OC & Modding n00b OC questions.

A

alcy

Disciple
After quite some help from the forums, I managed to get the temps down on my system on stock settings.

And although I decided I won't enter the OC land, I have been tinkering a little and have OCed to 3.2 GHz with temperatures in check.

Now my question(s):

First I OCed to 3 GHz by just increasing the BCLK to 150. I didn't do any voltage changes. The system was stable.

Then I OCed to 3.2 GHz by increasing the BCLK and increasing VCore by one notch. The system was stable. RAM runs at 960 MHz.

Now my question is, was it necessary to increase VCore while OCing to 3.2 GHz ? I just did it because every OC guide/experience/reviews mention doing so.

Now, when should I start worrying about all the voltage values ? Vcore, QPI voltage etc.

P.S. : If this thread really pisses the gurus(I have a feeling it does), mods can delete. And if it doesn't how about making this sticky for all OC queries ?

EDIT: Except the mentioned changes, everything else is on Auto.
 
Alcy, understand the fundamentals. First and foremost, disable all auto-system management setting from the BIOS. Stuff like spread spectrum, CIST. There will be more but you will need to research that out. Post, that bring you system to absolute stock, run some stability test. Now understand what vCore is. It is the power (literally) which the CPU requires. You do not necessarily need to increase vCore when increasing the CPU clocks. You increase the CPU speed and DO NOT TOUCH THE vCore. Now run stability test. If stable, go back into the BIOS and increase CPU clocks. Once you face instability, then ONLY go to the BIOS and increase your vCore by 0.05V. But now do not change the CPU speed. Now again run stability tests. If fine, continue to increase the CPU speed. Again, if you get instability increase vCore. At the same time keep a close watch on temperatures. To keep it simple, there are three core parameters for OC. CPU Speed, vCore, and Temperature. First two are in your control, and the last is dependent on the first two. As a rule of thumb, never on the same OC change should you change the BCLK and vCore at the same time. vCore is just the power you need to keep the chip running. So it could be the same vCore for 2.6Ghz,2.7Ghz, and 2.8Ghz. Now suppose at 2.9Ghz, you face instability, THEN only you go and increase the vCore.

YES, once you get experience, you can do it on the fly. But that two for a specific chip/chipset/cooler/system combination. There is a fourth linked parameter which is the FSB : DRAM ratio. Each time your CPU speed changes, so will this. Make sure, it is within the range of your 1333Mhz for RAM.

A Basic algorithm would be thus:

1. Increase CPU Speed.

2. Toggle FSB : DRAM ratio to stay within or at 1333Mhz.

3. Commit changes.

4. Run stability changes with temperature vigilance.

5. If stable go back to (1)

6. If unstable, go to the BIOS increase vCore and move straight onto (3).

Your next step would be to find the lowest power setting (i.e. vCore) at which your system will run on stock. Do not straight away jump into OC (increase speed/vCore) mode. You can read this, to get your system baseline.

Hope, this clears things for you. Happy OC'ing..!
 
asingh said:
Alcy, understand the fundamentals. First and foremost, disable all auto-system management setting from the BIOS. Stuff like spread spectrum, CIST. There will be more but you will need to research that out. Post, that bring you system to absolute stock, run some stability test. Now understand what vCore is. It is the power (literally) which the CPU requires. You do not necessarily need to increase vCore when increasing the CPU clocks. You increase the CPU speed and DO NOT TOUCH THE vCore. Now run stability test. If stable, go back into the BIOS and increase CPU clocks. Once you face instability, then ONLY go to the BIOS and increase your vCore by 0.05V. But now do not change the CPU speed. Now again run stability tests. If fine, continue to increase the CPU speed. Again, if you get instability increase vCore. At the same time keep a close watch on temperatures. To keep it simple, there are three core parameters for OC. CPU Speed, vCore, and Temperature. First two are in your control, and the last is dependent on the first two. As a rule of thumb, never on the same OC change should you change the BCLK and vCore at the same time. vCore is just the power you need to keep the chip running. So it could be the same vCore for 2.6Ghz,2.7Ghz, and 2.8Ghz. Now suppose at 2.9Ghz, you face instability, THEN only you go and increase the vCore.

YES, once you get experience, you can do it on the fly. But that two for a specific chip/chipset/cooler/system combination. There is a fourth linked parameter which is the FSB : DRAM ratio. Each time your CPU speed changes, so will this. Make sure, it is within the range of your 1333Mhz for RAM.

A Basic algorithm would be thus:

1. Increase CPU Speed.

2. Toggle FSB : DRAM ratio to stay within or at 1333Mhz.

3. Commit changes.

4. Run stability changes with temperature vigilance.

5. If stable go back to (1)

6. If unstable, go to the BIOS increase vCore and move straight onto (3).

Your next step would be to find the lowest power setting (i.e. vCore) at which your system will run on stock. Do not straight away jump into OC (increase speed/vCore) mode. You can read this, to get your system baseline.

Hope, this clears things for you. Happy OC'ing..!
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot dude, really appreciate your input. Really cleared things up ! :)

I hope you are not frowning seeing all these n00b threads, of late. :p

EDIT: For how long do you suggest a stress test should be run ? In my particular case, considering a blend test with 8 worker threads.
 
Alcy, You are most welcome..!

Regarding stress tests, and how long they should be run. There are many schools of thought regarding this. Many say the burn in should be 8 hours. Some say, a 20 minute test will suffice, while others say a real live game is the true test. Am sure you are more confused now. It is actually up to you. And it highly depends how much time you can manage ---- WITH YOUR COMPUTER ON, BUT YOU NOT ON IT. This is the biggest factor. Cause when a stress does is executing, you cannot do jack with your computer. You have to sit there, stare at the screen, or do something else...! You can decide which method suits you the most. A quick burn test, or a prolonged over night run, or a real game. One way or another, you system will hiccup/conk off if the OC is not right.

Some good testing tool are, though not exhaustive.

1. Furmark
2. OCCT
3. LinX
4. Memtest
5. RealTEMP
6. Prime95
7. Intel Burn Test
8. Orthos Blend
9. Real game.

All are good, and cannot be compared to each other. Have different stressing mechanisms. Basically while these are on, you should have temperature logging going on -- if the testing tool does not provide it. And post results you can analyze the temperatures / stability.

My personal choice is:
1. RealTEMP after an OC change. (Immediate and quick)
2. OCCT for a prolonged test. (Burns the skin of the system)
3. Linx. (Check CPU stability and HSF status)
4. Real Games. Warhead and/or Warhead testing tool 20x runs.

Oh..almost forgot. No one is a noob. Why frown. Smile..!
 
But, if you change the FSB : DRAM ratio, and then change the CPU speed (the FSB changes) and that will again change your FSB : DRAM ratio --> change the memory speed.

Or did I not get what you meant..?
 
^^

Well my board, the FSB : DRAM cannot be locked down. Even when I set it to 1:1 and change the FSB, the DRAM speed changes, and then I have to toggle the FSB : DRAM.

@OP:

If you can lock the ratios, as Mr. Damn has suggested, you can try it by setting FSB : DRAM first, then CPU speed, else my method will work too. You can choose what is most comfortable to you.
 
UPDATE: System OCed to 3.5 GHz (175 X 20) with the following settings, please post your comments & suggestions regarding the settings.

Code: 
BCLK: 175 MHz

Vcore:1.224 (fluctuates between 1.224 & 1.232)

DRAM Freq: 1050 MHz

Uncore Freq: 2100 MHz

PLL & QPI Voltage- Auto

C-state Tech/Turbo Boost/Spread Spectrum: Disabled

I ran the stress test (Mprime) for an hour, the system's stable. CPU temp around 63-64 degrees.

Now, should I try and lower the Vcore ? Also, is it normal for Vcore values to fluctuate slightly as I am observing ?
 
The fluctuation of Vcore is called vdrop(From bios to os) and vdroop(From idle to load cpu) and it is completely normal if the fluctuation is not off the charts if u specify the values it will help us to decide if all is ok. :) For stress testing i will recommend Intel burn test with minimum 100 cycles with 1024mb ram if fail will confirm cpu instability after that run 20 cycles of ibt using up all available ram to confirm overall system stability and you will want the temps on core to never go above 75c to be on safe side :)
 
Oh, aren't the values visible in my post ? I had placed them inside the code tags.

I'll post them again without any tags:

******************

BCLK: 175 MHz

Vcore:1.224 (fluctuates between 1.224 & 1.232)

DRAM Freq: 1050 MHz

Uncore Freq: 2100 MHz

PLL & QPI Voltage- Auto

C-state Tech/Turbo Boost/Spread Spectrum: Disabled

*********************

Regarding the fluctuation, I observe it only in the BIOS itself. Doing nothing, just observing the BIOS.

Now, can you tell me about the settings I am using ?

Thanks for replying.
 
The fluctuations are ok no need to worry about :) For overclocking my knowledge about i7 is not good :( You have to wait for some i7 guru's to reply :) Just a suggestion don't leave any voltage on auto. Mobo's have a tendency to give too much voltage....
 
@OP:

How did you achieve that vCore..? Would suggest to keep lowering it, till you get an unstable system. Then you know the threshold vCore value. And then raise it back a notch. You are good to go.
 
Hello.

Yes even I thought Vcore was high. I lowered it & ran the test for 5 hours, no errors no warnings. It fluctuates between 1.200 & 1.208 volts. I feel this is ideal, considering the standard voltage for these processors is 1.2v.
 
Oh, I thought that 1.2v is the nominal voltage for i7, so I was content with the settings.

I can try lowering further(for reasons you mentioned in your previous post, I reckon), but is it really necessary or is it that you want to ensure completely optimized settings ? :D
 
Alchy:

As salman8506 put it correctly. The optimal OC = Highest clock speed+lowest vCore.

This will give you lowest power consumption+lower temperatures. Provided system is stable. :) Give it a try.
 
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