My battle with the bad batch i7 930 o/c... Some opinions please...

[GreenClocker]

First off... Thank you all for helping me get this far. I could not (absolutely not) done it with out the help you have provided. Thank you.

After hours (and hours, and hours) of hair pulling and system failures, I believe I have a stable overclock on my i7 930 but I could only pull off 3.67 GHz (kind of wimpy I know!). AT THIS POINT, I WELCOME CRITISM AND COMMENTS !

My case is nothing special and only includes two 200mm fans (one to push and one to pull).

Bottom line ------> Its QUIET, Its Stable, Idle temp is 42 deg, Load temp is 75 deg. (keep in mind though that ambient in this room is 24.5 degrees which is a bit warmer than typical) I am not sure if 75 deg on push air only is acceptable for 3.67 GHz. Any further tinkering will surely push me into the 80's.

Unfortunately, I think I am stuck with a chip from the bad batch as it is impossible for me to break the 176 MHz BCLK barrier without exceeding a forbidden VTT of 1.35V. I elected to back off to 175 MHz just to provide a slight buffer as 176 was barely stable.

In this difficult process, there are a few things I have concluded:

i) I believe my chip is one out of the much talked about "bad batch" as a QPI/VTT of 1.335V is the absolute minimum I can go to get 175 MHz.

ii) This o/c was achievable without LoadLine calibration but it required a VCORE of around 1.34 volts. I finalized by using Level 1 (slight adjust for vDroop) because it allowed for a lower VCORE of 1.25V which results in a lower idle temperature while hitting the same load temps. Since my PC spends more time in idle then load, I figured this was more important.

iii) I don't think LoadLine Cal has any effect on the QPI/VTT as far as I can tell from testing so I still needed 1.335 V even with LLcal enabled.

iv) Turbo mode causes more headaches than its worth so avoid it if you can.


My build:
i7 930 with Venomous X Cooler (120mm PUSH only)
Gigabyte X58A-UD3R (Bios Ver. FD)
Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 3x2GB DDR3 1600 (7-9-7-24)
HAF 912 case (one front 200mm push fan, one top 200mm pull fan, and one 120mm rear pull).
Corsair 650TX
Still rockin' the classic XP Pro.

[COLOR="Red"]My bios settings:

Advanced CPU Features {Press Enter]
CPU Clock Ratio............................: 21x
CPU Frequency .....(Ghz)...................: 3.67
Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech..................: DISABLED
CPU Cores Enabled..........................: ALL
CPU Multi Threading........................: ENABLED
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)....................: DISABLED
C3/C6/C7 State Support.....................: DISABLED
CPU Thermal Monitor........................: DISABLED
CPU EIST Function..........................: DISABLED
Bi-Directional PROCHOT.....................: AUTO
Virtualization Technology..................: DISABLED


Advanced Voltage Control [Press Enter]
>>>>CPU Voltages
LoadLine Calibration.........................: STANDARD
CPU Vcore....................................: 1.250
QPI/VTT Voltage..............................: 1.335
CPU PLL......................................: 1.80
>>>>>MCH/ICH Voltrage
PCIE.........................................: 1.5
QPI PLL......................................: 1.2
IOH Core.....................................: AUTO
ICH I/O......................................: AUTO
ICH Core.....................................: AUTO
>>>>>Dram
DRAM Voltage.................................: 1.66
DRAM Termination.............................: AUTO
Ch-A Data Vref...............................: AUTO
Ch-B Data Vref...............................: AUTO
Ch-C Data VRef...............................: AUTO
Ch-A Address Vref............................: AUTO
Ch-B Address Vref............................: AUTO
Ch-C Address VRef............................: AUTO


Uncore & QPI Features [Press Enter]
QPI Clock Ratio*...........................: AUTO
QPI Link Speed* ......................(Ghz): 6.3
Uncore Clock Ratio.........................: AUTO
Uncore Frequency......................(Mhz): 3500
Isochronous Support........................: ENABLED
Advanced Clock Control [Press Enter]
>>>>>Standard Clock Control
Base Clock (BCLK) Control*.................: ENABLED
BCLK Frequency (Mhz)*......................: 175
PCI Exxpress Frequency (Mhz)...............: 100
>>>>>Standard Clock Control
CPU Clock Drive (mV).......................: 800
PCI  Express Clock Drive (mV)..............: 900
CPU Clock Skew (ps)........................: 0
IOH Clock Skew (ps)........................: 0
Advanced Dram Features [Press Enter}
Performance Enhance........................: EXPERT
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.)............: DISABLED
System Memory Multiplier (SPD).............: 8x
Memory Frequency (Mhz).....................: 1400
DRAM Timing Selectable (sPD) ..............: AUTO
Channel Interleaving............................: AUTO(6)
Rank Interleaving................................: AUTO(4)


Channel A Timing Settings Sub Menu [Press Enter]
>>>>>Channel A Standard Timing Control
Cas Latency Time.............................: 7
tRCD.........................................: 9
tRP..........................................: 7
tRAS.........................................: 24
>>>>>Channel A Advanced Timing Control
tRC..........................................: AUTO
tRRD ........................................: AUTO
tWTR ........................................: AUTO
tWR..........................................: AUTO
tWTP.........................................: AUTO
tWL..........................................: AUTO
tRFC.........................................: AUTO
tRTP.........................................: AUTO
tFAW.........................................: AUTO
Command Rate (CMD) .....................: AUTO
>>>>>Channel A Misc Timing Control
B2B CAS Delay................................: AUTO
Round Trip Latency...........................: AUTO
Channel A Turnaround Setting [Press Enter]
>>>>> Channel A Reads Followed By Reads
Different DIMMs..............................: AUTO
Different Ranks..............................: AUTO
On The Same Rank.............................: AUTO
>>>>> Channel A Writes Followed By Writes
Different DIMMs..............................: AUTO
Different Ranks..............................: AUTO
On The Same Rank.............................: AUTO


Channel B Timing Settings Sub Menu [Press Enter]
>>>>>Channel B Standard Timing Control
Cas Latency Time.............................: 7
tRCD.........................................: 9
tRP..........................................: 7
tRAS.........................................: 24
>>>>>Channel B Advanced Timing Control
tRC..........................................: AUTO
tRRD ........................................: AUTO
tWTR ........................................: AUTO
tWR..........................................: AUTO
tWTP.........................................: AUTO
tWL..........................................: AUTO
tRFC.........................................: AUTO
tRTP.........................................: AUTO
tFAW.........................................: AUTO
Command Rate (CMD) ..........................: AUTO
>>>>>Channel B Misc Timing Control
B2B CAS Delay................................: AUTO
Round Trip Latency...........................: AUTO
Channel B Turnaround Setting [Press Enter]
>>>>> Channel B Reads Followed By Reads
Different DIMMs..............................: AUTO
Different Ranks..............................: AUTO
On The Same Rank.............................: AUTO
>>>>> Channel B Writes Followed By Writes
Different DIMMs..............................: AUTO
Different Ranks..............................: AUTO
On The Same Rank.............................: AUTO


Channel C Timing Settings Sub Menu [Press Enter]
>>>>>Channel C Standard Timing Control
Cas Latency Time.............................: 7
tRCD.........................................: 9
tRP..........................................: 7
tRAS.........................................: 24
>>>>>Channel C Advanced Timing Control
tRC..........................................: AUTO
tRRD ........................................: AUTO
tWTR ........................................: AUTO
tWR..........................................: AUTO
tWTP.........................................: AUTO
tWL..........................................: AUTO
tRFC.........................................: AUTO
tRTP.........................................: AUTO
tFAW.........................................: AUTO
Command Rate (CMD) ..........................: AUTO
>>>>>Channel C Misc Timing Control
B2B CAS Delay................................: AUTO
Round Trip Latency...........................: AUTO
Channel B Turnaround Setting [Press Enter]
>>>>> Channel C Reads Followed By Reads
Different DIMMs..............................: AUTO
Different Ranks..............................: AUTO
On The Same Rank.............................: AUTO
>>>>> Channel C Writes Followed By Writes
Different DIMMs..............................: AUTO
Different Ranks..............................: AUTO
On The Same Rank.............................: AUTO


[/COLOR]

Well, go ahead and beat the hell out of my work and let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

 

[Bobnova]

Have you tried bumping the IOH voltage a bit? It's the other end of the QPI and hence runs with a multi of bclk itself.

I'd try turning the QPI multi down as well, 6.2 is on the fast end.
I'm assuming you've tried turning the multi down and setting the ram slow to isolate the bclk adjustment.

Have you tried bumping the PCIe speed? Try giving it 105-107, that's still well within the save range and sometimes helps bclk OCing a lot, though usually at higher bclks.

 

[krose]

3500 Mhz uncore is why you need so much QPI volts. Take your uncore multiplier off of auto and set it to 16 or 17. Uncore should be 2x memory, 2x+1 or 2x+2 if you are lucky. By your BIOS settings AUTO is setting it to 20 to get 3500 MHz uncore (175x20=3500)

 

[Bobnova]

Good catch! 3.5ghz uncore is definitely getting into stability issue range.
I'd hope it could go higher, but not all do.

 

[GreenClocker]

OK. I will play with your suggestions over the next day or so and let you know how I make out. THANKS !

How about my temps ? Are they what I should expect with my simple air flow ?

How do I lower my QPI freq ? The only options is AUTO, SLOW MODE (which results in 88MHz), 36x, 44x and 48x (I think).

Also, what is the max IOH volts for an i7 930 ?

 

[krose]

Use 36x QPI. Your temps do seem a bit high for only 3.67, perhaps you were too generous with the thermal paste. You might want to try reseating the cooler. In my experience, unless you are trying for very high bclk over 200, you can leave the IOH and ICH voltages at stock, don't leave anything on auto because you don't know what voltage the BIOS will give. I only changed the Vcore, QPI, and DRAM voltages, and set the rest to the stock values. I have the same CPU and board, I can post a template of my settings if you'd like.

 

[GreenClocker]

Use 36x QPI. Your temps do seem a bit high for only 3.67, perhaps you were too generous with the thermal paste. You might want to try reseating the cooler. In my experience, unless you are trying for very high bclk over 200, you can leave the IOH and ICH voltages at stock, don't leave anything on auto because you don't know what voltage the BIOS will give. I only changed the Vcore, QPI, and DRAM voltages, and set the rest to the stock values. I have the same CPU and board, I can post a template of my settings if you'd like.

Yes please. That would be awesome if I could see how you set yours up.

 

[krose]

Here is my template. A couple of things to note:

I used my RAM's XMP profile to set timings, then changed the standard timings and command rate but left the advanced timings on auto. I was however able to lower the standard timings from 8-8-8-24 to 7-7-7-19.

Gigabyte boards have a setting called dynamic vcore which I am using. What it does is lower your CPU clock and voltage when not under load, then adds vcore when under load and raises the CPU clock. To use it you must have C1E and EIST enabled. Then set your Vcore to "normal", and set the dynamic vcore to add voltage to the normal vcore to obtain a final voltage suitable for your overclock. In my case I added 0.1125 volts which gives me a vcore of 1.280 under load. It is a nice energy saving feature, and you aren't pumping all that voltage through the CPU all the time. My system drops down to around 1.04 volts and 2292Mhz. If you don't want to use it ignore this and set your vcore directly like you have been doing. Hope this helps.

Advanced CPU Features:
CPU Clock Ratio ................................[21x]
Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech ...................[Disabled]
CPU Cores Enabled .............................[All]
CPU Multi Threading ..........................[Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) ....................[Enabled]
C3/C6/C7 State Support .....................[Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor ..........................[Enabled]
CPU EIST Function .............................[Enabled]
Virtualization Technology ....................[Disabled] << Enabled if you use Vmware or Virtual PC Programs
Bi-Directional PROCHOT ..................... .Enabled]


Uncore & QPI Features:
QPI Link Speed ..............................[x36]
Uncore Frequency ............................[16]
Isonchronous Frequency ......................[Enabled]


Standard Clock Control:
Base Clock (BCLK) Control .................[Enabled]
BCLK Frequency (MHz) ......................[191]
PCI Express Frequency (MHz) ...............[101]

C.I.A.2 [Disabled]

Advanced Clock Control:
CPU Clock Drive ............................[800mV]
PCI Express Clock Drive ....................[900mV]
CPU Clock Skew .............................[0ps]
IOH Clock Skew .............................[0ps]


Advanced DRAM Features:
Performance Enhance .......................[Turbo]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P) ............[Enabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) ............[8]
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) ..............[Manual]

Channel A + B + C

Channel A Timing Settings:
##Channel A Standard Timing Control##
CAS Latency Time ........................... [7]
tRCD ....................................... [7]
tRP .........................................[7]
tRAS ....................................... [19]

##Channel A Advanced Timing Control##
tRC ........................................[auto]
tRRD .......................................[auto]
tWTR .......................................[auto]
tWR ........................................[auto]
tWTP .......................................[auto]
tWL ........................................[auto]
tRFC .......................................[auto]
tRTP .......................................[auto]
tFAW .......................................[auto]
Command Rate (CMD) .........................[1]

##Channel A Misc Timing Control##
Round Trip Latency .........................[auto]

B2B CAS Delay ..............................[auto]


Advanced Voltage Control:

CPU
Load Line Calibration ...................[Disabled]
CPU Vcore ...............................[Normal]
Dynamic Vcore (DVID) ....................[+0.11250]
QPI/VTT Voltage 1.150v ..................[1.275]
CPU PLL 1.800v ..........................[1.80]

MCH/ICH
PCIE 1.500v .............................[1.500]
QPI PLL 1.100v ..........................[1.100]
IOH Core 1.100v .........................[1.100]
ICH I/O 1.500v ..........................[1.500]
ICH Core 1.1v ...........................[1.100]

DRAM
DRAM Voltage 1.500v .....................[1.56]
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]

Edit: here's a pic showing how dynamic vcore works. It drops volts and multi to 12 no load then back up under load.

 

[GreenClocker]

HOLY CRAP !!!! I would have never guess that the UNCORE FREQ was causing such a problem. Bottom line... Problem solved and was due to UNCORE FREQ.

Where I went wrong was in the initial stages of the OCing process. When I had isolated to test for maximum BCLK, I changed my SPD to 6x, but never adjusted the UNCORE MULT. I left it on auto so it kept the frequency around 3500 MHz (vs the 900 MHz memory speed). As I increased the BCLK, I could never stablize beyond 176 MHz (that with excessive QPI/VTT at the same time).

Now that I properly adjusted the UNCORE FREQ to 2x whatever my SPD is at the time of testing, I could easily pass 190 MHz with very low QPI/VTT volts. WOW !

My new temps at a rock stable 3.8 GHz are as follows:
Idle: 38 degrees (37 reported in bios)
Loaded: 71 degrees (on my simple and quiet air flow)

I was attempting to run at 190 MHz but ran into stability issues when I introduced my memory (and subsequent timings) into the mix. I backed off to 181 so that I can at least say I made it to 3.8G's. I figure that at this point, tighter timings versus a little bit more CPU speed would probably be more benefitial (but I am not the expert, you guys are).

How did I do ? Any further suggestions ? Is my 71 degrees on air ok ? (Please as you have already done wonders for me)

My [I][COLOR="Red"]REVISED[/COLOR][/I] bios settings:

Advanced CPU Features {Press Enter]
CPU Clock Ratio............................: 21x
CPU Frequency .....(Ghz)...................: 3.8  [COLOR="red"]<------ was 3.67[/COLOR]
Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech..................: DISABLED
CPU Cores Enabled..........................: ALL
CPU Multi Threading........................: ENABLED
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)....................: DISABLED
C3/C6/C7 State Support.....................: DISABLED
CPU Thermal Monitor........................: DISABLED
CPU EIST Function..........................: DISABLED
Bi-Directional PROCHOT.....................: AUTO
Virtualization Technology..................: DISABLED


Advanced Voltage Control [Press Enter]
>>>>CPU Voltages
LoadLine Calibration.........................: STANDARD
CPU Vcore....................................: 1.275    [COLOR="red"]<------ was 1.250[/COLOR]
QPI/VTT Voltage..............................: 1.195    [COLOR="red"]<------ was 1.335[/COLOR]
CPU PLL......................................: 1.80
>>>>>MCH/ICH Voltrage
PCIE.........................................: 1.5
QPI PLL......................................: 1.2
IOH Core.....................................: 1.2    [COLOR="red"]<------ was AUTO[/COLOR]
ICH I/O......................................: 1.5    [COLOR="red"]<------ was AUTO[/COLOR]
ICH Core.....................................: 1.1    [COLOR="red"]<------ was AUTO[/COLOR]
>>>>>Dram
DRAM Voltage.................................: 1.66
DRAM Termination.............................: 0.83    [COLOR="red"]<------ was AUTO at 0.75[/COLOR]
Ch-A Data Vref...............................: AUTO at 0.75
Ch-B Data Vref...............................: AUTO at 0.75
Ch-C Data VRef...............................: AUTO at 0.75
Ch-A Address Vref............................: AUTO at 0.75
Ch-B Address Vref............................: AUTO at 0.75
Ch-C Address VRef............................: AUTO at 0.75


Uncore & QPI Features [Press Enter]
QPI Clock Ratio*...........................: 36x    [COLOR="red"]<------ was AUTO[/COLOR]
QPI Link Speed* ......................(Ghz): 6.51    [COLOR="red"]<------ was 6.3[/COLOR]
Uncore Clock Ratio.........................: 16x    [COLOR="red"]<------ was AUTO[/COLOR]
Uncore Frequency......................(Mhz): 2896    [COLOR="red"]<------ was 3500[/COLOR]
Isochronous Support........................: ENABLED
Advanced Clock Control [Press Enter]
>>>>>Standard Clock Control
Base Clock (BCLK) Control*.................: ENABLED
BCLK Frequency (Mhz)*......................: 181    [COLOR="red"]<------ was 175[/COLOR]
PCI Exxpress Frequency (Mhz)...............: 100
>>>>>Standard Clock Control
CPU Clock Drive (mV).......................: 800
PCI  Express Clock Drive (mV)..............: 900
CPU Clock Skew (ps)........................: 0
IOH Clock Skew (ps)........................: 0
Advanced Dram Features [Press Enter}
Performance Enhance........................: EXPERT
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.)............: DISABLED
System Memory Multiplier (SPD).............: 8x
Memory Frequency (Mhz).....................: 1448    [COLOR="red"]<------ was 1400[/COLOR]
DRAM Timing Selectable (sPD) ..............: AUTO
Channel Interleaving............................: AUTO(6)
Rank Interleaving................................: AUTO(4)


Channel A Timing Settings Sub Menu [Press Enter]
>>>>>Channel A Standard Timing Control
Cas Latency Time.............................: 7
tRCD.........................................: 9
tRP..........................................: 7
tRAS.........................................: 24
>>>>>Channel A Advanced Timing Control
tRC..........................................: AUTO
tRRD ........................................: AUTO
tWTR ........................................: AUTO
tWR..........................................: AUTO
tWTP.........................................: AUTO
tWL..........................................: AUTO
tRFC.........................................: AUTO
tRTP.........................................: AUTO
tFAW.........................................: AUTO
Command Rate (CMD) .....................: AUTO
>>>>>Channel A Misc Timing Control
B2B CAS Delay................................: AUTO
Round Trip Latency...........................: AUTO
Channel A Turnaround Setting [Press Enter]
>>>>> Channel A Reads Followed By Reads
Different DIMMs..............................: AUTO
Different Ranks..............................: AUTO
On The Same Rank.............................: AUTO
>>>>> Channel A Writes Followed By Writes
Different DIMMs..............................: AUTO
Different Ranks..............................: AUTO
On The Same Rank.............................: AUTO


Channel B Timing Settings Sub Menu [Press Enter]
>>>>>Channel B Standard Timing Control
Cas Latency Time.............................: 7
tRCD.........................................: 9
tRP..........................................: 7
tRAS.........................................: 24
>>>>>Channel B Advanced Timing Control
tRC..........................................: AUTO
tRRD ........................................: AUTO
tWTR ........................................: AUTO
tWR..........................................: AUTO
tWTP.........................................: AUTO
tWL..........................................: AUTO
tRFC.........................................: AUTO
tRTP.........................................: AUTO
tFAW.........................................: AUTO
Command Rate (CMD) ..........................: AUTO
>>>>>Channel B Misc Timing Control
B2B CAS Delay................................: AUTO
Round Trip Latency...........................: AUTO
Channel B Turnaround Setting [Press Enter]
>>>>> Channel B Reads Followed By Reads
Different DIMMs..............................: AUTO
Different Ranks..............................: AUTO
On The Same Rank.............................: AUTO
>>>>> Channel B Writes Followed By Writes
Different DIMMs..............................: AUTO
Different Ranks..............................: AUTO
On The Same Rank.............................: AUTO


Channel C Timing Settings Sub Menu [Press Enter]
>>>>>Channel C Standard Timing Control
Cas Latency Time.............................: 7
tRCD.........................................: 9
tRP..........................................: 7
tRAS.........................................: 24
>>>>>Channel C Advanced Timing Control
tRC..........................................: AUTO
tRRD ........................................: AUTO
tWTR ........................................: AUTO
tWR..........................................: AUTO
tWTP.........................................: AUTO
tWL..........................................: AUTO
tRFC.........................................: AUTO
tRTP.........................................: AUTO
tFAW.........................................: AUTO
Command Rate (CMD) ..........................: AUTO
>>>>>Channel C Misc Timing Control
B2B CAS Delay................................: AUTO
Round Trip Latency...........................: AUTO
Channel B Turnaround Setting [Press Enter]
>>>>> Channel C Reads Followed By Reads
Different DIMMs..............................: AUTO
Different Ranks..............................: AUTO
On The Same Rank.............................: AUTO
>>>>> Channel C Writes Followed By Writes
Different DIMMs..............................: AUTO
Different Ranks..............................: AUTO
On The Same Rank.............................: AUTO

 

[Bobnova]

71*c is on the warmer end of things, under 80*c at full brutal load is the goal.

4ghz time?

 

[GreenClocker]

71*c is on the warmer end of things, under 80*c at full brutal load is the goal.

4ghz time?

I'd like to make it to 4GHz but like I said, I got stumped due to memory issues at a bclk of 190 MHz. Any suggestions ?

I ran stable with my bclk set to 190 MHz and SPD set to 6x. As soon as is changed the SPD to 8x, BOOM !, down I went. Even tried bumping VTT a bit, no help. Fails during bios POST everytime.

 

[Bobnova]

If you turn on Turbo you should be able to access the 22x multi, 22x182 might work better for you.

Ram wise, set all the timings to +1 over spec (so 8-10-8-25) and give it whatever it's rated voltage is, then try turning the multi up again.
If it works, tighten one timing at a time till it doesn't work anymore.

 

[krose]

Congrats on your achievements so far! I think that your instability at 190 is due to not enough vcore. 1.275 is not that much, don't fall into the belief that you can run 4 Ghz at 1.20 like you see on the forums. Those are exceptional chips and not the norm. As I said in my previous post, it takes 1.28 under load for me to run 191x21. For me that translates to 1.3375 idle. I would try 1.30 or 1.325 vcore to hit 190x21, as long as your temps are OK. If your memory has an XMP profile I would use that too.