Possible OC issue. I7 950 @ 4.0

[HollowEntity]

I7 950 overclock question

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello all. Small OC question. I havent BSOD in a while but I just did. I checked my event view and this was my error.

Fault bucket X64_0x124_GenuineIntel__UNKNOWN_PRV, type 0

I assume it is telling me I am missing something with my OC.

MOTHERBOAD = Asus Rampage II Extreme
CPU = I7 950 3.06 Quad Bloomfield currently at 4.0
RAM = 8GB G Skill ripjaw series DDR3 1600MHZ 9,9,9,24 2N
GPU = EVGA GTX580 FTW ( SLI )
PSU = 1200W Thermaltake toughpower


TARGET PU FREQUENCY: 4000MHZ
TARGET DRAM FREQUENCY: 1603MHZ

AI OVERCLOCK TUNER = XMP
OC FROM CPU LEVEL UP = AUTO
OC FROM MEMORY LEVEL UP = PROFILE 1
CPU RATIO SETTING = 20
CPU TURBO POWER LIMIT = ENABLED
BCLK FREQUENCY = 200
PCIE FREQUENCY = 100
DRAM FREQUENCY = DDR3 - 1603MHZ
UCLK FREQUENCY = AUTO
QPI LINK DATA RATE = AUTO
DRAM TIMING CONTROL = 9,9,9,24 2N ( MANUALLY ENTERED )
EPU II PHSE CONTROL = FULL PAHASE
LOAD LINE CALIBRATION = AUTO
CPU DIFFERENTIAL AMPLITUDE = AUTO
EXTREME OV = DISABLED
CPU VOLTAGE CONTROL = ABSOLUTE VID
CPU VOLTAGE = 1.30
CPU PLL VOLTAGE = AUTO
QPI/DRAM CORE VOLTAGE = 1.30
IOH VOLTAGE = AUTO
IOH PCIE VOLTAGE = AUTO
ICH VOLTAGE = AUTO
ICH PCIE VOLTAGE = AUTO
DRAM BUS VOLTAGE = 1.5 ( MANUALLY ENTERED )
DEBUG MODE = STRING
KEYBOARD TWEAKIT CONTROL = DISABLED
CPU SPREAD SPECTRUM = DISABLED
PCIE SPREAD SPECTRUM = DISABLED
CPU CLOCK SKEW = AUTO
IOH CLOCK SKEW = AUTO

These are the settings in the CPU CONFIGURATION MENU

CIE SUPPORT = DISBLED
HARDWARE PREFETCHER = ENABLED
ADJACENT CACHE LINE PREFETCH = ENABLED
INTEL(R) VIRTUALIZATION TECH = ENABLED
CPU TM FUNCTION = DISABLED
EXECUTE DISABLE BIT = ENABLED
INTEL(R) HT TECHNOLOGY = ENABLED
ACTIVE PROCESSOR CORES = ALL
A20M = DISABLED
INTEL(R) SPEEDSTEP(TM) TECH = DISABLED
INTEL(R) C-STATE TECH = DISABLED

There you have it. I would assume my CPU is more capable of 4.0 but I want to make sure I give it all it needs so I either don't kill it, or incap it and don't give it enough. I think it might have been the CPU voltage but I may be wrong. Any help is appreciated

 

[redduc900]

A 0x124 STOP error is normally QPI/VTT related. With 8GB of RAM installed running at 800MHz, you may need to up the QPI/DRAM Core voltage (VTT) above the 1.30V that it's set at currently.

 

[HollowEntity]

Any clue as to how much? Again, I'm a bit noobish at this but I'm trying I looked online and I saw many people stating that the QPI/DRAM CORE VOLTAGE should be with .05 less of your DRAM BUS VOLTAGE. So I would assume I should set it at approx. 1.4 or 1.45? And I noticed you said my RAM was running at 800MHZ. I have it set at 1603MHZ, so I'm a bit confused... Or am I totally missing something . Again all help is greatly appreciatd.

 

[redduc900]

An effective DDR3-1600 DRAM frequency = an 800MHz I/O bus clock. And just bump the VTT in small increments, as you may not need to supply much more than the 1.30V currently set. Also the voltage differential between VTT and DRAM voltage should be no greater than 0.5V, so w/ VTT set to 1.30V and the DRAM bus set to 1.50V (1.50 - 1.30 = 0.2V)

 

[HollowEntity]

Thanks for the info. I'll do the small bump up in the QPI and let you know how it goes. Just one more question.... What would you say an amount would be that I should not exceed? I feel 1.4 would be to much so I'll try hitting about 1.35/ 1.375 to start and see if it will crash on me.

 

[redduc900]

Intel lists the "absolute maximum" VTT for the i7-900 series chips as 1.35V, but plenty of folks including myself that run higher DRAM frequencies and / or have a large amount of RAM installed run above that spec. for stability.

 

[HollowEntity]

Thank you for all of the information. I set it at 1.375. My Pc booted up fine last night but I didn't do anything intense so all is well. I will give it a test on the game it crashed on and then I'm going to hit it with Prime95 for the processor and Memtest86 for the ram. I'm going to try and hit each one with a minimum 4 hour test. ( I'm not a big fan of letting things run over night incase of errors or BSOD ) That seems to be the time most people like to see. AGAIN.. Thanks for all of your help and info.