Want to overclock but confused.

DEL 707

DEL 707

DEL 707

Soldato
Joined
20 Mar 2004
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I overclocked my old PC many years ago and I did put this PC together with the aim of overclocking, but it ran pretty well out of the box, so I didn't bother. However I want to change that.

These are my specs -
  • Intel Core i7 930 2.80GHz (Bloomfield)
  • Asus P6X58D-E Intel X58
  • MSI HD 7850 Power Edition Twin Frozr IV OC 2048MB GDDR5
  • Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz
  • Antec 902 Nine Hundred Two (V3) Ultimate Gaming Case
  • Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator CPU Cooler
  • Sapphire Pure 625W Modular Power Supply

I've done some basic testing with Prime95 and SpeedFan, idle the CPU sits at 32C, running Prime95, it tops out at 58C.
Only things I can remember doing on my last PC was playing around with the FSB and the multiplier, and that it's linked in with the RAM, but I'm too scared of doing something wrong.

Can anyone help me get started?
 
DEL 707 said:
I overclocked my old PC many years ago and I did put this PC together with the aim of overclocking, but it ran pretty well out of the box, so I didn't bother. However I want to change that.

These are my specs -
  • Intel Core i7 930 2.80GHz (Bloomfield)
  • Asus P6X58D-E Intel X58
  • MSI HD 7850 Power Edition Twin Frozr IV OC 2048MB GDDR5
  • Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz
  • Antec 902 Nine Hundred Two (V3) Ultimate Gaming Case
  • Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator CPU Cooler
  • Sapphire Pure 625W Modular Power Supply

I've done some basic testing with Prime95 and SpeedFan, idle the CPU sits at 32C, running Prime95, it tops out at 58C.
Only things I can remember doing on my last PC was playing around with the FSB and the multiplier, and that it's linked in with the RAM, but I'm too scared of doing something wrong.

Can anyone help me get started?
Click to expand...

Read some guides... can't expect to learn without doing any legbwork yourelf. Read the link above, and do some Googling... it's how the rest of us learned. :)
 
O.k so basic question.

I'm in the Bios, I can see the BCLK Frequency and the CPU ratio setting, which I understand, the multipler only goes up to 22 by the looks of things, so at the default 133 fsb, I can only reach 2.9ghz.

The 1 thing I don't understand at the moment, (from reading the beginners guide) is the RAM divider.
My default RAM frequency is 1066, which obviously goes up if I increase my BCLK, but I can't see any RAM dividers. I do have a DRAM Frequency option which gives me several option to select, but I don't understand which to pick, because reading from that guide it says I should stay close to or under the original speed. I'm not sure how far I can push my RAM.

I looked on the OC website to look up my RAM and I found this.

- Each three module set is tested at 1600MHz
- Packaged together immediately following system test
- Tested together at 1600MHz, Vdimm = 1.65V, at latency settings of 9-9-9-24 on Intel X58 DDR3-based motherboards.
- SPD programmed at: JEDEC standard 9-9-9-24 values at 1333MHz.
- XMP 9-9-9-24 values at 1600MHz, 1.65V
- 6144 Megabytes of DDR3 memory
- Three matched 2GB modules
- 100% tested at 1600MHz in X58-based motherboards
- Supports Intel Extreme Memory Profiles (XMP)

Now when it says, tested at 1600Mhz, does that mean I can approach that speed? If so, why is my motherboards default setting so low?
 
The ram automatically defaults to 1066mhz on the x58 platform, as you raise the bclk this changes the ram speeds you can use in the dram frequency menu. Ideally, you dont want the ram to be running above 1600mhz, select the closest speed below 1600. The default multiplier on the 930 is 22x, (21 on the i7 920). I personally found 21x to be easier to use when clocking my 920.

Uncore clock, this should be 2x the ram speed +1, qpi link data rate, stay below 8000mts.

Heres a few screens from my old i7 920 on a p6t deluxe v2 board, identical to the p6 x58de.

Photo-0095.jpg

Photo-0096.jpg


Off course, the voltages you require will be different, but it will give you an idea.
 
Setter you are a complete STAR!!!

Those settings worked straight off the bat, currently running Prime95 now.
I kinda understand what I'm doing now, but all those voltages scare me something fierce!

What is a safe temperature for the processor to hit, I've been running on test for about 5 minutes now, machine is still suprisingly quiet.

Speed Fan is showing the CPU hitting around a max of 74C (it varies abit, at the moment it's at 68C) but the cores are hotter, reaching about 82C tops.

Ignore the GPU question, found the thread for it.
 
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Id personally prefer to stay below 85c when stress testing. Are your cpu and case fans ramping upto full speed when your testing?
 
They don't sound like they're going nuts.
Also just OC'd my graphics card, played close to an hour of Far Cry 3 without any problems.
 
As above, I prefer to stay under 80C (going up to 85C isn't the end of the world, but I wouldn't want it that high in any situation other than stress testing)

If you are stable after a few hours of prime and temps are fine, you can start dropping the cpu voltage one notch at a time to reduce temps further, using prime to test stability each time.. Or crank your fans up to increase air flow to your heatsink (maybe dust it off as well, makes a big diff)
 
you can use offset on that board i used to have one,set offset and add any extra voltage by using +0.0v ect in offset

you need to find out how much cpu voltage is used at stock clocks in the bios and subtract it from the stable 1.275v then enter that amount into offset

this way the cpu can downclock itself at idle/full speed at load
 
With the voltage, should I try dropping it 0.01v at a time?

Got to say i am happy with the results, only tried Farcry 3 and Planetside 2, but I can see a difference, much smoother :)
 
I've been playing with the voltage today, using the ASUS motherboard tool to change it.

At the moment I have it down to 1.24375, running Prime95, I'm getting Core temp spikes of 79-80C.
I'm not sure if I should keep playing around with it, worse case scenario if the voltage is too low, I'll get a crash?
 
Has it ran prime error free so far? For a quicker test, you can use intel burn test. Though this tends to run hotter than prime95. Are your fans running full speed? 1300 rpm is the rated speed for the fans on the D14 cooler, and whats the case airflow like, ambient room temp. Temps still seem a bit high for that cooler, on a prolimatech supermega with dual 1900 rpm fans, on the settings in the pic above i was maxing at 76c, dropped down to 69c when i changed cooler to an alpenfohn k2 with dual fans, one at 1100 rpm, the other at 1500 rpm. The k2 and the D14 are very similair in size and cooling ability.
 
yeah it will bsod if its too low,once you find the lowest stable cpu voltage you need to use offset so that cpu downclocks in speed/voltage at idle

to use offset set cpu v to that and apply a tiny amount to start with and increase if need be,check in cpu-z at load to see how much cpu v is being used and add more/less offset to get you close to your stable cpu v

it will be +0.0something maybe +0.0400v to start
 
Was offset an addition on the 2nd generation x58 boards? I also have a p6 x58 de based i7 930 rig. But on my older p6t deluxe v2, there wasnt an option for offset voltage.
 
im not sure,but on the p6x58d you could select offset which was the same as dvid on gigabyte boards

it didnt have the - offset though only the + unlike on gigabyte ud5 which had both -+ dvid so you could undervolt the cpu
 
Funny thing is, looking at CPU-Z, the CPU and the CPU0 fan , their RPM doesn't seem to change on idle or load, always around 1220-1270 RPM.

Airflow on my case is pretty good, I cleaned it out over the Christmas period, only thing I have done in 2 years or so, is change the thermal paste.
 
are you using a fixed voltage? if so thats why,its running at a constant 1.2 something cpu v and full cpu speed

if you spend time getting offset right it will use less than 1v at idle and around 1.6-2ghz and full speed at load

cpu fan will slow down/speed up if need be then,right now its at a constant speed because the cpu is running full pelt all the time
 
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