10900K OC Guide for ASUS ROG Maximus Hero XII

[lownslo 592]

On 7/21/2020 at 6:15 PM, w6kd said:

4.  You'll need MCE enabled to override the stock turbo logic and run all cores clocked up.  I set the min/max cache multipliers to 3 less than the core multiplier, so for 5.1 GHz (core mult 51) that'd be 48.

It's been my experience that for manual overclocking MCE is better left diabled.  See Steve Burke's explanation in this Gamersnexus article.

Also, the min/max cache multiplier can be set as follows: min to 8, max to core multiplier-3 (as suggested above).  Then use Windows Power Plans to configure how the CPU is utilized.  Right now I'm typing this (using the Balanced Power Plan) and my CPU is running at 800 MHz while using about 0.5 volts (the speed-- and power draw-- can change up to my maximum overclocked speed based upon load).  When I fly I use the High Performance Power Plan configured to run my CPU flat out at it's maximum speed (that I've configured thru manual overclocking in the BIOS).  No fluctuation in my CPU utilzation while I fly... flat-out all the time.  Once I'm done flying and get back to work I return to the Balanced Power Plan and the CPU speed will vary based upon system demand.

Greg

[Bob Scott 7,760]

8 hours ago, lownslo said:

It's been my experience that for manual overclocking MCE is better left diabled.  See Steve Burke's explanation in this Gamersnexus article.

Also, the min/max cache multiplier can be set as follows: min to 8, max to core multiplier-3 (as suggested above).  Then use Windows Power Plans to configure how the CPU is utilized.  Right now I'm typing this (using the Balanced Power Plan) and my CPU is running at 800 MHz while using about 0.5 volts (the speed-- and power draw-- can change up to my maximum overclocked speed based upon load).  When I fly I use the High Performance Power Plan configured to run my CPU flat out at it's maximum speed (that I've configured thru manual overclocking in the BIOS).  No fluctuation in my CPU utilzation while I fly... flat-out all the time.  Once I'm done flying and get back to work I return to the Balanced Power Plan and the CPU speed will vary based upon system demand.

Greg

MCE (Multi Core Enhancement), when enabled, allows the board to bypass the turbo boost schedule constraints, which are designed to keep the CPU within its thermal design power (TDP) limits.  If you don't enable it, then the turbo boost logic will force the core multipliers down when heavy multi-core loads are presented.

I think you may be misreading his conclusion not to use MCE in the article you linked.  In all honesty, it sounds to me like he's warning the uninformed not to misinterpret what it does, e.g. not to use it as some sort of magic boost switch coupled with often unruly auto-overclocking firmware/software that some mobo manufacturers might enable by default.  I'm not trying to cheat a benchmark or put lipstick on a pig doing comparative hardware reviews like this guy seems to be lamenting...I'm trying to get the best performance out of the system for an application that benefits from every bit of throughput I can squeeze out of the system.  Yes, with the MCE enabled, the TDP limit removed and an all-core clock higher than what the turbo boost schedule would allow, you will need more (but not necessarily unsafe levels of) voltage, and yes you will produce more (but not unsafe amounts of) heat than leaving the system to run at stock voltages and constrained by the limits of the stock turbo boost schedule.  The purpose of the overclock, though, is not to skew a benchmark--it's to gain whatever performance is possible from the system as a whole.  This guy's argument is sort of like saying that you shouldn't put a high-lift cam or a pair of Holley double-pumper carbs on a hot rod...because it will use more gas!  Of course it will...but if fuel economy was the driver you wouldn't be building a hot rod in the first place!

If you're building a general-purpose multi-use PC, then with boards like the Maximus series you can store multiple BIOS configs, one configuration for stock low-performance use that takes advantage of auto-downclocking, low voltages and reduced speeds with MCE disabled, and another configuration for throttles at radar power, foot-to-the-floor all-out speed.  But if you leave MCE disabled in an overclock configuration, the turbo boost logic will kick in and downclock the board when a heavy all-core load like P3D is applied.  You can see it in the OP's screen shots upthread--he's running Prime95 on a stock config and the cores have all downclocked to 3.8GHz, more than 30% slower than an all-core clock of 5.0GHz.  Yup, less voltage, less power, and much less speed.  There's plenty of available performance headroom to be gained over and above the Intel TDP specs if you manually set reasonable but higher voltages and keep your temps in check with a solid cooling system.  I've still got a dual-core Conroe X6800 CPU that's overclocked more than 40% over its design speed that has been running since 2005.

The "Performance" Windows Power Plan will not give you access to performance above the stock design limits--what it does is keeps the PC running at the top of its stock design speed range rather than downclocking as it would normally do with "balanced" settings under a light load.  What it wont do, though, is override the turbo boost schedule.  You need MCE for that.

 

 

 

[lownslo 592]

 

9 hours ago, w6kd said:

The purpose of the overclock, though, is not to skew a benchmark--it's to gain whatever performance is possible from the system as a whole.

We at least agree on this.  Why would I want to let a motherboard manufacturer's MCE code decide the best power/performance config for my CPU/hardware/use patterns when I'm fine doing that work myself using established overclocking techniques?  No one-size-fits-all MCE profile will yield a strong overclock for everyone... a high level of performance requires the user to do the work of establishing the best overclocking profile they can get out of their system.  And MCE will get in the way of doing just that (one should count on it using more power and creating more heat).

Indeed I use the BIOS profiles available on many high end motherboards, but my profiles are all performance oriented.  The primary differences between my numerous profiles are speed, voltages, and HT on/off.  I change power settings using Windows power plans... takes me all of 3 seconds and doesn't require a reboot.  Sorry, but I don't understand your claim that the Windows "Performance Power Plan" doesn't allow access to "performance above the stock design limits".  Using a Windows Power Plan configured for performance, my CPU while simming runs just the way I want it... flat out at whatever speed I have it configured for in the BIOS.  That's not to say my Vcore (and other important voltages) don't change while I'm simming... they do.  Indeed, while flying my current 8 core HT/off CPU can easily reach 170W CPU Package Power as measured by HWInfo.  My "Balanced" power plan is configured to change the speed (based upon load), and of course voltages as well... as I type this my CPU Package Power is less than 8W.

Regards,

Greg

[Bob Scott 7,760]

I think you are confusing MCE set at "Auto" with MCE to "Enabled".  I advocate using MCE at "Enabled."

Setting MCE to *Enabled* on the ASUS boards is not the same thing at all as setting MCE to *AUTO*, which is an automatic BIOS-driven overclock which notoriously produces overclock configs by setting excessively high voltages.  MCE "enabled" is described by ASUS as "Optimized power and current thresholds for maintaining maximum performance".  The key point is that a threshold is not a setting--it's a limit.  The "Auto" option in the MCE is described as "ASUS-optimized core ratio Turbo settings at default processor speeds".   So MCE "Enabled" removes limits..."Auto"  makes multiplier and voltage settings for you.

Additionally, MCE does not pin the CPU up at its maximum overclock speed and voltages--there are separate settings for speedstep, C-States, and fixed or adaptive core voltages.  With MCE on, speedstep enabled, and adaptive voltage with an appropriate offset, the CPU will still be downclocked under light loads.  Setting MCE does not, by itself, entail running the CPU all-out or at full voltage all the time.  You *can* set it up to run at full speed all the time, and I do since this is a task-specific machine built solely to run flight sims.  But simply turning MCE on doesn't do that.

So to restate, I am advocating that the OP remove the limits by setting MCE to enabled and then overclock through manual (and careful) setting of the various multiplier, voltage, and current parameters.

One other thing--if you are running at 170W, then the TDP limits have been bypassed--either by you with an explicit setting, or by the motherboard (some of which may do that by default).  I see that you're using an eVGA mobo...so it's possible their terminology and methodology is different than the ASUS boards we're discussing here.

[nomadd 0]

Hi i have a problem with my System !!

 

My System: 

10900k + Maximus XII Hero Wifi + 16GB Corsair Venegance RGB 

My Problem is, that i get Q-Code(0F or 6F) with black screen when i set the Cache Ratio to 48. And lower than 48 i get BSOD right after booting in to windows. 

I only can run he system with Cache Ration set to auto. Further my system seems really unstable like not fluently enough. When i start up my Pc it takes so long till i am in windows.

My Changes: 

XMP I 

Sync all cores to 51

CPU voltage 1.330V 

Memory Voltage 1.45V

LLC Level 7 and Current Capability to 140%

 

I hope somebody could help me..

[Charlatan 68]

Is your system overclocked?

[nomadd 0]

16 hours ago, Charlatan said:

Is your system overclocked?

you serious with this question ?

i already wrote that when i change the cache i get this trouble. But overclocked without changing the cache the system is running with the changes i posted :

18 hours ago, nomadd said:

My Changes: 

XMP I 

Sync all cores to 51

CPU voltage 1.330V 

Memory Voltage 1.45V

LLC Level 7 and Current Capability to 140%

 

[Charlatan 68]

I'll not bother trying to help then

[JLB768 0]

I've never OC'd before, and am using this thread as my starting point. I'm on an Asus Tuf Z490, with a 10900kf. I set as follows...

MCE Enabled

XMP 2

Sync All Cores 51

All Core Ratio Limit 51

Core Voltage 1.35

Min/Max Cache 48

AVX to Manual 0

LLC 4

HT Off

I ran Realbench for the minimum 15 minutes, as I wanted to see if it would even pass that. I did pass, with a max temp of 80c. Really unsure of how to proceed...

[JLB768 0]

Couldn't edit, so I'll add...I used Intel Performance Maximizer, which gave me an All Core Pass of 5.2, but docked 100mhz leaving me with 5.1. I quit using it after seeing in HWM that although IPM said I was running at 5.1, HWM was showing 4.9 on all 10 coeres