3930K Overclocking help

[Annisman*]

I've looked all over the net for help on overclocking this chip, and most of the good guides are way too in-depth, confusing me to no end!

My objective: 4.0 - 4.5Ghz (Constant 24/7 OC), while keeping my RAM at it's X.M.P speed of 2133Mhz and appropriate timings

My Components: Gigabyte X79 Assasin2 (F10 bios)
G. Skill RipJaw 16GB @ 2133Mhz XMP
i7 3930K w/ H100 Push/Pull
SSD/ 1k Power Supply/ GTX 6704GB SLI

The first thing I am confused about is bclk overclocking vs. using multipliers and/or straps.

Also, do I need to use Turbo Boost to OC this chip ? Should I be using it anyways ?

Will upping the multiplier change my RAM timings/speed around ? Will I have to keep playing with it to keep it at 2133mhz ?

I have seen that anything under 1.5V is 'safe' for this chip. How much will Vdroop affect this chip ? Will the voltage change while I am gaming etc. ?

My brief knowledge of overclocking this chip is to up the Vcore, disable C1e and speedstep etc. and bump the multiplier up until it is unstable. Does that sound about right ?

Somebody please give me a basic step by step guide on how to OC this chip. Maybe four or five steps, I'm not trying to set overclocking records and I don't care HOW it works just if I can get it to work!

If anyone knows a decent guide somewhere please post up a link.

Lastly, if anybody has overclocked on this mobo specifically your input would be very great!

 

[moonbogg]

I got mine overclocked to 4.5. Basically all I did was change multiplier, enable all C states and set offset voltage to equal, what is now 1.36v at load. If it crashes, I just bump voltage up a notch until crashing stops. You may need more voltage to be prime stable or for folding or what have you.
I don't recall changing much else really. All other voltages are set to auto. CPU current capability is at 130%.

 

[Annisman*]

How do you set offset voltage to equal ?

If I just change the multiplier to get to 4.5 Ghz, will that mess with my memory timings ? Will I have to change a ratio or something to keep them at 2133mhz ?

And thanks for the reply.

 

[pantsaregood]

There is no reason you should disable SpeedStep or C1E.

Changing your BCLK will affect the speed of your RAM and every other component with a clock associated with it. Raising the multiplier affects nothing but the CPU.

Unless you push your CPU insanely far, all you need to worry about overvolting is the CPU. Some SBs need PLL overvoltage at 4.5GHz or higher.

4.5 is usually a good place to start, by the way. Keep the voltage under 1.4v.

 

[Annisman*]

There is no reason you should disable SpeedStep or C1E.

Changing your BCLK will affect the speed of your RAM and every other component with a clock associated with it. Raising the multiplier affects nothing but the CPU.

Unless you push your CPU insanely far, all you need to worry about overvolting is the CPU. Some SBs need PLL overvoltage at 4.5GHz or higher.

4.5 is usually a good place to start, by the way. Keep the voltage under 1.4v.

Why should C1E and Speedstep not be disabled ? On the same note, should Turbo be on or off at this theoretical 4.5Ghz overclock ?

So according to you, change the Vcore to 1.4, change the multiplier to achieve 4.5Ghz, and that's all you have to do ?

Can you give me a brief summary of the CPU settings that should be left on or off (or auto) for a 24/7 cpu overclock ?

Off the top of my head, things like virtulization, C1E, speedstep, thermal throttling, turbo boost. etc.

Because I know some of them need to be disabled when overclocking, I mean, why would I want my CPU to ever downclock itself ? I'm looking for the best perfomance 24/7.

Thanks

 

[moonbogg]

Read a 3930K overclocking guide to get a basic foundation of understanding. I did that, and all I have is a basic foundation of understanding. All that is required to overclock these CPUs to 4.5 is a basic foundation of understanding. Simple questions may follow, but thats it.

 

[Annisman*]

Read a 3930K overclocking guide to get a basic foundation of understanding. I did that, and all I have is a basic foundation of understanding. All that is required to overclock these CPUs to 4.5 is a basic foundation of understanding. Simple questions may follow, but thats it.

Please beleive me, I have tried to read the guides for a 'simple' understanding and I always get completely confused : /

 

[georgekn3mp]

You don't even need to go to 1.4V usually, I got 4.5 GHZ with a Boot Strap of 45 at 1.36 Volts. No other changes except setting VDroop to "medium" on Asus P9X79 Mobo with i7-3930k. With very close to the same hardware you have
i7-3930k
Asus P9X79 Pro
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4gb) 1600
Crucial M4 256gb SSD
Corsair H100 and Corsair AX850 GOLD PSU
Gigabyte Windforce GTX 670 2GB

 

[Annisman*]

Everyone says that Prime 95 is the best way to test a stable overclock, which setting should I use to stress it ? Small ffts ? Anw for how long ? Thanks.

 

[pantsaregood]

Either Prime95 Blend it for a day or Linpack it.

Also, when I said 1.4v, I meant don't exceed 1.4v. Most SBs do 4.5 GHz on around 1.35v. At 1.4v, you may get a little higher.

Also, don't disable SpeedStep and C1E because there's no reason to disable them. They lower power consumption when your CPU is either idle or not being stressed. When your computer is sitting at the desktop, there's no real reason for six cores to be running at 4.5 GHz.

 

[Annisman*]

Either Prime95 Blend it for a day or Linpack it.

Also, when I said 1.4v, I meant don't exceed 1.4v. Most SBs do 4.5 GHz on around 1.35v. At 1.4v, you may get a little higher.

Also, don't disable SpeedStep and C1E because there's no reason to disable them. They lower power consumption when your CPU is either idle or not being stressed. When your computer is sitting at the desktop, there's no real reason for six cores to be running at 4.5 GHz.

Ok, thanks for the explanation, should Turbo be factored into my overclocking eqation though or not ?

 

[Rhyalus]

Here are two good sites...

http://www.gskill.us/forum/showthread.php?t=10512

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx2z07sFM2I&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL91E32848D715CA0A

I have the Asus P9X79 Pro and the i7 3930k... moderate OC was easy. The GSkill guide is pretty good (even if you don't have their RAM)

R

 

[Annisman*]

Here are two good sites...

http://www.gskill.us/forum/showthread.php?t=10512

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx2z07sFM2I&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL91E32848D715CA0A

I have the Asus P9X79 Pro and the i7 3930k... moderate OC was easy. The GSkill guide is pretty good (even if you don't have their RAM)

R

OMG, first of all thank you for the links, but just glancing at both, it seems that overclocking this thing is just way over my head, there is just so much to digest and it all revolves around acronyms and settings that I don't understand in the least.

 

[Rhyalus]

I agree - I am not serious about learning all of these things, but then again, I know not to try and push my system to 4.8 Ghz!

I printed out the Gskill thread, and then watched the video making notes... the hard part is that I just wanted to go to 4.2 GHz on the CPU and get my RAM up to 1600... these guys are usually telling you what to do to get the highest speed possible.

Do you have a UEFI BIOS so that you can follow along? I can post pics of my OC, but you should seriously learn at least the minimum.

I'll post pics soon.

BTW, you can just follow that video using the same settings and I think he gets to 4.6. If you follow him, with your CPU cooler you "should" be ok...

R

 

[Annisman*]

I agree - I am not serious about learning all of these things, but then again, I know not to try and push my system to 4.8 Ghz!

I printed out the Gskill thread, and then watched the video making notes... the hard part is that I just wanted to go to 4.2 GHz on the CPU and get my RAM up to 1600... these guys are usually telling you what to do to get the highest speed possible.

Do you have a UEFI BIOS so that you can follow along? I can post pics of my OC, but you should seriously learn at least the minimum.

I'll post pics soon.

R

That's exactly what I'm saying, these guys describe every little detail, which is fine for the super hardcore OC guys, but I just want a small OC with a couple pointers on a few settings to change. And I am trying to learn the 'minimum' but sometimes it's hard to get only the minimum which is what I want.

 

[pantsaregood]

I'd just disable turbo and set your multiplier to 45. You CAN overclock by use of turbo if you want, but it adds complexity to something that should be very simple.

 

[Annisman*]

Right now my Turbo is on auto and it doesn't seem to be boosting at all for me, so I think I will just disable it.

I changed my multiplier to 40 to achieve 4.0Ghz and changed my Vcore to 1.35, I enabled Speed Step and C1E.

Currently running Prime small ffts, the temps seem to be in the mid 60's.

What's strange is CPUz is showing my Core Voltage at 1.308 under load, I am assuming this is a Vdroop issue ? Is there any way to keep it closer to 1.35 ? Or should I just bump up my Vcore to 1.4 ?

 

[Rhyalus]

I'd just disable turbo and set your multiplier to 45. You CAN overclock by use of turbo if you want, but it adds complexity to something that should be very simple.

So what does that mean, exactly? From everything I have read, you have to compensate for voltage issues, change limitations built in to prevent the system from thinking increased voltage is from spikes, etc...etc...etc....

If you turn off turbo, does that mean that the CPU is always running at that speed?

R

 

[Rhyalus]

Right now my Turbo is on auto and it doesn't seem to be boosting at all for me, so I think I will just disable it.

I changed my multiplier to 40 to achieve 4.0Ghz and changed my Vcore to 1.35, I enabled Speed Step and C1E.

Currently running Prime small ffts, the temps seem to be in the mid 60's.

What's strange is CPUz is showing my Core Voltage at 1.308 under load, I am assuming this is a Vdroop issue ? Is there any way to keep it closer to 1.35 ? Or should I just bump up my Vcore to 1.4 ?

I think you are getting too particular. If the temps are good and the system is stable, you are looking at small changes in numbers that don't matter.

Here are some pics of my VERY mild OC... I just wanted to get it a bit higher than standard and run my RAM at 1600 which it was designed for.

Most things are at default - if I did not show something, I definitely did not change it.

R

 

[Diogenes2]

....

What's strange is CPUz is showing my Core Voltage at 1.308 under load, I am assuming this is a Vdroop issue ? Is there any way to keep it closer to 1.35 ? Or should I just bump up my Vcore to 1.4 ?

If it's stable I would leave it alone..

With 1.4, you could possibly get into the 4.6 - 4.8 range...

I'm stable at 4.4 and 1.3v.. You should have a little head room ..

The basic settings for OCing SB-e are no different than any other SB..

Just look at some of the SB overclocking guides for basic settings for things like LLC, and using voltage offset method for lowest stable vcore..

 

[Annisman*]

Thanks R, seeing those pics really helps me understand this better!

Btw, running at 4.5Ghz Prime stable (so far)

Highest temp hasn't gone past 72C, using 1.36 CPU vcore. Can we consider this a successful overclock ?

Edit: also, memory is still running at 2133Mhz where it is rated, it's so nice not to have to worry about changing the CPU speed, and then trying to match your RAM with a different multiplier, one thing I hated about my i7 920

 

[Rhyalus]

Thanks R, seeing those pics really helps me understand this better!

Btw, running at 4.5Ghz Prime stable (so far)

Highest temp hasn't gone past 72C, using 1.36 CPU vcore. Can we consider this a successful overclock ?

Edit: also, memory is still running at 2133Mhz where it is rated, it's so nice not to have to worry about changing the CPU speed, and then trying to match your RAM with a different multiplier, one thing I hated about my i7 920

Yup - please share your settings.

R

 

[Annisman*]

Completed Standard Intel Burn test in 6.6 seconds, at 135.1626 GFlops, what does that even mean ? And how can a 6 second test determine my cpu is stable ?

 

[Annisman*]

Yup - please share your settings.

R

So in summary:

I upped the Multiplier to 45

Changed the Vcore to 1.36

Bumped the LoadLine Calibration up to 80% (high) to help keep voltage stable under load.

Turned Speedstep and the C states on, which is excellent because now it idles in the mid 30's Celcius, and saves power I'm sure.

This was a much easier process than most overclocking guides would have you beleive, and I thank everyone for their help.

Of course, if I wanted to bump this up to 4.8 or 5.0Ghz I would need to use more advanced features I am sure, but as my goal was about 4.5 I am very happy.

Loving my temps (72C high and most of the other cores in the mid 60's under load) This H100 in push/pull with high static pressure Corsair fans seems to be kicking butt.

Now on to overclocking my two GTX 670 4GB cards !

Oh, and if anyone can tell me why on Earth Core Temp is crashing on me, please post in my other thread on the CPU/Overclocking Forum, having to use CPUID which doesnt have LCD display capabilities : (

 

[pantsaregood]

I wouldn't bump LLC up so high. It may actually result in your voltage being higher while under load.

Set Linpack to run for a long time. Let it go for about 12 hours. If you manage to Linpack for 12 hours, you should be pretty damn stable.