Can I hit 3.20GHz with that ? I know that stock cooling is not good but once I tinkered with it I made a lot of mess so I dont want to repeat the whole thing with a new comp. At the moment Im using "Crazy-3.06G" profile under AI Tweaker in BIOS. Is it any good or should I tune it up ? I have a feeling that it needs to be tuned up, but I lack the knowledge and I would apericiate if someone could fill me in the details.
you can easily push to 3.5ghz with that chip. I had it before and it can do 3.5ghz without any voltage increase. Anything pass 3.6ghz was a pain for me so i switched to x58 platform.
http://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.php?p=3803800&postcount=7 This gets me to 3.6GHz with ease, but I am on an H50 for cooling, but no reason why stock cooler can't do it too /Stoney
3.5GHz sounds really good for me now how exactly do I set it ? What options should I enable/disable ? What temps shall I expect ? And keep in mind guys that we are still talking about stock cooling. Reason why I do it is because I had experience once tinkering with cooling - it didnt turned out well for me so I wanted to know what I can achieve with stock - thankyou for that guys and now I need to know exactly how to set it all. Im a newbie at overclocking and I want to make sure everything is optimal for what I got and safe. When we get to the stable part what programs would you recomand me, guys ? /Edit: This didnt worked for me. Computer didnt started. Maybe I did something wrong... Wich is why I need detailed explenation how to set things... Maybe we should try something lower like 3.20GHz or 3.40GHz instead ? I would also like to achieve some reasonable temperatures if thats possible. I understand your statement with what you are on and that there is no reason stock cant do it - it maybe can, but it might be a pain...
Well what you can achieve overclockingwise will all depend on the temperatures you get with how much voltage you put in. You could probably 3.2-3.4GHz on stock, 3.6 if the temps are low enough. Some places do tend to be colder than others so ocing will benefit in colder climates
I came back to ASUS preloaded setting of 3.06 and from there I tweaked core voltage a little bit. Idle temp is 41-42. I stressed it with Intel Burn Test 2.5 at High and maximum temperature monitored with Core Temp was 75c. I got some basics with the profile done for me. The other things I seem to have a problem with is either memory or I dunno voltages conflict with each other ? Can it be possible ? I did a lots of trys now, tinkered with different options and as I heard before on overclocking its an art wich is learned by mistakes. I got some small portion of experience from back when I had E5200 - person I called a friend guided me backthen, but I want to be able to understand things and do them on my own... Again is there anybody here who could fill me in on the details, explain everything so I can understand better or at least recomand some guide etc. ? Or better... Anybody out there with the same/similar motherboard and patience to help out a begginer ? Most of the things you guys say its understantable for me but some is black magic :S
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=334051 This might help a little bit, I already explained some basics to another member but you can also look at reviews on your motherboard and cpu to see their limitations and stuff.
What I was following and reading so far that I could call helpfull is this: http://solidlystated.com/hardware/core-i7-860-overclocking/ Next thing I found interesting is this: http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/forum/default.aspx?g=posts&m=9106 Im considering puting this on paper and applying it in BIOS: Also this is the format I like to read. The things I have problems the most are memory and everything else apart from CPU itself - I dont know how to set the rest and what I dont know I set to "AUTO". I think my overclocking problems are in those parts I dont understand. As I understand this is like one big clock inside wich every sprocket must work with the other sprocket etc. But tell me please what do you think about the second link I mentioned in this post and this quote I written ? Also what else I might be missing ? My memory is Kingston DDR3 PC 1333 and how can I put this knowledge to use... I mean how to translate this into bios if I might use such words.
Im back from trying that 3.6 setting suggested here: http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/forum/default.aspx?g=posts&m=9106 It proved to be very hot like 48c when Windows started - I did not bothered to even do a stress test as I figured it would go over 75c in "heavy" at Intel Burn Test in a matter of few seconds. Im back to ASUS preloaded setting for 3.06GHz (again -.-) This seems to be a good start though... I mean if I tweak cpu voltage at this preloaded setting to something around stock values (heres where I found out what is the stock voltage: http://solidlystated.com/hardware/core-i7-stock-voltage-and-safe-temperatures/) and it works not bad actually - 41 to 42 c idle and 75c when stressed with Intel Burn Test at HIGH stress level. I would like to achieve something like that with better clock - lets say 3.2GHz or maybe 3.4GHz if possible instead of 3.06Ghz. Im guessing that FSB : DRAM should stay 2:10 - Ive read at some other forum when googling and when I change CPU FREQ./RATIO those numbers I mentioned before change too and for the worse, am I right ? If so then I guess I need somebody to write me something of a profile like the thing I quoted before but for 3.20GHz and 3.40GHz. Or Im thinking wrong... What am I overlooking ? What do I do wrong ?
Not sure how well your ram can overclock but I would try for 166x19 = 3.15GHz and then go on to 166x20 = 3.32Ghz. This is mainly because you have 1333 ram and for 200blk you would need to overclock your ram to 1600 so yeah not sure about how stable your ram can take that speeds. If you want the temps lower you would really need a better cooler but for the most part if you can get a lower stable voltage would be best. Most overclocks are done with FSB: DRAM at 2:8 so it would look like this: 166 (2:8) = 1333MHz, but when you had it on auto it may have set it to 2:8 automatically. 2:10 is usually for higher clocked ram like 2000MHz, this is mainly to take advantage of the clock speeds of the ram. example: 200blk (2:10) = 2000 166blk (2:10) = 1600 200blk (2:8) = 1600 166blk (2:8) = 1333 So the ram divider will depend on your ram clock speeds and capability. The main/basic things that make or break an overclock is the CPU voltage and QPI/PLL (QPI/DRAM) voltage which would be the IMC Voltage on the newer/ROG ASUS motherboards. Most of the time you will only need 1.2-1.3v on that to achieve 200 but may go up to 1.3-1.4 in other cases depending on the ram and everything else. Try this just to test, you can tweak it after:
Somehow it didnt worked for me either plus I noticed that QPI frequency when I check available options in my bios there are AUTO and some 5xxx MHZ choices. I always leave this on auto. I will try to add things in my BIOS and what options they give. At the moment Im still tinkering with ASUS preloaded setting for 3.06G and I tweaked it a little bit. I get your point about those preloaded settings - they might not be acurate but they might be suitable for some sort of start point. I tweaked the cpu voltage in BIOS to something like 1.13xx (cpu-z displays 1.120 V as core voltage) BLCK is at 160 and multipler x 20.0 as for the speed it is 3213 though I get a reading from core temp that BLCK is 161 somehow while CPU-Z saying its 160.7. What CPU-Z under memory says is DRAM Frequency: 803.3MH FSB : DRAM (2:10) And rest of the options are: 9.0 clocks 9 clocks 9 clocks 24 clocks 89 clocks 1T Ide temperature is 43-44 and this is somehow close to what I feel might be it. Im sure theres been a progress since its 3.06GHz preset tweaked to be 3.20GHz with more or less same temperatures, but I feel that Im still missing something ? Also how do I know how to set optimal voltages for other things apart from cpu and memory ? You said in your post that you shown me when you were explaining some things to the other user that presets usualy have more voltage then is necessary and thats true because I noticed that too with CPU voltage that going down with it helps temps, but how do I find optimal voltages for the rest ? Also if I want to configure my memory in bios and I dont have the parameters but I do have the memory's part number and serial number (from cpu-z) - would it help to obtain its parameters ?
Usually if you look under CPU-Z you can look at under SPD and Part Number and copy that model and paste it on google and it should give you something about your ram. As far as knowing how much voltage to put is all in finding stability in your system. Most people what they see as stable is being able to run programs like Intel Burn Test/Linx/OCCT or prime95. If the computer reboots then it could be that one part is not getting enough voltage. Most of the time people rule out the RAM because most people just set it at the recommended spec whether its 1.5v or 1.65v etc... The main things to change are is usually the CPU Core Voltage and the IMC Voltage. You start out at low voltages, stress, if it reboots then up the voltage etc.. till you find a sweet spot. The max safe (from intel) for 1156 boards is 1.4v for the IMC, you can set that to 1.4 and then start with low voltage on the CPU, if it reboots then up the CPU voltage and so forth, once you get a stable CPU clock that can handle the overclocked frequency then you can start working down the IMC, lower the voltage, stress, lower the voltage, stress etc... I know most people (including myself) would say you wont really "stress" the computer the way the torture programs do but they do give you a quicker result in finding the right voltages. Some people that don't use it can sometimes be stable for what they do, but if for some odd reason it reboots one day then you'll know. I thought my system was 100% stable since I stressed it and all that fun stuff but then I left my rig on overnight and I woke up to a rebooted system. Turns out my QPI/DRAM (IMC Voltage) was too low so I upped that and it was stable from there. The reason why I told you to find the specs out for your RAM is so you can see how much you can do with it, mainly because you dont want to be overclocking so many settings at one time and not knowing whats causing the actual instability. Usually Memtest helps find out if you're memory settings are too high etc... ======================================= I will give you an example with how I overclock, it varies with people and some will agree and some wont but this is what I do to achieve my overclock. ======================================= I actually used TurboV (windows voltage controller) to tweak my settings and then into BIOS for permanent settings. So heres what I did, I went to my BIOS set my QPI to 1.4v and I know my CPU can run on 1.3v because it did it on AUTO so I set my CPU voltage to 1.3v as well. I kept my ram at 1.65v (1.66v in BIOS) because it was stock specs for 1600. Ram at 9-9-9-24-1T. Anyways I used TurboV, and lowered the CPU Voltage if it passed a certain number of times, say 10 runs on Maximum Mem. Stress, Lowered it, Stress, Lowered it to the point where it rebooted. I actually got down to 1.23v but when I ran the stress programs it was unstable, it wouldn't reboot but it would just give me a numbering/rounding error so I knew I was close so I would up the voltage again and stress and got to 1.24-1.25v as a sweet spot for 4.0GHz with my chip. I knew that my QPI/DRAM (IMC Voltage) was too high and I didn't need it so I did the same thing on there, stress, lowered, stress lowered it till I got good voltage. While also monitoring your temps and making sure they're below 80C. So I set my ram to 1.65v and just play with the CPU and QPI Voltage. CPU/QPI(IMC) 1.3v, 1.4v = Passed IBT 1.29v, 1.4v = Passed IBT 1.28v, 1.4v = Passed IBT 1.27v, 1.4v = Passed IBT 1.26v, 1.4v = Passed IBT 1.25v, 1.4v = Passed IBT 1.24v, 1.4v = Passed IBT 1.23v, 1.4v = Rounding/Numbering Error 1.22v, 1.4v = Rounding/Numbering Error After this I went to 1.25v and stressed it longer and it passed on maximum for IBT while putting it on for 99 times (don't have to, I just do). People will say oh stress programs will just degrade your CPU, it wont degrade if you do all your stress tests in 1 day and usually its if you put A LOT of cpu voltage, not like you're doing it 24/7 ... I stuck with 1.25v just to be sure so then I went to tweaking my QPI Voltage. CPU/QPI(IMC) 1.25v, 1.4 = Passed 1.25v, 1.39 = Passed 1.25v, 1.38 = Passed 1.25v, 1.37 = Passed 1.25v, 1.36 = Passed 1.25v, 1.35 = Passed 1.25v, 1.34 = Passed 1.25v, 1.33 = Passed ................... I actually went down lower after a while, didn't really test EVERY voltage, I went down by 2-3 sliders. 1.25v, 1.28125v = Passed 1.25v, 1.275v = Passed 1.25v, 1.26875v = Failed After I got that I went back to 1.275v and stressed on there. It ran fine, Intel Burn Test did a lot of loops, prime95 passed and I used Memtest as well just to be sure. Took me half a day to do it but I did get low voltage from my overclock. Now the voltages above in the table aren't exactly the actual voltages but its just an example. So I could safely say my voltages are stable at: 1.25v CPU, 1.275v QPI, 1.66v RAM Now each motherboard has its own limits and capabilities so it will VARY with every system/configuration. A lot of people do CPU Level Up or presets as well as AUTO settings which if it works for them then all for it. I'm more of an old school stress and lower, stress and higher type of guy and it works for me. What I mean about everything is different, I do have a 1366 motherboard. We built a computer for a friend, he had an ASUS Maximus III Formula paired up with i5-760. I knew for a fact that the presets were too high, they DID WORK but I wanted to lower it/tweak it some more. Presets put it to 1.35v CPU, 1.35v IMC, 1.65v RAM.. but the RAM is rated 1.5v so, you also gotta watch out for your RAM specs. By the end of me stressing it, I got it down to 1.21v CPU, 1.21v IMC, 1.5v RAM running at 4.0GHz (200x20) and IBT Max temp of 71C on AIR (Fenrir). Thats where I'm coming from when I say you don't need more voltage than you already need. After I got my desired voltages from TurboV, I went to my BIOS and saved it for permanent 24/7 use. Now this is just an example on a 1366 motherboard but it is somewhat similar to ocing a 1156 (I know I've OC'ed a lot of them lol) but it just take time and patience though I do recommend buying a better cooler since I don't really recommend stock cooling especially on AIR. They range anywhere from $35-60 for good ones so it may be good to invest in one of those. When stressing the CPU I only did 10runs for the initial "finding the sweet spot" voltage but after I found a good one I set it for 50 or 99, go watch tv, eat some food, workout then I come back and if it passes I try prime95 overnight. If you have a particular stress program that you like then go for it! theres also some people that say they did prime95 24hours, IBT 6 hours and say they were stable and still it rebooted on them but that goes to show that not even stress programs can determine if you're using the right voltages/settings... they are just there to put A LOT of load on your CPU to an event where you will need to use that much power, which in most cases there isnt really a game or program unless you do a lot of super heavy rendering that will put a lot of load on the CPU.
You know I actualy tried google with my ram but It gave me nothing, but here are some CPU-Z essential infos on them, maybe you could dig up that for me better: Also there is an update on PSU's watage and its 500W if its any important.
