gigabyte load line level?

[tuffluck]

i am OC'ing my 2500k on a gigabyte z68-ud3h board and am a bit confused on some of the bios settings to use (seems every guide has a different opinion), specifically the LLC settings.

i just want it to run at 4.2ghz, so i manually put in 1.25v for the vcore and also set the LLC to Level 5, though i have no idea what Level 5 means...

i do see right now during stress testing the CPU reads 1.26v in cpu-z, so i assume LLC is adjusting volts for some reason? is level 5 okay for my 4.2?

also i read to turn off c1e, c3/c6, and speed step, but don't you want those enabled so that your CPU doesn't run at the OC multiplier 24/7 and instead clocks down to 1600mhz when not in use?

thanks for the help.

 

[cmdrdredd]

load line calibration simply prevents the voltages from fluctuating that much on the cpu. You should turn it on to a setting that keeps the voltage stable while you are stress testing.

When overclocking I turn off all the C1E and speedstep stuff. Sometimes when you set voltage manually and then tell the BIOS to downclock and adjust the voltage down when idle you get the voltage drop but your CPU clock doesn't change right away. Then you crash because the CPU cannot run 4Ghz+ at low voltage. Better to remain stable and just disable it.

 

[tuffluck]

load line calibration simply prevents the voltages from fluctuating that much on the cpu. You should turn it on to a setting that keeps the voltage stable while you are stress testing.

so if it increases to 1.26v while stress testing and my manual entry was 1.25v, is that considered pretty close to "stable?"

 

[cmdrdredd]

so if it increases to 1.26v while stress testing and my manual entry was 1.25v, is that considered pretty close to "stable?"

Yeah it's fine. You can try level 4 and stress again and see the result. The higher you set it from what I read, the more it will increase the mV to hold the voltage where you set it.

It basically counteracts vdroop, on older motherboards like the P35 for example, you didn't have a BIOS setting to account for this. So when you were stress testing you could drop from 1.4 to 1.35v and get a crash. So you either had to mod the board by soldering it up or increase the voltage to a level that keeps you stable. I set my motherboard to 1.45v but it is actually 1.37v when under load.

 

[tuffluck]

thanks. what about c1e, c3/c6, and speed step? okay to leave on?

 

[cmdrdredd]

Off preferable. I edited my post above to tell you why I feel it's better off. The short version is your system can become unstable when the BIOS tries to drop clocks and voltages. You might get the voltage drop but clock remains high and causes a problem.

 

[SHAQ]

I would leave it all on at a 4.2 OC. You should be able to do 4.2 at stock voltage or less.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I would leave it all on at a 4.2 OC. You should be able to do 4.2 at stock voltage or less.

Problem is, it will drop voltage below stock and also drop the multiplier below stock. That's how it maximizes the savings. When it doesn't do it synchronously is when there are potential issues.

In reality I can't tell someone whether it will work. I think it's best off, but some motherboards have options to limit how far the voltage drops when C1E is enabled.

The way I figure it is I want my CPU ready to go and don't want it dropping arbitrarily because it thinks there's nothing to do. I want the always there performance. Others might appreciate the reduced heat output and power usage. Best for someone to test both ways and see if they're happy with leaving it on or not. Every situation is slightly different. I determined that an MMO I was playing had some idle time every couple seconds and it would cause my CPU to raise and lower voltage and multi constantly causing stuttering.

 

[tuffluck]

so are you the only guys that believe to leave it at OC levels at all times? doesn't your computer idle at lower temps with it downclocking? i want a decent overclock, but i also want the CPU to last me for 5 years at that OC.

 

[cmdrdredd]

so are you the only guys that believe to leave it at OC levels at all times? doesn't your computer idle at lower temps with it downclocking? i want a decent overclock, but i also want the CPU to last me for 5 years at that OC.

I have had this CPU overclocked to 3.8Ghz up from 2.83Ghz @~1.4v 24/7 for 5 years now.

It's absolutely safe if it's stable. Sure it's a little hotter, or a little more power hungry but for me, it had problems when I tried using C1e etc. Try it with it on and see what you think. If it has problems turn it off and see if the issues go away.

 

[tuffluck]

I have had this CPU overclocked to 3.8Ghz up from 2.83Ghz @~1.4v 24/7 for 5 years now.

It's absolutely safe if it's stable. Sure it's a little hotter, or a little more power hungry but for me, it had problems when I tried using C1e etc. Try it with it on and see what you think. If it has problems turn it off and see if the issues go away.

thanks. also, why is it that cpu-z says at idle (still with speed step on) i am running at 1.27v, but when loaded only at 1.26v? shouldn't it be the opposite?

 

[cmdrdredd]

thanks. also, why is it that cpu-z says at idle (still with speed step on) i am running at 1.27v, but when loaded only at 1.26v? shouldn't it be the opposite?

No, when you load up work on your CPU the voltage will drop as it's stressing the system. LLC helps reduce the drop, the higher the level you specify in BIOS the more aggressively it attempts to hold the voltage.

I set 1.45v in BIOS for my CPU for example and in windows it reads as 1.42v. Under load it drops to 1.37v. Every motherboard is different but vdroop is a common issue overclockers have to deal with.

 

[tuffluck]

No, when you load up work on your CPU the voltage will drop as it's stressing the system. LLC helps reduce the drop, the higher the level you specify in BIOS the more aggressively it attempts to hold the voltage.

I set 1.45v in BIOS for my CPU for example and in windows it reads as 1.42v. Under load it drops to 1.37v. Every motherboard is different but vdroop is a common issue overclockers have to deal with.

so then the vcore that cpu-z reads under load, is that accurate? in other words, if i set the vcore at 1.35 and it reads 1.30 during load, is it running at 1.3 or 1.35? sorry i am a bit confused. i would think with more power being requested, the more voltage would also be requested. guess now just need to know if cpu-z is reading right. i'm stressing 4.4 right now and it says 1.248v, but 4.2 showed 1.26v.

 

[cmdrdredd]

The more stress, the more vdroop. It's just one of those things you have to balance when you overclock. You set 1.35 in BIOS lets say, then you load up windows and look at cpu-z and see 1.35 that's what it runs at idle. Then you run Prime95 and it drops to 1.30 due to vdroop. You are still running 1.35v but the board simply cannot hold that voltage when the CPU is under load. Usually the higher the clock speed the more droop.

Don't worry so much about the actual number. What your goal is, is finding the lowest voltage you can run at the desired overclock while remaining 100% stable. Whether it's dropping from 1.30v to 1.26v or 1.24v doesn't matter as much as it being stable at whatever voltage it droops to under load.

Basically what I'm saying is the drop isn't a big deal.

 

[tuffluck]

The more stress, the more vdroop. It's just one of those things you have to balance when you overclock. You set 1.35 in BIOS lets say, then you load up windows and look at cpu-z and see 1.35 that's what it runs at idle. Then you run Prime95 and it drops to 1.30 due to vdroop. You are still running 1.35v but the board simply cannot hold that voltage when the CPU is under load. Usually the higher the clock speed the more droop.

Don't worry so much about the actual number. What your goal is, is finding the lowest voltage you can run at the desired overclock while remaining 100% stable. Whether it's dropping from 1.30v to 1.26v or 1.24v doesn't matter as much as it being stable at whatever voltage it droops to under load.

Basically what I'm saying is the drop isn't a big deal.

that makes sense, but then why aren't people just setting vcore at the max, say 1.4 for an i5-2500k, and then just letting the vdroop drop to wherever it does that it can run stable?

i feel like there has to be a level where there is more voltage being used than required per a particular clock speed, i just don't know how to achieve that medium.

guess i'm also just wondering if i set 1.25v in the bios, is it really running at that or higher with level 5 LLC? it's hard to know what voltage the processor is really running at?

 

[tuffluck]

anyone? it seems odd to set manual vcore at 1.25v and then have LLC change it for you, almost making it completely pointless to set a manual voltage, right?

 

[Puppies04]

anyone? it seems odd to set manual vcore at 1.25v and then have LLC change it for you, almost making it completely pointless to set a manual voltage, right?

Not really, you see when you set a manual voltage what you are actually doing is setting a target voltage for the mobo to provide. Without LLC you would have to set a higher voltage to remain stable so it does serve a purpose.

On that note you will find that different people like to run their systems different ways, personally I would much rather my system idled at 1.6ghz and 0.9v while surfing the web or downloading and then give me full speed when I am gaming. I don't buy into the whole "I want my system responsive all the time" arguement because I really can't tell the difference between speedstep on and off other than the lower voltages and temps. If on the other hand speedstep was causing me to bluescreen then I would turn it off in a flash but that isn't the case. Look at the pros and cons and work out what is best for you.

 

[cmdrdredd]

If you set vcrore Max then at idle it runs Max and heats way up for no reason. The idea is to find a stable overclock with minimal voltage. LLC just let's you use the voltage you set by helping reduce the droop. You don't want the core too high especially without very good cooling

 

[cmdrdredd]

Not really, you see when you set a manual voltage what you are actually doing is setting a target voltage for the mobo to provide. Without LLC you would have to set a higher voltage to remain stable so it does serve a purpose.

On that note you will find that different people like to run their systems different ways, personally I would much rather my system idled at 1.6ghz and 0.9v while surfing the web or downloading and then give me full speed when I am gaming. I don't buy into the whole "I want my system responsive all the time" arguement because I really can't tell the difference between speedstep on and off other than the lower voltages and temps. If on the other hand speedstep was causing me to bluescreen then I would turn it off in a flash but that isn't the case. Look at the pros and cons and work out what is best for you.

Right and in my case I played an mmo that would cause the CPU to go idle then load up then idle constantly. This caused the game play to suffer so I had to turn it off. As I said before, every situation is different. I recommend it be turned off most of the time since it is possible to have stability issues with it on and then you end up trying to troubleshoot everything. If you wish to get the savings then by all means use it.

 

[tuffluck]

Not really, you see when you set a manual voltage what you are actually doing is setting a target voltage for the mobo to provide. Without LLC you would have to set a higher voltage to remain stable so it does serve a purpose.

On that note you will find that different people like to run their systems different ways, personally I would much rather my system idled at 1.6ghz and 0.9v while surfing the web or downloading and then give me full speed when I am gaming. I don't buy into the whole "I want my system responsive all the time" arguement because I really can't tell the difference between speedstep on and off other than the lower voltages and temps. If on the other hand speedstep was causing me to bluescreen then I would turn it off in a flash but that isn't the case. Look at the pros and cons and work out what is best for you.

i have speedstep on, so it idles at 1600mhz, however the cpu-z vcore reads 1.29v and not .9v. is that because of LLC? how do i get it to .9v, by decrease LLC to level 3 or something, or by disabling it altogether?

 

[tuffluck]

i'm going to try setting the offset voltage (so it downclocks when idling) to -.11, since it shows my stock voltage at 1.36 (jeez, don't know why, that's frickin high!)...nevertheless 1.36-.11 = 1.25v. i disabled the LLC altogether, and i went into cpu-z with 4.2ghz and instantly noticed cpu-z showed a .9v idle. i ran p95 and core voltage in cpu-z reads 1.20v.

i guess this is the vdroop we talked about, where my bios vcore setting is 1.25v but under load the cpu can only hit 1.20v? either way, if it's stable at 4.2 @ 1.2v, then i am fine with that setting.

let me know if i'm doing anything wrong.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

No point running at full speed 24 7, the under locking options are good and just go as far as they allow. 200-300mhz really doesn't make non benching difference when you cross 4.2ghz ESP

 

[tuffluck]

No point running at full speed 24 7, the under locking options are good and just go as far as they allow. 200-300mhz really doesn't make non benching difference when you cross 4.2ghz ESP

k, well i am stable so far running prime with 1.25v @ 4.2, which i feel is pretty good. btw, i have no idea what stock voltage actually is...

 

[cmdrdredd]

i'm going to try setting the offset voltage (so it downclocks when idling) to -.11, since it shows my stock voltage at 1.36 (jeez, don't know why, that's frickin high!)...nevertheless 1.36-.11 = 1.25v. i disabled the LLC altogether, and i went into cpu-z with 4.2ghz and instantly noticed cpu-z showed a .9v idle. i ran p95 and core voltage in cpu-z reads 1.20v.

i guess this is the vdroop we talked about, where my bios vcore setting is 1.25v but under load the cpu can only hit 1.20v? either way, if it's stable at 4.2 @ 1.2v, then i am fine with that setting.

let me know if i'm doing anything wrong.

You're doing it right really. if 1.2v is stable for a 12+hour prime95 test then I'd say good to go. A lot of people do 24hours but I don't find it necessary. After 12 hours you're already stressing the system numerous times more than every day usage.

 

[Puppies04]

i have speedstep on, so it idles at 1600mhz, however the cpu-z vcore reads 1.29v and not .9v. is that because of LLC? how do i get it to .9v, by decrease LLC to level 3 or something, or by disabling it altogether?

No, if you are at 1.29v while idling at 1.6ghz then you have manual voltage set not offset voltage. LLC helps to smooth out vdroop under high load it shouldn't change your idle voltage much at all.