How can I improve my temps? Prolimatech Megahalem with AC5

[faxon]

yea i unfortunately dont know what the BCLK voltage is called on gigabyte boards, you are probably bumping up against a BCLK wall at its given voltage, but i dont want to accidentally tell you to raise the wrong thing. just wait it out until tomorrow, you will get there. at least you got it to 3GHz. also, try testing your CPU stability with OCCT instead of prime 95. it uses the same algorithm as prime95 but it finds errors 10 times faster than prime 95, and if you want to do ultimate temperature tests + maximum CPU stability, you can try testing it with linpack. if your cpu can past 20 minutes of linpack on high (90% mem) in OCCT, it's probably stable lol. like i said before, i just dont use it because i dont have the airflow over my cooler, and heat builds up in the cooler until the CPU overheats. you shouldnt have that problem though, since you have more than twice the airflow over your cooler as me . i also tend to test for about 20 times longer than i need to to determine stability, since i want to be able to run my rigs 24/7 stable for a week at full load if i want to without worry lol

 

[Sekkai]

Cool, I'll grab OCCT and Linpack.

I feel like I've been slowly amplifying everything to the point of basically gaining enlightenment... and now it's more like a slow crawl/projectile diarrhea. I'm not sure why things seemed to be working so well only to have them suddenly start dogging out on me. Nor do I know how to fix those highlevel overvoltage lights.

Ideally, I want to run at a high Ghz such that:
Temps <=70, 75 max
No overvoltage lights on
>4 Ghz

That's about it.

 

[Sekkai]

Can anyone improve my process?

How should I properly adjust VCore? QPI/Vtt? IOH? VDIMM?

Which multipliers for Uncore stuff? How do I check my RAM timings/what do I need to change them to? What is the general PROCESS here?

 

[Sekkai]

Anyone have any answers regarding these voltage settings or Uncore settings?

 

[Sekkai]

What are some default values I can set at stock levels, and what should my adjustment process be?

 

[Shmee]

hey, just got here, Hopefully you are making progress by now

anyhoo, A few tips: first, guides usually recommend an uncore frequency of 2x or 2x+1 the memory multi. 2x never seemed to work right for me, and even 2x+1 was questionable. I noticed that depending on my BCLK and QPI VTT, I get best results around x14-x16 uncore. I believe right now I am at x15.

uncore is tricky. It cant be too low, it cant be too high. If you are trying for 4 GHz or higher, you will probably be using x14-x15, depending on your OC and assuming you are using the lowest ram multi of x6.

And the 2 most important voltages are Vcore, and QPI VTT. QPI VTT will not only help stabilize QPI link and high BLCK, but also your uncore.

For a higher OC of 4 GHz or above, try starting out with something like 1.375 Vcore and around 1.3 QPI VTT. Also, if turbo mode is off, try turning it on. It will get your OC higher without stressing the board with high BCLK. Also, I do recommend turning off the power saving features, like C1E and others.

So try these settings, and when you run CPUZ on a successful windows boot, it should say about 191x21 (about 4 GHz, that is what you should try, which is 191 BLCK and 20x core multi plus turbo.) and if you can get that stable after stressing and the temps are still good, try for 200x21, where I am at. 4.2 GHz!

Oh, and Good Luck!!!

 

[Sekkai]

Thanks!

I have a few other questions though -- am I supposed to mess with my IOH Voltage/DIMM voltage at all?

How do I get around those green overvoltage lights lighting up? Is that a bad sign or does it just mean I am doing something wrong? I'm not sure how to reconcile those signals.

 

[Sekkai]

I set the memory multiplier to 6x at baseclock 133. By the time I'm up to 200, that memory frequency is quite high. Thing is, the uncore frequency also needs to be some appropriate multiplier relative to the memory multi (some say double, others say double + 1, or double + 2, 3, etc), not sure which is best, nor do I know which mem multi is best, either.

Are there any other important relationships (e.g. "VTT and VDIMM within .5v")?

Is it unsafe if I just put all those settings at max as I run up my baseclock? e.g., set VTT to 1.35, VDIMM 1.65, the VIOH thing to I-don't-know, VCore to like 1.3, etc?

What is *unsafe* for the computer? Setting the voltages to inappropriate levels, or does the baseclock RELATIVE to potentially safe voltage levels matter, too?

Are gigabyte's overvoltage lights bad if they are lit, even? I had those lights go off at the higher clocks, but then when I'd try to lower the vcore (I figure overvoltage lights imply I am setting my levels too high) and things would crash, which confused me.

 

[Sekkai]

Clock Ratio 20x
Turbo Boost enabled
Hyperthreading disabled
C1E disabled
QPI Link Speed x36
Uncore QPI Link Speed x36
Uncore Frequency x16
Backclock Frequency: 200
Performance Enhance: Turbo
System Memory Multiplier: 6.0

RAM timings on 6/6/6/18 command rate 2

Load Line Calibration: Enabled
VCore: 1.325
QPI/VTT: 1.335
IOH Core: 1.22
DRAM: 1.640
All advanced voltage settings on Auto except VCore, VTT, IOH, and DRAM voltage


4.2 Ghz achieved!

Load temps around 70C but some of the cores like to fluctuate about 70-74C. I hope these are not too hot?

 

[Sekkai]

Is it true that as long as I'm sub-85C, I'm fine?

 

[faxon]

yea pretty much. lower is always better, but 70-74c @ 4.2ghz is pretty good, especially with the vcore you are using

 

[Sekkai]

How come even though I have C1E disabled, my frequency drops down to like 2.6whatever instead of just staying up at 4.2?

 

[zagood]

EIST.

 

[Ben90]

Sorry if the question already got answered; i tried skimming for it cuz im too lazy to read it all through...

Anyways; HWMonitor reports wrong temps on i7... Use something like RealTemp that gives you a Distance to TJMax or something
The reason is the temperature sensors on the i7 only report Distance to TJMax, not actual temperature. No one knows exactly what *C the TJMax is (it can vary from core to core chip to chip, but rarely)...Anyways, people have done a lot of estimating with temperature probes and stuff and gotten the normal Distance to TJMax ~1-2 degrees (id tell you the number cuz i saw it somewhere, but i forgot) Realtemp uses those guesses for calibration, and i guess HWMonitor didnt get the memo so their temps can be up to 10*C hotter than (the guessed) real

Personally i would stop going by degrees, and start going by TJMax because its a lot more accurate

 

[BaboonGuy]

Originally posted by: Sekkai
I feel like crying.

I think I just broke my computer.

I tried these settings:

CPU clock 20x
QPI Link Speed 36x (4.8 Ghz)
Turbo Boost On, C1E/Speedstep On
Uncore Linkspeed x36 (4.8 Ghz)
Uncore Frequency x12 (1600 Mhz)
Performance Enhancement (Turbo)
Baseclock 133
System Memory Multiplier 6x (800)
VCore 1.0V

So I put the baseclock up to 143 (other things adjusted accordingly) and then I saved and exited BIOS. Now it won't even start up properly. The lights turn on, fans go... and then it shuts down, then restarts again, etc, and I never get to the BIOS screen. At least before if I screwed up a clock I could always get to the BIOS screen. I am sobbing right now I just spent over $2000 on this thing. I am so stupid.

LOLOL. I remember the first time this happened to me too. Then I found out about the CMOS reset

 

[BaboonGuy]

Here are some good mods to do OP: http://www.overclock.net/air-c...ify-your-heatsink.html

Three that will are easy and will lower your temps possibly up to 10C are: washer mod, shroud mod (i suggest at least 2 120x25mm shrouds, 2 was better than 1 for me), and taping up the sides and top mod.

If you want lower you can buy Indigo Xtreme TIM: http://www.petrastechshop.com/inxtenthinlg.html
It's 2-3C better than the other top end TIMs. Just follow instructions and be very careful in applying it, you only get two chances!