The Official OC (OverClocking) Thread!

Very good sugestion he gave you. I had mentioned this several hundred post by 2 or 3 yrs bk. It works because residual currents remain in caps on certain circuts so it is often a good idea to do this. I will add, while bat is removed, during the 10 + minutes, tap ATX pWR button to help discharg caps in system. This has helpd many times when I had what felt like a bad BIOS flash or crash or lock up. I have had to do it for up to 1 hr once (older P4C800E) so it is evident that partially charged caps can make a difference after time.

The E6600 in genral was a good OC'r but there were some "not so great" batches, I believe the later into mid '07 on or so. 1975X, P35, X38/48 were excellent chipsets for this core to take it over 400+ FSB. I hit 500FSB on mine as well as a Q6600. To test for stability, keep CPU:RAM in a 1:1 or 1:2 before you tweak RAM. Also leave timings stock or loose for testing. I pointed out some key voltages to pay attention to during this tweaking. Main 1s are of corse vcore, PLL, VTT, NB/SB, CPU/GPU GTL Ref as well as disabling other key items like any turbo modes, speed spectrum control, and try to use manual more then auto for the main items so you are in control, not the mobo. Even if just fixed to defult till you get used to them.

Good luck

 

I'm impressed so far. I dropped a i7 930 into my Rampage II Gene micro and it booted right up out of the box where a pulled i7 930 running 4.10GHz left off. TIM hasn't really set in but temps look close so far w/i a 1~2c I hope to see if I an lower my vcore of 1.288v. I'm testing at 1.277v rith now. These are woking idle vocores, actual loaded will ping before 1.302, and now 1.290v (loadline Calibration Enabled)

 

After a bit of tweaking it appears to be stable at 2.925Ghz (325x9) now. Going to need to tweak something besides the cpu voltage to get any higher though. One of the very peculiar things about this system is that if I lower the RAM/fsb ratio it won't post (i.e. 2:3 is fine but 1:2 isn't). Probably after reading up on the signals Nick listed, haven't seen a couple of them before.

btw I haven't the slightest clue as the proper way to remove the battery. No matter what I try it doesn't want to budge, and I'm not about to try and force it out lol.

 

Red_Maw,
Usually there is a little metal tab sticking up on the battery socket. Just press it sideways and the battery will usually fall out if the MB is mounted in the case. on mine I just use a small pocket screwdriver to push the metal tab. You shouldn't miss seeing it unless a board or something is in the way.

Best Regards,
Russ

 

I poked at what looked like metal tabs with a screwdriver and the battery still doesn't budge. This what I'm looking at:

 

Red_Maw,
Push it towards the outside of the battery socket! Those two little barbs on it are what holds the battery in!

Russ

 

ok all you OC'ers im finaly working on a OC on this new mobo,(ga-ep45-ud3p) i got it running 3.83ghz with next to no major adjustments. but trying ot atke it to 4.03ghz it wont pass more than half mem used in IBT. here is a shot of what i have set in my bios.

MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
Robust Graphics Booster ...............:fast
CPU Clock Ratio ...........................:8 X
Fine CPU Clock Ratio.....................:+0.5
CPU Frequency .............................:4.03(471x8.5)

Advanced Clock Control Press Enter
CPU Host Clock Control..................:Enabled
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ............:471
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) ........:auto
C.I.A.2 .................................isabled

CPU Clock Drive..........................:800mV
PCI Express Clock Drive...............:900mV
CPU Clock Skew (ps)...................:0ps
MCH Clock Skew (ps)...................:50ps

DRAM Performance Control
Performance Enhance...................:Standard
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.).....isabled
(G)MCH Frequency Latch...............:Auto
System Memory Multiplier ..............2.00D
Memory Frequency (Mhz) ....800....:942
DRAM Timing Selectable ................:Manual

Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time.............5........5
tRCD ...............................7........5
tRP'..................................7........5
tRAS...............................24.......18
Advanced Timing Control
tRRD.......................4.................4
tWTR......................4..................4
tWR.........................8.................13
tRFC........................68...............56
tRTP.........................4................4
Command Rate (CMD) .......0........0

Driving Strength Profiles
Driving Strength ........................... 1066

Channel A
Static tRead Value...............8.....: 11
tRD Phase0 Adjustment.......0.......: Auto
tRD Phase1 Adjustment.......0.......: Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment ......0.......: Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment.......0.......: Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank)...........6....: Auto
Twr2wr(Different Rank)..........6....: Auto
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...........5....: Auto
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank).........8.....: Auto
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control............: Auto
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control............: Auto

Channel B
Static tRead Value...............8........: 11
tRD Phase0 Adjustment........0.......: Auto
tRD Phase1 Adjustment....... 0.......: Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment .......0.......: Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment........0.......: Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank)..........6.....: Auto
Twr2wr(Different Rank)..........6....: Auto
Twr2rd(Different Rank)........... 5....: Auto
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..........8.....: Auto
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control.............: Auto
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control.............: Auto

Motherboard Voltage Control
Voltage Type.………... Manual
CPU
Load Line Calibration......................isabled
CPU Vcore….…….1.27500V...........:1.325v
CPU Termination…..... 1.200V*........:1.200V
CPU PLL……………….1.500V*.......: 1.500V
CPU Referennce.……...0.760V*.......: .760

MCH/ICH
MCH Core……………...1.100V.........:1.22V
MCH Reference….…….0.760V.........:Auto
MCH/DRAM Ref.…......0.900V..........:Auto
ICH I/O…………….....1.500V............:1.50
ICH Core…………...…1.100V............:1.100V

DRAM
DRAM Voltage ……....2.100V..........:2.100V
DRAM Termination .…0.900V...........:Auto
Channel A Reference 0.900V............:Auto
Channel B Reference 0.900V............:Auto
Advanced Settings
Limit CPUID Max. to 3.....................: Disabled
No-Execute Memory Protect.................: Enabled
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)...................: Disabled
C2/C2E State Support......................: Disabled
x C4/C4E State Support....................: Disabled
CPU Thermal Monitor 2(TM2) ...............: Enabled
CPU EIST Function.........................: Disabled
Virtualization Technology.................: Disabled

 

Robo

we the only one's here got the UD3P.I Believe

MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
Robust Graphics Booster ...............:fast
CPU Clock Ratio ...........................:8 X
Fine CPU Clock Ratio.....................:+0.5
CPU Frequency .............................:4.03(471x8.5)

Advanced Clock Control Press Enter
CPU Host Clock Control..................:Enabled
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ............:471
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) ........:auto
C.I.A.2 .................................isabled

CPU Clock Drive..........................:1000mV
PCI Express Clock Drive...............:800mV
CPU Clock Skew (ps)...................:0ps
MCH Clock Skew (ps)...................:50ps

DRAM Performance Control
Performance Enhance...................:Standard
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.).....isabled
(G)MCH Frequency Latch...............:Auto
System Memory Multiplier ..............2.00D
Memory Frequency (Mhz) ....800....:942
DRAM Timing Selectable ................:Manual

Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time.............5........5
tRCD ...............................7........5
tRP'..................................7........5
tRAS...............................24.......15
Advanced Timing Control
tRRD.......................4.................4
tWTR......................4..................4
tWR.........................8.................6
tRFC........................68...............62
tRTP.........................4................4
Command Rate (CMD) .......0........0

Driving Strength Profiles
Driving Strength ........................... 1066

Channel A
Static tRead Value...............8.....: 9
tRD Phase0 Adjustment.......0.......: Auto
tRD Phase1 Adjustment.......0.......: Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment ......0.......: Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment.......0.......: Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank)...........6....: Auto
Twr2wr(Different Rank)..........6....: Auto
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...........5....: Auto
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank).........8.....: Auto
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control............: Auto
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control............: Auto

Channel B
Static tRead Value...............8........: 9
tRD Phase0 Adjustment........0.......: Auto
tRD Phase1 Adjustment....... 0.......: Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment .......0.......: Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment........0.......: Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank)..........6.....: Auto
Twr2wr(Different Rank)..........6....: Auto
Twr2rd(Different Rank)........... 5....: Auto
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..........8.....: Auto
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control.............: Auto
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control.............: Auto

Motherboard Voltage Control
Voltage Type.………... Manual
CPU
Load Line Calibration......................isabled
CPU Vcore….…….1.262500V...........:1.337v
CPU Termination…..... 1.200V*........:1.380V
CPU PLL……………….1.500V*.......: 1.570V
CPU Referennce.……...0.760V*.......: 0.815

MCH/ICH
MCH Core……………...1.100V.........:1.280V
MCH Reference….…….0.760V.........:0.760v
MCH/DRAM Ref.…......0.900V..........:0.770v
ICH I/O…………….....1.500V............:1.500v
ICH Core…………...…1.100V............:1.100V

DRAM
DRAM Voltage ……....2.100V..........:2.100V
DRAM Termination .…0.900V...........:0.710v
Channel A Reference 0.900V............:0.900
Channel B Reference 0.900V............:0.900
Advanced Settings
Limit CPUID Max. to 3.....................: Disabled
No-Execute Memory Protect.................: Enabled
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)...................: Disabled
C2/C2E State Support......................: Disabled
x C4/C4E State Support....................: Disabled
CPU Thermal Monitor 2(TM2) ...............: Enabled
CPU EIST Function.........................: Disabled
Virtualization Technology.................: Disabled


these setting here work on my board at 3.9ghz to 4.1ghz after that I gotts turn the volts up to 1.387v to hold 4.250ghz stable,But remember your bios are the latest 1's. I have FB remeber,I told you I flashed to yours and these setting would'en work at all so,I flashed back and left everything alone like it was get out auto mold it does'nt help when your trying to Oc.

 

Has anybody here moved to i7 on X58? I haven't been on most of last year so I may have missed it. I wanted to add I just retired my trusted workhorsew i7 920 DO to the new i7 930 DO and what a champ it is turning out to be for the matched price. If anybody here is looking into buying into X58 then I have to strongly recomend this CPU, the Intel Core i7 930 It booted right out of the box to the $.0GHz where my pulled 920 left off as a daily user and now very easily moved to 4.2GHz on barely a slight vcore increase to 1.345v and the tepms are actually the same at 4.2G on the 930 as they used to be at 4G on the 920 so I got room to move upto 4.3GHz next for the challange. I feel this core will do it.

On another note, I still have the Gigabyte GA M55 UD5 with i5 750 so if anybody has this pair or simular I am willing to share what I know as I get time to OC this one too.

"Clock It Forward"

 

I think I'm the only one who regularly posts here with an i5 750 at the moment, I've been at 196x21=4116mhz for the last few weeks. Seems stable enough, though I did get one MEMORY_MANAGEMENT BSOD the other day, and I wondered if the automatic memory voltage was sufficient, so I turned it up to 1.66 in the BIOS (reads 1.65 in Everest now, versus 1.63).
At the current settings (VCore is 1.375, now manually set, but auto volts produced the same) a 'standard' 1024MB test of IntelBurnTest passes without incident.

 

Thanks Russ, that's what I thought but "holder" tended to go with the battery so decided to stop before both of them got removed. I'll try it again and see if I can get one without the other.

I almost got a i7 but decided the cost wasn't worth it since my main rig (the one I'm OCing) came back to life about 2 weeks ago.

 

Red_Maw,

A little pair of Needle Nose Pliers or your index finger and your thumb. If you look straight down at it you should be able to see the little barbs that hold the battery in, that are on the little metal tab. pinch the little tab and the plastic housing together and it should pop right out. The tab pushes "Away' from the center of the battery! I'll see if I can find an overhead picture and add it to this post, if I do!

EDIT:Here's a pic. let me know if your battery socket is a different type. Most I've seen, are the type in the picture, or very similar. You can see one of the little barbs on question. The battery slips under the two plastic tabs on one side of the socket and the spring/tab, opposite them! Slip the battery under the plastic tabs and just push it down with your finger till it snaps in.




Russ

 

With regard to cost, the i7 930 is a better value chip than the 920 for being faster and a better overclocker for a very similar price, but it doesn't do a great deal for the value of the LGA1366 platform in general.

 

Well make that 2 of us now. I got one sort of half fast put together for the kids but I of corse wanna see what she can do, "more Power". What mobo did you go with. They wanted the Gigabyte P55 chipset. 1st things 1st is I'm gonna slap an old ThermalRight Ultra 120 Ex on this cause she gets hot quick on stock cooler as soon as I move above 166 BCLK.

i have to add to my CPU cooler top recomendations. I want to add Noctua back in there since I have now used one again since 5 yrs & boy do they give a Ultra 120 EX a run for the money. Even if barely in close range w/ dual fan (Noctua NH-U12P SE 2 Ultra) I got mine for $65. on sale and it is a close match to the TR 120 EX but you get 2 great low speed , high CFM fams included. Not the flashy looking things but for those of us who owned Noctua know these fans and you can spot them from accross a room. But they are quieter then most I have used at same speeds and volume. But bow they have a new model out, Noctua NH-D14 Ultra Silent. This is a big boy, and sure gives the TR I-FX something to take to challange in both size and performance. I dont own 1 yet but I can only imagine it has to do a tad better at lower temps then mine. I have to add one more for good price /performance value, the Thermolab Baram $39. from HeatSink Factory. this w/ a dual fan can just bout keep up w/ the Noctua in very close range w/ the right fan set. It does great w/ low speeed to since it has a low resistance factor fin design. Look it up, see what you guys think. If space is an issue in an HTPC or desktop case, the concider the Noctua NH-C12P SE14. This is a great upgrade or replacement to the classic ThermalRight XP-120 but w/ a great performance increas.

 

I'm using the Gigabyte P55A-UD4, with the Lotes CPU socket and USB3/S-ATA 3 chips. Bought another Ultra-120 so I could keep the old one on my Q9550 as I intend to carry on using it. This time went for the Extreme (Rev. C) over the basic A model, as the prices for them have gone up quite substantially since I bought my first two. Temperatures don't seem any better/worse than my Q9550 when at high voltages, but the chip is phenomentally fast considering, I'm very happy with it.
I know someone who has an IFX-14, who complained it was unnecessarily difficult to install (Like quite a lot of CPU coolers these days, Ultra-120s excluding), and from what I can see from benchmarks, the IFX doesn't outperform the Ultra-120 by very much. It is nice that you get some fans included with Noctua's coolers, but for those with sensitive ears, Noctua fans never used to be up to par as they had a very irritating bearing whine that negated the benefit of their otherwise excellent CFM/dB ratio.

 

Here's an update on the recent core i7 930 project in the micro ATX mobo ASUS RAMPAGE II GENE X58 ICH10R. Here is a basic daily user BIOS profile from RAMPAGE II EXTREME with same BIOS and CPU.

Extreme Tweaker
BCLK Frequency [200]
CPU Multiplier [21]
PCI-E Frequency [210]
DRAM Frequency [1603]
UCLK Frequency [3206]
QPI Frequency [7218]
DRAM Timing Configuration
1st Timings [6-8-6-24-5-88-14-8-24-4]
2nd & 3rd Timings AUTO
EPU II Phase Control [FULL RANGE]
Load-Line Calibration [ENABLED]
CPU Differential Amplitude [800]
Intel Turbo Mode [DISABLED]
Voltages
Vcore [1.33250] 1.323
PLL [1.88692] 1.885
QPI [1.33650] 1.320
IOH core [1.20616] 1.204
IOH 1.5v [1.52431] 1.521 PCIE
ICH core [1.20616] 1.204
ICH 1.5v [1.52431] 1.515 PCIE
DRAM Bus [1.65681] 1.654
DRAM Ref [AUTO]
CPU Configuration
CPU Ratio [Auto]
C1E Support [Enabled]
Adjacent Cache Line Prefetcher [Disabled]
Intel VTT [Enabled]
CPU TM 2 [Enabled]
Execute Bit Disable [Enabled]
Intel HTT [Enabled]
Active Processor Cores [All]
A20M [Disabled]
EIST (Speed Step) DISABLED
Intel Turbo mode optional if using EIST
C State Mode [ENABLED]
Other Settings
Debug Mode [STRING]
Keyboard TweakIt Control [DISABLED]
CPU & PCIE Speed Spectrum [DISABLED]
CPU & PCIE Clock Skew [AUTO]

 

i know a little off the current stuff, but I'm rebuilding my old x38 based mobo as a media workstation and want a good overclocker of the last of the LGA775 quads w/o putting a whole of money into it. I used both the Q9450 & Q9550 when new and wanted to see who on here used one and which revisions were known to be a better overclocker then others. I didnt have such best luck w/ my early Q9450 to 3.6GHz tops but I'd like to get 4GHz comfortable. Was there better versions of the Q9450 later?

 

The Q9450 didn't see any new steppings, the Q9400 came out which was a cut down version.
The Q9550 on the other hand came out with a new E0 stepping much better for overclocking and these, assuming your FSB was good, could reliably overclock to over 4Ghz on reasonable voltages. There was also a Q9650, based off the QX9650 but with a locked multiplier, that fared very well.

 

the Q9650 was also an E0 stepping.

 

As far as I can remember, E0 was the only stepping for the Q9650, and was the CPU on which the Q9550 E0 was derived. The original Q9550 was C1, and required far higher voltages to overclock, as did all the Q9450s for which, to my recollection, no newer stepping was produced.