Some PHII 965 OC help please

Got the system in my sig two weeks ago, did a minor oc and undervolt and all has been well. Only issue is I am running with the stock cooler and I need to figure out how to set the fan correctly to maximize what I have right now. I've seen the cpu max out in the high 40's low 50's when the fan is nearing max but I can't get it to do what it should when I want it to. I have the ASUS software installed with fan xpert installed which is directly linked to the bios I believe but in the bios there are more options which I simply do not understand.


Idle temps:


Bios settings:





Probably more information than is needed but I just want to run as cool and fast as possible until I can get around to getting a better cooling setup.

If you want it to run full speed you need to go under monitor tab and set the cpu fan header to disable will run it @ max

Of that's what your trying to do

Here's how I understand those bios settings for the CPU fan:

CPU Q-Fan Control - "Q" = Quiet. This must be enabled to have access to the controls that follow below. If disabled the fan will run full bore all the time.

CPU Fan Profile - If you leave this on Auto it will plug in values for you in the controls that come after this. If "Manual" is selected it will allow you to change the values in the controls below.

CPU Fan Speed Low Limit - at no time will the fan rpm be less than this. If you use this don't choose a value so low the fan will stall out because of impedence.

CPU Upper Temperature - the temp at which the fan will be at maximum capable speed or the upper limit of rpm which you establish if less than what the fan is capable of. I assume this would be based on motherboard socket temp sensor input.

CPU Lower Temperature - the threshold temperature at which the fan begins to speed up from the CPU Fan Speed Low Limit above.

CPU Max Fan Duty Cycle% - percentage of max speed the fan is capable of. No matter how high the temp climbs the fan will not be allowed to go faster than this.

CPU Min Fan Duty Cycle% -choosing a minimum fan speed as a percentage of what the fan will run at full bore instead specific entering a specific RPM value as you would in CPU Fans Speed Low Limit.


You would have to play with these things to get the right combo for your needs.

Finally upgraded the stock cooling, I am now running a Coolermaster Hyper 212+ with dual fans in a push/pull configuration.



Temps are MUCH improved, I am maxing out at 39C in prime95 so I have a lot of room to go I think. Going for 3.8GHz now not sure what voltage I might need to get there but temps are no longer an issue. And I know all cpu's are different, but generally speaking what is required for 4GHz?

Edit - Currently running 4GHz with 1.45v, going to use my pc as I normally do and see if it's stable. If it passes my round of tests I will throw it into prime 95 and go from there, it's passes SuperPi 1M and Cinebench multiple times. If all goes well then I will lower the voltage and see if it wont go lower.

Can't tell from that latest pic of HWMonitor what your temps are really like as it looks like you captured it at idle conditions. With that same mobo and same processor and same cooler (only one fan, however) I can get 4.1 ghz Prime95 blend stable on 1.475 volts in bios and 1.55v under load with LLC enabled, CPUNB at 2600 and ram running at 1600 mhz. My core temps max out at about 58c.

That pic was at idle, now at 4GHz 1.45v I am idling around 35c and loading around 46C. Forgot to mention I just upgraded to the 212+ today so the AS5 needs to settle so the temps should drop.

Temps look good, click on the "spd" tab and make sure your timings are set correctly. How long did you test it to see if it's stable?

Timings are set correctly, as is voltage. As of now I have gone 5 hours doing my normal stuff, which includes some gaming (Guild Wars 2) and browsing with music in the background, it's excelled perfectly much like my 3.6GHz overclock did for over a month. I am getting vdroop, under load:



So I am thinking if this is indeed stable, obviously I will run prime for a few good hours first but I will enable LLC and maybe lower my voltage as I am probably stable here at 1.4v, that is of course if I understand LLC correctly. And I need to get my northbridge to 2.6GHz, currently at 2.4GHz.

Enable CPU LLC to offset vdroop.

Is vdroop as bad thing if it doesn't cause instability?

Vdroop must be compensated for in some way to not cause instability. However you do it, you must supply enough volts to ensure stability. If you do it without LLC, you will be using that amount of voltage all the time, not just when you are under load when you really need it. Does that make sense? LLC can therefore save wear and tear on the board.

The board you are using implements LLC in such a way as to provide a small voltage supplement at idle (to correct vdrop) and a larger supplement when under load (to correct vdroop). I have that same board. I do use LLC but I wish they had built in the ability to adjust the amount. It's either off or on. Not crazy about that. And oh, I would not enable the CPUNB LLC, just the CPU LLC.

That makes sense thanks man, tomorrow I will be doing 3-4 hours of prime while I am at work so I hope everything will be good, as of now though it's great doing everything I throw at it without issue. Now as far as the northbridge is concerned since you have the same board, what is usually required for 2.6GHz? I think I have it at 1.2v currently for 2.4GHz.

There are two north bridges. One is on the motherboard and primarily controls the PCI/PCIe bus. The other one, the one I was talking about, is the CPUNB which is a key component of the IMC (Integrated Memory Controller), built into the CPU die. In the old days, they were combined on the motherboard but ever since the Athlon 64 debut they have been split. For the CPUNB I would recommend trying 1.2v to support a CPUNB frequency of 2600 mhz. It may take a little more and it will vary some from CPU to CPU even of the same model. If 1.2 isn't enough, try 1.225 or 1.25.

Alright I am running 2.6 now at 1.25v, will lower it if I can after I do some testing, temps are still great as well. Now do you think I would get better performance at 1333 vs 1600 memory speeds? I can do 9-9-9-24 @ 1333 vs 11-11-11-30 @ 1600 seems like a pretty big difference, and mind you I am at stock voltage for this ram @ 1.35v but they can do 1.5v just as well.

The performance of ram running low latency/low frequency vs. high latency/high frequency is somewhat of a tradeoff and may depend on individual apps being run. You might do some testing to see which gives better performance for how you use the computer or at least which one feels snappier in general use to you.

Just passed prime95 after almost 4 hours, all is well. That's 4GHz @ 1.45v with no LLC so 1.4v under load and northbrige @ 2.6GHz 1.25v I am happy here I think, don't think it would be worth it going any higher. Now to fine tune the voltage on both and get them as low as possible. And maybe some memory tuning.

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Cheers on your OC mate.
And yes, you should fine-tune your RAM, since you have your CPU-NB OC'ed too, 9-9-9-24 should be easy enough. Is said that those Samsung sticks overclock really nice.

Thanks, that's the reason I got this ram and it was cheap too.

In testing of 9-9-9-24 timings, I gave them a little more voltage and all has been well.