Over Clocking Help

[Tjj226_Angel]

Hey Tj,

 

Is 4.4Ghz something you're considering for 24/7 operation or are you just trying to get there as an achievement and to run some benchies?

 

If you're looking for a stable 24/7 I think a reasonable goal is between 4.0 and 4.2Ghz.

 

Anyway, post up all of your current BIOS settings as found in the Ai Tweaker and Advanced sections of your BIOS and I'll help you get there.

 

Yeah, the 4.4ghz is something for running bench marks and getting some screen shots. I would like to set a record for air cooling on the 950, but since I know that will not happen since I don't have a cherry picked processor, I am happy with getting as close as I can.

 

Ok, for Bios settings for a unstable and hot 4.1 ghz

 

CPU ratio (multiplier) 21

 

Intel speedstep enabled

 

Xtreme phase full power enabled

 

BCLK frequency 196

 

PCIE frequency 100

 

Dram frequency 1571

 

UCLK frequency 3143 mhz

 

QPI Link Data Rate 7074MT/s

 

Dram timings 8-8-8-20 at 2T

 

CPU voltage is 1.38

 

Everything else is auto considering I really don't know what half of the settings are.

 

I haven't even touched the advanced setting. All I know is to turn off Hyper threading for really high ovcerclocking in the advanced settings.

 

Also something I have noticed is when I overclock, my boot time is noticeably slower. Is that normal?

 

On the upside I have been running prime 95 and what I originally thought would be unstable seems to be stable at 4.0.

 

However, I am getting an average on all 4 cores of 94 degrees Celsius. I have also noticed that my fans on my D14 aren't ramping up at all. I am not using a low noise adapter so its weird to not seem them increase speed. Any ideas?

 

Thanks all of you for your time

[Stonerboy779]

Tj see what your bios settings are for your fans.

 

Also use something like speedfan to force them to 100% for stressing your oc. I would not be happy with my cpu at 95 I m already miffed if it ever hits 50C in benches.

[Speedway]

You don't have to have a "cherry picked" CPU to get "lucky" and get a good OCer My i7 930 that I got from Fry's was a beast 1st gen i7 for OCing, and it was just a random chip from the store. I have NEVER turned HT off and on my WC loop my 930 was stable at over 4.5GHz and could bench over 4.6GHz, all while Hyper Threading was turned on! Tj, if you are hitting 94C on ANY stress program, then STOP the program! You really want to keep that chip in the 70C range, maybe letting it hit 80C for short periods. Just my opinion, but I would have never let my 930 reach the 90's, and if I saw those kind of temps, I would be shutting down the program causing it! 4.4GHz on air is going to be an extremely difficult, if not an impossible task IMHO. If you are looking at OCing that heavy, then you prob need to look at different cooling methods!

[Boinker]

You don't have to have a "cherry picked" CPU to get "lucky" and get a good OCer My i7 930 that I got from Fry's on was a beast 1st gen i7 for OCing, and it was just a random chip from the store. I have NEVER turned HT off and on my WC loop my 930 was stable at over 4.5GHz and could bench over 4.6GHz, all while Hyper Threading was turned on! Tj, if you are hitting 94C on ANY stress program, then STOP the program! You really want to keep that chip in the 70C range, maybe letting it hit 80C for short periods. Just my opinion, but I would have never let my 930 reach the 90's, and if I saw those kind of temps, I would be shutting down the program causing it! 4.4GHz on air is going to be an extremely difficult, if not an impossible task IMHO. If you are looking at OCing that heavy, then you prob need to look at different cooling methods!

 

I agree 100% with this statement. I'd back her down a lot Until the cooling system is improved or revised.

 

+1 speedway.

[Tjj226_Angel]

Oh yeah, I am definitely going with water.........on my next build. I am looking to see how far I can push the 1366 socket on air. I already have some ducting and some specially designed metal fixtures for the noctua fans. Where I live it gets VERY cold. Last year we hit -5 Fahrenheit, and its supposed to get colder this year.

 

Maybe the problem is a bios tweak, or maybe its just a matter of freaking windows doing what they are supposed to do and help me fix my OS so I can flash my bios. Seriously, talking to windows tech support is like trying to tech a hobo particle physics. Asus isn't helping either because they say they don't want me to flash the bios and that they could loose their job if they help me. Walk through the logic with me. Asus made a motherboard with SOOOOOOOO many overclocking features you would think they want you to Overclock. However, every time I mention Overclocking to asus tech support, its like I am talking in some sort of satanic language. Not only that, but if I am telling them that I am overclocking my motherboard, they should at least trust my ability enough to......I don't know....flash a bios?

 

Anyways back to the topic. When the cold air and snow comes I will run the ducting to a custom dehumidifying chamber (still in the design phase) to prevent any snow or water in the air from getting on my parts, just as a precaution. I just really feel like its some random oversight that is preventing a good solid overclock. For the really high OC I do have tricks up my sleeve and I am coming up with new ideas every day.

 

I am trying to get up to 4.05 stable with a high of 80 C. I know I can do it, and I am fairly confident I am just missing something important to make it run as hot as it is.

Right now I am really unsure though, there are still big temp problems even though I reseated my heat sink and just got done adjusting the bios for 100% fans and I do not hear see or otherwise a difference. I just restarted the computer and all the fan setting aren't in the bios any more..............huh. Bios settings that disappear with out a failed overclock boot. Yeahhhh I think a bios update is in order.

 

Ok I checked and rechecked, and any time I set fan parameter then boot into windows and then restart my computer, any and all of my fan setting are set back to N/A.

 

Any ideas?

Edited October 24, 2011 by Tjj226_Angel

[Stonerboy779]

I am trying to get up to 4.05 stable with a high of 80 C. I know I can do it, and I am fairly confident I am just missing something important to make it run as hot as it is.

Right now I am really unsure though, there are still big temp problems even though I reseated my heat sink and just got done adjusting the bios for 100% fans and I do not hear see or otherwise a difference. I just restarted the computer and all the fan setting aren't in the bios any more..............huh. Bios settings that disappear with out a failed overclock boot. Yeahhhh I think a bios update is in order.

 

Ok I checked and rechecked, and any time I set fan parameter then boot into windows and then restart my computer, any and all of my fan setting are set back to N/A.

 

Any ideas?

Install Speedfan you should be able to force the fans to 100% from within windows.

[wevsspot]

Tj,

 

You don't list whether Intel Turbo Mode is enabled or disabled. It should be disabled, so please make that change. And now we are going to make a few changes on the voltages, changing them from auto.

 

First one and arguably the most important;

 

QPI/DRAM Voltage - 1.36v (may need to go higher but start here)

 

Now the others that might need tweaking;

 

CPU PLL Voltage - set to 1.86v

IOH Voltage - set to 1.30v

IOH PCIe Voltage - set to 1.60v

ICH Voltage - set to 1.20v

ICH PCIe Voltage - set to 1.50v

 

BUT - before you go any further...... I'll echo what just about everyone else has said. You MUST get your temps under control first. Load temps in the mid 90s aren't any good for the i7s. I'm not extreme by any means, but the most I'll tolerate is 76C max during extended stress testing. Others may even go as high as 80C, but I'm a bit more conservative.

 

On the subject of the Noctua fans ramping up, I'm assuming that you have both fans connected to the m/b fan header(s)................ Please confirm. And, if that is the case you really should consider using a 3pin fan header to 4pin molex adapter and powering the fans directly from the power supply. Also, I'd caution against using the single to dual fan header adapter that's included with the Noctua (the one that can split a single fan header from the motherboard to power both of the Noctua fans). Not sure why they even include that as IMHO that's entirely too much amp draw on a single motherboard fan header. Really your best bet is to run them directly off the power supply or a fan controller.

 

The last thing I would do is take your QPI Link Data Rate off of Auto and manually set the value to the x18 multiplier (I think your BIOS shows that as the 4728MT/s setting)

[Tjj226_Angel]

Tj,

 

You don't list whether Intel Turbo Mode is enabled or disabled. It should be disabled, so please make that change. And now we are going to make a few changes on the voltages, changing them from auto.

 

First one and arguably the most important;

 

QPI/DRAM Voltage - 1.36v (may need to go higher but start here)

 

Now the others that might need tweaking;

 

CPU PLL Voltage - set to 1.86v

IOH Voltage - set to 1.30v

IOH PCIe Voltage - set to 1.60v

ICH Voltage - set to 1.20v

ICH PCIe Voltage - set to 1.50v

 

BUT - before you go any further...... I'll echo what just about everyone else has said. You MUST get your temps under control first. Load temps in the mid 90s aren't any good for the i7s. I'm not extreme by any means, but the most I'll tolerate is 76C max during extended stress testing. Others may even go as high as 80C, but I'm a bit more conservative.

 

On the subject of the Noctua fans ramping up, I'm assuming that you have both fans connected to the m/b fan header(s)................ Please confirm. And, if that is the case you really should consider using a 3pin fan header to 4pin molex adapter and powering the fans directly from the power supply. Also, I'd caution against using the single to dual fan header adapter that's included with the Noctua (the one that can split a single fan header from the motherboard to power both of the Noctua fans). Not sure why they even include that as IMHO that's entirely too much amp draw on a single motherboard fan header. Really your best bet is to run them directly off the power supply or a fan controller.

 

The last thing I would do is take your QPI Link Data Rate off of Auto and manually set the value to the x18 multiplier (I think your BIOS shows that as the 4728MT/s setting)

 

That is another thing, I can not find any single place in the bios to disable turbo boost

[Tjj226_Angel]

Up date:

 

Wev's bios setting did not work even with a higher QPI voltage. Speed fan doesn't change a thing, more speed or less speed. There is not a section to disable Turbo Boost. Voltages are WAY too high for a 950 4ghz or not.

 

Things I have done.

 

I installed a new PSU.

 

I reseated the heat sink and attached the fans to molex connectors

 

I tried all sorts of special BIOS configurations

 

Still nothing works as well as it should. The only thing I can think of is a BIOS update. Right now I am running a stress test at 3.6 ghz at 1.22 v which is stable, however I am seeing loads temps of 74C and idles of 43C. The ambient temperature in my room is about 18C. I have made sure countless times that my heat sink is on right, and I am even using Artic Silver 5 compound. Even at stock speeds I am still seeing idle temps of 40C WITH THE D14!!!!!!!!!!! I have the corsair 800D as my case, and even with the door open and every single fan space occupied, I am still seeing these problems. What the hell is wrong with my pc?

 

Any ideas?

[wevsspot]

For now, clear your cmos and reload bios defaults. Check your BIOS revision. If you're not running the latest BIOS revision go ahead and flash to the latest, then we'll start from scratch.

 

By the way, Turbo Enable/Disable should be here;

 

[wevsspot]

Are you sure that you have the Noctua fans pointing in the right direction? i.e. you haven't mistakenly set them up so they are both pushing air into one another?

[Tjj226_Angel]

Well I think the reason my noctua heat sink isnt working right might be because of crappy air flow. I have installed a higher airflow fan right above the first intake fan. I am hoping that the air pressure might help the intake. As for the turbo setting, its not there. At all. It just skips right over that setting and goes from speed step to xtreme power. Like I said in a earlier post, I can't flash the bios. Asus's utility will not work. It says I don't have the correct version of windows. Now I have a legal copy of windows 7 professional. The only thing I can think of is that my windows is an upgrade version because I got it through the college, but that really shouldn't effect it. I have tried calling Asus and Microsoft, and neither of them want to lift a finger.

 

Any ideas?