bunkersmith

A photo of my new CPU's performance under heavy load:

Definitely satisfied enough with 4.6GHz that I can stay with Vcore set to 1.35V, rather than having to watch CPU-Z. Getting to 4.8GHz would be an increase of less than 4.5%. I am going to talk to MSI tech support and add my voice to those who would rather see higher Vcore values unlocked. How does it compare to my Phenom II at 4GHz? It smokes it like F/A-18E Super Hornet afterburners! And just one more time, thanks for all your help!

The only choices for Vdroop are Auto and Low Vdroop, both of which seem to behave the same. I did flash my BIOS yesterday, with a new version that had improved Vdroop control according to the release notes. I don't see any change. The highest Vcore choice in the BIOS is 1.350V. This is also somewhat mysterious. Maybe they are really trying to keep me far away from harmful Vcore values? I could try again, but the last time I tried to go to 4.7GHz with Vcore drooped to 1.328V (as it is now) I was seeing errors in prime95.

With Vdroop Control set to Low Vdroop, CPU-Z shows idle Vcore at 1.344V. HWMonitor shows 1.34V, but I assume that's due to rounding.

I canceled all of my power saving options (see photo). I am now seeing the following Vcore values:- 1.336V in BIOS (photo confirms)- 1.344V in Windows with light load (as reported by CPU-Z)- 1.328V at 100% load My conclusion (with my limited experience) is that the loaded Vcore is thanks to Vdroop. My choices for Vdroop in the BIOS are Auto and Low Vdroop. I seem to get 1.328V at 100% load with either. Maybe 4.6GHz is my limit with this CPU/MOBO combo?

Well, now...that is interesting. I do have Vcore set to 1.35V in the BIOS, as shown in the photo below. However, the photo also shows a current Vcore value of less than 1.35V...

Well, I maxed out at a happy 4.6GHz with Vcore at 1.35V. As you said, overclocking with SB is a walk in the park. Here's a picture of HWMonitor, CPU-Z and Core Temp during a load test:

Thanks. I've been away for a bit while installing the various other apps that I use on my computer. Today I am back to installing FSX and the addons I like. Then I'll be ready to start tweaking FSX and overclocking my shiny, new Sandy Bridge CPU.

Okay - I'm now officially Sandy Bridged! Install of new MOBO and processor went fairly smoothly. The one thing I had difficulty with was mounting the heatsink (my wife provided an extra pair of hands, which made all the difference!). Ran prime95 a short (<5 min) while to see temps at 100% load. They were 51, 54, 53, and 53. Are these reasonable for my CPU at stock clocking?

If your optical drive is SATA, there are six SATA connectors on your motherboard at the front (two facing up, and four facing more forward). I have a similar MSI MOBO, and I'm not crazy about those forward-facing connectors. If you have an IDE optical drive (don't mean to insult you - I doubt you do), you need to get a SATA one instead because your MOBO doesn't have any IDE connectors. Some photos and the manual for your MOBO can be located on its MSI product page here: http://www.msi.com/product/mb/P67A-C45.html#Spec I also just got an i5-2500K with my similar MSI MOBO, and can't wait until I have FSX installed to do some high FPS flying!

Okay - looks like I'll take the plunge tomorrow! Darn it! Where did I put those LGA1156 mounting brackets from my CM hyper 212+? Oh, well...another $25. Plus (embarrassed to admit this), I banged into my old 212+ with a fan that was running at the time and bent some of the fins of one top corner. Live and learn...slow and steady, not fast and sloppy. Duh! I went a little further into the video I was watching and the brackets are the same, but adjusted a bit differently. If it were your $25, would you spend it to get a new 212+ with no bent fins?

Roger that! =)

Lots of very good advice. Paying the extra $100 for the 2600 is definitely unnecessary. And I wouldn't want to spend $200 more on a motherboard unless it translated to a performance increase. From the looks of it, the MSI P67A-C43 has what I need (slots, I/O ports, etc.) to support my current hardware. Plus, I can always buy the faster RAM at a later date if I want to. Thanks so much for everything! This has been both very educational and a heck of a lot of fun!

Are you recommending the I5 2500K (instead of the I7 2600K) and the MSI MOBO (with no new RAM) for the sake of saving money? How high can the 2500K be overclocked? I was thinking that going to 2133MHz RAM might give me a boost as well, since my current RAM is 1333MHz. Darn! Time for another sleep cycle...

Yes, I am familiar with FSX.CFG tweaks, and I have run the www.venetubo.com/fsx.html tool on my FSX.CFG. When I looked in my FSX.CFG, I found that I no longer had UsePools=0, so I put it back. Good to know about adding more than 3 cores not helping with frames. As for Vcore when running FSX, I am seeing it alternate between 1.452 and 1.464. These values compared to alternation between 1.440 and 1.452 when I'm not running FSX. So now that I've got my machine running as fast as it can, what frame rates would I see if I went out and got the same MOBO, CPU and RAM you are running (and overclocked to 4.8 GHz)? Just curious...

Good point about Prime95 stressing the CPU more than everyday apps. For the time being, I think I will put core temp in the systray. Temps are in the upper 40s when running FSX, so I'm in good shape there. Thanks for explaining the strategy about the HSF orientation. I think that reorienting the HSF is probably a good idea overall. Now for the real interesting part about my outcome so far: I am seeing significant reductions in CPU load when running FSX for cores 1, 2, and 3. But load for core 0 remains pegged at 100%, even with the AffinityMask set to 15. Frame rates have gone up, but not above 20 (with frame rate limit set to unlimited). I had read some posts about FSX not really using multiple cores very effictively. Is that the reason for what I'm seeing, or is there something else causing what I'm seeing?

Okay, I'll leave the memory timings where they are. I'm currently running a stress test, and core temps have maxed at 59 C. I have the shutdown temp set at 60, so I've stopped the stress test. HSF is still pointing upward - is it time to reseat it facing backward?

NB voltage in BIOS was set to 1.25V, Vcore to 1.40V. Bumped Vcore to 1.4375 in BIOS, resulting in 1.440-1.452 (switches back and forth) in CPU-Z. Bumped Core FID back to 4.0 and things seem more stable there now. So, can I squeeze some more performance out of my machine by adjusting memory timings (one at a time, as you said)? Might as well do all I can, since I'm having some success so far. Time for some more sleep now. I'll keep the machine off while I do that, just in case. Then some more stress testing at 4.0 GHz when I wake up.

Modified CPU-Z screenshots (hopefully more readable):

Thanks for the "doing great man." Thanks, also, for the correction regarding HT. I had increased it, but now it's back to stock (2000MHz). I even had a go at trying 4.0 GHz, but that made things VERY unstable. I'm back to 3.9 GHz currently, and stability has (for a 15-minute stress test) returned. Here is the CPU-Z screenshot with CPU, Memory and SPD tabs:

I read through Dolk's Guide carefully. I increased my multiplier (in the BIOS Core FID field) to 18 with no other changes, and ran prime95 for a few minutes with new errors. Temperatures stabilized at values still in the upper 40s. Then I bought some Cooler Master Excalibur fans to replace my four 120mm fans, and my temps are down a bit (especially under light loads). I increased my CPU multiplier in up to 19 (3.8 GHz), and ran a longer stability test (nearly an hour). I did see in Dolk's Guide that an increase to the frequency for the CPU-NB and HTT was necessary, and he recommended using a multiplier increase for those. My BIOS does not have a multiplier for CPU-NB and HTT, so I increased the frequencies directly to 2.4 GHz. At that frequency, Dolkrecommended a voltage of 1.175, so I set that for CPU-NB. I didn't see any way in my BIOS to adjust the HTT voltage. If I read Dolk's guide correctly, the next adjustment that may be needed is an increase in the CPU voltage (if stability tests fail while cores are at reasonable temps). Please let me know if I'm making any mistakes here. Even at 3.8 GHz, I have a performance gain of almost 20%. And max core temp after the long stability test was 50 C.

Cool, thanks for the overclock link and mobo manual!I will read the overclock pages after I get some sleep.What do you think about Jahman's suggestion of a heatsink with 6 heat pipes?

Yes, the core readings all stayed within 1 degree C of each other as they went up and down.I'm guessing ambient temp right now is in the mid to upper 60's Farenheit (18-20 C according to the web converter I used). We do not have air conditioning, and the room with the computer faces south, so it's much warmer in the middle of the afternoon (it's 4:30AM here now). I'm thinking that it will be best to reserve serious FlightSimming for after sundown once I've got my overclock set up. And the BIOS does let me set the shutdown temp to 60 degrees C for safety's sake.Now that I've made the effort to move the computer (with a lot of help from my wife re-routing cables, I'm going to leave it where it is.So if my cooling is in good shape now, how do I proceed with overclocking? I am willing to absorb as much information as needed for me to understand the concepts before moving ahead, but I don't really know the best place to find that information.Once again, thanks for all your help in getting me this far on the road to my goal.

I've moved the case outside of the cave in the desk, and it was a big deal. Core temps during stress testing have dropped 10 degrees!1.- Make sure you are monitoring the right sensor: download Core Temp, HWmonitor and post a screenshot of bothThese readings were after prime95 had been inducing stress for several minutes, when temps appeared stable.2.- If your temps are still fine for testing (maximum is 62.5ºC) stress test with the case outside of the desk to see if that's a problem or not.See #1.3.- List all your case fans and their orientation. Front to back preferrablyTwo case intake fans lower front, both: Cooler Master 120mm (Model Number A12025-12CB-3BN-F1)One power supply (Thermaltake TR2-500W) fanOne case side intake fan, also: Cooler Master 120mm (Model Number A12025-12CB-3BN-F1)One heatsink intake fan: Cooler Master 120mm (Model Number FA12025M12SPA)One heatsink exhaust fan: Cooler Master 120mm (Model Number A12025-20CB-4BP-C1)One case top exhaust fan: Cool Max 140mm (Model Number 1425L12S OD2)One case back exhaust fan: Antec 120mm 3-speed (couldn't find a model number)4.- Use SpeedFan or similar to monitor your CPU fans speed. Make sure they kick in at max rpm under loadWith the fans plugged into the fan controller, I'm not able to monitor their speeds. All dials on the fan controller are maxed.5.- Remove the side panel of the case and see if that helps with temps. If temps are significantly lower, you'll need to improve your case ventilation somehowTemps were only 1-2 degrees C lower during stress testing with the side panel off.6.- You'll probably want to reseat your HSF to point backwards. That's a PITA, so if after all the previous steps you get good temps, you may get away with it as it is, but I would seriously consider getting a good TIM (Artic Silver 5 or something like that) and mount it properly. Don't use too much TIM, just a rice grain sized drop in the middle of the CPU. Heatsink fans are oriented upwards with the idea that the 140mm top case fan can move more air than the 120mm back case fan. If temps still need adjusting, I'm open to the idea of reorienting. Heatsink was mounted with a high-quality thermal paste (by my more-skilled son).

I realize that I was being a bit reckless by just trying the settings you showed, but I figured that if I borked my CPU it would be a good excuse to get the new one I wanted (lol).Anyway, I do have plenty of options for changing Core FID:And I do have aftermarket cooling:However, when using prime95 to drive my cores to 100% for extended periods of time, my cores get up into the high 50's C. So I'm curious if my cooling should be improved?My case is an Antec 300, and I just recently got a fan controller. The one really ugly part of my setup is that the case is in a desk enclosure with only a couple of inches of clearance to the sides and roughly four inches above it.