Cosmos 2 Build log - [In Progress] ...continued

[nicej]

+1 on the 45/90, ext fittings. Helps out a lot on difficult angles.

Whats your load temp?

I've literally just turned it on and I'm using it to post this!! It's running sweet

Now I need to learn how to overclock this beast. I want to achieve ~5Ghz @ <1.5V. Are there any guides on how to get that?

 

[m0r7if3r]

http://www.techreaction.net/2011/01/04/3-step-overclocking-guide-–-sandy-bridge-v0-1beta/

Miah is a world class bencher and an active member here...can't go wrong with that now can ya?

 

[nicej]

Fkn shot m0r7if3r bro!

 

[QBobWatson]

Now I need to learn how to overclock this beast. I want to achieve ~5Ghz @ <1.5V. Are there any guides on how to get that?

There's also an excellent guide over on the ROG forums. It got me up to 5GHz at 1.4V. (Okay, so I have it set to run 2 cores at 5GHz and 3+ at 4.9, but I'm counting it.)

 

[nicej]

lol, thats pretty decent.

Thanks for the links guys. Once i update windows (still sp1) and install everything i need I will run some benchs with just stock values before i try OC'ing.

I tried running bf3, with the new catalyst 12.3..........and i got like 50 frames on 1920x1080 Ultra settings and 4xAA. Turned off AA and kept 1080p, made almost no difference.
Then I lowered my resolution to 1280x1024 (what i usually play on) and STILL got 50frames, and sometimes even lower at like 47 and 49.

There seems to be something really wrong with either the card or the driver...or maybe doesnt not upgrading windows have anything to do with it? Could not having SP3 be effecting my FPS?

I will be updating windows soon as my creative soundblaster programs finish downloading they're taking years. Their servers are in africa or some****

 

[QBobWatson]

My first thought is that vsync is turned on -- I don't suppose your monitor refreshes at 50Hz?

 

[nicej]

ill check

 

[nicej]

well, whats weird is that before when i first ran the game i was getting HORRID fps...now i have every single setting turned to the maximum including AA, and im getting between 85-115fps........

Wtf is going on seriously...

 

[nicej]

the fps issue was due to windows update lol. since then im getting solid 90-110 frames everything on Ultra, antialiasing maxed out, post antialiasing high, everything tuned on.

I spent ALL night overclocking too. I will post results after few hours of Prim95.

But I've pretty much reach the limit of my particular chip. I'm running stable with [email protected].

I ran two Intel burn tests, 20 runs, standard, and passed them like cake, and now going to run prime95 all day while im out and about. and will see how it went when i get home.

 

[QBobWatson]

I'm of the opinion that the latest versions of LinX should be used as the gold standard for long-term O/C stability, not Prime95. At least on Sandy Bridge-E. I was doing stress testing recently, and I noticed that LinX causes a good 15V more power draw than Prime95, not to mention exposing instabilities sooner.

 

[nicej]

ok, I ran two intel burn tests, 20xstandard runs. passed them both.
then I ran Prime95 for about 2.5hours until i had to leave, when i left it was running fine, temps were fine around low-mid60's, some cores in high 50's.

so several hours later i return home and i see it has blue screened.

I didnt give much to it, been running games since i got home and there are 0 hickups.

do you think just purely for the fact that prime95 bluescreened after 5 hours or so, i should step down to 4.8? or it running prime95 for that long isnt really realistic since no game i ever run is ever going to be that demanding...

I just cant decide where to draw the line.

I guess i'll try it out with linx now too...

 

[QBobWatson]

Definitely see if LinX reveals the instability sooner. What you describe is pretty common -- at 5.0 the cpu only makes a (noticeable) mistake after several trillion clock cycles, but at 4.9 it's totally stable.

You have to decide for yourself what you consider an acceptable level of stability. When I'm not in "tinkering" mode I don't want to ever worry about my computer, so I will always try to correct any sign of instability. If you're okay with the very occasional BSOD due to processor instability in exchange for the extra 2fps on whatever cpu-limited game you're playing, plus the bragging rights of running almost stable at 5.0, then go for it, it's your rig I never heard of instability itself damaging anything.

OTOH I have heard of sustained 1.52V degrading processors over a matter of months.

 

[nicej]

rofl. this OCing business...pretty scary stuff.

Well I tried 5.0 @ 1.45volts. I was told a long time ago, that for 24/7 use i shouldnt be going anything over 1.45V cause thats the point where it starts to really take it's toll apparently.

and when i tried 5.0 @ 1.45, it booted fine, but once i started to run IBT 20runs on standard, instant blue screen.

I got told to first try current settings ([email protected]) with IBT on MAX for 5runs. otherwise I can try testing with hyperthreading turned off apparently. or worst case scenario either lower my clock, or increase voltage (to 1.45).

what is your thoughts?

 

[nicej]

how did you get urs to [email protected]?

I only touched multiplier. even left memory clock on auto. lol

better silicon i guess?

 

[m0r7if3r]

How detailed of an explanation do you want as to why different chips clock differently?

 

[nicej]

as detailed as possible without the need of years of experience to understand. detailed enough to be educational! haha

I ran 5runs on max stress IBT with [email protected] with Hyperthreading ON and after 2nd burn it gave an error saying unstable.

I'm going to try same [email protected] with HT OFF this time see if that changes anything.

If its still unstable, then i guess i gotta decide on "if its stable enough for me", or just go down to 4.8?

 

[QBobWatson]

how did you get urs to [email protected]?

I actually have it set to run <=2 cores at 5.0, and it's 24h stable on 2 threads of prime95

This post on the ROG forums helped a lot. I never would have thought to change the clock skew settings, for instance. I also think I lucked out and got a real gem of a 3930k.

 

[nicej]

anyway guys, I'm done with OC'ing it seems. I've gotten stable results with 4.9Ghz @1.45V with HT turned OFF. my burn speeds were almost 200 Gflops.

I only did 3 runs of max stress, to get on with some benchmarking. In all honesty that is "stable enough for me" and I will be running max stress IBT all night when i hit the sack anyway.

Here's a screen shot of the 3runs and some temps. I thought it was running pretty hot, what do you think?

 

[nicej]

Here's a SuperPi test run at 1M:

 

[QBobWatson]

Did you try messing with the clock skew settings? Apparently the "sweet spot" on the RIVE boards is -2 bclk skew and -20 pcie skew.