory.

Any idea what I should try volts wise at 4.2?

try 1.4 then move down...

Dont go over 1.4 (IMO considering you are gonna 24/7 fold)

QPI 1.4 then move down as well...

Rest auto.

Whats the mobo?

[coolamasta]

Prime95 is just not stressful enough to get a CPU 100% stable, use either LinX or IntelBurnTest as this REALLY stresses the CPU's! You will see a good 5-10 degree increase in CPU temp showing its hammering it. All my overclocked rigs need to be 20 pass LinX stable with decent temps before I run FAH on it.

You can start with Prime95 for a base test and if it passes after about half an hour, get LinX on it and kick the CPUs ass for a bit

[BennieboyUK]

Dam thing wont go below 1.376volts @ 4.2 or 4.4 (both seem stable)

I am getting load temps around 76d so do I even need to worry - as long as it is under 1.4?

[BennieboyUK]

[Madness_3d]

As for the clicking, I've used you're board loads at work and in my experience they always do a clicking before booting when you've set a high OC. Can't say why, My Crosshair II Formual does it aswell from a coldboot but not from a normal boot. Possibly the machine starting, setting something, reboot, change something, reboot etc.

[BennieboyUK]

Looking better folks - is 79-80 safe temp wise? (24/7)

The above is at 4.4 @ 1.344volts

[Ph4ZeD]

It is safe, providing it genuinely stays in that temperature range. If summer comes and it rockets to 95C, then thats not good

[Tesla effect]

Like Phazer says you should be OK but it depends on the ambients etc...lol'd at me last night btw I fitted the Frio on my 950 (motherboard out the ol' Antec 902 job) but I left the sticker on the base of the heatsink, the one that says WARNING! Remove before fitting!!. Temps hit a toasty 60c plus idle @1.3v followed by a swift bsod. least I booted into Windows though .

I could of transferred the board to my new HAF 912 plus & used the mobo cutout but the plastic facia is well tatty, I managed to crack the bottom corner in transit from Bolton. Plus the drive bays covers dont sit properly & can be poked into the case with ease. Shame cause everything else about the case rocks especially the price.

Sorry to hijack/digress Benny but I've settled for 4GHz for now at 1.32v in BIOS (1.36v underload with low VDroop enabled). Core temps with both Frio fans on low, 902 fans on mid 70c (central heating just warming up). Think it may be my board holding me back.

Thing is I need to quit playing & get some points on the board to delay an inevitable overtake as long as possible .

[coolamasta]

Originally Posted by BennieboyUK

Looking better folks - is 79-80 safe temp wise? (24/7)

The above is at 4.4 @ 1.344volts

Is that temp is while running Prime95 or FAH? If so then thats pretty damm high lol.

I bet if you run LinX or IBT now you will see 90 degrees+

[BennieboyUK]

Originally Posted by coolamasta

Is that temp is while running Prime95 or FAH? If so then thats pretty damm high lol.

I bet if you run LinX or IBT now you will see 90 degrees+

Temps are at Prime95 loads.

ALso, HWmonitor from CPUZ shows these results. SpeedFan shows them as 66-69.

guessing one shows delta temps? - and if so which do I consider?

[Tesla effect]

Reckon my temps would increase to 75/80c easy in Prime95 & beyond with Linpack but with air &/or off the shelf water I feel I have to work with the f@h core temps as a gauge to avoid being too conservative with the OC. Until summer at least. Nice to know you can crank up fans when necessary.

I just look at the max core temp in HWmonitor. Can always draw a rough average by viewing the temp values of all the cores.

[jondi_hanluc]

I must have the worst 950 in the world, 1.385v for 4Ghz, and LLC enabled. I have to be careful with the temps, cool room low 70s, warm room in the 80s, this is while folding. I decided reluctantly to drop it to 3.8Ghz, dropped the vcore straight to 1.3v, LLC on auto, and it runs stable, temps are in the 60s now. Strange how that extra 200Mhz required so much more effort.