Greetings chums, Due to lack of knowledge I'm struggling to squeeze a little more oomph out of my system. I guess I need to be specific with my voltages, rather than leaving it all to "Auto", however the only information I can find on the web relates to much larger overclocks, which I'd prefer to avoid for reasons of longevity... My current (stock) specs are: Core i7 920 D0 on Asus P6TSE with 6Gb Ballistix 1600Mhz RAM running as XMP. I use an Akasa Nero cooler. Idle temps are around 32 degrees, peaking at 50 degrees when running the small FFT for half an hour. This stock setup gives me 1606 overall in the CustomPC 2007 benchmark. So far I've simply moved the BCLK from 133 to 160 and manually set the multiplier to 20, which allowed me to boot and get 3.2Ghz. However, running the small FFT test in prime I quickly saw temps of 71 degrees and a crash in the image editing section of the CPC benchmarks. Please could you recommend (in as simple terms as possible) the individual settings to help me reach a stable and cool 3.2Ghz overclock, or should I just leave things as stock? Main uses for the PC are video encoding and gaming. Much obliged, and happy Easter eggs! Cleggy.
Hmm An overclock that mild really shouldn't be having any problems. I think that maybe the memory is out of whack. Would you tell us: 1) CPU and memory voltage 2) Memory settings (as seen by CPU Z) and type There is of course the chance that your CPU just can't overclock that well Edit I see you've got your RAM type in your sig.
Many thanks Pete, Most voltages are set in BIOS to Auto, though memory I have manually set to 1.64V. CPUZ is showing core voltage fluctuating between 0.968V and 1.080V, I can get into the BIOS and note the voltage there if this helps? Which voltage should I be looking for? Memory is on the XMP profile, running @ 1600 and timed at 8-8-8-24. Thanks again, Cleggy.
I have a P6TSE and an EVGA X58 LE. You need to make sure that you aren't using the very early bios revision of the P6TSE as its very flaky.
As you can see in my sig, im running a very simular system to you,... Here is my BIOS settings for 4Ghz: [Red is what i changed from stock] Ai Overclock Tuner - Manual CPU Ratio Setting - Auto Intel (R) SpeedStep (TM) Tech - Disabled Intel (R) Turbo Mode Tech - Disabled BCLK Frequency - 200 PCIE Fequency - 100 DRAM Frequency - DDR3 - 1600MHz DRAM CAS# Latency - 8 DRAM Clock DRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay - 8 DRAM Clock DRAM RAS# PRE Time - 8 DRAM Clock DRAM RAS# ACT Time - 24 DRAM Clock CPU Voltage - 1.32500v CPU PLL Voltage - Auto QPI/DRAM Core Voltage - 1.25v IOH Voltage - Auto IOH PCIE Voltage - Auto ICH Voltage - Auto ICH Voltage - Auto DRAM Bus Voltage - 1.64v DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHA - Auto DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHA - Auto DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHB - Auto DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHB - Auto DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHC - Auto DRAM CTRL REF Voltage on CHC - Auto Load-Line Calibration - Enabled CPU Differential Amplitude - Auto CPU Clock Skew - Auto CPU Spread Spectrum - Auto IOH Clock Skew - Auto PCIE Spread Spectrum - Auto ---------- For 3.2Ghz i had it at 1.1000CoreVolts and BCLK at 160, also i keep TM/SS off. Also if your CoreVolts is at 1.64.. thats crazy! take that thing down, it wont last very long at all at them volts, CPU-Z isn't always right , nor is any software that detects volts/temps ect, but mine seem to detect correctly. But i think the reason your voltage fluctuating between 0.968V and 1.080V is because you have TM/SS on that will change your clock and volts when idle, but them bump them up to BIOS selected settings when under load. If you have to put more than a small amount of volts up to gain that small overclock, i think you may have a dud CPU?
You need to note down your Vcore value. I hope it isn't what CPU Z is saying as you mustn't have more than a 0.5V difference between DRAM and Vcore. Try using Otis' settings as a starting point and manually set the RAM timings instead of using XMP. HOWEVER: 1) Start with setting your Vcore to 1.25V 2) Start with the default BCLK of 133 Note your temperatures at load - no point starting at a higher voltage if the chip is already hot! If they are low 60s (C) then bump the Vcore voltage up to 1.3-1.325V and start increasing the BCLK until unstable, then back off at least 2.
Thanks chaps, will give this a go and report back. To clarify, my memory is running at 1.64v, not the CPU. CPU seems to be floating per the readout from CPUZ as it's currently set to auto in the bios.
Fixed! Core voltage at 1.175, BCLK at 160, DDR at 1604Mhz, everything else AUTO. Stock temps, 33C idle, 65C under full load. I may be able to bring the voltage down a touch, or I may push upwards with the OC. When stock, CPC benchmark suite gave 1600. With 3.2Ghz overclock it benchmarks at 1830.
I've just seen a nice reduction in load temps by bringing the core voltage down from 1.175 to 1.1000, maximum temperature now 59C when running flat out at 160 x 21 (processor is the retail version hence I get a 21 multiplier when it's busy).
Are you using the Intel cooler? Because those temps are quite high. Also, try disabling hyper-threading, it will decrease your temps when your stress testing your rig dramatically.
Thanks for that, running the Akasa Nero. All seems OK for now and I'm happy with those temps (they're not that much higher than before I applied the overclock). I may look at a Corsair H50 and a 3.8Ghz overclock in future, though a new GPU and SSD are higher on the agenda.
The temps aren't that bad really. I agree with you about disabling hyper threading though. @Cleggmeister: Glad to hear you've got a nice overclock!
Keep the hyperthreading on, and try to hit 3.6GHz-3.8GHz in steps. Overclock higher everytime by 100MHz and then run prime 95 for couple of hours. once it becomes unstable, start raising the core voltage and reboot until prime 95 is completely stable.
doesnt actually make a difference. OEM versions can turbo boost too (ie raise the mulitplier when under load), its just most overclockers turn it off.
Thanks folks, will give it a go on the weekend. 3.6Ghz is an appealing balance between performance and longevity, and I've noticed that when running "real world" apps and games I never hit the kind of loads or temperatures that Prime95 generates.
