Intel Core i5 & i7 Sandy Bridge Overclocking and Feedback

[brandonwh64]

Ok this thing will OC to 4.2Ghz 1.28V stable but over that it will NOT become stable at ANY voltage, I cannot even get into windows? WTF?

 

[20mmrain]

I just tried x45 mutli with 1.32V and it wouldnt load windows so I stopped all other voltages were on auto with LLC on highest

Try a voltage of 1.35 Vcore and see where your at.... if you can get into windows run 5 runs of LinX then lower is a little at a time.....

Also you might wanna make sure "Internal PLL Overvolatage" is disabled (Only really need it when going for a higher overclock) with that low. You might also want to turn your Memory to it's default speed (But real latency's) and worry about your memory settings later. Also leave all of your C-sates and other power settings enabled (SB likes these enabled) I would also suggest using the turbo Multiplier opposed to the Static multiplier when overclocking SB

Once you know what your stable voltage is at that speed.... read about using Offset mode to conserve heat and energy for these CPU's. They seem to respond better as increase the life span when using Offset mode.

Beginer Offset mode overclocking guide....
http://forum.overclock3d.net/index.php?/topic/39090-offset-mode-overclocking-starter-guide-and-thread/

http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?2162-Overclocking-Using-Offset-Mode-for-CPU-Core-Voltage

Just some suggestions

Ok this thing will OC to 4.2Ghz 1.28V stable but over that it will NOT become stable at ANY voltage, I cannot even get into windows? WTF?

Try turning off "Internal PLL Overvoltage" (I am not saying this is for sure the case but "IPO" will cause you to have to use a higher Vcore then normal if left on Auto or enabled) also please post your BIOS profile with settings I might be able to help.... sure there is a chance you just got unlucky but let's take a look first shall we

 

[brandonwh64]

Thanks rain im reading it as we speak!

Sandy Bridge is a different animal, I have been setting LLC on max to it would keep the votage I set it to but it would not load windows, now I have it set of level 3 and I NOW have 4.4Ghz @ 1.325V stable!??!?!?

 

[20mmrain]

Thanks rain im reading it as we speak!

Sandy Bridge is a different animal, I have been setting LLC on max to it would keep the votage I set it to but it would not load windows, now I have it set of level 3 and I NOW have 4.4Ghz @ 1.325V stable!??!?!?

http://img.techpowerup.org/111209/stable2.jpg

No problem my friend.... if you have any questions just PM me I will be happy to help.... I have been messing with these ships since the day they came out.... and I had some similar problems as you did when I first started with them. But once I realized how different these chips really are I started noticing way better results.

Yeah LLC is used in a much different way then with other chips.... it is used more as a Vcore secondary option then away to get your Vcore to stay where it's at like in the old chips.. It takes a bit of dickin around to get Vcore Offset and LLC just right. You first need to know your Max Vcore for a certain speed and then work on it with both LLC and VC from there. Like for me my settings are....
Offset - 0.035 = 1.294 Peak voltage/1.288 Load voltage/0.912 Idle voltage (Remind you though that you have to know your stable voltage for a certain speed for Offset to be effective I already knew I was stable @4.5 w/1.288v)
LLC setting 50% (High)
Turbo Multiplier X45 for 24/7 use (Much higher for benching)

Did you also Disable Internal PLL Overvoltage?

 

[brandonwh64]

No problem my friend.... if you have any questions just PM me I will be happy to help.... I have been messing with these ships since the day they came out.... and I had some similar problems as you did when I first started with them. But once I realized how different these chips really are I started noticing way better results.

Yeah LLC is used in a much different way then with other chips.... it is used more as a Vcore secondary option then away to get your Vcore to stay where it's at like in the old chips.. It takes a bit of dickin around to get Vcore Offset and LLC just right. You first need to know your Max Vcore for a certain speed and then work on it with both LLC and VC from there. Like for me my settings are....
Offset - 0.035 = 1.294 Peak voltage/1.288 Load voltage/0.912 Idle voltage (Remind you though that you have to know your stable voltage for a certain speed for Offset to be effective I already knew I was stable @4.5 w/1.288v)
LLC setting 50% (High)
Turbo Multiplier X45 for 24/7 use (Much higher for benching)

Did you also Disable Internal PLL Overvoltage?

Yes I have PLL overvoltage disabled. Everything is default settings except LLC, Vcore, and mutli

*Edit*

I believe I will stick with this for my 24/7, Its the best clock I can get before voltages start getting stupid

 

[Angryfuture]

I always had PLL overvoltage enabled, that I know for sure. And I left everything else but that on AUTO on my MSI board until I went above 45x, then I had to set the Vcore manually. SA voltage also got a slight bump from stock. My MSI board was a tid bid aggressive even on auto though....

Im still looking for those screen shots.

YHPM incoming....

 

[brandonwh64]

Ok Last night I had 4.4Ghz stable and played about 1 1/2 hours of BF3 no issue. This morning I get up and turn on the PC and as soon as it gets to windows it BSOD stop code 124 which from what I read is Vcore so I up the vcore little by little and its now BSOD three times this morning with same stop code 124.

I am now back to stock clocks until I can figure out whats going on, I hope Its not my board cause on the multiple reviews I have seen they were getting 4.9-5.2Ghz clocks out of it.

Im almost regretting my decision to upgrade Its a good setup but will not get stable for my life

 

[Darkleoco]

Yes I have PLL overvoltage disabled. Everything is default settings except LLC, Vcore, and mutli

*Edit*

I believe I will stick with this for my 24/7, Its the best clock I can get before voltages start getting stupid

http://img.techpowerup.org/111210/stable3.jpg

Seems interesting that so many people need a large voltage increase before stabilizing 4.5

 

[brandonwh64]

Seems interesting that so many people need a large voltage increase before stabilizing 4.5

But the previous owner was doing like 1.375V for 4.7Ghz on his setup? I don't understand

 

[N-Gen]

How are your GFlops so low? =/

 

[cadaveca]

But the previous owner was doing like 1.375V for 4.7Ghz on his setup? I don't understand

Boards can affect voltage needed, and ultimately, overclockability. It might be the VRM switching frequency, the number of phases, the votlage controller, the cooling, the ram...many possibilities.

lso, the Bclk the board uses can ahve a very large effect as well. Some boards are dead even 100.0 MHz, some are 99.8, some 100.3..there are many variables involved, but generally, yes, you should have no problem clocking in the smae fashion...provided you use the same board and ram. Lots of other things are different with SB, but that one part is NOT.

 

[brandonwh64]

How are your GFlops so low? =/

I have 3GB of ram at 1066mhz CL9

This maybe my issue too, like dave pointed out last night, I have 1 stick of Gskill ripjaw and 1 stick of random corsair. Hopefuly my new Ripjaw kit gets here to rule that out. I also may yank the corsair stick and try with 1 stick in single channel

 

[N-Gen]

That's a really big hit on the flops with that kind of ram...ouch. Although on identical systems I was getting 30GFlops more than the other system...I found it odd.

 

[heky]

@N-Gen
His gflops are lower because of HT. With HT on, the 2600K scores lower than the 2500K.

 

[Angryfuture]

The MSI p67-gd65 that that 2600k was in always underclocked b a hair. (99.8 or so)
Have you tried leaving everything on auto and just seeing how high you can take the multi?

If it helps, Im stuck with only a single 60gb SSD....I cannot get my 2x500gb drives to pick up on this board. Im going to have to buy a cheapo 1155 Celeron to throw in my MSI board so I can get some of the data off a 3rd (320gb) drive that I had hooked up as well that this board doesnt seem to like. Its got some data on it that I need.

 

[brandonwh64]

Hmm It may not like the new raid that the Z68 had set, I ran my two blues in raid very well. once you get the data off u can format them on another PC and the redo the raid on the Gene board.

*UPDATE*

I found a nice thread over at OC.net that is for the full size pro3 (which my board is the same setup just mATX) and I used a guys settings for 4.4ghz. It booted and did 5 full passes on max mem and threads no problem. I will continue to go farther

My question is why is the last two GFLOPS so low?

 

[cadaveca]

I'd say your CPU is throttling due to hitting OCP limits. you need ot increase those limits in BIOS. If you are using turbo multis to clock ,raise both current and wattage limits to 200a, and 250W

 

[brandonwh64]

Ok I will do that, they are currently 250, 250, 300

Here is my current OC in bios but my multi is not 50

 

[N-Gen]

But how would 2 identical systems (as in my case) have a completely different output on IBT? Then again Super Pi was about the same...I'm lost.

 

[cadaveca]

But how would 2 identical systems (as in my case) have a completely different output on IBT? Then again Super Pi was about the same...I'm lost.

Ram speed, CPU speed, problem size, and memory used can all have an effect on the result given.

 

[brandonwh64]

Ok I got 4.6Ghz stable but after a 5 pass run on IBT my Gflops go from 35 to 18 on the last three. what settings can I set to stop the throttling?

 

[cadaveca]

I see an option there in your BIOS that says "power saving mode", have you tried setting that to disabled?

 

[N-Gen]

Ram speed, CPU speed, problem size, and memory used can all have an effect on the result given.

Everything was exactly the same, even the brands and models, that's what bothered me. It seems mine was fine but my mate's was messing a bit. The only different components are the HDDs.

 

[brandonwh64]

Ok disabled power save and it still throttles down after the 2nd pass? Will disabling speed step help?

 

[cadaveca]

Perhaps. I am not sure though. Users of teh MSI GD65 ram into similar issues...there is a switch for overall OCP that needed to be changed with the MSI boards(both GD65 and GD80 were affected that I know of), which was fixed on the MSI boards with a BIOS update. You may just be SOL.

You should hit up erocker..he's got an ASRock board and might have better ideas than I do about the AsRock BIOS.