Question to FSXMARK11 high rollers with the big overclocks...

[cvearl 60]

I run an Intel I7 2600K @ 4.2 (42x100 no voltage bump) on an ASUS P8P67 REV 3.1 board with Kingston HyperX Genesis DDR3-1600 C9 RAM (2x4GB) and an ATI 7970 3GB Ghz edition. I ran out and grabbed me the most expensive RAM I could get to test overclocking further (Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR-2133 CL9 2x4GB) and proceeded to overclock per many of the guides out there. Now while at 4.5 CPU and 1833 on the RAM (board wont do 2133 for some reason) I seem to be able to run FSX (although I am disappointed in my FSXMARK11 average of 38 with that clock), I am not convinced I have a stable overclock. What do all you 4.6 and above clocked 2600K users using to confirm stability?

 

One tool from my overclocking experiments is OCCT http://www.ocbase.com/ and of course Prime95. With both tools and no matter WHAT RAM I use, I cannot exceed 4.2 on this CPU. Anything over 4.2 and I will BSOD 30 seconds into either test. So it is not the RAM.

 

Question 1 - The ASUS P8P76 is supposed to be able to overclock. So is it my CPU?

 

Question 2 - Did you people running 4.6 and beyond even test with these tools? (OCCT and Prime95) ?

 

Thanks!

 

Charles.

[dazz 69]

Hi Charles.

Can you post a screenshot of your BIOS settings (AI Tweaker tab) and cpu-z at full load? 

[cvearl 60]

Hi Charles.

Can you post a screenshot of your BIOS settings (AI Tweaker tab) and cpu-z at full load? 

 

Full load test with FSX in the background? Or just with a stress test app like OCCT?

 

C.

[dazz 69]

Full load test with FSX in the background? Or just with a stress test app like OCCT?

 

C.

 

Stress test, OCCT, Prime... or simply post your full load Vcore as shown in cpu-z

[lodestar 186]

My stable 4.8GHz BIOS settings: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hmzyis9rhsv5wei/4.8GHz.rar

 

Last year i spent some time to study and test settings, and this is just perfect for me. I will go for higher OC with better cooling, i am on air for now

 

For quick testing i used IBT, and Prime95 for long tests. After everything was stable, i added some more Vcore for full stability - With Prime95 was stable at 1.38Vcore but i have about 1.40.

 

I hope this helps

[dazz 69]

My stable 4.8GHz BIOS settings: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hmzyis9rhsv5wei/4.8GHz.rar

 

Last year i spent some time to study and test settings, and this is just perfect for me. I will go for higher OC with better cooling, i am on air for now

 

For quick testing i used IBT, and Prime95 for long tests. After everything was stable, i added some more Vcore for full stability - With Prime95 was stable at 1.38Vcore but i have about 1.40.

 

I hope this helps

 

 

That looks very much like mine Zeljko.

LLC, offset Vcore, EIST and C1E enabled, C3/C6 disabled and 1.36V full load for 4.8GHz.

DRAM and speed / timings set manually (or via XMP profiles) is also key for stability

[cvearl 60]

That looks very much like mine Zeljko.

LLC, offset Vcore, EIST and C1E enabled, C3/C6 disabled and 1.36V full load for 4.8GHz.

DRAM and speed / timings set manually (or via XMP profiles) is also key for stability

Love the help guys. Ill post what I have in my AI tweaker as soon as i can. I know I need me some learning in this stuff. I originally thought 4.4 was attainable with a simple multiplier bump.

 

C.

[dazz 69]

Love the help guys. Ill post what I have in my AI tweaker as soon as i can. I know I need me some learning in this stuff. I originally thought 4.4 was attainable with a simple multiplier bump.

 

C.

 

This is a guide of sorts I posted a while back:

 

 

 

This is how I go about OCing:

1.- Test on stock clocks. Make sure it's all stable, temps are fine, see what's the stock Vcore (VID) to have an idea of what to expect from the chip

Should run on stock clocks for a week or so and pass a few hours of Prime95, OCCT or the likes

 

2.- Decide what Vcore you are ready to push. For SB, 1.375V is my max.

 

3.- Downclock your RAM. This is to get RAM out of the stability equation. Setting it to 1333 CL10 or something like that will ensure RAM doesn't interfere with your CPU overclock, and that you'll be certain when you hit the chip's limit it will be the CPU limit, not the RAM crapping out. This is more of a legacy thing since older platforms overclocked with BCLK and that has a bigger effect on RAM, but I still do it with SB

 

5.- Set a manual / fixed Vcore and multi to reasonable value to start testing. Something like 1.35V and 4.4GHz for example

 

4.- Get to know your board's Vdrop / Vdroop and Load Line Calibration habilities. What you want here is to get those 1.35V you set in BIOS in Windows.

Vdrop will lower your Vcore in Windows so while idle it will be something like 1.34V. Vdroop will further drop your Vcore at full load, maybe 1.33 or 1.32V

Start upping LLC till you get exactly or as close as possible those 1.35V you set in your BIOS at full load and idle in Windows. Monitor temps while you stress test and don't let it go over 80ºC

 

5.- Once Vdrop & Vdroop are cancelled, set your Vcore to your maximum, 1.375V for example using manual Vcore in BIOS. Check again you have no Vdrop & Vdroop by booting into Windows and stress testing for a short stint. Monitor temps while you stress test and don't let it go over 80ºC. You should now have 1.375V at full load and idle too (to check idle Vcore you wil need to switch off power saving modes, Speedstep, C1E, C3, C6 report)

 

6.- Now that you have your maximum Vcore in place, start bumping your multi 100MHz at a time, and stress test thoroughly. Repeat until you hit the chip's limit. Monitor temps as you increase the frequency!

 

7.- Once you know what frequency your chip can take, start lowering your Vcore till you find the minimum it will run at you max overclock

 

8.- If you want to use the power saving modes, you'll need to switch from manual to offset Vcore mode

Here's how to obtain the offset value to get the Vcore at which your OC was stable in the previous steps (in manual mode)

this are the approximate values for each LLC level. I believe this table was made at 4.6GHz. Not sure though

 

 

So for example, if you want 1.35V and your LLC is set to Ultra High, set your offset to -0.010.

Boot into windows and open CPU-Z. Stress test for a minute to see what full load Vcore you have and see if your Vcore is where you want it to. Lower? raise it in BIOS and try again. Higher? lower it in BIOS.

Once you have your offset, you can enable C1E and EIST. Check if it throttles down to 1.6GHz and 0.9 - 1V while idle, and stress test again for 8+hours. Monitor temps and Vcore while you do

 

9.- You now have (hopefully) a rock solid CPU overclock, time to focus on memory speed.

Set your RAM speed, timings and voltage at what your sticks are rated and stress test for 8+hours. Monitor temps and Vcore while you do

If you want to overclock your memory, do so, and stress test for 8+hours. Monitor temps and Vcore while you do

[cvearl 60]

Stress test, OCCT, Prime... or simply post your full load Vcore as shown in cpu-z

 

 

[cvearl 60]

Well I finally hit 4.4 stable. I know. Not going to win a competition with that but I am happier now. Funny enough it was with fewer settings than I was trying. Basically doing exactly as ASUS ROG told me to I settled on the following. I am thinking I am one of the 50% that can do up to 5.5 and not lucky enough to be one of the other 50% that can go higher. Otherwise, I might be able to hit 4.6 but I surmise I will need voltage set to 1.40 or higher. Safe?

 

AI Overclock Tuner option XMP which gave me 1600Mhz RAM setting.

Multiplier to 44x

CPU Voltage to 1.375

Load Line Calibration (LLC) to Ultra High

VRM Frequency Mode to 350

 

Anything different I either would BSOD sitting at the desktop or BSOD 10 seconds into OCCT or Prime95 stress test. I went from reading this information.

 

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1578110

 

Specifically....

 

K series overclocking and voltage range recommendations
2. Increased range between 44 to 47x multipliers will generally require a voltage range between 1.30 to 1.375V with an LLC recommended setting of high to ultra high.

 

Should you continue with manual overclocking, these are the advised recommended values.
4.7GHz or Below all bios values to Auto except for those noted.
- CPU Turbo Multiplier
- Dram Voltage to specification

Internal testing has shown Auto Values will allow for stability in all forms of testing including high synthetic high load applications (Linx, Prime95, Occt ). In the event general stability is not achieved in these synthetic high load applications, you can adjust the noted values for improved stability.
- Digi + VRM options: VRM frequency to 350 – Requires setting to manual adjustment and entering the specified value.