Help me overclock/cool Ivy Bridge

[Yuriman]

My new Ivy Bridge chip came in the mail yesterday and I've been playing with with it. swapped it out for the Q6600 + X38 I've been using for 4 years, but kept my watercooling loop - Swiftech Apogee + Black Ice GT triple rad + Laing DDC pump + PC Ice coolant. Pulled the loop apart (haven't touched it in 4 years) and gave everything a thorough scrub, but surprisingly it was pretty clean inside.

Used Phobya HeGrease - reviews placed it among the top thermal compounds and it was cheap.

Don't mind the dust!



Currently my settings are:

Voltage mode set to offset, -0.025mv
C3 state: Disabled
C6 state: Disabled
C package state: Disabled
Internal PLL overvoltage: Disabled
LLC: Level 5


As seems to be the case with most Ivy owners, I'm slightly concerned with temps. These are my results:

4.3ghz -> 114.5gflops Linpack
+0mv -> 1.240v As reported by CPU-Z under load
Peak Temps: 90c

4.4ghz -> 116.5gflops
+27mv -> 1.272v
95c

4.5ghz -> 120gflops
+35mv -> 1.280v
100c

4.6ghz -> 122.5
+58mv -> 1.320v
105c - Throttles


Effectively I'm unable to exceed 4.5ghz with watercooling because of temperatures. The block doesn't even get warm to the touch, and my TIM application is good - I tried reapplying with no net gain.

Also, Linpack + Prime seem to be quite insufficient for stability testing. I left Linpack running overnight at 4.5ghz/1.262v and it was running when I woke up, and Prime doesn't crash either, but I get force-closes and crashes in games within 5 minutes unless I add another 0.010v.

So here's my question: Do you think lapping the CPU and waterblock might improve temps or is my limiting factor almost certainly between the IHS and core? I don't plan to de-lid my CPU.

EDIT: Also is there a way to reduce ram set aside for the IGP below 32MB? I can't seem to find a way to disable it entirely in BIOS.

[Ferzerp]

Originally Posted by Yuriman

I don't plan to de-lid my CPU.

Then you're likely stuck with what you have.

[Yuriman]

I remember reading somewhere about some people getting stable by lowering other system voltages at a given clock - do you know which voltages those might be, so I can play with them? Also, is Internal PLL Overvoltage likely to do anything for me at ~4.5ghz?

[Diogenes2]

What are your temps for programs you are likely to run day to day ?

I'm Folding @Home - 100% CPU, 4.4g 1.18 v and my temps are mid 70's max with Coolermaster 212+ ..

( not rig in my sig - above is with 3770K )

[Yuriman]

4.6ghz / 1.320v, Prime95 doesn't break 80c. Looking at it like that I probably still have headroom, but it's hard to stability test that way. I'll keep RealTemp running in the background and see how high it climbs.

[Kenmitch]

Originally Posted by Yuriman

I remember reading somewhere about some people getting stable by lowering other system voltages at a given clock - do you know which voltages those might be, so I can play with them? Also, is Internal PLL Overvoltage likely to do anything for me at ~4.5ghz?

If your chip will boot windows without internal pull over voltage most likely you don't need it.. PLL voltage maybe will help a little on temps if dropped and stable..

[borisvodofsky]

is it just me or is there only like 5 guys total, who responds in the cpu forum.

[Diogenes2]

Is it just me, or do we seem to get a lot of people asking if there CPU temps are safe ?

[rgallant]

-if you had a water temp. sensor it would be helpful , as it would be nice to know if the water is at 25c or 40c
-but something is wrong to have 105c @ 4.6

http://www.overclock.net/t/1250090/o...-owners-thread
http://www.overclock.net/t/1247869/o...nc-spreadsheet

-some user settings
-but a loop issue is likely.

[Yuriman]

Thanks much! The water is lukewarm, I'd wager it's around 28-30c. The block itself doesn't feel noticeably warm on the sides.

I basically just pulled the block off of my Q6600 which was purring along happily at ~50c load (overclocked) and put it on my IB, I don't think there's anything wrong with my WC loop. It's possible it's a mounting or contact issue, but I tried varying the mounting pressure and a remount and didn't see a change in temps. Perhaps my chip has particularly bad contact between heatspreader and core?

The thread you linked reports Prime Blend temps, which are considerably lower (15-25c) than when running Linpack; I'm sitting at 4.5ghz right now and getting about 78c on my hottest core with Prime running, as opposed to 100c with Linpack. Also, Prime seems to be a poor indicator of stability.

I'm in the middle of a move but I think that once I'm settled in I'll try lapping the block and CPU and see if I get an improvement.

Originally Posted by Diogenes2

Is it just me, or do we seem to get a lot of people asking if there CPU temps are safe ?

I didn't ask if the temps were safe.

[Kenmitch]

Originally Posted by rgallant

-if you had a water temp. sensor it would be helpful , as it would be nice to know if the water is at 25c or 40c
-but something is wrong to have 105c @ 4.6

http://www.overclock.net/t/1250090/o...-owners-thread
http://www.overclock.net/t/1247869/o...nc-spreadsheet

-some user settings
-but a loop issue is likely.

I use my gpu as a poor mans water temp sensor. I figure at idle its close enough for me to get an idea at least.

His temps do look to be rather high tho.

[tigersty1e]

Originally Posted by Yuriman

Also, Linpack + Prime seem to be quite insufficient for stability testing. I left Linpack running overnight at 4.5ghz/1.262v and it was running when I woke up, and Prime doesn't crash either, but I get force-closes and crashes in games within 5 minutes unless I add another 0.010v.

I noticed this too. I was 25 hour prime95 blend (95% ram filled) stable, but had to increase volts after crashing in black ops.

I think AVX prime95 has something to do with it.

[borisvodofsky]

don't be such a pussy, DELID.

[Kenmitch]

Originally Posted by Yuriman

I'm in the middle of a move but I think that once I'm settled in I'll try lapping the block and CPU and see if I get an improvement

If your willing to lap the cpu you might as well just delid as you'll have no warranty anyways. It doesn't look too hard to me. Seems like the odds of dicing a finger are greater than damaging the cpu.

[Don Karnage]

Something is very wrong. Pump still have good flow? What are your ambients?

[BD231]

Lower your LLC to 75% (level 3 or 4), that should cool it down quite a bit.

[Yuriman]

Originally Posted by BD231

Lower your LLC to 75% (level 3 or 4), that should cool it down quite a bit.

That's going to lower the load vcore though, right? I'll have to increase voltage to compensate for it... unless I'm missing something.

[Kenmitch]

Originally Posted by Yuriman

That's going to lower the load vcore though, right? I'll have to increase voltage to compensate for it... unless I'm missing something.

Your correct. I doubt it would do anything to your temps.

[borisvodofsky]

Originally Posted by Kenmitch

Your correct. I doubt it would do anything to your temps.

Take its cloths off already, ivy bridge was meant to run naked.

[BD231]

Originally Posted by Yuriman

That's going to lower the load vcore though, right? I'll have to increase voltage to compensate for it... unless I'm missing something.

You get lower peak voltages using a lower LLC, every bit counts.

[boondocks]

Seriously doubt lapping your cpu is going to net you anything. As for your cpu block, depends on what shape it's in, I guess. Some newer blocks are convex which puts more pressure on the center of the IHS, though I don't know how much that helps.

If you're running a high LLC setting then I would lower it and bump the DVID if you have to. Every little bit counts with IB and droop isn't a bad thing.

[Yuriman]

Update:

Finally settled at 4.5ghz. In bios I have offset set to -0.025v, and in the Intel Utility I have voltage set to +0.035v, so I'm running 10mv above stock. So far I've been running about 96 hours without any unexpected program closes or crashes.

Updated temperatures after paste has had time to settle in:

Intel Extreme Tuning Utility Stress Test: 72-75c
Prime95 Small FTT: 85-87c
Prime95 Blend: 68-70c
Prime95 Large FTT: 75-77c
LinX peaks around 95c

[Ferzerp]

Originally Posted by Yuriman

Finally settled at 4.5ghz. In bios I have offset set to -0.025mv, and in the Intel Utility I have voltage set to +0.035mv, so I'm running 10mv above stock. So far I've been running about 96 hours without any unexpected program closes or crashes.

Err, those really wouldn't be additive. If anything, if the Intel tool loads a profile after Windows starts, your offset is .035V (not mV).

[Yuriman]

Originally Posted by Ferzerp

Err, those really wouldn't be additive. If anything, if the Intel tool loads a profile after Windows starts, your offset is .035V (not mV).

Thanks! I'll check it out - however, my loaded CPU-Z-reported voltage is 1.280.

Also, I did mean volts (not mv).

[Ferzerp]

That's about the voltage mine needs for 4.5V too.