A day of OC w/ i7 930

[cazter]

Hardware:
ASUS P6T Deluxe V2
Intel i7 930

• Thermalright Rev C. Air Cooling
• IC Diamond 24 Carat Thermal Compound

Corsair Dominator 2GBx3 DDR 1600
eVGA 260 GTX
Silverstone TJ10

Assisted by: *Advertising link removed - IMOG*

Current settings:

CPU Ratio: 18
BCLK: 200
DRAM 1603 (8-8-8-24)
UCLK: Auto
QPI Link Data Rate: 7218MT's
CPU Vcore: 1.275
QPI/DRAM: 1.275
CPU PLL: Auto
IOH Volt: Auto
DRAM Bus Volt: Auto
Intel Speed Step: disabled

With these settings after nearly 15 hours of burn-in I seem to be stable. During an overnight burn-in I woke up to find my lead core temp at 69C, having peaked at 71C. It's odd to see temps this high, particularly when I idle on my lead core at 35C. But it seems nearly everyone is getting these wide swings on the i7 line, right?

My concern is that despite raising my QPI link data rate to 7218, CPUZ is reporting it at the default of 3600.00. I understand that this particular change has a rather significant change in performance. Any ideas as to why I am not seeing the 7218 I have it set at?

Also, I was unable to gain stability at 20 x 200 despite toying with voltages all throughout yesterday. I started out by referencing forum posts to people with 920's (not many posts on the 930's yet), but by the end of the day I was just guess and checking. I never had a burn-in last for longer then an hour before I would come back to find my system had evidently BSOD, then reboot, and was idling at login. I pretty much decided last night that I could live with 18 x 200 so long as it was stable and I could somehow increase my data link rate to 7218. But if anyone else is rocking the 930 and has been able to find stability at 20 x 200 I would very much appreciate seeing their settings in a format similiar to what I have listed above.

Appreciate any help and advice I can get. Will be monitoring the post continuously throughout my workday and responding quickly to any replies I get.

Thanks!

 

[psionic98]

i7s like to run on odd multipliers.. you might be ok with a 190x21 instead of 200x20..

hyperthreading enabled you will run on average 8* hotter. Also one core running hotter than others is pretty normal and having a spread between cores is also normal. You're still well within thermal barriers for the i7 (80C being the beginning of it)

sorry i dont have an answer for the QPI link though

 

[bda1967]

Hi cazter and Your QPI link is running at 7200 it's just CPU-Z only shows it at 1/2 the value for some reason I can't even remember at the moment. Your temps are great by the way. You can go up to the mid 80's at load until you need to be concerned. You should set your DRAM voltage at 1.65v, and set your CPU PLL at 1.80-1.88v. Don't forget that the uncore needs to be 2x or 2x+1 of the memory frequency and the difference between QPI/DRAM and memory voltages are not to be greatere than .5v. You may have to bump up your vcore at the higher overclock too.

Use this guide as a reference for your overclocking. http://www.overclockers.com/3-step-guide-overclock-core-i3-i5-i7/ Good luck and feel free to ask questions.

 

[nzaneb]

Assisted by: Geekbox Computers

Definitely get rid of this, before a Mod shows up

i7s like to run on odd multipliers.. you might be ok with a 190x21 instead of 200x20..

+1 to this suggestion.

If you're going for 4-4.2 Ghz, look for CPU Vcore around 1.275V-1.35V and VTT around the same. Definitely set you DRAM voltage and timings to the recommended specs.

 

[cazter]

hyperthreading enabled you will run on average 8* hotter.

Does hyperthreading offer a significant boost to performance with this i7 line? Should I disable it?

Hi cazter and Your QPI link is running at 7200 it's just CPU-Z only shows it at 1/2 the value for some reason I can't even remember at the moment. Your temps are great by the way. You can go up to the mid 80's at load until you need to be concerned. You should set your DRAM voltage at 1.65v, and set your CPU PLL at 1.80-1.88v. Don't forget that the uncore needs to be 2x or 2x+1 of the memory frequency and the difference between QPI/DRAM and memory voltages are not to be greatere than .5v. You may have to bump up your vcore at the higher overclock too.

Use this guide as a reference for your overclocking. http://www.overclockers.com/3-step-guide-overclock-core-i3-i5-i7/ Good luck and feel free to ask questions.

This is all great advice! Thanks... I'll run through this as soon as I get home. Or maybe I'll take a risk and see if the GF can make the changes via chat while I am at work

One question... the QPI data link has always shown up @ 3600 on CPUZ. Even at stock speeds before I took it off auto and assigned the 7218. Is 7218 the default speed?

If you're going for 4-4.2 Ghz, look for CPU Vcore around 1.275V-1.35V and VTT around the same. Definitely set you DRAM voltage and timings to the recommended specs.

Here is a good SS someone took of my mobo's BIOS... Which one indicates the VTT setting? Is the DRAM bus voltage the one I want to lock in at 1.65?

THESE ARE NOT MY BIOS SETTINGS - JUST AN SS SOMEONE TOOK W/ SAME BOARD

THESE ARE NOT MY BIOS SETTINGS - JUST AN SS SOMEONE TOOK W/ SAME BOARD

 

[bda1967]

The uncore frequency is BCLK x uncore mult. so at 200 BCLK x 18 multiplier = 3600 or 7200. You must be using the 18 uncore multiplier. Your RAM is running at 1603 which is 200 x 8 and the uncore should be 2x or 2x+1 of that so you should run your uncore multiplier at 16 or 17. Using a 17 mult. would give you 200 x 17 = 3400 uncore or 6800 in BIOS. The 3600/7200 may be unstable at those settings.

 

[cazter]

The uncore frequency is BCLK x uncore mult. so at 200 BCLK x 18 multiplier = 3600 or 7200. You must be using the 18 uncore multiplier. Your RAM is running at 1603 which is 200 x 8 and the uncore should be 2x or 2x+1 of that so you should run your uncore multiplier at 16 or 17. Using a 17 mult. would give you 200 x 17 = 3400 uncore or 6800 in BIOS. The 3600/7200 may be unstable at those settings.

You have me a bit confused now. To be clear, the uncore = UCLK? Does the UCLK funtion off the CPU Ratio (multiplier)? Does this mean that it adjusts in same intervals as the BCLK (1-200 type of thing)?

 

[redduc900]

Which one indicates the VTT setting?

VTT = QPI/DRAM Core Voltage

Is the DRAM bus voltage the one I want to lock in at 1.65?

Yes, DRAM voltage = DRAM Bus Voltage

 

[cazter]

VTT = QPI/DRAM Core Voltage

Yes, DRAM voltage = DRAM Bus Voltage

Sweet, thanks.

 

[cazter]

bda1967: If I am understanding what your saying correctly you are recommending that I bump my VTT (or QPI/DRAM) up to within .5V of my DRAM Bus Voltage. Currently my VTT is at 1.25 so this would be a fairly large bump to get it under my 1.65 DRAM Bus Voltage.

Can you verify this? Basically taking my VTT to 1.60-1.65?

 

[redduc900]

With DRAM voltage at 1.65V, VTT needs to be within .5V of that. Default VTT is 1.15V, which w/ RAM rated at 1.65V results in a .5 voltage differential. So in your case w/ DRAM voltage at 1.65, and VTT at 1.25 (1.65 - 1.25 = .4) the resultant differential is within the .5V safety margin. If you were to bump DRAM voltage to 1.70V for example, VTT would need to be at least 1.2V (1.7 - 1.2 = .5) to remain within the .5V margin.

 

[nzaneb]

bda1967: If I am understanding what your saying correctly you are recommending that I bump my VTT (or QPI/DRAM) up to within .5V of my DRAM Bus Voltage. Currently my VTT is at 1.25 so this would be a fairly large bump to get it under my 1.65 DRAM Bus Voltage.

Can you verify this? Basically taking my VTT to 1.60-1.65?

.5V represents a maximum range. You want your VTT/QPI/Dram Core Voltage to be within .5V of your VDIMM/ DRAM Bus Voltage. By having the DRAM Bus Voltage at 1.65V, you're looking at going no lower than 1.15V on the VTT/QPI/DRAM Core Voltage. Like I said... this is a maximum, it can be less, but not more

Edit: Looks like redduc beat me to it

 

[bda1967]

bda1967: If I am understanding what your saying correctly you are recommending that I bump my VTT (or QPI/DRAM) up to within .5V of my DRAM Bus Voltage. Currently my VTT is at 1.25 so this would be a fairly large bump to get it under my 1.65 DRAM Bus Voltage.

Can you verify this? Basically taking my VTT to 1.60-1.65?

No don't do that! You already are within .5v of your DRAM voltage. 1.65-1.25= .4 is less than .5 so you are good. Let me rephrase this...DRAM voltage cannot excede 1.65v if the QPI voltage is more than .5v under the DRAM voltage.

EDIT: Both of you guys beat me to it...

 

[cazter]

Bleh, excuse my gorilla math.

Appreciate all three 3 responses on that though.

 

[cazter]

uncore = UCLK?

 

[nzaneb]

uncore = UCLK?

Yes

 

[cazter]

A night of OC...

It would seem that my CPU is meant to run at 18x20 only. But I can live with that...

Here's what I tried:

CPU Ratio: 20
BCLK: 200
DRAM 1603 (8-8-8-24)
UCLK: 3308
QPI Link Data Rate: 7218MT's
CPU Vcore: 1.285
QPI/DRAM: 1.285
CPU PLL: 1.86
IOH Volt: Auto
DRAM Bus Volt: 1.65
Intel Speed Step: disabled

Result = BSOD on burn-in

CPU Ratio: 19
BCLK: 190
DRAM 15xx (forgot) (8-8-8-24)
UCLK: 3xxx (forgot)
QPI Link Data Rate: 6xxx (forgot) MT's
CPU Vcore: 1.285
QPI/DRAM: 1.285
CPU PLL: 1.86
IOH Volt: Auto
DRAM Bus Volt: 1.65
Intel Speed Step: disabled

Result = BSOD on burn-in

And finally back to:

CPU Ratio: 18
BCLK: 200
DRAM 1603 (8-8-8-24)
UCLK: 3308
QPI Link Data Rate: 7218MT's
CPU Vcore: 1.275
QPI/DRAM: 1.275
CPU PLL: Auto
IOH Volt: Auto
DRAM Bus Volt: 1.65
Intel Speed Step: disabled

Result = Burn-in all night, no errors, stable.

Frustrating but I can get past it. Still open to suggestions though.

 

[redduc900]

Give these settings a try for 200MHz x 20 = 4.0GHz. And if your RAM is XMP ready, you could also try setting the Memory Profile to Profile #1 for DDR3-1600 at a BCLK of 200MHz on a 8x DRAM multiplier.

JumperFree Configuration Settings
AI Overclock Tuner: Manual
CPU Ratio Setting: 20X
Intel (R) SpeedStep (TM) Tech: Enabled
Intel (R) Turbo Mode Tech: Disabled
BLCK Frequency: 200
PCIE Frequency: 100
DRAM Frequency: DDR3-1603MHz
UCLK Frequency: 3208MHz
QPI Link Data Rate: 7218MT/s

DRAM Timing Control:

1st Information : 

CAS# Latency: 8
DRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay: 8
DRAM RAS# PRE Time: 8
DRAM RAS# ACT Time: 24
DRAM RAS# to RAS# Delay: Auto
DRAM REF Cycle Time: Auto
DRAM Write Recovery Time: Auto
DRAM Read to Precharge Time: Auto
DRAM FOUR ACT WIN Time: Auto
DRAM Back-To-Back CAS# Delay: Auto

2nd Information :

DRAM Timing Mode: Auto
DRAM Round Trip Latency on CHA: Auto
DRAM Round Trip Latency on CHB: Auto
DRAM Round Trip Latency on CHC: Auto

3rd Information :

DRAM WRITE To READ Delay (DD): Auto
DRAM WRITE To READ Delay (DR): Auto
DRAM WRITE To READ Delay (SR): Auto
DRAM READ To WRITE Delay (DD): Auto
DRAM READ To WRITE Delay (DR): Auto
DRAM READ To WRITE Delay (SR): Auto
DRAM READ To READ Delay (DD): Auto
DRAM READ To READ Delay (DR): Auto
DRAM READ To READ Delay (SR): Auto
DRAM WRITE To WRITE Delay (DD): Auto
DRAM WRITE To WRITE Delay (DR): Auto
DRAM WRITE To WRITE Delay (SR): Auto

CPU Voltage: 1.30000
CPU PLL Voltage: 1.88 
QPI/DRAM Core Voltage: 1.35
IOH Voltage: Auto
IOH PCIE Voltage: Auto
ICH Voltage: Auto
ICH PCIE Voltage: Auto
DRAM Bus Voltage: 1.65
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHA: Auto
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHA: Auto
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHB: Auto
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHB: Auto
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHC: Auto
DRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHC: Auto

Load Line Calibration: Enabled
CPU Differential Amplitude: 800mV
CPU Clock Skew: Auto
CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled
IOH Clock Skew : Auto
PCIE Spread Spectrum: Disabled

Advance CPU Settings
CPU Ratio Setting: 20X
C1E Suppport: Disabled
Hardware Prefetcher: Enabled
Adjacent Cache Line Prefetch: Enabled
Intel® Virtualization Tech: Disabled
CPU TM Function: Disabled
Execute Disable Bit: Disabled
Intel (R) HT Techology: Enabled
Active Processor Cores: All
A20M: Disabled
Intel (R) SpeedStep (TM) Tech: Enabled
Intel (R) Turbo Mode Tech: Disabled
Intel (R) C-STATE Tech: Disabled

 

[bda1967]

Why don't you bump your vcore to 1.35v for 4.0GHz?

EDIT: redduc900 beat me to it. Higher overclocks need more vcore and QPI voltage.