Overclocking i7-950 / X58 sabertooth / 1333 XMS

Hello everyone. I'am looking to overclock my CPU to 4.0ghz if not a little higher without wearing the CPU's lifespan too much along with its other components. I have a custom liquid cooling system so cooling shouldn't be an issue. I have read the stickies and have read different ones in the past and attempted to OC my PC a while back but wasn't too successful so I parted ways till now. I understand some of the things I've read and it can be confusing with some. I also have no idea or have done ram timings nor would I understand it. I just need someones helping hand to get me there and would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

My system specs:

i7-950 (DO)
x58 Sabertooth
Corsair XMS 1333 (TR3X6G1333C7)

Cooling: H20

(More system specs are in my signature)

Here is a picture of what I have set at the momment and is stock. The same utitlity I use to OC in the past. If I can use this program with someones expertise without going into bios would really appreciate if its possible.

Have you read our guide yet?

mokrunka said:

Have you read our guide yet?

Click to expand...

Yes I have read your stickies and was looking for folks familiar with more of my setup. I know the sabertooth x58 MB chips run hotter than usual compared to other x58 boards. I have an idea of settings to start with and will post a picture once I get it uploaded and want to see what you guys think.

GTXJackBauer said:

Yes I have read your stickies and was looking for folks familiar with more of my setup. I know the sabertooth x58 MB chips run hotter than usual compared to other x58 boards. I have an idea of settings to start with and will post a picture once I get it uploaded and want to see what you guys think.

Click to expand...

I don't know about that program... I can help you OC your chip using the BIOS if you like.

Set Vcore to 1.35, LLC on high, BCLK at 191 and multi at 21. Set IOH voltage at ~1.8, QPI/DRAM voltage to 1.4, DRAM voltage to stock voltage. Set QPI at 7.2 ghz.

djscrew said:

I don't know about that program... I can help you OC your chip using the BIOS if you like.

Set Vcore to 1.35, LLC on high, BCLK at 191 and multi at 21. Set IOH voltage at ~1.8, QPI/DRAM voltage to 1.4, DRAM voltage to stock voltage. Set QPI at 7.2 ghz.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. LLC? Sorry for the noob question. I'am worried about setting the IOH @ 1.8 because the sticky says to only need to go IOH @ 1.35v since I have 2 pci-e (GTX 480s SLI) and the fact my intel utility only goes up to 1.7v but nonetheless I will hold up on your recommendation and see what others have to say. This is the picture I wanted to post to see what you guys think and I don't know much about ram timing but did change it up a bit to the manufacturer specs on the sticks.

Ram - Corsair XMS3 (TR3X6G13333C7)
1333Mhz 6GB (3x2GB) 7-7-7-20 1.65v ver-2.1

LLC = Load-Line Calibration. And I think DJ meant PLL CPU voltage at 1.80V (default voltage)... not IOH voltage / vNB which defaults to 1.10V. And even w/ 2 x video cards, you shouldn't need to increase vIOH to as high as 1.35V... just leave it at the default of Auto, even w/ a 200 x 20 = 4.0GHz clock. For more extreme QPI frequencies / high BCLKs, then the value will need to be increased. And w/ only 6GB of DDR3-1333 installed, I don't think you'll need to increase Vtt (QPI/DRAM Core) to 1.40 (1.15V default) at that low a frequency.

This is what I came up with after a few changes. Wondering if the numbers in certain areas look good and wondering if I should go along and implement them for my first test run.

Do my proposed settings in the pic above in yellow look right to everyone? And anyone else have a 950/x58 sabertooth setup that can add their 2 cents on how the board and cpu mix in overclocking/temps do well.

redduc900 said:

LLC = Load-Line Calibration. And I think DJ meant PLL CPU voltage at 1.80V (default voltage)... not IOH voltage / vNB which defaults to 1.10V. And even w/ 2 x video cards, you shouldn't need to increase vIOH to as high as 1.35V... just leave it at the default of Auto, even w/ a 200 x 20 = 4.0GHz clock. For more extreme QPI frequencies / high BCLKs, then the value will need to be increased. And w/ only 6GB of DDR3-1333 installed, I don't think you'll need to increase Vtt (QPI/DRAM Core) to 1.40 (1.15V default) at that low a frequency.

Click to expand...

whoops, missed a digit in there, should be 1.18 ^_^

1.8 NB voltage? yikes!

djscrew said:

whoops, missed a digit in there, should be 1.18 ^_^

1.8 NB voltage? yikes!

Click to expand...

So basically what you're saying:

BCLK: 191
Multi: 21x
Core Voltage: 1.35v
Uncore Voltage 1.4v
ICH: auto (1.10v)
IOH: 1.18v

Here is another picture basically wiith all that in it along with my ram timings. Let me know if you see anything wrong. This program is easier to use than most MB bios since most have different UIs.

Edit: Forgot to also disable Turbo and all the other settings. Just assume those are all disabled.

Yeah, that looks good.

Except/Consider:

1. Do not OC your ram yet. Get your CPU stable first, then fiddle with the ram. I think you can get away without using LLC with that OC for now. Overclocking your ram will suck the juice out of your uncore and LLC keeps that juice flowing.

2. You may have to enable LLC in your BIOS to maintain stability during stress testing. Watch your uncore and core voltages during stress testing, if they dip too low and you get a bluescreen/reboot then you probably need LLC.

3. The reason I don't recommend a software solution to a hardware problem is that puts another cog in the line of things to fail. I am not sure how that application's coding works, maybe it saves all the settings somewhere and applies them automatically to the BIOS during startup. Regardless - direct control of your BIOS is the most effective and reliable way to OC. This being said, the application looks like quality and Intel seems fairly solid these days with a focus towards their overclocking community.

4. Do you have voltage/temperature monitoring utilities?

5. You want your voltages to hang out somewhere near what you put in here. It is okay if they dip during load testing as long as you don't get a crash.

6. The voltages you have are high right now, but a good starting point for a stable OC. Your goal is to lower those voltages while maintaining stability.

7. Once the OC is stable, start lowering the core voltage to 1.3 then 1.25 and load test.

8. What are you using to test? I would recommend prime 95 small FFTs to start.

9. Temps should be under 90C for the cores, 60C for NB/IOH