Trying to overclock Xeon X5690, but unable to isolate bclock from CPU & memory

[jackhulk]

Trying to overclock Xeon X5690, but unable to isolate bclock from CPU & memory

Hello

I'm attempting to overclock Xeon X5690 by following this excellent guide here...

https://www.overclockers.com/3-step-guide-overclock-core-i3-i5-i7/

However I've already fallen at the first hurdle as system won't post after trying to isolate bclock. I'm at step 1 of the guide 'Maximize Bclock Frequency' and here is what I have done so far...

1. Turned all power saving features off, EIST, C1E etc.

2. Reduced bclock multiplier to x12

3. Reduced memory multiplier to x6

4. Increased IOH to 1.3V

5. Increased CPU VTT to 1.375V

Save, reboot... fails to post!

Where am I going wrong please? I never knew UNDERCLOCKING would be the difficult part!

 

[dejo]

many of those x58 boards have to maintain a minimum ratio between the bclk/mem/uncore. I also know that some (maybe all of the xeons it is a bit lesser on the uncore). Some boards will keep that ration for you and some wont. It has been a bit so I would say to look into what is required and maybe you fall outside what is needed.

 

[jackhulk]

That's the problem, I have no idea where or what to look into, so was hoping to get some guidance here. Overclock newbie. What I can say is that I can increase cpu multiplier to x27 and bclk to 150 and I can get 4.05GHz stable, but that's just winging it and I would like to do this properly/go higher by following that guide, but I'm already stuck trying to isolate bclock from CPU & memory.

Anyone got any direct suggestions I can try please?

 

[jackhulk]

So like... overclocking is ADDICTIVE! I've been tinkering every spare moment since my last post!

Made progress, got my OC up to 4.32 however it appears my particular CPU needs quite a lot of voltage to reach high speeds, almost 1.40v with this OC and as a result max temp of 85 under load (Intelburntest). As such I've settled for 4.10 at 1.29v with max temp of 74.

Can you guys have a look at my settings please and see if I need to make any changes, or if it's possible to squeeze out any more speed without increased vcore? As this is lower end of OC is it ok to leave QPI/Vtt/IOH etc on auto or do you recommend manually setting these, and if so do you have a ball park figure I could start with?











Thanks

 

[Mr.Scott]

You're in good shape.
Only way to go higher is with much better cooling.

 

[UltraTaco]

Mine x5670 does 4.2 stable at 1.35vcore, after that it's starting a steep vcore climb, you're right in the ballpark!
Odd multipliers work better(need slightly less vcore). (Thx mr.scott)
Don't forget to keep QPI multiplier to lowest ratio. That will allow bclk overclock. I can do 219bclk that way. Not all boards will go that high though.
Keep pciE frequency at default 100.

 

[jackhulk]

Thanks guys, I'm pretty happy with my results as this is my first real success at overclocking, in most part because I actually spent time reading up on it this time, instead of just trying to wing it without trying to understand what each option does!

My QPI is on auto, but it has actually selected the correct lower multiplier of x32.

Whilst my board goes up to CPU clock ratio of x27, I could get higher OC by reducing this and raising bclk. I'm happy at 4.10 GHz and limiting to this due to temps, but I do have some questions that I hope you can answer please...

1. As this is lower end of OC is it ok to leave QPI/Vtt/IOH etc on auto or do you recommend manually setting these, and if so do you have a ball park figure I could start with?

2 The main reason for overclock was due to getting 'new' used graphics card as per sig, and was worried that my 'new' used Xeon would bottleneck. Do you think 4.10 GHz is now sufficient to avoid bottlenecking?

I've been doing a look of reading and it's great to see the EX58 still getting some love! I've had my setup since 2009 (ran i7 920 until Xeon) and it's still going strong, and now with my upgrade as long as the motherboard doesn't give out, this will keep me going for a good few years yet! I think this setup has provided incredible value as I recall before creating this PC I was updating the whole load every few years, yet I've had this for over 11 years now!

I'm pretty amazed with my upgrades that I can run games at ultra (or not far off) on such an old system, and was considering building a new PC until I discovered I could upgrade to the Xeon.

I haven't actually gamed on PC for years as I switched to console but haven't purchased a new console since Xbox 360, plus also my old graphics card was weak being completely passive, but I liked the quiet. This is a must and so I'm blown away by how quiet this MSI card is given its power! The last time I tried a powerful card it sounded like an plane taking off, which in part turned me on to consoles and then I had forgotten how gorgeous PC games can look! I've got a 30m HDMI hooked up to LG C9 65" in my living room downstairs so now I can still game on my couch like that with a console, but with those beautiful PC graphics! Happy camper!

 

[UltraTaco]

1. If she selects proper multi, no need to worry. It is usually a problem when she would pick wrong multi than the one you wanted, so sometimes it might be good practice to set it to desired setting vs leaving on auto. In any case, you might have a hard time getting her to boot when QPI frequency is above 4ghz. In CPU-z it is the bottom frequency. There is not performance boost or penalty from changing it. That frequency is used when multiple CPUs are on the same board.

2.best way to check is fire up task manager and play a game. Also get GPU-z and it will show you video card utilization. You will know what is being bottlenecked when it is pinged to 100% most of the time.

I've been using 920 before switching to xeon as well. Darn biscuit wouldn't go past 4ghz no matter the voltage. Xeon solved that problme best $17 upgrade ever!

 

[jackhulk]

With regards to the QPI/Vtt/IOH I wasn't referring to increasing it, but rather setting it manually and perhaps decrease it if require, that is IF auto is likely to voltage up more than necessary?

For example, the guide (linked to in first post) suggested setting...

IOH = 1.3V
QPI VTT = +0.2V

I understand however that this is for testing to find highest blck, but as I'm not maxing out now should I try and find the lowest voltage required for my OC, or is it safe to simply leave on auto?

Regarding 920 OC, I feel your pain! This was actually the reason I signed up to Overclockers in 2009, and my very first post (and only other post currently) was about 920 being unstable. Try as I might, I couldn't get it to stable and so gave up! 11 years later I am back and finally I've managed to overclock successfully with the Xeon! And an absolute bargain also!

I also overclocked my graphics card to 2050 Mhz and memory to 5899 Mhz, made super easy of course with MSI Afterburner! I should probably actually play some games now then, but overclocking is fun and additive once you have a bit of success!

 

[UltraTaco]

In my experience, only voltages that needed tweaking were vcore and VTT(usually called qpu/dram on asus boards), the rest I take out of auto and set to lowest setting. You are correct that they might be boosted when overclocking if left at auto.

If you overclock ram, you may need to increase its voltage above 1.5v. Instructions in bios says max 1.65, but it can be raised beyond that IF you continue 8ncreasing VTT voltage as well. Has to be within .45 within each other.

Also, IOH increase may be needed when you have multiple video cards.

 

[jackhulk]

Yeah I'd like to set manually in that case, but need to identify what each is currently running at to give me an idea where to start.

Is 'QPI/VTT' what is shown in CPU-Z as 'QPI Link'?

Where can I see what voltage the IOH core is currently running at please?

My memory is rated at 1866 and I'm running at 1968. Is it the 'DRAM Voltage' I would need to increase for this as you mentioned? Again, how do I find what voltage it is currently running at please?

 

[UltraTaco]

Typically all those auto voltages and values would be running at lowest available settings. There are few exceptions:
- I've seen some mention LLC voltage can be set to 1.7 or lower? On mine, lowest can be chosen is 1.8v. I keep it there.
-VTT can be set to 1.1v I believe on evga boards. On mine, lowest is 1.2v, but I usually increase it because I bump up my uncore frequency when overclocking, usually 3,200mhz area.(memory controller voltage). Gives better numbers in benchmarks.

Here's what my asus p6t deluxe bios looks like. All those voltages further down, I always kept on auto and never tweaked, so no idea about them..