Hello All,
I must first of all say thank you to the Overclockers.com administrators and members for their shared knowledge and continual support to the online enthusiast community.
I recently upgraded my pc with the parts listed below with the intention of a moderate air cooled overclock. I will point out at this time that I am an enthusiast on a user based level and have never tinkered around with overclocking before.
Like user dam4227 (http://www.overclockers.com/forums/member.php?u=108789) I thought I would share my first experience with overclocking and would greatly appreciate any constructive feedback from members.
PC Components as follows;
CPU……………….. Intel i7 950
Motherboard… Gigabyte X58A-UD3R Rev2
RAM………………. 3x2GB Corsair TR3X6G2600C8D
GPU………………. Gigabyte HD 4890 (next item to upgrade
PSU……………….. Corsair AX850
Case………………. Cooler Master HAF-X
(Additional CM 200mm Fan added to top / Standard CM 140mm Rear Fan removed)
CPU Cooler……. Prolimatech Super Mega
(Noctua 120mm NF-S12B-FLX, mounted on rear case side of heat sink pulling air through the blades. Prolimatech supplied paste used.)
Misc………………. WD150gb Raptor with OS, 3xHDD’s, 2xDVDRW, 1xBDR
Once all together and copious amounts of research concluded it was time to Overclock.
I started with the same goal as dam4227, a stable 4.0GHz overclock.
Following every step of Miahallen’s ‘3 Step Overclocking Guide’ (link below) was a breeze and taught me a lot about my PC.
http://www.techreaction.net/2010/09/07/3-step-overclocking-guide-bloomfield-and-gulftown/
I won’t repeat the steps involved and undertaken within the guide.
Settings as follows:
Advanced CPU Features:
CPU Clock Ratio ................................ [23]
Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech ................. [Disable]
CPU Cores Enabled .......................... [All]
CPU Multi Threading ..........................[Enable]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) ................. [Disable]
C3/C6/C7 State Support ................... [Disable]
CPU Thermal Monitor ........................ [Disable]
CPU EIST Function ............................ [Disable]
Virtualization Technology ................. [Enable]
Bi-Directional PROCHOT .................... [Enable]
Uncore & QPI Features:
QPI Link Speed ..............................[x36] 6.26GHz
Uncore Frequency ..........................[x16] 3480MHz
Isonchronous Frequency ...............[Enable]
Standard Clock Control:
Base Clock (BCLK) Control .................. [Enable]
BCLK Frequency (MHz) .........................[174]
PCI Express Frequency (MHz) ............. [Auto]
Advanced Clock Control:
CPU Clock Drive ..............................[800]
PCI Express Clock Drive ................ [900]
CPU Clock Skew ............................ [0]
IOH Clock Skew ............................. [0]
Advanced DRAM Features:
Performance Enhance .......................... [Standard]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P) ........... [Disable]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) ........... [10]
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) ............. [Quick]
Channel A + B + C
Channel A Timing Settings:
##Channel A Standard Timing Control##
CAS Latency Time ..................[8]
tRCD ......................................[8]
tRP ........................................[8]
tRAS ......................................[24]
CR..........................................[2]
B2B........................................[-]
Advanced Voltage Control:
CPU Intel Core i7 950 D0 Stepping
Load Line Calibration .................... [Standard]
CPU Vcore 1.156V...............................[1.3] (Later changed to 1.36)
QPI/VTT Voltage 1.20v ...................[1.22]
CPU PLL 1.800v ..............................[1.8]
PCIE 1.500v ...................................[1.5]
QPI PLL 1.100v ..............................[1.1]
IOH Core 1.100v ............................[1.3V]
ICH I/O 1.500v ...............................[1.5]
ICH Core 1.1v ................................[1.1]
DRAM
DRAM Voltage 1.500v .............. [1.64]
DRAM Termination 0.750v.......... [AUTO]
Ch-A Data VRef. 0.750v ...........[AUTO]
Ch-B Data VRef. 0.750v ...........[AUTO]
Ch-C Data VRef. 0.750v ...........[AUTO]
Ch-A Address VRef. 0.750v ........[AUTO]
Ch-B Address VRef. 0.750v ........[AUTO]
Ch-C Address VRef. 0.750v ........[AUTO]
With the settings above I was getting pc restarts running IntelBurnTest for less than 1 minute.
I adjusted the CPU Vcore from 1.3v to 1.36 and much has improved.
At the end of the above steps the following tests have been done;
(All temps in 20 degree Celsius room low humidity - Melbourne Australia)
Real Temp idle temps
46 45 46 40 Celsius
IntelBurnTest for 5 Cycles on Stress Level High, 8 cores.
Test Length 316 Seconds
Real Temp load temps
90 89 87 85 Celsius
Memtest86+ for 7.5 hours, 7 passes completed no errors.
Prime95 Benchmark
=1
1024 = 12.576 ms
4096 = 57.699 ms
Prime 95 Torture Test
8, 10, 12k tests completed in 1.5 hours no errors.
Real Temp load temps
88 87 85 83 Celsius
12 13 15 17 Distance to TJ MAX
Voltage drop as read by Easytune6
CPU from 1.312v down to 1.28v
DRAM 1.632v stable
+3.3v from 3.328 down to 3.312
+5v from 4.919v down to 4.892
+12v 12.239 stable.
1024k test resulted in Prime95 crashing just after starting blend test.
The above is a little concerning to me. The program crashed, coming up with the end program pop up forcing it to close.
Only the program crashed and all operations returned to normal straight after. This happened on several attempts. Is this a way of Prime95 telling me I have an unstable overclock?
3D Mark 06 - default settings
At this stage (and after reading the 4890 has lots of headroom!) I couldn’t help myself but slightly overclock the GPU as well.
Stock Core @900MHz raised to 940MHz
Stock Mem @975MHz raised to 1040MHz
Loads to about ~60 degrees Celsius
(I tried 960/1060 respectively with failure during testing)
Stock PC - OC - OC + GPU OC
3D Marks - 17,715 - 19,382 - 20,032
SM2 - 6,738 - 7,229 - 7,490
SM3 - 8,149 - 8,593 - 8,992
CPU - 5,569 - 6,963 - 6,924
Well that sums up the last couple of days of trial and error, once again I thank everyone that has provided me figures and insight into overclocking.
All constructive comments are welcome especially regarding;
1/ High Temps
2/ Prime95 1024 crash.
Thank you for reading.
Nitropro
I must first of all say thank you to the Overclockers.com administrators and members for their shared knowledge and continual support to the online enthusiast community.
I recently upgraded my pc with the parts listed below with the intention of a moderate air cooled overclock. I will point out at this time that I am an enthusiast on a user based level and have never tinkered around with overclocking before.
Like user dam4227 (http://www.overclockers.com/forums/member.php?u=108789) I thought I would share my first experience with overclocking and would greatly appreciate any constructive feedback from members.
PC Components as follows;
CPU……………….. Intel i7 950
Motherboard… Gigabyte X58A-UD3R Rev2
RAM………………. 3x2GB Corsair TR3X6G2600C8D
GPU………………. Gigabyte HD 4890 (next item to upgrade
PSU……………….. Corsair AX850
Case………………. Cooler Master HAF-X
(Additional CM 200mm Fan added to top / Standard CM 140mm Rear Fan removed)
CPU Cooler……. Prolimatech Super Mega
(Noctua 120mm NF-S12B-FLX, mounted on rear case side of heat sink pulling air through the blades. Prolimatech supplied paste used.)
Misc………………. WD150gb Raptor with OS, 3xHDD’s, 2xDVDRW, 1xBDR
Once all together and copious amounts of research concluded it was time to Overclock.
I started with the same goal as dam4227, a stable 4.0GHz overclock.
Following every step of Miahallen’s ‘3 Step Overclocking Guide’ (link below) was a breeze and taught me a lot about my PC.
http://www.techreaction.net/2010/09/07/3-step-overclocking-guide-bloomfield-and-gulftown/
I won’t repeat the steps involved and undertaken within the guide.
Settings as follows:
Advanced CPU Features:
CPU Clock Ratio ................................ [23]
Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech ................. [Disable]
CPU Cores Enabled .......................... [All]
CPU Multi Threading ..........................[Enable]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) ................. [Disable]
C3/C6/C7 State Support ................... [Disable]
CPU Thermal Monitor ........................ [Disable]
CPU EIST Function ............................ [Disable]
Virtualization Technology ................. [Enable]
Bi-Directional PROCHOT .................... [Enable]
Uncore & QPI Features:
QPI Link Speed ..............................[x36] 6.26GHz
Uncore Frequency ..........................[x16] 3480MHz
Isonchronous Frequency ...............[Enable]
Standard Clock Control:
Base Clock (BCLK) Control .................. [Enable]
BCLK Frequency (MHz) .........................[174]
PCI Express Frequency (MHz) ............. [Auto]
Advanced Clock Control:
CPU Clock Drive ..............................[800]
PCI Express Clock Drive ................ [900]
CPU Clock Skew ............................ [0]
IOH Clock Skew ............................. [0]
Advanced DRAM Features:
Performance Enhance .......................... [Standard]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P) ........... [Disable]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) ........... [10]
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) ............. [Quick]
Channel A + B + C
Channel A Timing Settings:
##Channel A Standard Timing Control##
CAS Latency Time ..................[8]
tRCD ......................................[8]
tRP ........................................[8]
tRAS ......................................[24]
CR..........................................[2]
B2B........................................[-]
Advanced Voltage Control:
CPU Intel Core i7 950 D0 Stepping
Load Line Calibration .................... [Standard]
CPU Vcore 1.156V...............................[1.3] (Later changed to 1.36)
QPI/VTT Voltage 1.20v ...................[1.22]
CPU PLL 1.800v ..............................[1.8]
PCIE 1.500v ...................................[1.5]
QPI PLL 1.100v ..............................[1.1]
IOH Core 1.100v ............................[1.3V]
ICH I/O 1.500v ...............................[1.5]
ICH Core 1.1v ................................[1.1]
DRAM
DRAM Voltage 1.500v .............. [1.64]
DRAM Termination 0.750v.......... [AUTO]
Ch-A Data VRef. 0.750v ...........[AUTO]
Ch-B Data VRef. 0.750v ...........[AUTO]
Ch-C Data VRef. 0.750v ...........[AUTO]
Ch-A Address VRef. 0.750v ........[AUTO]
Ch-B Address VRef. 0.750v ........[AUTO]
Ch-C Address VRef. 0.750v ........[AUTO]
With the settings above I was getting pc restarts running IntelBurnTest for less than 1 minute.
I adjusted the CPU Vcore from 1.3v to 1.36 and much has improved.
At the end of the above steps the following tests have been done;
(All temps in 20 degree Celsius room low humidity - Melbourne Australia)
Real Temp idle temps
46 45 46 40 Celsius
IntelBurnTest for 5 Cycles on Stress Level High, 8 cores.
Test Length 316 Seconds
Real Temp load temps
90 89 87 85 Celsius
Memtest86+ for 7.5 hours, 7 passes completed no errors.
Prime95 Benchmark
=1
1024 = 12.576 ms
4096 = 57.699 ms
Prime 95 Torture Test
8, 10, 12k tests completed in 1.5 hours no errors.
Real Temp load temps
88 87 85 83 Celsius
12 13 15 17 Distance to TJ MAX
Voltage drop as read by Easytune6
CPU from 1.312v down to 1.28v
DRAM 1.632v stable
+3.3v from 3.328 down to 3.312
+5v from 4.919v down to 4.892
+12v 12.239 stable.
1024k test resulted in Prime95 crashing just after starting blend test.
The above is a little concerning to me. The program crashed, coming up with the end program pop up forcing it to close.
Only the program crashed and all operations returned to normal straight after. This happened on several attempts. Is this a way of Prime95 telling me I have an unstable overclock?
3D Mark 06 - default settings
At this stage (and after reading the 4890 has lots of headroom!) I couldn’t help myself but slightly overclock the GPU as well.
Stock Core @900MHz raised to 940MHz
Stock Mem @975MHz raised to 1040MHz
Loads to about ~60 degrees Celsius
(I tried 960/1060 respectively with failure during testing)
Stock PC - OC - OC + GPU OC
3D Marks - 17,715 - 19,382 - 20,032
SM2 - 6,738 - 7,229 - 7,490
SM3 - 8,149 - 8,593 - 8,992
CPU - 5,569 - 6,963 - 6,924
Well that sums up the last couple of days of trial and error, once again I thank everyone that has provided me figures and insight into overclocking.
All constructive comments are welcome especially regarding;
1/ High Temps
2/ Prime95 1024 crash.
Thank you for reading.
Nitropro
Last edited:
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