What controls Turbo Core in Xeons?

[opivy224]

After reading more I'm probably going to abandon this old platform for a Ryzen 3900XT cpu. I really liked X99, but it's time to let go and just be happy with the single threaded performance that the ryzen offers.

 

[sackdragr]

I have a E5-2698 v3 with a modded bios but I keep hitting a power limitation. I can only get 3.2ghz stable on all cores. Its on an ASUS X99M-WS board. What did you guys do with the voltages to get yours to run so high (18 Core Guys)? I've tried going down to .080 offset and it will run there (not stable) and i gain about 100mhz doing that... so I'm currently -.050 on Vcore, -.030 on cache, -.010 on system agent, and 1.88v CPUIN. I'm just wondering if I have a bad sample... but I see alot of people hitting much higher clocks that me and I just cant figure out what I'm missing.

 

[chinesestunna]

I have a E5-2698 v3 with a modded bios but I keep hitting a power limitation. I can only get 3.2ghz stable on all cores. Its on an ASUS X99M-WS board. What did you guys do with the voltages to get yours to run so high (18 Core Guys)? I've tried going down to .080 offset and it will run there (not stable) and i gain about 100mhz doing that... so I'm currently -.050 on Vcore, -.030 on cache, -.010 on system agent, and 1.88v CPUIN. I'm just wondering if I have a bad sample... but I see alot of people hitting much higher clocks that me and I just cant figure out what I'm missing.

I have an Asus X99 Deluxe II with E5-2698 v3 and followed the settings here: https://www.win-raid.com/t3874f16-GUIDE-Haswell-E-EP-Xeon-CPUID-F-Turbo-Unlock.html

Note - 3.3Ghz is for Non-AVX boost, with AVX my cores will boost to 3.2Ghz
My settings for this were:

1. Core Voltage -> Offset Mode, "- sign", I was only able to lower it to 0.075 before Prime95 would get unhappy
2. CPU Input voltage -> 1.82

Still tuning but above settings would allow me to run Prime95 for 2 hours plus (my lowest bar for "stable") with AVX and without AVX.

 

[chinesestunna]

After reading more I'm probably going to abandon this old platform for a Ryzen 3900XT cpu. I really liked X99, but it's time to let go and just be happy with the single threaded performance that the ryzen offers.

E5-2678 v3 is nice and cheap (IMO best value) 12 Cores boost to 3.3ghz for <$90 on eBay

 

[Markfw]

E5-2678 v3 is nice and cheap (IMO best value) 12 Cores boost to 3.3ghz for <$90 on eBay

I may be cheap, buts only a fraction of the speed of the 3900x, let alone the XT. I still have 14 core Haswell 2683v3, and my 3900x blows it away with 2 less cores.

 

[chinesestunna]

I may be cheap, buts only a fraction of the speed of the 3900x, let alone the XT. I still have 14 core Haswell 2683v3, and my 3900x blows it away with 2 less cores.

For sure, Ryzens are great and 6 years newer than these Haswell Xeons At same time the chip alone is $500+ which is not in the same cost segment as E5-2678.
Seems like @opivy224 already had a X99 board and lack turbo unlock so wanted to provide some options

 

[Markfw]

For sure, Ryzens are great and 6 years newer than these Haswell Xeons At same time the chip alone is $500+ which is not in the same cost segment as E5-2678.
Seems like @opivy224 already had a X99 board and lack turbo unlock so wanted to provide some options

Just in case you are not following... The 3900x is now retail on newegg $439, free shipping with an included heatsink. The E5-2678 is still $78, no heatsink, uses more power and not even close in performance the the 3900x..

But yes, $78 for 12 cores is cheap.

 

[sackdragr]

I have an Asus X99 Deluxe II with E5-2698 v3 and followed the settings here: https://www.win-raid.com/t3874f16-GUIDE-Haswell-E-EP-Xeon-CPUID-F-Turbo-Unlock.html

Note - 3.3Ghz is for Non-AVX boost, with AVX my cores will boost to 3.2Ghz
My settings for this were:

1. Core Voltage -> Offset Mode, "- sign", I was only able to lower it to 0.075 before Prime95 would get unhappy
2. CPU Input voltage -> 1.82

Still tuning but above settings would allow me to run Prime95 for 2 hours plus (my lowest bar for "stable") with AVX and without AVX.

That is the same write up I used... I'll have to try lowering the CPU Input Voltage... I set mine:
1. Core Voltage -> -.070
2. Cache Voltage -> -.050
3. System Agent -> -.050
4. CPU Input Voltage -> 1.88

I can get 3.3 Non-AVX but I only get 2.9 AVX, its good... and it seems to have a cap around 200 watts on the chip. Seems like if i try to push it over that it just wont go. I even tried pushing the allowed VRM to 140%... didnt seem to make a difference. I'm wondering if the modified entries in the bios dont allow for this setting to actually do anything... I saw someone else in this same forum pushing an 18 core to max turbo all core and I wonder if were missing a setting somewhere (as in not enabled).

 

[Suge Knight]

Hello,
I made a video to fully explain how to unlock the Xeon 2600 v3 on an Asus motherboard because no other way had allowed me to flash the bios (flashback or Asus AI Suite or Afuwin fail all).
Hoping that it might help people:

 

[chinesestunna]

That is the same write up I used... I'll have to try lowering the CPU Input Voltage... I set mine:
1. Core Voltage -> -.070
2. Cache Voltage -> -.050
3. System Agent -> -.050
4. CPU Input Voltage -> 1.88

I can get 3.3 Non-AVX but I only get 2.9 AVX, its good... and it seems to have a cap around 200 watts on the chip. Seems like if i try to push it over that it just wont go. I even tried pushing the allowed VRM to 140%... didnt seem to make a difference. I'm wondering if the modified entries in the bios dont allow for this setting to actually do anything... I saw someone else in this same forum pushing an 18 core to max turbo all core and I wonder if were missing a setting somewhere (as in not enabled).

What motherboard are you using? My AVX boost was fixed at 2.9ghz as well for a bit until I started undervolting. Using HWInfo monitoring is good because the monitoring interface will show you if one of the "power limits" was tripped at any given time. This will be a good pointer to if you're running up against the hard limit or some other setting

 

[chinesestunna]

Question for all the other Xeon overclockers here - any of you running ECC Registered RAM and is able to overclock the memory? I picked up a Kingston 4x16GB 2133mhz kit from a friend which is a spec match for the max DDR4 speed of the Xeon v3s but would like to get a bit of a bump to 2400 or 2666

 

[v111]

Unlock turbo boost (Undervolting)
I want to inform you that the user of the forums.overclockers.ru forum under the nickname ser8989 managed to develop a method of implanting the FFS driver in bios in the PEI section, and now the turbo boot does not take off after waking up from sleep ...
Now sleep works well. I think this is a huge achievement worth noting. this way FFS unlock drivers will work on dual-processor boards ... Sorry for my English
https://forums.overclockers.ru/viewtopic.php?p=17089770#p17089770
https://forums.overclockers.ru/viewtopic.php?p=17092454#p17092454

 

[kakashisensei]

Does anyone have issues with turbo unlock and linux kvm VMs? I am running a 2660v3 with a supermicro x10sra8-f-o board. Microcode is removed and loading freecableguys v3x4 rc9 efi driver at boot. I am using this one because it allows uncore to throttle down, which saves me 10W at idle.

In unraid kvm, it locks up the entire system, including the hypervisor. It only seems to lockup when I have a VM active, and the it happens randomly after that. It could be within 30 minutes or several hours later. I got package limit set to c1/c0, c3 and c6 report are disabled. Interesting, according to powertop utility, it says my cores are still idling at c6 even though I have c6 report disabled. Package c state is not at c3 or c6. Even modified the bios with amibcp to have c3 and c6 disabled in the IntelRCSetup menu, but that didn't help. Still showing cores are hitting c6 state, but not package.

In baremetal windows, it is working great. Even with c6 report on, I don't have issues and that helps the cores idle at c6 and saves some watts. Seems to me that if cores are at c6, its fine as long as its not package c state hitting c6. If I disable c6 in bios, in windows it shows cores do not enter c6. So that is different than what I seem to be getting in linux.

I have pinpointed the problem to be related to the no microcode. If I use stock bios, theres no problem. But if I use a bios with removed microcode, I get the problems, even without loading any turbo efi driver. My unraid build has the latest microcode.

 

[aesma]

Hello all. I just registered here and have a couple of questions. I discovered the Chinese X99 boards a few days ago, as well as the cheap Xeons. A few years ago I wanted to build my main machine with such a configuration (not cheap at the time) but never did it.

For some of my uses I need lots of RAM and decent CPU power, also a bit more PCIe lanes than consumer platforms. I still want to game with the machine, maybe even put a 3080/AMD equivalent on it, driving a 4K monitor (I don't need and won't get 200fps in any case). Zen2 Threadrippers are too expensive (too many cores), I'm considering Zen3 but there are drawbacks, so I'm thinking, a X99 with the right Xeon might last me a year before things are clearer. After that it can replace the Phenom II X6 in my NAS/VM machine.

My first question : does ECC work on the Chinese X99 boards ? I mean ECC mode.

2nd question : which CPU to take if gaming performance is the main bottleneck, considering overclocking possibilities ? The E5-16XX series are unlocked so I'm thinking they're the best bet, I've seen an E5-1650V3 @ 4.3GHz, maybe a 1660V3 could do 4GHz (8 core vs 1650 6 core) ?

3rd one : I think the above is the best bet, but let's say I want more cores for other uses, the E5-2690V3 isn't too expensive. It isn't unlocked so the best frequency would be 3,5GHz with turbo unlock, then there is the power limitations, from what I'm understanding. On the other hand it has a 135W TDP so I was wondering if I could expect to keep that frequency on all cores when gaming, or will it for certain throttle to something lower ?

 

[Flash Gordon]

Thanks Zorg....and so the BIOS Is All right

Hey hi! I have the same mobo. What bios version did you use? Could you share this bios file with me?
Thanks

 

[sackdragr]

What motherboard are you using? My AVX boost was fixed at 2.9ghz as well for a bit until I started undervolting. Using HWInfo monitoring is good because the monitoring interface will show you if one of the "power limits" was tripped at any given time. This will be a good pointer to if you're running up against the hard limit or some other setting

I'm using the Asus X99-M WS board. HWinfo says I'm up against ICCMax... I'm not sure there is anyway to get around that. I think its the baked in Max TDP on the chip... but if anyone knows... I'm all ears.

 

[chinesestunna]

I'm using the Asus X99-M WS board. HWinfo says I'm up against ICCMax... I'm not sure there is anyway to get around that. I think its the baked in Max TDP on the chip... but if anyone knows... I'm all ears.

Yes that limited is hardcoded on the chip AFAIK hence the need to undervolt in order to sustain the increased current with all core turbo - I have all cores running at a -0.075v per core voltage offset

 

[stiggity]

Just a quick thanks for this forum, and its knowledgeable members. No longer need to try and translate Russian tutorials. I went from Gigabyte x99, to Kllisre Dual Socket, 2683, to 2x2683, to 2x2699 on an ASUS Z10PE-D16 WS. Boosting 3.2Ghz all core Turbo, and really cut some corners, but with _your_ help, it worked first round. Thanks again, and keep the faith alive!!!

 

[Kalistoval]

Does anyone know how to remove the Nominal or PL 1 settings in a bios?, If I set my bios to Level 1 instead of nominal I get my cpu to run x23, 300mhz less that its base clock x26.
However if I run it Level 1 and then use cable guys efi driver before windows loads. My cpu will run at x33 on all cores and score 5050 in cine bench R20, It will not down clock.
cpu being a E5 2697 v3 on a Msi Gaming Carbon Pro with microcodes removed from bios running ucode 27 in windows. I can confirm after extensive testing. In the advance power management.

Config TDP Level controls the throttling, I have Nominal, Level 1 and Level 2, however I can only set either nominal or level 1 (down), This needs to be modified or delete or bypassed but I dont know how.

 

[Amazo]

gave up

 

[legale]

Hi.
mb: asus x99-e bios 1401
cpu: xeon e5-2678 v3 stepping 2
i've tried to mod bios to enable turbo hack.

no luck. i got a brick.

 

[Shmee]

:C that sucks. Does the Asus X99-e have BIOS flashback? I know my Deluxe does. If so try doing that. I myself just use the latest published BIOS on the X99 Deluxe, along with an OCed e5-1660 v3. It may not be a 14 core Xeon, but it OC's well enough, and I only need 8 cores for that rig anyway. I got the core to 4.3GHz and the cache to 3.7 GHz. May tweak it further in the future.

 

[Maude]

Hello,
I have a Lenovo P900 Workstation with two e5-2698v3 that I would love to have set back to the errata that would permit max turbo.
But, I tried for every guide in the thread to no avail to remove the security feature of the AMI Aptio V BIOS that comes with this motherboard (C612 chipset).
Did Anyone been able to so on a dual Xeon plateform? I was able to remove the microcode for the 03006F2 CPU and left the F1 there since it doesn't apply to my situation.

 

[s.anastasiou]

Hi, ASUS Z10PE-D16WS here, with dual E52699v3.

If anyone can provide the permanent bios unlock ( no efi injection and no windows 10 override via OS update ), I am willing to pay 500$. Payment will be received upon succesful testing of the new bios.

 

[s.anastasiou]

Hi , I got it working using V3DUAL.EFI however the multiplier will only go up to x29

Hi could you help me here? I have the same mobo as you but cannot get the bios file!