i7-920 can not get to 4GHz

[didgemaster]

Hi all,

Hoping there is some one out in OCUK land that can help me get my i7-920 to 4GHz

The CPU is a D0 revision and I bought the whole system about 2½ years ago. I have been running it at 3.8GHz its entire life

as I've been wary of temperatures! So now I've grown a pair I've decided I want 4GHz

i7-920 D0
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5
Patriot Viper 1600MHz
Corsair H50
Be-Quiet 900w PSU

I was running on F7 BIOS but I have now flashed it to F12

I have been following this guide - the quick and dirty settings wouldn't work

When the multiplier is set to 21 I am getting a stock vid between 1.232 and 1.248 running prime 95. I have used the
following settings in th BIOS

Advanced CPU Features:
CPU Clock Ratio ................................ [21x]
Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech .................. [Disabled]
CPU Cores Enabled ............................ [All]
CPU Multi Threading .......................... [Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) ................... [Disabled]
C3/C6/C7 State Support .................... [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor ......................... [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function ............................ [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology ................... [Enabled]
Bi-Directional PROCHOT ..................... [Enabled]


Uncore & QPI Features:
QPI Link Speed .............................. x36
Uncore Frequency .......................... x16
Isonchronous Frequency ..................[Enabled]


Standard Clock Control:
Base Clock (BCLK) Control ................ [Enabled]
BCLK Frequency (MHz) .....................133
PCI Express Frequency (MHz) ........... [100]

C.I.A.2 [Disabled]

Advanced Clock Control:
CPU Clock Drive ..............................[700mV]
PCI Express Clock Drive ................... [700mV]
CPU Clock Skew ............................. [0ps]
IOH Clock Skew ............................. [0ps]


Advanced DRAM Features:
Performance Enhance ...................... [Standard]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P) ......... [Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) ........ [8]
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) .......... [Quick]

Channel A + B + C

Channel A Timing Settings:
##Channel A Standard Timing Control##
CAS Latency Time ......................8
tRCD .......................................8
tRP .........................................8
tRAS .......................................24


##Channel A Advanced Timing Control##
tRC ........................................ [auto]
tRRD ....................................... [auto]
tWTR ...................................... [auto]
tWR ........................................ [auto]
tWTP ....................................... [auto]
tWL ........................................ [auto]
tRFC ....................................... [auto]
tRTP ....................................... [auto]
tFAW ...................................... [auto]

Command Rate (CMD) ................ [auto]

##Channel A Misc Timing Control##
Round Trip Latency ...................
B2B CAS Delay ..........................


Advanced Voltage Control:

CPU
Load Line Calibration ................. [Enabled]
Dynamic Vcore (DVID) ............... [Normal]
CPU Vcore ............................... 1.26875v
QPI/VTT Voltage 1.150v ............1.255v
CPU PLL 1.800v ....................... [auto]

MCH/ICH
PCIE 1.500v ........................... [auto]
QPI PLL 1.100v ....................... [auto]
IOH Core 1.100v ..................... [auto]
ICH I/O 1.500v ....................... [auto]
ICH Core 1.1v ........................ [auto]

DRAM
DRAM Voltage 1.500v .............. 1.66v
DRAM Termination 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-A Data VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-B Data VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-C Data VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-A Address VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-B Address VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-C Address VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]


I can up the BLK up to 178 and the system remains 24Hr stable. At 180 it fails.

I thought I had the system stable at 3.9GHz (Blk 186) as it passed 18Hrs of prime 95, but trying the same settings again it has just failed ( 1.29375 vcore)

Not sure what to do as I have tried lots of different QPI and vcore combinations an just can not seem to get the chip to run quicker

 

[didgemaster]

Thanks for the advice. Two problems:

I don't have compatible under performance enhance, its either standard turbo or extreme and for the QPI I have a choice of 1.315 or 1.335

 

[didgemaster]

OK I used Standard as its supposed to be more stable. at QPI 1.315 volts I got a BSOD within 2 seconds of starting Prime 95 error was 0x0124 and according to that guide I was following it says to increase/decrease QPI voltage - I went to 1.335 and th machine rebooted itself as I was entering my password!

 

[didgemaster]

Thanks w3bbo I'll give your settings a go - using 1.295 for QPI as 1.3 unavailable

 

[didgemaster]

BSOD after aprox 4 seconds

 

[didgemaster]

Trying QPI 1.315 first

try 2.0 Pll and 1.4 v core just to see if you get into windows.

Is this not pushing it a bit too far?

 

[didgemaster]

Move QPI to 1.315. One worker failed after running Prime 95 for just over 3 mins and two workers failed after 5 mins temperatures are hitting 78ºc

 

[didgemaster]

OK. QPI now at 1.335v

 

[didgemaster]

Worker failed at 5 mins, two at 6 mins

 

[didgemaster]

I have nervously (the BIOS writing has turned pink) moved the QPI to 1.375 volts.

running prime 95

 

[didgemaster]

PC Crashed - everything froze immediately I started prime 95

 

[didgemaster]

OK - settings are the same as post #9 but multiplier set to x21 blk set to 191, QPI 1.375

 

[didgemaster]

Thanks for the help and the confidence to let the BIOS go beyond spec

As my daughter is 5½ weeks old I have to go and perform fatherly duties, so I will continue this tomorrow. So far though 14 min stable!!

thanks again

 

[didgemaster]

OK started the computer up and it was stable for 21 minites before it rebooted - there was not a BSOD, so sorry no error code

 

[didgemaster]

use less pll on gigabyte boards, trust me on that

Do you have a suggested pll?

 

[didgemaster]

LEUVEN surely I would be required to change the uncore as irs supposed to be twice the memory multiplier?

 

[didgemaster]

i said a bit further up; 1.7 seems the sweet spot for my chip and board, you might need to go down a step or 2 more

Tried 1.7 and its 46 mins stable - I'll try 1.6

 

[didgemaster]

Multiplier set to x21 blk set to 191, QPI 1.375 and Vcore 1.375 temperatures will hit 81ºc maximum

With 1.7 pll I'm getting temperatures around 70ºc

with 1.6 pll it was stable for arond 20 mins

 

[didgemaster]

Any reason why you need to get 4GHz?

I managed to get mine stable at 3.8GHz with the vcore set to 1.16v.

To get it stable at 4GHz I had to bump that to 1.34+ and the temps were quite high.

200MHz less isn't that big a deal

I'm a folder ever MHz counts!

 

[didgemaster]

Slacken your timings off to 9-9-9-24 CMD - 2 just to eliminate your memory from the failures for the time being.

should I have the pll set to 1.7 or 1.8?