I7 3820 overclock

MrPcGamer93

MrPcGamer93

MrPcGamer93

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Hey guys,
i need some advice,
ive never owned an intel system before and ive had my new build up and running now for a few weeks.
Im running the i7 [email protected] on my MSI big bang xpower II motherboard and im tearing out the radiator on my watercooling tomoro to replace it in a more convenient and better location. I was wondering what you guys think i could overclock my cpu to and if possible how because as i said ive never owned an intel based system before so i know nothing of them only how to change ratios, multipliers and voltages.
Any help would be great
Thanks
Nath
 
The max multiplier of the 3820 is 43 I believe, I've heard that 105x43 is popular for 4.5ghz (with power saving), otherwise if you stay at 100mhz BCLK you will need to use the 1.25 strap for beyond 4.3ghz and power saving isn't available with the strap afaik.
 
The 3820 loves water, especially given the voltages you may require for a high clock on one of these, You're pretty safe up-to around 1.5v under water, but obviously the lower the better.

mmj is correct, the MP is capped to 43x, but the skys the limit on what speed you can wrench out of a 3820. Straps come in 1.25x, 1.67x & 2.5x, this acts as a multiplier for the BCLK (Base clock) so effectively gives you a 125/165/250mhz base clock, you can also tweak the actual base (that the strap is multiplied from) up to around 105mhz (perhaps more).

So for instance, 102mhz (base) x 1.25 (strap) = 127.5mhz x 39 (core multiplier) gives an overclock of ~4.9ghz :)

The one thing I must stress is to buy good memory when clocking with straps, as you raise the base with a strap, the memory also overclocks. For example, usually for 1600mhz your system would run at XMP with 100 base and a 16x memory multiplier giving 1600mhz, with the 127.5 base I used above and a 16x memory multiplier would give ~2000mhz which without memory timing adjustments would probably fail, in such situation you may need to use say a 13.33x memory multiplier that would give ~1700mhz.

I would suggest investing in a decent kit of 2133/2400mhz memory, this way even if you have to slightly underclock the ram system performance won't take much of a hit at all.
 
Thanks for the replies guys,
I have Kingston HyperX Genesis 8GB (4x2GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz memory, so i think im set for that and its running at 2400mhz atm so that should be fine,
so you guys think that putting the mp to 42 and then working off that and a good voltage will be ok?
Ive heard setting them at max mp can lead to problems but that was just word of mouth though.
 
I have the exact same memory, I should be home mid afternoon I'll give you a base to work from with my 4.75ghz 24/7 settings :)
 
My 4.75ghz basic settings with memory at full 2400mhz:

BCLK: 102.9mhz
Strap/Ratio: 1.25x
Multiplier: 37x
Clock Speed: 4.759Ghz
Memory Multiplier: 18.66x
Memory Timings: 11-12-11-30-1T
Core Voltage: 1.44v (due to GB's vdroop is around 1.38v actual)
Memory Voltage: 1.65v

Hope this helps get you started, also its handy to have a pen/paper/calculator on hand when aiming for other clocks :)
 
Thanks for the replies, ill definitely have a fiddle around later, i completely tore apart everything so my radiator was flipped sideways so more air gets to it and i added another 3 fans onto it, now im getting temps on my cpu in the low 30`s, so its a lot better than before, thanks pgi947 ill test out similair settings and see what i get. :)
 
Ok this is really starting to annoy me now, i cant seem to get any setting to work, no matter what i do it just rejects the overclock, ive tried it using pgi947`s settings and those didnt work, i also tried just leaving the multiplier at 36 and adjusting the frequency bit thne the ram went way sky high up to around 2700mhz. I dont know what to do, theres just so many options to change i dont know what to do.
Please help!
 
Change the BLK strap to 1.25 and the memory divider to 2333mhz at XMP settings which you know to be good for 2400mhz. Then push the BLK upto around 1.27-128 to give you back 2400mhz RAM.

Now set multiplier and Vcore

Easy!!!
 
With the strap/base I mentioned above you need to set the memory multiplier/divider to 18.66x, this will give you a clean 2400mhz on the memory while allowing you to push the chip to 4.75/4.88/5.01.

102.9 x 1.25 x 18.66 = 2400 ;)

Not familiar with the MSI bios, can you post some screens up (usually F12 while in bios with a USB stick in) of what options you have :)
 
Here are some pics
MrPcGamer93


MrPcGamer93


MrPcGamer93


MrPcGamer93
 
Just looking now buddy :)

Right for my settings above, we will start with a lower clock (then you can just work the multipliers up) of ~4.66ghz.

Working from first screen to last:

CPU Base Clock: 102.9
CPU Base Clock Strap: 1.25
Adjust CPU Ratio: 36x (presume this means multiplier)
Internal PLL Overvoltage: Enabled
EIST: Disabled
DRAM Frequency: 18.66 or 1866 (again presume this is the memory multiplier, with the base strap will run at 2400mhz)
DRAM Timing Mode: Auto (for now, we can go manual once you're happy with the CPU clock, or if 'Auto' sets some daft timings)
Vdroop Control: Auto (for now, we'll see what kinds of droop you get once its up and running)
Primary Plane Turbo Power Limit: 500
1-2-3-4 core limit set all to 36 (adjust this with CPU ration when you overclock, I found the 3820 likes to clock with turbo enabled for whatever reason)
DDR A/B Voltage: 1.65v
DDR C/D Voltage: 1.65v
CPU Core Voltage: 1.45v (we can whittle this down once its up and running)


See how you get on with those settings and let us know how you get on, having trouble translating one or two settings from my setup to your bios but we'll cross that bridge should we need it.
 
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No problem, if you hit any issues take a screen cap with the available options and I'll try advise to the best of my knowledge.

How are you getting on with the BBXII motherboard? Looks like a really nice board and currently holds the record for the highest bclk speed (iirc ~179mhz). MSI have really stepped up their game lately on the high end stuff :)
 
Those settings did not work :(
I had a problem with the primary plane turbo power limit it only went up to 200 as when i put in 500 it just said invalid input range.
I have no idea why it wont clock, its like its just being a stuck up and bitch and saying no.
One other thing, like i said before when ive changed the cpu base clock the memory frequency goes higher than what ive set it to, i dont know why?
 
When you change the Base to 102.9 and the strap to 1.25 does it show the 'current CPU frequency' as 128.625mhz x 36?

For the memory try this:

DRAM Frequency: Disabled
XMP Mode: Enabled
XMP Frequency: 1866mhz

It should give you a predicted memory speed under the 'Current DRAM Frequency' second from top first screen. In theory it should say 2400mhz?

Hmm so the Turbo power limit may not be the same as on my UD7, try setting it to auto.
 
NP, when you get some time have a google about for some guides for OC'ing X79 on MSI and see what you find, even if its for overclocking a 3930K we can still weed out the key settings from it for the 3820 :)
 
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