I3 540 Overclocking (still in progress) need professional help

i3 540 Overclock (still in progress)

Hi everyone! I'm new in this forum, and absolutely new in overclocing. I do have a bit understanding of hardware and computer building, but all O/C setting is new to me. So I got my new budget PC, I bought it with mind of overclocking it a bit, except of memory..
So I'v got this rig:

Intel I3 540 k0
Cooler Master Hyper TX3
Asus P7H55D-M Pro
Corsair DDR3 4GB kit (2x 2GB) 1333MHz (CMV4GX3M2A1333C9)
Gigabyte GTS 450 oc2
Hitachi SATA 320GB 7200RPM 3GB/s 16MB
Sony Optiarc ODD DVD-RW
PSU Corsair CX600

So I did a bit of reading, studying and learning in theory of O/C. My most information source was Maihallen's updated article of “3 Step Guide To Overclock Your Core I3, I5, I7) (Clarkdale).
So following this guide, I started my O/C work...
At this state I just finished 1st. Step and found my stable bclock at 174MHz by using ratio settings at x14.

So my question No.1 is...
Is all my setting is correct?

-All power saving features disabled.
-All unused SATA ports disabled.
-CPU Ratio Settings – [14.0]
-Intel Speed Step – [Disable]
-Xtreme Phase Full Power Mode – [Enable]
-BCLK frequency – [174]
-DRAM Frequency [DDR3 – 1044MHz]
-QPI Frequency – [7658MHz]
-CPU Voltage Mode [Manual]
---Fixed voltage - [Auto]
-IMC voltage – [1.2V]
----- All the rest of settings set on [Auto]-----

So where I'm going on with this post? -Well to the Question No2..
So now I'm going to follow Nahallen's Clarkdale Step 2 and will optimize my memory.. But there is my huge but.. From the very beginning of my overclocking journey I was very afraid of this step.. There's why: 1st. of all My RAM doesn't have a heat spreader, or any other additional or factory cooling, just a doll sticker with manufacturer's logo. 2nd- RAM is very fragile and easy to kill, and I'm very happy with factory settings..
Then tutorial starts to talk about SPD and manual timings configuration to the manufacturer's specifications, I starting to get confused.. Because first of all, I can't find that System Memory Multiplier (SPD) anywhere, well I think it is mine (DRAM Frequency), but I doubt, because I can't found anything, that looks something like this: [4x], [5x], [6x]; or this: [4/:0], [2:8] and etc.. only 3 fixed settings to chose from, with Fixed frequency shown in MHz. And all that CAS stuff gets me very confused.

So my Question No.2!
Does the System Memory Multiplier (SPD) is mine [DRAM frequency], and does my settings correct?
Do I have to enter to [DRAM timing control] menu and set some values in it? Which values do I should to edit, and what values are correct for my system? I can post a picture of my bios if needed..
So that's all for now, I hope professional help on this, and please refrain from any immature thoughts about this post. I hope this extended thread will be useful not only for me, but many more newbies in overclocking.
Thanks..

You should be able to obtain a far higher Bclock than 174. But before I go any farther it would be useful to know what your goal, in terms of overclock, is. Further if you could post a CPU-Z SS of your CPU and memory tab in addition to what your VTT voltage in the BIOS is set to(this is what is probably limiting your Bclock) that would be helpful. A picture of your BIOS would not hurt either as I am unfamiliar with ASUS's H55 BIOS. Also, I recommend turning Vcore off auto, it typically overcompensates. A core voltage near 1.25 V should be sufficient for finding your max base clock, depending on what you are shooting for of course.

Draizien said:

You should be able to obtain a far higher Bclock than 174. But before I go any farther it would be useful to know what your goal, in terms of overclock, is. Further if you could post a CPU-Z SS of your CPU and memory tab in addition to what your VTT voltage in the BIOS is set to(this is what is probably limiting your Bclock) that would be helpful. A picture of your BIOS would not hurt either as I am unfamiliar with ASUS's H55 BIOS. Also, I recommend turning Vcore off auto, it typically overcompensates. A core voltage near 1.25 V should be sufficient for finding your max base clock, depending on what you are shooting for of course.

Click to expand...

Actually I'm pretty disappointed with my results, but at the same time I am pleased to. There's why- My goal was to reach 190-200 Bclock for testing and stuff like that. But however I was planing to stay at 174mhz for 24/7 anyway.. I had a few reasons for that: 1st. Low noise level is my top priority. 2nd. Since my ram doesn't have any heat sink solution at all, 174Mhz Bclock is optimum for my RAM, because I don't want to stretch it at all. 174Mhz Bclock and Dram frequency at 4:16 looks optimal to me. Now for VTT voltage, my bios allows me to set it from 1.1V Min to 1.2V Max by 0.5 step. I can't rise it anymore.. However there's in voltages menu is [IMC] and separate [DRAM] voltages controls. So according to tutorial I decided, that mine QPI/Vtt control is my [IMC] menu, and [DRAM] menu is directly related to my RAM's voltage it self. So I set IMC voltage at [1.2], and DRAM voltage leaved on [Auto]. I will add some pictures of my BIOS settings later.
So there's my screenshot's of CPU-Z's . Oh by the way, I use ASUS Probe-II and HWMonitor Pro for my thermal status check, becouse RealTemp shows about 10 degrees celsius lower temperature then the BIOS. Since Asus Probe II and HWMonitor shows higher temperature, then RealTemp, I trust them more..
So please help me with my memory settings..









Factory defoult settings..




All the changes I'v done so far...

To begin:

Oh by the way, I use ASUS Probe-II and HWMonitor Pro for my thermal status check, becouse RealTemp shows about 10 degrees celsius lower temperature then the BIOS. Since Asus Probe II and HWMonitor shows higher temperature, then RealTemp, I trust them more..

Click to expand...

Trusting those two because they show higher temperatures is rather unwarranted considering the ASUS probe II is likely monitoring the CPU socket temperature not the temperature the temperature diodes in the CPU are reporting, which is what RealTemp measures. Further, I have not messed with HWMonitor but it appears to be getting its reading from the BIOS temperature (i.e. the probe II). It is typically more useful to know the temperature the diodes in the CPU itself are reading than what the BIOS sensors read, as the thermal throttling of the CPU is based on the sensors in the CPU. Try CoreTemp, it should give temperatures similar to RealTemp. I would pay more attention to the temperatures given by RealTemp or CoreTemp.


Moving on to your memory concerns. Worry about your memory speed later, the gain of having the memory at its stock settings or slightly above is typically negligible compared to the increased processor frequency. That is to say optimize your CPU frequency first then mess with the memory speed and timings. Now due to your somewhat high CPU multiplier you will likely have some leeway with what you can have your multiplier at to reach your desired CPU frequency, however you never answered that question so I have no idea what you are shooting for and therefore I cannot say that for certain.

With regards to your current BIOS settings. It appears that at your current max stable Bclock you are attempting to run your memory at around 1000 MHz with 6-6-6-18 timings when your memory is rated for 9-9-9-24 at 1333 MHz. In this case you are trying to run your memory far beyond it's specs. Take the main timings off auto and set them to 9 clocks, that is set CAS, RAS to CAS, RAS precharge to 9 clocks and the RAS ACT to 24 clocks. If you aim to increase the Bblock further it might not hurt to knock the QPI frequency down a couple of multipliers as at high frequencies this can lead to instability. This can be increased once we have found the Bclock desired.

As far as voltages are concerned, again I don't recommend keeping vcore on auto. It likely won't effect your stability for finding Bclock but once you hone in on your desired Bclock and start upping the CPU multiplier keeping it on auto will almost certainly lead to a higher Vcore than is necessary. As I said before this is due to the large overcompensation of vCore to try to ensure the stability of the system. You also might want to consider enabling load line calibration as this will provide the CPU with a voltage near what the vCore in the BIOS is set to. If you have it disabled you will have the occurrence of vdroop resulting in a lower vCore then what is set in the BIOS. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but just realize if it is disabled you will have to up the vCore more to compensate for the lower actual vCore.

To summarize, forget about your memory for now, manually set the main memory timings in the BIOS, bring the QPI frequency down and considering fiddling with the vCore and load line calibration.

Thank you Draizien for your advices, it was realy helpful. Guiding by you, I have reached this point:
@4002MHz / BCLK 174MHz x23 / DDR3-1392MHz [4:16] 9-9-9-24 (no CAS adjustments needed) / QPI Frequency [7658MHz]

There is all my BIOS setings...
_______________________________________________

Ai Overclock Tuner [Manual]
CPU Ratio Setting [x23]
Intel 9R0 SpeedStep 9TM0 Tecch [Disabled]
Xtreme Phase Full Power Mode [Enabled]
BCLK Frequency [174]
DRAM Frequency [DDR3-1392MHz]
QPI Frequency [7658MHz]


>DRAM Timing Control
1st Information: 9-9-9-24-5-108-10-5-25

CAS# Latency 9 [Auto]
RAS# to CAS# Delay 9 [Auto]
RAS# PRE Time 9 [Auto]
RAS# ACT Time 24 [Auto]
RAS# to RAS# Delay 5 [Auto]
REF Cycle Time 108 [Auto]
WRITE Recovery Time 10 [Auto]
READ to PRE Time 5 [Auto]
FOUR ACT WIN Time 25 [Auto]

2nd Information: 1n-7-5-12 [All is set to Auto]

3rd Information: 4-15-10-7-4-7-4 [All is set to Auto]


CPU Differential Amplitude [Auto]
CPU Clock Skew [Auto]


********** Please key in numbers directly! **********

Cpu Voltage Mode [Manual]
---Fixed Voltage [Auto]
IMC Voltage [1.20]
DRAM Voltage [Auto]
CPU PLL Voltage [Auto]

**********************************************

Load-Line Calibration [Auto]
CPU Spread Spectrum [Auto]
PCIE Spread Spectrum [Auto]

_______________________________________________


So there is my following questions:

1. Is all my setings is correct?
2. My big concern is QPI Frequenecy, isn't it set to high?
3. Is my memory speed is acceptible? Keep in mind, it hasn't any heat sink solution.
4. Is it crucial to set DRAM voltage manualy? I was folloving "3 Step guide" and get confused about it, becouse it says- ,,Dont ecceed DRAM voltage more then +0.5V over Vtt's voltage. My IMC max voltage is 1.20V and my RAM's spec. says it uses 1.5, am I right?
5. Is it crucial to set CPU voltage and Load-Line Calibration manualy, since I'm happy with my overclocking results, and planing to stay on them for 24/7 use?
6. I use discreet Video Card, and "3 Step Guide" talks about IOH voltage, but I can't find it, do I need to adjust it anyway?
7. Is it safe to turn on all the power saving features ON for Day-to Day use?

That's all for now. Please answer to questions in the same order. Thanks again.

You QPI frequency and low IMC voltage could be whats holding you back on bclk.

Have you read the iX guide in my signature? That should get you where you need to go...

1. Correct? There is no right and wrong really. The goal is your clockespeed at the lowest voltages possible for stability.
2. Like I mentioned above, it could be playing a role in your limitation.
3. Memory appears to be running above spec, which is fine, but that could also be what is holding you back as well. DDR3 1333 memory is not good for overclocking as there is little headroom before you overclock it. Try turning that multi down.
4. When overclocking, all the major voltages should be set manually. Systems tend to overvolt a bit in favor of stability.
5. When overclocking, all the major voltages should be set manually. Systems tend to overvolt a bit in favor of stability.
6. Dont worry about IOH.
7 Keep them off while finding your stable overclock, then enable them. Sometimes it can cause instability when enabled on an overclocked machine.

If my IMC voltage is set to 1.2V, so I can set DRAM voltage at 1.5V without any worries?

I decidted to stabilyze my system to 174MHz compleately, and use it for 24/7 @4002Mhz. Then I do that, and will know all the basic stuff i need to know, then I will continue to the extreem overclocking in cheasing of @4400MHz. But for now lets focus on 174MHz, and please help me to completely stabilyze, and finne tune my machnine. Your help is very appreciated.

Yes. 1.2 + .5 = 1.7. It needs to be within .5 of DRAM voltage.

What do you need me(us) to do? Its on you now. Run stablity tests (Prime 95 Small FFT for 8 hours, and then the Blend test for 8 hours). If its stable, great! Then the goal is to lower the voltages to their minimum so that things are stable.

EarthDog said:

What do you need me(us) to do?

Click to expand...

Nothing, just sometimes answer to my silly question Let's remember, I'm completely new and noobish in all this O/C busines..

Ok, so there's another my silly question.
I set VCore at 1.5000 in BIOS and disabled Load-Line Calibration, but software in Windows shows lower voltage- 1.14V. A little bit earlier I set in the bios VCore at 1.4(something, something...), and during OS get only 1.13V max, and 1.1V during IntelBurnTest max.. Again, Load-Line Calibration is off, is it normal? I made screen shot during test, but get BSOD before saving it..

1.5v is WAY to much voltage for the CPU.

You would likely want to enable LLC.

There is always going to be something called vdrop (difference between set BIOS voltage and idle Windows voltage). There will also be something called Vdroop (difference between idle voltage and loaded voltage, which LLC corrects). With that said, there is no board I know that will sag almost .4v. Something isnt right there.

EarthDog said:

1.5v is WAY to much voltage for the CPU.

You would likely want to enable LLC.

There is always going to be something called vdrop (difference between set BIOS voltage and idle Windows voltage). There will also be something called Vdroop (difference between idle voltage and loaded voltage, which LLC corrects). With that said, there is no board I know that will sag almost .4v. Something isnt right there.

Click to expand...

Oooops... I know what is wrong there, and it's- ME! I made a mistake in my spelling.. Sorry about that, since testing stability is preti boring and time consuming, i bought some beer to kill some time I hope, I bought not to much, and in this condition I'm still able to continue my overclocking
So lets back to the topic.. I made a mistake in spelling, and then I sad 1.5 VCore, I actualy mean't 1.15000V..
Ok, so well, after your's explanation it's now became clear, that at this point, my system looks normaly.. And to ensure, I don't hawe to correct my Vdrop anyway?

Maiklas said:

And to ensure, I don't hawe to correct my Vdrop anyway?

Click to expand...

I think you mean vdroop which can be fixed by enabling load line calibration. If your goal now is to optimize your BIOS settings with a Bclock of 173, CPU multiplier at 23 and memory running near stock you want to turn your voltages off auto and test for stability, lowering individual voltages until you become unstable. For now it is important that you just change 1 voltage at a time so you can isolate the cause for instability. You also might want to consider lowering your QPI multiplier while testing for stability to start and then once you are confident you have a stable system start upping the QPI multiplier and retesting for stability. This will result in instabilities in the system likely being due to insufficient vCore and will save you time in diagnosing the root of an instability.

So I'm BACK! And I'm @4400.

It's been a long time since y last post, and my OC *** well.
For about a year now I used for 24/7 @3800mhz 167x23 1,18125v stable, with ~30C on idle and ~50C on load.
At first, I got some stability problems, on idle, but enabling C1 states on Auto fixed the issue.

So I didn't overclocked further, becouse it was a cheab budget build in old small case with 4x 80mm fans. I was worried about the temps, and quite pleased with performance. But this week I made a small upgrade, bought a new case, swaped old value ram to more decent ones, and installed SSD. Also I ordered some corsair AF fans, but still didn't receaved them.

So my rig now is:

i3 540
ASUS P7H55D-M PRO
GIGABYTE GTS450 OC2
CORSAIR VENGEANCE 8gb dual 1600 cl7
CORSAIR FORCE GS 240gb SSD
CORSAIR CX600 PSU
HITACHI SATA-II HDD 320GB
COOLER MASTER 690 II
COOLER MASTER HYPER TX3

Also I'm still waiting for CORSAIR AF120 PE single, and AF140 QE dual. Maybe I will order a few more, but we will see.

So now I'm @4400 (191x23, Vcore 1,33125v)
While stress testing Intel Burn Test at very high, I got CPU max at 66C and system at 72C. I emedeatly stoped testing. I know that, I should stay below 70 on clarckdale cpu, but I'm not sure, how much is safe system temps.

So should I keep moving further, or step back a little bit?

And any thouts on reducing sys temps?
BTW my goal is to get as close as possible to 200 base. I found may max stable base at 200, 202 won't boot, 201 won't tested. With QPI x44 (8712) max stable base 198mhz.














These side fans is only for the sake of stress testing.

Relax... if no one has responded within in a 24hr. period, then you can bump your thread. According to the 1st pic you posted, max. core temp reached 66C from what I can tell. Tcase max. for the 540 is 72.6°C w/ a TjMax of 105C, so w/ max. core temp's in the high 60-70C range you still have ~10-15C remaining for a safe Distance to TjMax of 20-25C.

Thanks for response.

Well it's a weekend, and i had some time for this. So I wanted to complet my OC. So now for a week I'll sit @4300 completely stable.
Well, tomorow, I will get some corsair fans, ad next weekend I will continue my OC.

BTW, will it fit Corsair H110 in to my CM 690 II?

So now I'm at @4300 1.3v for 24/7. I'm happy with that, but I will push it then I get H100i, maybe at June. Since further OC doesn't do any improvement in framerate at games, I'll stik with 4.3.
But now my goal is to set offset voltages.

So ok, now I'm in Offset mode. Set C1E state on, EuP on, Clock ratio auto, both spread spetrum enabled.
But now vcore is jumping all over the place (within my stable range)

So what is more harmful, constant juggling or fixed, but higher vcore?
BTW, is it ok to set memory command rate to 1T, SPD says it's 2T.

Just a quick updated, on my updated system.
I will swap front intake fan to corsair ADF140 qe, And probably install H100i in the top, and relocate top fans to bottom.

More pics

More pics