Core i7 920, evga x58, and g.skill 1333 (3x1) overclock limit?

Discussion in 'Die-hard Overclocking & Case Modifications' started by truenewb, Jan 29, 2009.

  1. truenewb

    truenewb Member

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    My processor will not let me clock any higher than 3.2 with the ramm at its recommended 1333mhz. I can down clock it to 1067mhz and it will let me get to 3.665ghz with turbo mode on. I have tried down clocking the ram to 800mhz and turning turbo mode off. I've also tried bumping the voltage up(went as high as 1.45 and I dont ever get blue screen but the computer acts like it is going to start then just shuts down and restarts... PLEASE HELP... TIA
     
  2. chiefmasterjedi

    chiefmasterjedi Guest

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    Have you disabled speed step, C1E, TM etc? I would check out a good overclocking guide on the EVGA X58, either search on google or try Evga's site.

    What part of NC you live?
     
  3. truenewb

    truenewb Member

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    Yes speed step, c1e, and tm and all those, other than turbo mode, have been disabled since day 1.
    I have read some overclocking guides but some of them the person doesnt really seem to know what they are talking about. they have just wrote down what they did that worked.. and others dont seem to have the ram problem I am having.

    I live in a small town called mount gilead about an hour from charlotte.
     
  4. chiefmasterjedi

    chiefmasterjedi Guest

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    OK, this is what I would try.

    First run memtest at boot to check the memory (at stock settings), then do a quick check (about 5 minutes) with memtest when your overclocking fails.
    Check the temps of the cpu at stock then overclocked (if it boots).
    Try 1 stick of memory and see if your rig OC's better, also check your memory is in the right slots.....triple channel slot designation is a little different than what we were used to on the C2D mobos, just check your mobo manual.
    Check your board has set the right voltage and timings for your memory, most boards get this wrong on first post and you'll need to set it manually.


    I live near Raleigh
     

  5. truenewb

    truenewb Member

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    memory is at 1.65 manually set
    I will try the 1 stick of ram when I get home from work.
    They are in the right slots(green slots 1-3-5 as shown in manual and sticker on MB)

    Processor will boot fine with 175x20=3.5(3.665 with turbo mode) which is why I think it is a memory problem BC it wont boot at 180x20=3.6 turbo mode off. I'm going to try re seating my heat sink and fan when I get home and see if that helps. Maybe it is a temp problem after all even though I really don't think it is.

    I have family that lives in Raleigh. My uncle Carter ****** is the head wrestling coach at NC state
     
  6. chiefmasterjedi

    chiefmasterjedi Guest

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    Turbo mode turned on should give you a multi of x21 not x20, this leads me to believe that your cpu is over heating. The x21 will only show up in Windows using a program like CPU-Z. So your 175x20 with turbo on will actually be 175x21(3.675Ghz).

    As for your RAM,i'm guessing it is rated @1333mhz. So try these settings/speeds on the BCLK. 20x166bclk = 3.33Ghz this will mean we can run your memory now at x8 ratio/divider 8x166bclk = 1333mhz. Now the memory divider may or may not show as x6, x8, x10 etc. depending on the mobo, my mobo just shows what the memory speeds will be after multiplying. Anyway, the next step up for your max memory speed would be 20x222bclk=4.42Ghz and your memory would be at the next ratio/divider down which is x6.So 6x222=1333Mhz and you'll be one lucky mofo if your cpu can achieve that speed. Thats why memory speed is so important with the i7 mobos, If you had the extreme i7 then memory wouldn't be a problem cause you'd just up the multi. Now i'm talking from experience of the Asus P6T and a lot of other X58 mobos out there, maybe the Evga has better memory multis like 5x,6x,7x,8x etc instead of every 6x, 8x, 10x. If it does have better memory multis then you can try 20x190bclk=3.90Ghz and a mem multi of 7x, so 7x190=1333Mhz.

    I hope i'm not loosing here, but the best/only thing you can try is running your memory @4x for the higher clocks and just leave the memory underclocked or you can buy either 1600mhz or 1066mhz modules which by my maths works out nice and uses all or nearly all of the ram. Now i don't suggest you buy 1066Mhz, i would just run yours underclocked and tighten the timings.

    One other thing to try is maybe 17x222 or even 18x222 as that base clock is not unheard of, and it would get your ram running at it's suggested max speed.

    Please post back and let me know what your mobo bios lets you dial in when playing with the memory. Does it show multipliers 4x, 6x, 8x etc, or does it show you the actual mem speed 1066, 1333, 1600 etc. or is it real mem speed 533, 667, 800 etc. Let me know and If your memory is passing memtest ok then i'm sure we can get your overclock dialed in a bit better.
     
    Last edited: Jan 29, 2009
  7. HellsAn631

    HellsAn631 Master Guru

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    i have almost the exact same setup, and you have to run your memory either slightly lower or higher then rated (usually lower in my case).

    what kind off HSF do you have?

    also, do you have the latest mobo bios (SZ1G i think is the latest for the x58 evga). there were alot of updates to fix certain problems they were having, mainly to do with memory performance.
     
  8. truenewb

    truenewb Member

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    [​IMG]
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    Here are some pics. maybe give you a better idea of what I have to work with..

    I knew the turbo mode boosted the multi to 21. It actually boost my first core to 22. I noticed it in the evga eleet tool or whatever it is... Just like CPU-z but you can overclock threw it.
    I tried the 17x222 and 18x222 couldn't even get it to post.. But I didn't really play around with it to much. Will more tomorrow

    The HSF I have is the Monsoon III LT. Its ok but I'm going to go with liquid when I find what I want. And I updated Bios yesterday... didn't really see a diff from the sz1c
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2009
  9. truenewb

    truenewb Member

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    [​IMG]

    Here is the best I could get it stable at after being up all night messing with voltages and timing

    [​IMG]

    This is the best I could get it to post with... not stable though. maybe with some water cooling
     
  10. truenewb

    truenewb Member

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    [​IMG]

    noticed about 500 jump in vantage from3.5 to 3.9. No video card overclock

    Had to really relax my ramm timing to get it stable at 3.9... 11-11-11-28
    going to get some better ramm in the next month
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2009

  11. chiefmasterjedi

    chiefmasterjedi Guest

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    Well if the first one is stable then i'd say you've succeeded and this thread is closed.......thats a good overclock. With that OC your ram should be at 1134MHz, maybe you can tighten the timings a little. Your second pic obviously booted into windows, so i would try 21x200=4.2Ghz and around 1.45v. If 1.45v is stable then trying lowering the volts until it is unstable, then you'll know the lowest volts possible for that OC.

    Unless the ram issue is really getting on your nerves, i'd just use what you have, looking at most benchmarks there is not a lot of difference between say 1333MHz and 1600MHz.

    One other thing, what's your temps like at the higher overclocked speeds. You don't want to see anything over 75 degrees on each core and for 24/7 operation you don't wanna see over 70 degrees at 100% load. I take it your testing stability with a program like Prime95 or Orthos?
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2009
  12. truenewb

    truenewb Member

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    I tried a few higher clocks. I couldnt even get it stable at 4.0 something with 1.5v. it would bsod about 3 min into intelburntest. I use intelburntest first using 1000mb memory to test and if that passes I use prime95 to make sure its stable.

    May stick with this ram.. not sure yet. if i do I will be adding 3x2gb(making it 9gb total!:banana:) of the same instead of getting a higher performance ram.

    With the 3.98 oc I saw temps on one core hit 74 (1.4v)which I did think was high but also I just took off my heatsink and fan yesterday and applied new arctic silver 5(was using AC ceramic) so I should see a little of a temp drop in the next few days. For now though will be going back to my overclock of 3.675 (1.275v) temps dont hit over 65c.
     
  13. HellsAn631

    HellsAn631 Master Guru

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    GPU:
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    4ghz seems to be the limit with the i7's unless you have amazing cooling (phase or better).

    Your OC's are nothing spectacular, but nothing bad either. They seem pretty much normal.
     
  14. Trigunflame

    Trigunflame Member

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    GPU:
    EVGA GTX 480 SC+ 850/2000
    The top-end for air/water has more to do with the vid you get at the moment. There seems to be more variation in these batches than with past manufacturing processes.

    I've seen some people get 3.8 at 1.2xx, 4.0 at 1.3xx, then again some people that took 1.45xxx to get 4.0

    These things are designed to run hotter than any other in the past so it's the heat that's killing most peoples oc' it's simply that the voltage isn't scaling as well as it used to.

    I myself can't get stable at 4.0 with HT on even at 1.4, I turn HT off and I keep it 24/7 at 1.35v vcore, 1.35v qpi/uncore, 1.84 pll, 1.64dram

    If I try and bump it up to 4.2 I had to bump vcore up to 1.45 with LLC enabled and I don't particularly like that.

    Even with extreme cooling such as phase etc.. people are having to push amazingly inefficient amounts of voltage for minimal clock gains.. it's really retarded.

    For most people I would say 3.8 with HT on (if you like to encode etc.. anything that would utilize all 8 cores) otherwise turn it off and that will net you lower voltages, about a ~10c drop at load and a marginal performance increase on any app that doesn't utilize more than 4 cores (being that HT has a small performance impact when not used).

    Most people can do 3.8 with HT off at no more than 1.25v, my chip which isn't that great does at 1.21 and have seen several people at 1.1x

    As for your memory, and for anyone else that's thinking of getting a 920; buy some quality 1600mhz rated sticks that will allow you to use higher mem multipliers that should sync up nicely with the bclk you end up using, 200bclk will set you up at 1600 with the 8x memory multi.

    So say 19 cpu multi, 200 bclk, 8x memory multi @ 1600 for 3.8ghz

    You can go higher than 1600 obviously but it requires a higher uncore (which at minimum is double of your memory frequency, so 1600 memory >= 3200 uncore. This works off of the QPI/Uncore voltage so once you start throwing in 2000mhz memory and trying to run it at those speeds your talking about atleast 4000 uncore which will require a good sized voltage bump; specs rate it's max at 1.35 but you will most likely need that or higher to get the memory controller part of the cpu stable (qpi/uncore).
     

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