SOLVED My 2600k overclock so far, need some help

[DaMaGeLIVE]

Alright I few days have passed, and I was running 4.2 ghz at 1.325 volts without problems. One day after exiting a game, I bsod. My mobo then reset my frequency settings back to default saying there was a boot error. I reclocked my cpu back to 4.2 and set voltage to auto. Temps are higher now unsurprisingly. Going from 65 degrees to 73. What I find odd is that according to hwinfo, my cpu doesnt use the full 1.325 volts. Even when stressing, it only uses at most 1.3. Why must I crank up the vcore so much to make it stable?

 

[Janus67]

You need to use LLC to stabilize the vdroop while putting the chip under load.

 

[wingman99]

Some CPU's need more voltage it's the luck of the draw.

 

[DaMaGeLIVE]

Ok I am experimenting with multi llc. Figure I'll set it to level 5 on my gigabyte board. In the meantime, I've done a couple trial runs and noticed my VID is at 1.396-1.4. Is that something to be worried about?

 

[DaMaGeLIVE]

Update: I did one stable run at 4.5 ghz, multi llc at level 5, vcore 1.36. Stable using linx. Noticed vcore when not under load is at 1.38 and under is 1.33ish. Think this is because my llc level is too high?

 

[Theocnoob]

Correct, Cpu-Z shows Vtt in the "CPU Core" slot, and the actual CPU voltage in the "CPU" slot.

?
The only thing CPU-Z, any version thereof, shows me is CORE VID.

 

[Automata]

I think they mean it is incorrectly showing the voltage for VTT instead of the actual processor voltage.

 

[DaMaGeLIVE]

So far I am running 4.5ghz @ vcore of 1.32 but the idle voltage is at 1.344-1.368. LLC is at level 6. Isn't stable if i lower llc. Think I should up the vocre and reduce llc?

 

[krose]

To reduce idle Vcore, use the Dynamic Vcore (DVID) option. To do this set your Vcore to "Normal", then use DVID to adjust to the Vcore you want to obtain. You must have C-states and EIST enabled. Say you want to overclock to 4.5 GHz. Let's say the "normal" Vcore for the 45 multiplier is 1.35 volts ( each multiplier used sets a different "normal" Vcore). Experimenting you find that you really need 1.35 Vcore to be stable under load and not the 1.30 you get with Vdroop. Usually you would adjust Vcore and LLC until you get stability. But all you need to do is use DVID, use plus 0.05 volts and the resulting Vcore under load will be the desired 1.35 volts. You are not running a constant high voltage to obtain your overclock. The best part of this feature is that you don't have to use LLC, and when idle your CPU is using minimal voltage. I have used this on my Z68 and X58 platforms and it works great.

Edit: As an example, my 2600K sets a normal Vcore of 1.345 with the 42 multiplier. I thought that was high, so I set a DVID of minus 0.05 volts. This gave a Vcore of 1.284 in the BIOS, 1.25 volts under load in Windows, and was perfectly stable. Best thing is it idles at 1600 MHz with only 0.9 volts.

 

[DaMaGeLIVE]

BEAUTIFUL!

To reduce idle Vcore, use the Dynamic Vcore (DVID) option. To do this set your Vcore to "Normal", then use DVID to adjust to the Vcore you want to obtain. You must have C-states and EIST enabled. Say you want to overclock to 4.5 GHz. Let's say the "normal" Vcore for the 45 multiplier is 1.35 volts ( each multiplier used sets a different "normal" Vcore). Experimenting you find that you really need 1.35 Vcore to be stable under load and not the 1.30 you get with Vdroop. Usually you would adjust Vcore and LLC until you get stability. But all you need to do is use DVID, use plus 0.05 volts and the resulting Vcore under load will be the desired 1.35 volts. You are not running a constant high voltage to obtain your overclock. The best part of this feature is that you don't have to use LLC, and when idle your CPU is using minimal voltage. I have used this on my Z68 and X58 platforms and it works great.

Edit: As an example, my 2600K sets a normal Vcore of 1.345 with the 42 multiplier. I thought that was high, so I set a DVID of minus 0.05 volts. This gave a Vcore of 1.284 in the BIOS, 1.25 volts under load in Windows, and was perfectly stable. Best thing is it idles at 1600 MHz with only 0.9 volts.

I just want to say that this method of overclocking is fantastic! Currently I am OCed at 4.5 GHz with a load of 1.32v and idle at 1.02v. I set my DVID to +.04. I may try to set it a little lower since the vcore at startup is 1.368, but it goes away once I start running programs. JUST PERFECT! Thanks a ton man!

 

[perkabrod]

Edit: As an example, my 2600K sets a normal Vcore of 1.345 with the 42 multiplier. I thought that was high, so I set a DVID of minus 0.05 volts. This gave a Vcore of 1.284 in the BIOS, 1.25 volts under load in Windows, and was perfectly stable. Best thing is it idles at 1600 MHz with only 0.9 volts.

I have the same board and I've wanted to learn more about overclocking. I had it 11 hours stable using LLC 5 and Vcore was constantly 1.32V (actually a bit higher value in TOUCHBIOS). That was at 4.4GHz

Did you leave PLL on default/auto or did you set fixed values for those things?
Is there anyway you could take photos of your settings and share in this board with all of us Z68XP-UD4 users?

 

[Thermodynamic]

Edit: As an example, my 2600K sets a normal Vcore of 1.345 with the 42 multiplier. I thought that was high, so I set a DVID of minus 0.05 volts. This gave a Vcore of 1.284 in the BIOS, 1.25 volts under load in Windows, and was perfectly stable. Best thing is it idles at 1600 MHz with only 0.9 volts.

I've the same board (Z68X-UD4, no 'P').

At x42, my board sees the vcore at 1.360v. (It was 1.345 but I had DVID set to -.020 and got a BSOD... after rebooting and going into the BIOS, it raised.)

Granted, the F9 version of the BIOS has bugs - I'll reset and see if -0.05 does any better... My goal is to remain under 1.290v at all times, and 4.2GHz would shave off a few minutes of rendering time, and while doing the pre-render work using less than 1.20v would be nice...

 

[krose]

As requested, some pics of my BIOS settings @ 4.3 GHz. I never leave any voltages on auto. If you are using 4 sticks of RAM you will probably need more QPI/vtt voltage. 43 multiplier gives me a normal vcore of 1.355 volts. Using minus 0.015 DVID gives me 1.32 in BIOS, 1.284 under load in Windows, 0.960 idle.

 

[perkabrod]

Sweet thanks! Will try it tonight on my Z68XP-UD4 w/ i7 2600k.

A few things comes to mind when I look at the screenshots.

PWM FREQUENCY CONTROL
Do you know what it does or could I leave it at Auto as well?

CPU OVER CURRENT PROTECTION
Same question here... what do I use it for?

SYSTEM AGENT VOLTAGE
What do I use it for? Or did you basically set it to the default value to be sure that it is a locked number rather than it being set automatically by the board?


Also, why did you turn off (per core)Turbo boost?
I'm not sure how that works, is that applied both with all cores under load as well as when running single core apps?


I will copy all your details but it would be fun to learn about the things written above

Especially the PWM Freq Control and CPU over current protection values
Again, thanks for uploading the pics!

 

[krose]

Increasing PWM frequency can help overclocking. I set it to one level above auto since I am leery of auto settings. Same with Over Current, I set it to one level above auto to prevent CPU from throttling Plus 10% seems adequate for a mild overclock. System agent is the old "uncore" from X58 platform. I set it to stock and you shouldn't have to change it.

I just used the CPU clock ratio to change the multiplier. You can leave it at 34 and enable Turbo Boost and set the individual cores if you like. If you have a single threaded app that would benefit from a high clock speed you could try 45, 44, 43, and 42 Turbo Boost multis and stress test the single core, since one core will likely run at 4.5 GHz at the same voltage as all four at 4.2. I just find it easier to have all cores at the same frequency and check for stability with Prime95. Hope this helps.

 

[perkabrod]

Thanks! Will post my experience with these settings when I get home. 1 hour left at work
I'm using 4x4GB RAM and it's 1.65V RAM though I have them set at 1.58 currently. Don't know if I will damage something if I set them to their specs which is 1.65V.
Don't know about the timings, the frequency is 1600MHz. I'll see how it goes. If underclocking the RAM frequency makes them stable at less voltage I'll go down that path I guess...

 

[krose]

I have read conflicting reports on RAM voltage. Some say 1.65 is OK, some say to stay under 1.575 which is Intel spec. Personally I use 1.50 volts and no more just to be safe. Look at the SPD tab of CPU-Z to see what your RAM is rated for at various speeds.

 

[perkabrod]

I have read conflicting reports on RAM voltage. Some say 1.65 is OK, some say to stay under 1.575 which is Intel spec. Personally I use 1.50 volts and no more just to be safe. Look at the SPD tab of CPU-Z to see what your RAM is rated for at various speeds.

Okay, will have a look.

I matched your settings except I didn't profile RAM because it wants to use 1.65V, I set it manually to 1.55V and ran the 1600MHz memory at "only" 1066MHz. I ran prime95 for one hour without any problems.
CPU Voltage:
1.32V in BIOS
cpu-z while prime95 (blend) showed 1.284V
Gigabyte touchbios while prime95 (blend) showed 1.28V

Idle was around 0.960V
Idle temp, don't remember exactly but it was under 30 on all cores, something in the "29,26,28,26"-park

Temperatures was average around 60C but on certain tests in prime95 it went up to average around 65C. Maximum temp was seen at 70C (core 3), don't remember which of the prime95 test it was higher though, but I think it was the third array of tests that upped the temperature a few degrees.

Do you know the Gigabyte "Normal" CPU VCore value at 44,45,46 multipliers? I want to see how high it can go at 1.32V, upping the multiplier a notch and reducing the DVID even more to have the CPU voltage still at 1.32V, thus it would be handy to know the Gigabyte "Normal" VCore for different multipliers.

 

[krose]

Here are voltages applied using BIOS F6e.
42=1.345
43=1.355
44=1.360
45=1.360
46=1.360

Your chip will likely be different. With BIOS F6e I am using 43x, Vcore normal, DVID minus 0.025, which gives 1.308 in BIOS and 1.272 under load in Windows. Stable overnight for 13 hours with Prime 95.

Edit: 44x requires plus 0.01 DVID, which gives 1.356 BIOS, 1.308 load. I tried leaving DVID at 0.000 but I got Prime95 rounding error or 101 BSOD. Vcore was 1.296 load, so it doesn't take much to gain stability. I am going to stay at 43x, it doesn't seem worth the extra voltage for 100 MHz.

 

[perkabrod]

Here are voltages applied using BIOS F6e.
42=1.345
43=1.355
44=1.360
45=1.360
46=1.360

Your chip will likely be different. With BIOS F6e I am using 43x, Vcore normal, DVID minus 0.025, which gives 1.308 in BIOS and 1.272 under load in Windows. Stable overnight for 13 hours with Prime 95.

Edit: 44x requires plus 0.01 DVID, which gives 1.356 BIOS, 1.308 load. I tried leaving DVID at 0.000 but I got Prime95 rounding error or 101 BSOD. Vcore was 1.296 load, so it doesn't take much to gain stability. I am going to stay at 43x, it doesn't seem worth the extra voltage for 100 MHz.

Thanks!! I'm using F4 on z68xp-ud4 and will have a go this weekend to see if I can run 44x on 1.32v (BIOS). By the way, do you think 1.32V is considered pretty safe for a 24/7 computer? It would be idle most of the time but say a few hours per day at 1.32V (1.284 in cpu-z)