OC and questions with new 2600K and ASRock Z68 PROFESSIONAL GEN3

[FAUguy]

I had anticipated waiting for Ivy Bridge or Bulldozer, but last weekend my PC completely died on me and would not BIOS POST (Athlon X2 4400, ABIT 939-MB). I tried swapping out the video card, RAM, and even the CPU with some older ones, but still didn't work.
So I was basically forced to get all new parts this week and do a build. I decided to get the i7-2600K, ASRock Z68 Professional Gen 3 motherboard, GSkill Ripjaws X DDR3 2133 (4x4GB), Noctua NH-D14 heatsink, and PNY 560Ti OC2 video card.

The build went well and the first thing I did was to update the BIOS to the 1.30 version (1.20 was preloaded). I have a tri-boot on my primary HDD (Win 7 x64, Vista, XP) was able to load up Win 7 x64 just fine and install all the necessary drivers. After I verified it was OK, I then rebooted into Vista x86 and loaded the drivers in there. Everything went OK. Last I tried to boot into XP, but after the splash screen is on for about 4 seconds, it restarts. I did a Safe Mode, and it gets to Mup.SYS and hangs there for a few seconds and shows a BSOD for Stop 0X0000007B. I went back into Win 7 and looked it up. Tried some things that was recommended....removed all cards, use the internal graphics, disable USB, etc,.....but still would not load XP past the Mup.sys. I then tried the XP Install CD to see if I could get to recovery mode, but once it loads all the drivers and say Starting Windows, it BSOD with a pci stop code. After that I pretty much gave up on getting XP to work, but would really like it to. The reason is that I have some programs that will only run in XP that I use a few times a month. If anyone has any other suggestions for getting XP to load, please let me know.

The next question is about overclocking. In the BIOS it has predetermined settings to OC at 4.2, 4.4, 4.6, and 4.8Ghz. After reading in here, I got the Intel Burn Test program. First tried it with the 4.8Ghz setting (everything else at Auto) and the temps were showing between 82C-90C with a voltage of 1.416-1.440 but after a couple minutes the PC would reset on its own.

Then went into the BIOS and changed it to the 4.6Ghz preset and ran the Intel program again. This time it completed the 5 runs and the highest temp was 76C with a voltage of 1.346.

Lastly I dropped it down to the 4.4Ghz preset and the temps were 69C with a voltage of 1.311.

I don't mind running the system at 4.6 or 4.4Ghz, as I need it to be stable 100%, but those temps (76C and 69C) seem a bit high compared to others on here, especially since this heatsink I purchased is supposed to be one of the best with dual fans and dual radiators with 6 heat pipes on each. I used the included NT-H1 thermal compound, as the small tube Arctic Silver 5 I had is almost 7 years old (only used on the PC that died on me last week). Should I go through the trouble of removing the heatsink and cleaning off the NT-H1 compound and reapplying Arctic Silver 5 (or something better) to get lower temps?

The last question is about the G.SKill Ripjawas X RAM. I was able to load it just fine at the XMP setting for 2133Mhz with timings of 9-11-10-28 but it has to use 2N(2T) and will not boot with 1N(1T) timing. Others that are using the Mushkin Enhanced Redline say that it can run at 9-11-10-28 at 1N(1T). How noticeable of a difference would there be if I changed out the G.Skill (2N) for the Mushkin with (1N), as both are 2133MHZ and 9-11-10-28?

Thanks for any help!

 

[elconejito]

...The reason is that I have some programs that will only run in XP that I use a few times a month. If anyone has any other suggestions for getting XP to load, please let me know...

Can't help on the OC, but for XP are your running your drives in AHCI? If so, when you installed XP did you use the "press F6 to load raid drivers" (or sounds like that) function? If that ain't it then I suspect you've got some bit of hardware (maybe NB or something mobo based you can't unplug) that just isn't compatible with XP.

Possible workarounds without a separate boot...
If you have Win7 Pro or Ultimate you should try using XP Mode installation. This lets the program run in a little virtualized memory space (that's my paraphrasing ) so that it thinks its running on Windows XP. This is much better than the "Compatibility Mode" that your used to from Vista and Win7 which never seems to run for me. More info here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/install-and-use-windows-xp-mode-in-windows-7

You can also try a regular VM (Virtual Machine) program. I like VMWare Player. It's free (you have to register I think) and works well. I'm pretty sure there are other options out there. Basically you run the software from Win7 and it will boot WinXP in a separate window and from there you run your apps just like normal. The advantage to running a VM is if you need a different OS you don't have to reboot the whole machine. I use it to run some Linux OSes and I keep older versions of Windows to test for compatibility.

 

[FAUguy]

Can't help on the OC, but for XP are your running your drives in AHCI? If so, when you installed XP did you use the "press F6 to load raid drivers" (or sounds like that) function? If that ain't it then I suspect you've got some bit of hardware (maybe NB or something mobo based you can't unplug) that just isn't compatible with XP.

Possible workarounds without a separate boot...
If you have Win7 Pro or Ultimate you should try using XP Mode installation. This lets the program run in a little virtualized memory space (that's my paraphrasing ) so that it thinks its running on Windows XP.

I'm pretty sure my old ABIT motherboard only supported IDE SATA-II, not AHCI SATA-II. So I wouldn't had to do the F6 to install drivers. On my new system, I have IDE (not AHCI) selected in the BIOS for the SATA ports. When I tried booting from the XP Install CD, I did try the F6 to see what would happen, but it ask for the drivers on A: Floppy, can't select a CD. Not sure how large the drivers are, if I could copy it from a CD to a Floppy.
Since this motherboard id pretty new, I haven't found anything on-line (yet) about people having issues getting it to load XP....which is why I asked about it here.
The only reason I have kept XP x86 is that I've got some (motorola) phone tool programs that are used for advanced phone software access. When I try to run it in Vista or Win 7, it won't load and give some incompatible error message. But I haven't tried XP Mode or Compatibility Mode for them (forgot about that feature in Ultimate) but will look into it.

 

[Idontcare]

I don't mind running the system at 4.6 or 4.4Ghz, as I need it to be stable 100%, but those temps (76C and 69C) seem a bit high compared to others on here, especially since this heatsink I purchased is supposed to be one of the best with dual fans and dual radiators with 6 heat pipes on each. I used the included NT-H1 thermal compound, as the small tube Arctic Silver 5 I had is almost 7 years old (only used on the PC that died on me last week). Should I go through the trouble of removing the heatsink and cleaning off the NT-H1 compound and reapplying Arctic Silver 5 (or something better) to get lower temps?

Remember the point of IBT is not to be alarmed at the peak temps but to pay heed to the required voltage.

The temps to care about are the ones you see when you are using your machine at full load with your actual real-world apps.

Use IBT to establish the voltage you need to be stable at the IBT elevated temps, this is your accelerated stability test regime, passing 5 passes of IBT at 80C tells you that your rig ought to at least be stable for weeks and months at a time at the same voltage but running at 70C with real-world apps.

 

[FAUguy]

Something else I've noticed when trying different settings for the CPU Load Line Calibration. It can be set to Auto or level 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. I tried level 1, with the multiplier at 44 and voltage offset at +0.80v. Ran Intel Burn Test for 10 runs and the temps got up to 76C and voltage at 1.44. Then went back into the BIOS and changed the LLC to level 5. This time Intel ran 10 times the temps were 68C and the voltage was 1.33. So based on this, I guess it's best to use Level 5 for the LLC, as it keeps temps and voltage down?

 

[MadScientist]

A lot of How do I overclock my 2500K/2600K? threads been appearing. Maybe someone should write a Sandy Bridge oc guide, but that would probably consist of 1 maybe 2 lines.

OP,
Ditch Vista and XP, take elconejito's advice and download and install XP mode for Win 7. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

You purchased the wrong ram for Sandy Bridge. You should have gotten ≤1.50V instead of 1.65V ram. You can run it, I am (leftover from my P55 system), but you should lower the vdram to a max of 1.575V instead of your current 1.68V. If you haven't already, install CPUZ and under the SPD tab check what your ram will run at 1.50V. http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

I'm running my ram stable (Memtest86+ and HCI Memtest) at 1.575Vdram @1600. Although at 1.50V @1333 the difference in performance is probably negligible.

I'm assuming your MB's UEFI bios is the same as mine. Here's some oc'ing tips I picked up in the last few months. They're bits and pieces from other forums, oc guides, and here. Some are untested assumptions. There are 3 ways, actually 4 if you disable all the energy saving features, to oc my Asrock MB. Up to 4.8Ghz Optimized Settings is the easiest, but if you want to go higher you will have to do it manually.

Optimized Settings
I'm currently using this method at 4.6Ghz. Even a caveman can do it.
It defaults to a Level 5 LLC so the load vcore voltages were lower than I expected. I enabled PLL Overvoltage, disabled Spread Spectrum, set vdram to 1.575V, Command Rate to 1N, and to it's XMP Profile. All other settings were left on Auto and all energy saving settings were enabled. The bios vcore was 1.368 - 1.376V, but since the LLC was on Level 5 load vcore readings (CPUZ) were 1.336V - 1.344V, large vdroop.

Average high temps (Core Temp V1.0) were 69.25C (70.25C max) IBT (max ram, 5 runs), ambient temp 76F. Not bad for a heat sink I paid $21.42 AR shipped.

Enable PLL Overvoltage. Some say enabling this over 4.5Ghz will help your oc. I tried it both ways. Still stuck at 4.6Ghz.

I tried the 4.8Ghz setting but it hard locked before I got into Windows. The CMOS Reset button on the back of the case is a nice feature.

Except for a few tweaks, you should not have to change any other voltages.

Intel SB Voltage Specifications
----------Min-----Typ-----Max
VCCSA---0.879---0.925---0.971
VDDQ----1.425-----1.5----1.575
VCCPLL---1.71-----1.8-----1.89
VCCIO/---1.02-----1.05----1.08
VTT

Some screens:

Others suggest lowering some of these to help lower vcore temps and be a little greener. I didn’t see any change in vcore temps when I did. If you are oc’ing your ram, I’m not, it may help raising the VCCIO/VTT.

Vcore Fixed Voltage Mode
The Turbo Boost Power Limit is not selectable in optimized settings, but when you switch over to fixed or offset mode the settings can be seen from your last oc. The default is 118 and 95 but changed to 213, 190, and 1 when set to 4.6Ghz optimized. Since these settings worked I used them. I’ve seen others setting this to 200, 200, 1 and higher.

Other settings:
Internal PLL Overvoltage: Enabled
Core Current Limit: 150, others setting this to 200, but 150 worked in optimized mode.
Additional Turbo Voltage: Auto, others say to set it to its lowest setting 0.004V. Their explanation: If additional turbo voltage is left on auto it'll adjust to what it thinks is needed based on VID values. I didn’t see this in fixed vcore mode when set to Auto.
Spread Spectrum: Disabled
CPU Load-Line Calibration: Level 1
All energy saving settings were enabled.
Except for vdram, I left all other voltages on Auto.

I found at 4.6Ghz that I needed 1.330V bios to be stable. With an LLC of Level 1 this gave me a load vcore of 1.328 - 1.336V (CPUZ). These are only slightly lower than what the optimized setting gave me. Idle vcore was 1.312V - 1.320V.
I tried for 4.7Ghz up to 1.45V. No go. My CPU wall is 4.6Ghz. I don't know where it came from, but the opinion here and at some other forums is that the max vcore for SBs is ~1.35V.

Vcore Offset Mode
The problem with using a fixed voltage is the high vcore in idle and at low load. Vcore Offset Mode acts like the optimized settings and increases the vcore under load. Setting it to where you want it is a balancing act between vcore, LLC levels, and Additional Turbo Voltage.

The only good thing I found about Asrock’s Extreme Tuning Utility (or F Stream Tuning for the OP's MB) is that it gives you the CPU Voltage offset for optimized settings. You can use that as a starting point for your vcore Offset Mode.

In my 4.6Ghz optimized setting the CPU voltage offset is +0.075V and LLC Level 5. When I set the Offset Mode to these settings I should have gotten the same load voltages, but I didn’t. They were lower, 1.320V -1.328V (CPUZ). Low enough to make IBT BSOD after 3 runs. I suspect that in Offset Mode the Additional Turbo Voltage is not kicking in when set to Auto. Raising the Turbo Voltage to +0.027V increased the load vcore to 1.328V- 1.336V (CPUZ).

Increasing the Offset Mode to +0.080V, LLC Level 5, Additional Turbo Voltage set to Auto, also worked. Load vcore was 1.328V - 1.336V (CPUZ).

Hopes this helps you out some OP, sorry about taking up more than 2 lines.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

For the "research chemist" [not to be confused with the fictional "Walter White"] --

What I did was to watch the BIOS voltage reports at both stock and stock-plus-bCLK=103 settings. I was able to determine the "auto" values at those speeds for both Offset and "Extra Voltage for Turbo." Essentially this helped me create a "schedule" of settings in 100 Mhz increments through 4.6+. The initial settings allowed me to calibrate fixed Offset (etc) settings so the reported BIOS values matched what I got on "auto" for those values. I was surprised that I could get the fixed values to match the reported ones to within 0.002V, plus or minus . . .

But you've been on top of this new OC'ing regimen as much as anyone here we've encountered . . .

So . . . what happens after Jesse drove away with bloody Mike and Gustavo with his "stomach trouble?" Only tonight's episode will tell . . . . better set the TIVO . . . for the "Breaking" episode . . .

 

[MadScientist]

BD,
Do you think it's even worth messing with the BCLK? Overclockers gotta squeeze every last Ghz out of their CPU.

So are you using the auto or the vcore offset method?

Gustavo is one cool bad ass. Can't wait to see this week's episode.

 

[RobertR1]

MadScientist and Bonzaiduck,

Would you guys mind taking a look at my issues and seeing what I'm missing?

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=32322071&postcount=20

 

[MadScientist]

MadScientist and Bonzaiduck,

Would you guys mind taking a look at my issues and seeing what I'm missing?

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=32322071&postcount=20

Is this correct?
You have a 2600K, an Asrock Z68 MB, and a CM 212+ heat sink. You can post at 4.8Ghz but the vcore is 1.4V+ and temps are 80+ load. What are you using for load, Prime 95, which setting; Intel Burn Test at max ram?; or LinX at max ram? Is your system stable at this setting?

You posted you can do 4.6Ghz at 1.3?V, load temps in low 60's, Prime 95? Is your system stable?

You feel the temps and vcore are too high at 4.8Ghz so you are going for 4.7Ghz using the Vcore Offset Mode.

Your current settings are:
"multiplier to 47x
Vcore: offset, +0.10v
LLC: 1 (least amount of voltage fluctuation)
PLL: Enabled. Max add +0.05v

However in CPU ID, my vcore is maxing out at 1.46v I don't get it. I though the max would be 1.25 + 0.1 + 0.05 = 1.40v"

You are maxing out at 1.46V because your LLC is level 1. You can try level 2 but
you should first establish what vcore you need to be stable at 4.7Ghz.

Use the Fixed Vcore Voltage Mode and start at 1.30V. Go up or down dependent on stability.
You never mention what ram you have?? You should set it to 1.50V @1333 for now.
Enable Internal PLL Overvoltage
Disable Spread Spectrum
Set Turbo boost Power Limit to Manual, set to 200, 200, 1. If you don't increase these from their defaults your CPU will throttle back under load.
Leave Core Current Limit to 150
Leave all other voltages on Auto

Once you find a stable vcore for 4.7Ghz then you can tinker with Vcore offset Mode to find a combination that will give you the same vcore.

 

[RobertR1]

Is this correct?
You have a 2600K, an Asrock Z68 MB, and a CM 212+ heat sink. You can post at 4.8Ghz but the vcore is 1.4V+ and temps are 80+ load. What are you using for load, Prime 95, which setting; Intel Burn Test at max ram?; or LinX at max ram? Is your system stable at this setting?

I updated my signature with my specs that way it's easy to reference. I'm using IBT on Extreme setting with Max RAM and 5 runs. My system is stable at 4.8ghz even using the Auto/turbo 4.8ghz settings in the BIOS. The thing that worries me are the temps when running Prime95 or IBT at Extreme. My temps start going into the 80's and even low 90's. The temps and volts seem to be the same between 4.7 or 4.8 for me. However, both experience a large jump from 4.6ghz.

You posted you can do 4.6Ghz at 1.3?V, load temps in low 60's, Prime 95? Is your system stable?

Yep. Very stable at 4.6ghz regardless of what benchmark I use.

You feel the temps and vcore are too high at 4.8Ghz so you are going for 4.7Ghz using the Vcore Offset Mode.

Your current settings are:
"multiplier to 47x
Vcore: offset, +0.10v
LLC: 1 (least amount of voltage fluctuation)
PLL: Enabled. Max add +0.05v

However in CPU ID, my vcore is maxing out at 1.46v I don't get it. I though the max would be 1.25 + 0.1 + 0.05 = 1.40v"

You are maxing out at 1.46V because your LLC is level 1. You can try level 2 but
you should first establish what vcore you need to be stable at 4.7Ghz.

Use the Fixed Vcore Voltage Mode and start at 1.30V. Go up or down dependent on stability.
You never mention what ram you have?? You should set it to 1.50V @1333 for now.
Enable Internal PLL Overvoltage
Disable Spread Spectrum
Set Turbo boost Power Limit to Manual, set to 200, 200, 1. If you don't increase these from their defaults your CPU will throttle back under load.
Leave Core Current Limit to 150
Leave all other voltages on Auto

Once you find a stable vcore for 4.7Ghz then you can tinker with Vcore offset Mode to find a combination that will give you the same vcore.

My RAM is Corsair Veng 1.5v 1600 CAS9. I'm using the XMP profile and it's all coming across properly in the bios.

I was under the impression that I should have the LLC set to 1 for OC? On the little info graph in the bios, 5 shows the most voltage fluctuation while 1 shows the least?

I will turn off "offset" and set the voltage manually to see what I can get away with. Thanks for the help! I'll report back hopefully tonight or tomorrow.

Also, my BCLK is always at 99.77! never 100.

 

[Idontcare]

The thing that worries me are the temps when running Prime95 or IBT at Extreme. My temps start going into the 80's and even low 90's.

What are your temps when running your everyday apps (the stuff that would challenge the CPU)?

Does it only see 90's when running IBT?

 

[RobertR1]

What are your temps when running your everyday apps (the stuff that would challenge the CPU)?

Does it only see 90's when running IBT?

Yes. Temps are that high when running IBT. Normal apps always seem to read a lot lower. Normal meaning, 3Dmark11, Heaven 2.5 benchmarks. My fist game on this will be BF3. Right now I'm having too much with Gears 3 on the 360 so the PC is just being used a test bed.

UPDATE:
It would seem I can do 4.6ghz all day with low voltage and low temps (1.3 - 1.35v). However, there seems to be a wall at 4.7+ where i need major voltage jumps (1.4+v) to get good stability.

Disabling Spread Spectrum fixed by BLCK issues. It now reads 100 instead of 99.7. After doing a ton of back n' forth, it would seem that running the Turbo Option of 4.6ghz, PLL enabled with max of 0.05v and everything else auto, really doesn't vary much in terms of voltage compared to manually setting the vcore. To note, with the Turbo option, I can leave LLC at 5, meaning my voltage for normal usage is very low.

I read that turning off Hyper Threading can save temps and give you better clock but I'm not sure if that's worth it the performance trade off. Is HT used for general desktop usage/gaming at all? In what scenario would I see HT benefits? I know it's benefits on the server/virtualization side but what benfits does a gamer/home user get from HT, if any?

 

[Idontcare]

I read that turning off Hyper Threading can save temps and give you better clock but I'm not sure if that's worth it the performance trade off. Is HT used for general desktop usage/gaming at all? In what scenario would I see HT benefits?

Consider why it is that you are seeking higher clockspeeds in the first place.

If the answer is "so I can have higher performance" then why would you seek to lower your performance by disabling HT only to then attempt to regain a portion of that lost performance by clocking the CPU ever higher?

 

[RobertR1]

Yeah that was my thought also. My end goal is faster system performance, not "I can hit x.xGHZ on my cpu." I'll leave it on. Consider all the things I do on my PC regularly, you never know when it comes in handy on a day to day basis.

 

[FAUguy]

A lot of How do I overclock my 2500K/2600K? threads been appearing. Maybe someone should write a Sandy Bridge oc guide, but that would probably consist of 1 maybe 2 lines.

OP,
Ditch Vista and XP, take elconejito's advice and download and install XP mode for Win 7. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

You purchased the wrong ram for Sandy Bridge. You should have gotten ≤1.50V instead of 1.65V ram. You can run it, I am (leftover from my P55 system), but you should lower the vdram to a max of 1.575V instead of your current 1.68V. If you haven't already, install CPUZ and under the SPD tab check what your ram will run at 1.50V. http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

I'm running my ram stable (Memtest86+ and HCI Memtest) at 1.575Vdram @1600. Although at 1.50V @1333 the difference in performance is probably negligible.

I'm assuming your MB's UEFI bios is the same as mine. Here's some oc'ing tips I picked up in the last few months. They're bits and pieces from other forums, oc guides, and here. Some are untested assumptions. There are 3 ways, actually 4 if you disable all the energy saving features, to oc my Asrock MB. Up to 4.8Ghz Optimized Settings is the easiest, but if you want to go higher you will have to do it manually.

Hopes this helps you out some OP, sorry about taking up more than 2 lines.

Thanks, I will try out the rest of your OC recommendations later today.
My motherboard (ASRock Z68 Professional Gen3) says that it's capable of using RAM up to 2133MHz, so that's why I looked to find RAM of that speed that was also 4GB each, giving me 16GB total. The G.Skill that I purchased, and the Mushkin, both say they require 1.65v in their specs. In my BIOS I have the XMP Profile-1 setting turned on for the G.Skill and the voltage set to Auto. I'm not sure why F-Stream is showing it pull 1.68v instead of 1.65v.
Here is what CPUZ is showing for my G.Skill:

As you can see, the SPD reports the XMP-2133 to use 1067Mhz with 9-12-11-29 1T timings with 1.65v, but in the BIOS it loads it as Profile 1 9-10-11-28 2T(2N) which is what it shows on the G.Skill Web Site. Is this not correct?

 

[Idontcare]

Thanks, I will try out the rest of your OC recommendations later today.
My motherboard (ASRock Z68 Professional Gen3) says that it's capable of using RAM up to 2133MHz, so that's why I looked to find RAM of that speed that was also 4GB each, giving me 16GB total. The G.Skill that I purchased, and the Mushkin, both say they require 1.65v in their specs. In my BIOS I have the XMP Profile-1 setting turned on for the G.Skill and the voltage set to Auto. I'm not sure why F-Stream is showing it pull 1.68v instead of 1.65v.
Here is what CPUZ is showing for my G.Skill:

As you can see, the SPD reports the XMP-2133 to use 1067Mhz with 9-12-11-29 1T timings with 1.65v, but in the BIOS it loads it as Profile 1 9-10-11-28 2T(2N) which is what it shows on the G.Skill Web Site. Is this not correct?

My G.Skill SPD also indicates my dram has an XMP-2133 profile for 11-11-11-30-1T at 1.5V and yet my mobo (MIVEZ) will read those spd settings and instead opt to implement 11-11-11-30-2T at 1.65V D:.

If I want 1.5V, per the spec for the ram as well as the spec for the 2600K, I have to force the BIOS to stop auto-volting my dimms and manually set the voltage.

Likewise if I want 1T instead of 2T. Gotta force the issue manually.

Kinda makes you wonder what the point is to having XMP and SPD settings stored on the ram if the mobo bioses are just going to ignore them and implement whatever they want anyways.

 

[MadScientist]

As you can see, the SPD reports the XMP-2133 to use 1067Mhz with 9-12-11-29 1T timings with 1.65v, but in the BIOS it loads it as Profile 1 9-10-11-28 2T(2N) which is what it shows on the G.Skill Web Site. Is this not correct?

The difference in CPUZ's XMP profile and your bios is the Command Rate, 1T(1N) versus 2T (2N). You said it would not boot at 1T at 9-10-11-28. Try CPUZ's XMP settings at 1T. Although any performance increase will probably be negligible.

Since SB CPUs have an integrated memory controller any vdram over Intel's max spec, 1.575Vdram, may??? harm the CPU. Although I have seen articles, i.e., xbitlabs, that state that it's ok to run up to 1.65Vdram. The choice is yours.
My ram is on Asrock's ram compatible list for my MB even though it is rated at 1.65V.

DDR3-1600 seems to be the sweet spot.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3/8

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/display/sandy-bridge-ddr3.html

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/memory/2011/01/11/the-best-memory-for-sandy-bridge/1

 

[FAUguy]

My G.Skill SPD also indicates my dram has an XMP-2133 profile for 11-11-11-30-1T at 1.5V and yet my mobo (MIVEZ) will read those spd settings and instead opt to implement 11-11-11-30-2T at 1.65V D:.

If I want 1.5V, per the spec for the ram as well as the spec for the 2600K, I have to force the BIOS to stop auto-volting my dimms and manually set the voltage.

Likewise if I want 1T instead of 2T. Gotta force the issue manually.

Kinda makes you wonder what the point is to having XMP and SPD settings stored on the ram if the mobo bioses are just going to ignore them and implement whatever they want anyways.

I've tried lowering the voltage from 1.68v to 1.65v and that will work at XMP-2133 9-11-10-28 2T. But if I try to lower the voltage any more, at 1.575 or less with XMP-2133, it will not POST. Also, no matter what I do, I can't get it to post at 1T.

 

[FAUguy]

The difference in CPUZ's XMP profile and your bios is the Command Rate, 1T(1N) versus 2T (2N). You said it would not boot at 1T at 9-10-11-28. Try CPUZ's XMP settings at 1T. Although any performance increase will probably be negligible.

Since SB CPUs have an integrated memory controller any vdram over Intel's max spec, 1.575Vdram, may??? harm the CPU. Although I have seen articles, i.e., xbitlabs, that state that it's ok to run up to 1.65Vdram. The choice is yours.
My ram is on Asrock's ram compatible list for my MB even though it is rated at 1.65V.

DDR3-1600 seems to be the sweet spot.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3/8

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/display/sandy-bridge-ddr3.html

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/memory/2011/01/11/the-best-memory-for-sandy-bridge/1

See my above post.
I wrote down what CUPZ's SPD said (XMP-2133 9-12-11-29 1T 1.650v) and manually entered that into the BIOS. The system would not POST. If I then change it to 9-12-11-29 2T at 1.650v, that would post, or even my origional settings of 9-11-10-28 2T but at 1.650v instead of Auto (1.680v) would also post. So I seems that this G.Skill will not POST at 1T. My question is how much performance difference is there between 1T and 2T. If you look at the reviews of the Muskin RAM, you will see that people say it works at XMP-2133 9-10-11-28 1T (or even 9-9-9-25 1T with voltage jump).

 

[MadScientist]

IMO, the performance difference between running at 1T versus 2T will be negligible, and why would you replace ram speced at 1.65V with ram speced the same.

Looks like you have a few choices. Run at your current settings at 1.65vdram, drop down to 1866 or 1600 and lower vdram, or buy some cheap ddr3-1600 1.50V ram.

 

[Idontcare]

I've tried lowering the voltage from 1.68v to 1.65v and that will work at XMP-2133 9-11-10-28 2T. But if I try to lower the voltage any more, at 1.575 or less with XMP-2133, it will not POST. Also, no matter what I do, I can't get it to post at 1T.

Yeah, similar here in that I can get my system to boot and run with XMP-2133 settings but it will fail HCI memtest no matter how much I tweak Vdimm and VCSSA/IO (per GSkill tech support troubleshooting recommends we did through email).

So I actually run my dimms at DDR3-1866 10-10-10-28-1T at 1.5V.

Also I'll point out that even when I try just one dimm alone, regardless of the dimm slot, I can't get the memory stable at DDR3-2133 speeds per HCI tests.

I further relaxed the timings to crazy high latencies (like 20-20-20-60-2T) with no change in the memory stability.

It may just be that my 2600K IMC cannot handle DDR3-2133 speed regardless of timings and volts.

 

[MadScientist]

UPDATE:
It would seem I can do 4.6ghz all day with low voltage and low temps (1.3 - 1.35v). However, there seems to be a wall at 4.7+ where i need major voltage jumps (1.4+v) to get good stability.

Disabling Spread Spectrum fixed by BLCK issues. It now reads 100 instead of 99.7. After doing a ton of back n' forth, it would seem that running the Turbo Option of 4.6ghz, PLL enabled with max of 0.05v and everything else auto, really doesn't vary much in terms of voltage compared to manually setting the vcore. To note, with the Turbo option, I can leave LLC at 5, meaning my voltage for normal usage is very low.

I read that turning off Hyper Threading can save temps and give you better clock but I'm not sure if that's worth it the performance trade off. Is HT used for general desktop usage/gaming at all? In what scenario would I see HT benefits? I know it's benefits on the server/virtualization side but what benfits does a gamer/home user get from HT, if any?

PLL enabled with max of 0.05v. What does max of 0.05v mean? You are running in turbo mode. The Additional Turbo Voltage option is not available. Does your bios have another option that mine does not?

Keep HT enabled.

 

[FAUguy]

Using your advice, I've tried a few other things and have been able to get Win 7 to boot with a 47 and 48 multiplier, but I.B.T will not run sucessfully at 4800, no matter what I change the voltage offset to (+0.80 to +1.10) and use for the L.L.C. But at 4700 the I.B.T will run just fine. I did 10 runs at max memory and the highest temp I saw was 70C, but was usually 65-68C.

Here are my BIOS settings:
Multiplier 47, PLL Overvoltage Enabled, Turbo bust power limit Auto, Additional core voltage Auto, Core current 150, DRAM 9-11-10-28 2T at 1.65v, CPU Core Offset +0.080v, CPU Lode Line Calibration 4. If I lower the LLC to 5, it runs a bit cooler, and a LLC of 1 runs hotter. Still not 100% sure what the best LLC vale is?

 

[Idontcare]

Still not 100% sure what the best LLC vale is?

The best LLC value is the one that keeps the Vdroop to just enough of a minimum that the minimum Vcc experience by the cores does not fall below the minimum required Vcc to maintain stability.

In other words, you'll know it when one notch lower causes instability.