Really..? Another 3570K overclocking thread..

[Face2Face]

I know right...

I just got my 3570K this week and have been trying to achieve a stable overclock. I haven't overclocked an Intel chip since my Q6600.

This is crazy part. I need 1.35 volts to get 4.3Ghz stable. My 4.2 overclock is stable on the auto voltage setting. Doesn't 1.35 sound pretty high for a 4.3Ghz overclock?

My temps on Prime 95 blend are max 75c - running small FFT's 87C.

I have read a lot of overclocking guides and people are getting 4.5Ghz with much less voltage. I may just have a fussy chip or something else is going on.

I just adjusted the multiplier to 43 and started to raise the voltage from 1.240 and ended with no no blue screens at 1.35. Disabled turbo.

Any ideas..

 

[dqniel]

That voltage is reading 1.260 in CPU-z. You must have a ton of droop under load. Does your board have any load line calibration type adjustments?

Even with the droop, 1.260v seems too high for just 4.3Ghz. Perhaps a dud chip, but I think something else may be at play here. What are your other voltages set to in BIOS?

 

[Vectronic]

O.M.G... Are you SERIOUS? Another 3570K OC THREAD??? (I'm only half kidding, the other half is homicidal)

4.3 @ 1.35 is very high... like, yank the chip and get another "high", assuming you have checked over every other possible cause.

Also remember to disabled C-States (C3/6/States)... you shouldn't have to disable C1E yet.

Mine doesn't need 0.07v per 100MHz till 4.6GHz... if that's the actual amount need to go from 4.2 to 4.3... 4.4 will probably be your max, cause that would probably take another 0.09... 1.44 is sketchy territory to be running 24/7 when your temps are already in the 80's.

Get a better cooler.

 

[coffeejunkee]

Is it really an ES? Or is that some bug in CoreTemp?

Setting 1.35 in bios and getting 1.26 in cpu-z is some serious drop/droop. If you really need 1.26 to stay stable in Prime at 4.3 you simply have a crap chip. If you haven't checked for whea errors yet it might be even worse. There's also a good chance you need even more vcore to stay stable in real life apps/games.

Disabling C3/C6 can help but I didn't have to until 4.5 GHz. I also read about Gigabyte Z68 initially not supporting Ivy overclocking, seems that's fixed now but maybe not in the best way.

 

[Face2Face]

Hey guys thanks for the comments. Does anyone know why coretemp and CPU-Z are reporting different voltages? Not sure if my bios says anything about LLC

This is not an ES, it's brand new. My motherboard supports Ivy Bridge cpu's with the F12 Bios. The issue is the F12 bios will only allow you to change the multiplier up to 39. I have since updated to the new UEFI bios U1H. This bios allows for much higher overclocking.

The weird thing is when I tried for 4.4Ghz with 1.375 the computer would not boot correctly. It would let me go into my bios, but my keyboard.mouse was not working so nothing could be done. I had to pull the CMOS battery because there is no bios reset switch.

Here are my current settings in the bios.

I am starting to think the problem is the motherboard.

 

[dqniel]

Disable C3/C6 and see if that helps. You might also need to raise VTT a touch... perhaps 1.10v. Also, you'll want to max out the board's core current limit and turbo power limit.

 

[Face2Face]

Disable C3/C6 and see if that helps. You might also need to raise VTT a touch... perhaps 1.10v. Also, you'll want to max out the board's core current limit and turbo power limit. It's been a while since I've overclocked on a Gigabyte board, but I seem to remember Turbo Boost being enabled when I did. I can't remember for sure, though.

Ok thank you. I will try it out here in a little bit.

Edit - Should I overclock using turbo boost instead?

 

[dqniel]

Leave the turbo boost disabled for now. It should remove some of the complexity while trying to find stability.

 

[Vectronic]

CoreTemp is reporting VID ("Suggested Voltage"). CPU-Z is reporting VCC ("Actual" voltage).

I am starting to think the problem is the motherboard.

Could be. Any other 1155's you can toss in it?

VTT: should be under 1.1, but 1.1 is safe enough... try dropping it back down if 1.1 fixes anything.
System Agent *should* be 0.925 not 0.920 (minor, shouldn't effect anything).
PLL: might need a boost too, 1.825

 

[Face2Face]

Leave the turbo boost disabled for now. It should remove some of the complexity while trying to find stability.

Will do. So should I try for higher Mhz with 1.35? or start to drop my vcore and find stability? Ultimately I just want to hit 4.5Ghz and I will be happy.

 

[Face2Face]

CoreTemp is reporting VID ("Suggested Voltage"). CPU-Z is reporting VCC ("Actual" voltage).Could be. Any other 1155's you can toss in it?

I do, I have a i3 2100 - but I can't overclock it. Worked fine though.

 

[Vectronic]

Any other boards you can toss the i5 into?...

Our boards are close to the same quality (as far as voltages go, actually dqniel's should be close too) but my main voltages at stock are:
VTT: 1.073 (I believe, 1.07x in there somewhere)
PCH: 1.057
PLL: 1.832

I have C-states, SpreadSpectrum, PLL Overvolt all disabled.

Regarding Amps:
Volts = Watts / Amps
Watts = Amps * Volts
Amps = Watts / Volts

1.35v @ 112A = 151W ... that should be plenty, chips are all different, but I can reach 4.5GHz @ 105W, 1.27v or 83Amps.

151W for 4.4 should be plenty, but might be worth maxing it out anyways. The Turbo Watt limit might still be having an effect even if Turbo is disabled (hard to say) but 77Watts won't get you very far, maybe 4.1GHz before that tops out and your CPU throttles... (this shouldn't cause much if any stability issues though, you just wouldn't reach 4.3 or 4.4 under load - could be why your voltage is dropping so much though... my board/CPU limites speed to match wattage, maybe yours limits voltage to match amps?)

 

[Face2Face]

Any other boards you can toss the i5 into?...

Our boards are close to the same quality (as far as voltages go, actually dqniel's should be close too) but my main voltages at stock are:
VTT: 1.073 (I believe, 1.07x in there somewhere)
PCH: 1.057
PLL: 1.832

I have C-states, SpreadSpectrum, PLL Overvolt all disabled.

Regarding Amps:
Volts = Watts / Amps
Watts = Amps * Volts
Amps = Watts / Volts

1.35v @ 112A = 151W ... that should be plenty, chips are all different, but I can reach 4.5GHz @ 105W, 1.27v or 83Amps.

151W for 4.4 should be plenty, but might be worth maxing it out anyways. The Turbo Watt limit might still be having an effect even if Turbo is disabled (hard to say) but 77Watts won't get you very far, maybe 4.1GHz before that tops out and your CPU throttles... (this shouldn't cause much if any stability issues though, you just wouldn't reach 4.3 or 4.4 under load)

I do have a ASrock Z68 Extreme 4 board, but the tip of a couple pins are broken so it won't post. I got it for free

I will adjust my settings similar to yours and see if it takes. Thanks for your help.

 

[dqniel]

It's worth maxing out the core current and turbo boost wattage limits just to eliminate variables. The function might not even work properly on your motherboard or your current BIOS. Who knows? Maxing it out won't hurt anything, as it's just an indirect limitation.

I wouldn't bother with trying to raise the clocks at the time being. I'd say finding stability at the lowest possible vCore at 4.3Ghz should be the priority. Once you've done that, if the vCore and load temps are low enough then you can start thinking about going for a higher overclock.

My stock voltages are pretty much in line with what Vectronic stated, although I keep my PLL lower. I've heard widely varying PLL numbers from people. I can keep mine at 1.586v until I get over 4.7Ghz, and then I need to start raising it. However, I know many users who put their PLL at 1.8v+ from the start. I'd say keeping it on auto or manually setting it to 1.8v should be fine for now.

I'm not seeing it in the pictures you posted, so I'm guessing you don't have the option to enable/disable or (preferably) adjust load line calibration? It's a very useful parameter to have control over.

My best guess at the moment is that having the C3 and C6 states enabled is causing issues. If disabling those does nothing, then it could just be that you've been either extremely unlucky with your chip or that you need a more Ivybridge-friendly motherboard for overclocking.

 

[Face2Face]

I'm not seeing it in the pictures you posted, so I'm guessing you don't have the option to enable/disable or (preferably) adjust load line calibration? It's a very useful parameter to have control over.

I don't see it either. I will adjust my PLL as you said. I should be able to do this in a coupe of hours. I will let you guys know.

 

[Vectronic]

Yeah, mine's the same way... PLL can be on minimum till about 4.4GHz, then I have to start raising, but not for my CPU, my RAM (1600 OC to 2000).

VTT and PCH have huge effects after 4.6GHz when both CPU and RAM are overclocked, so... if he's got a worse chip, worse RAM, worse board... could come into play much earlier.

His LCC might be in the CPU Configuration, probably just enable/disable though.

Also if you are disabling Turbo, disable EIST (SpeedStep) if your BIOS doesn't do it for you. You should have both enabled, but it's much easier to find stability with them disabled... then enable them, and add like 0.015 volts to VCC.

 

[Yuriman]

You might find this helpful:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2275027

 

[dqniel]

You might find this helpful:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2275027

Thanks for posting this, as it's reminded me of another thing to keep in mind- spread spectrum. Keep it disabled when overclocking, as it can allow fluctuations in the baseclock, as Yuriman's advice in the other thread showed.

 

[Face2Face]

Thanks for posting this, as it's reminded me of another thing to keep in mind- spread spectrum. Keep it disabled when overclocking, as it can allow fluctuations in the baseclock, as Yuriman's advice in the other thread showed.

I would disable it, but I don't see it in this bios. Well, I tried everything recommend in this thread and then tried going the turbo overclocking route. I can only get 4.3Ghz stable, doesn't matter what voltage I throw at it and what settings I change. Right now -everything is back down to auto and it turbo's at 4.2Ghz, which is stable on auto - Vcore in CPU-Z showing 1.260 when loaded @ 4.2Ghz - temps in the high 70's - Small FFT's

I am pretty sure it's a limitation of my motherboard. I am going to exchange the CPU to be sure, but I may have to stick it out with 4.2Ghz until I can buy a new board??

 

[coffeejunkee]

If my chip is anything to go by you don't need to disable or change anything other than the multiplier and the vcore for 4.3GHz. Needs 1.176 in cpu-z under Linx.

That said, I'm using an Asus motherboard and I can only overclock using the Turbo multipliers, I can only adjust the main multiplier downwards. I'm also using offset vcore instead of static. I would advise you to do the same. On Gigabyte you set vcore to normal and then add or subtract volts using DVID setting.

What exactly happens during Prime95? Workers stopped, bsod, freeze?

 

[Face2Face]

If my chip is anything to go by you don't need to disable or change anything other than the multiplier and the vcore for 4.3GHz. Needs 1.176 in cpu-z under Linx.

That said, I'm using an Asus motherboard and I can only overclock using the Turbo multipliers, I can only adjust the main multiplier downwards. I'm also using offset vcore instead of static. I would advise you to do the same. On Gigabyte you set vcore to normal and then add or subtract volts using DVID setting.

What exactly happens during Prime95? Workers stopped, bsod, freeze?

I have tried the offset, allowing it to take an additional .050 volts with the vcore set to auto and still BSOD.

A lot of BSOD and sometime programs will stop responding. Mostly BSOD though.

 

[Vectronic]

These are just based off: (4.2 + 4.4) / 2 ... since I've never actually tried 4.3
Fixed: 1.135v
Offset: -0.200 (ends up being 1.152v at load)

So mine's useless for specific voltages, seems you'll never get that.

3.8GHz is an oddity on mine, can sorta of tell by this graph... maybe 4.3 is strange on yours... have you tried 4.4?

At least you can get 4.2, that's a decent overclock.

If hardware (other than CPU) is ruled out, and you've tried everything within the BIOS... have you tried looking for BIOS mods?... it can be a bit risky, but there's often modded ones to unlock certain settings, or to update the BIOS when the manufacturer hasn't.

 

[Face2Face]

Never heard of Bios mods. Probally won't do them. I am going to exchange the CPU to be sure. I have a local store here that I bought it from that will take it back no problem for an exchange. If that doesn't fix it, then I will deal with it until I can get a new board.

 

[Idontcare]

This is crazy part. I need 1.35 volts to get 4.3Ghz stable. My 4.2 overclock is stable on the auto voltage setting. Doesn't 1.35 sound pretty high for a 4.3Ghz overclock?

I am going to exchange the CPU to be sure. I have a local store here that I bought it from that will take it back no problem for an exchange.

Exchanging a CPU after you invalidate the warranty by overclocking it?

That is pure scummy in my book.

This is the sort of unethical behavior that drives up costs for the rest of us who aren't looking to scam the system.

 

[Face2Face]

Exchanging a CPU after you invalidate the warranty by overclocking it?

That is pure scummy in my book.

This is the sort of unethical behavior that drives up costs for the rest of us who aren't looking to scam the system.

Yeah, I am not proud of it but how does this drive up the cost for everyone else? Does Intel look at their cpu returns and say "we have a .005% return rate this year - time to tell Tech Data and the others guys prices are going up..."
Meanwhile Intel's distribution teams give away free CPU's left and right.