The Overclocker's Thread
- Thread starter halfbakedchef
- Start date
OG buckshot jr
TD Admin
Actually I've come to realise that I use Core Temp as well .. huuuuurderp! But, I used to use Real Temp, and it works just as well!
halfbakedchef
TD Admin
Well, I started messing around tonight. I am very limited to what i can do with my mobo bios, but here is what i did. I first raised my BCLK to my desired 159. (i figure why not just shoot for it now, because of the limitations) Next I dropped my memory multiplier down to 6 giving DDR3 - 956 & a 3.66GHz cpu. I was able to log in to windows and run prime 95, i used blend mode set to custom and changed the memory option to 90% of available memory. I ran the test for 30 minutes and nothing showed up, temps were in low 40s.
So than i tried to bump the memory back up, 8 was the next multiplier i had, giving me DDR3 - 1274. After this point i could no longer post, hmmm
Does this mean i need to bump up my memory voltage, tighten the timmings (which i am not sure of how to do, but know where to do it :) )?
Or do i have to put more juice to the core?
So than i tried to bump the memory back up, 8 was the next multiplier i had, giving me DDR3 - 1274. After this point i could no longer post, hmmm
Does this mean i need to bump up my memory voltage, tighten the timmings (which i am not sure of how to do, but know where to do it :) )?
Or do i have to put more juice to the core?
$alvador
TD Member
Always run your memory at what the manufacturer spec sheet recommends. Usually mobos will just run it at JEDEC standards so do a google query for your type of memory, find the spec sheet on the manufacturer's website, and dial it in to those voltages. When you're having RAM issues, typically the thing to do is LOOSEN the timings. Tightening (i.e. lowering) timings is a tough show to pull off with DDR3 and will usually cause instability. If your RAM is rated for 1600MHz then you really shouldn't be having any issues at far lower speeds. Try to get as much MHz as you can out of the RAM. As a rule of thumb, faster speed and looser timings always trump lower speeds with tighter timings.
Tweaking the timings is usually employed when someone is underclocking their RAM because the mobo won't support faster, but IIRC your mobo does support the full 1600
Tweaking the timings is usually employed when someone is underclocking their RAM because the mobo won't support faster, but IIRC your mobo does support the full 1600
Glocky
Drinking your tears
+1 bang on
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Understanding-RAM-Timings/26/2
For shiggles, if your RAM is DDR3 1600 it is likely CAS9 or 10, figure out your stock timings and set your RAM at stock speed of 1600 with loose timings, say CAS12 - 14.
If you can post, then you know the speed is good and can work down to tighter (and probably stock) timings.
I can best explain this about my own RAM. It's DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 but I am on a P5q pro board with a Q9550 so I get performance gains by running the same bus speed on both RAM and CPU, ie. 1:1 ratio no divider.
So, my FSB is 460 (x8.5 = ~3.9Ghz) which means my DDR2-800 is running at 920, to get stable I had to loosen to 5-5-5-18 (might tighten the 18 tRAS to 15 or so next time I am bored).
halfbakedchef
TD Admin
so the problem does lie with the memory? like i said by just bumping up BCLK and dropping the memory mutliplier i was able to boot and run p95 for a bit with no errors.
@ glocky - my memory is rated for 1600 @ 9.9.9.24, so what your saying is i should use 12.12.12.(??)24?
@ salvador - my mobo is only rated to 1333mhz but i can OC to 1600mhz supposedly
@ glocky - my memory is rated for 1600 @ 9.9.9.24, so what your saying is i should use 12.12.12.(??)24?
@ salvador - my mobo is only rated to 1333mhz but i can OC to 1600mhz supposedly
Glocky
Drinking your tears
My mobo is an ASUS P5Q Pro is "only rated" for 1600FSB (400x4) but I am running 460 (x4 = 1840FSB) so you may be able to exceed it.
For your RAM, if it's rated for 9.9.9.24 when you are trying to see if you can hit 1600 try 12.12.12.36, generally the tRAS (4th figure is the first 3 added together +/- 1).
Because your RAM is CAS9 and your tRAS is 24 when the math says 27, when you are trying CAS12, try 12.12.12.33 and for CAS11 try 30., CAS10 try 27
For laughs I got off my ass and did 5-5-5-15 and increased my 3DMark11 score from the P4753 in my sig to P4784 LOL. I think I reach the speed limits on both my CPU and GPU, so maybe I will try to get my timings tighter overall, maybe ... it's a pain to change one setting and memtest, etc. But I probably could get to 4-5-5-14 on stock volts, but that is at least 2 memtests haha
Neat note, I was playing around with this: http://community.futuremark.com/hardware/game_requirements_check
And noticed at stock my Q9550/HD6870 combo "scored" 100% of games meet the minimum system requirements. 95% of games meet the recommended system requirements.
and specifically did not meet the GPU requirement for BF3.
Comparing my scores I can pretty my say that my Q9550 o/c'd is somewhere around a 2500K or 2600K at stock, and the 6870 is around a 7850 or 7870 at stock, which changes my "score" to 100% of games meet the minimum system requirements. 100% of games meet the recommended system requirements.
Makes me feel good - lol.
DrUgZ
TD Admin
I always keep my memory timings set on whatever the manufacturer's spec is. same with the voltage (check that out, mobo's usually have it set too low at stock setting)
also, if you haven't yet, go to overclock.net and search for your motherboard's thread. there may be some examples of stable settings for your chip.
usually the multiplyer isn't something I really change during my whole tweaking period. basically I just find something for a base line, then change my BCLK and DRAM frequencies until I get a crash or no post. then I will raise up my voltages slightly until I can get past that point. so on and so fourth until I am happy with my clock/temps.
Im sure there are lots of other ways, thats just how I do it. overclock.net should have someone with the same setup as you that can offer you advice for sure tho.
also, if you haven't yet, go to overclock.net and search for your motherboard's thread. there may be some examples of stable settings for your chip.
usually the multiplyer isn't something I really change during my whole tweaking period. basically I just find something for a base line, then change my BCLK and DRAM frequencies until I get a crash or no post. then I will raise up my voltages slightly until I can get past that point. so on and so fourth until I am happy with my clock/temps.
Im sure there are lots of other ways, thats just how I do it. overclock.net should have someone with the same setup as you that can offer you advice for sure tho.
halfbakedchef
TD Admin
it would probably help to sign up on there forums. my mobo setting are so limited and different than any OC guide i can find.
OG buckshot jr
TD Admin
Aye, the limitations of an Intel board... *Facepalm
Glocky
Drinking your tears
Ouch.
I pretty much know that my next system with have a ASUS <new name> PRO in it.
OG buckshot jr
TD Admin
Ya mon, ASUS has been amazing in all of my builds and I'll continue to buy their product. The level of craftsmanship, the price, and the freedom in their BIOS are unrivaled 
$alvador
TD Member
Aye, OCN is good shit. The official P5Q club is actually one of the most active motherboard clubs on the forums, oodles and oodles of excellent info there. the guy that runs it is actually from Ontario too (exactly where is his secret) and I go by the username Petrol. The admins are planning a big LAN/OCing tourney in Toronto in June or July, the venue is supposedly already booked. Might be worth it to go.
halfbakedchef
TD Admin
So I haven't been able to find much of anything on my cpu, lots on the i3-530, but not 540. Here's where I stand as of now.
BCLK: 150MHz x 23 (multiplier) 3.34 Ghz
Mem: x8 1200MHz
(this all i have changed, everything else is still on auto)
QPI: 3301MHz
NB: 2401MHz
Core: 1.21v
I also tightend my memory timing to 8-8-8-24 from 9-9-9-24.
I am a derp so Ididn't write down my stock voltages. I am going to set my bios to default tonight, so my girl can use the pc tomorrow with no worries. So I will check these first thing tomorrow when i get home.
I have ran P95 for an hour no errors, and same with intel burn test. I could not get memtest86 to work, it might be how i am using it. I saw that i had an option for it in grub, but it does not work for me. I am going to look in to the error code it gives me tomorrow as well.
Any thoughts???
BCLK: 150MHz x 23 (multiplier) 3.34 Ghz
Mem: x8 1200MHz
(this all i have changed, everything else is still on auto)
QPI: 3301MHz
NB: 2401MHz
Core: 1.21v
I also tightend my memory timing to 8-8-8-24 from 9-9-9-24.
I am a derp so Ididn't write down my stock voltages. I am going to set my bios to default tonight, so my girl can use the pc tomorrow with no worries. So I will check these first thing tomorrow when i get home.
I have ran P95 for an hour no errors, and same with intel burn test. I could not get memtest86 to work, it might be how i am using it. I saw that i had an option for it in grub, but it does not work for me. I am going to look in to the error code it gives me tomorrow as well.
Any thoughts???
OG buckshot jr
TD Admin
Firstly, don't worry too much about RAM (especially voltage, you'll never have to modify RAM voltage as no more/less voltage is needed for faster/slower clocked ram).
Secondly, you don't need guides as you can proceed to do the 'one-step faster, one voltage higher' inch-ing method yourself, testing in between tweaks.
When you Prime test - do Small FFT's, as it's CPU intensive and will really test your overclock. When testing, and you read temperature, don't freak out if it's hitting a little on the hot-side (i.e. if your preference is not to exceed 54C, and you're hitting 60, it's ok, because nothing real-world will ever hit your pc like prime95).
If you'd like to test your ram, prime has (blend?) a test for that as well, and trust me, if it's going to fail, it'll fail fairly early. Through my experience, my RAM has always been much easier to test.
Secondly, you don't need guides as you can proceed to do the 'one-step faster, one voltage higher' inch-ing method yourself, testing in between tweaks.
When you Prime test - do Small FFT's, as it's CPU intensive and will really test your overclock. When testing, and you read temperature, don't freak out if it's hitting a little on the hot-side (i.e. if your preference is not to exceed 54C, and you're hitting 60, it's ok, because nothing real-world will ever hit your pc like prime95).
If you'd like to test your ram, prime has (blend?) a test for that as well, and trust me, if it's going to fail, it'll fail fairly early. Through my experience, my RAM has always been much easier to test.
halfbakedchef
TD Admin
I just booted at 7-8-7-24, llike i said i am a nood and don't know if mem lat has anything to do with being able to boot windows. setting back to defaults after this. going to do some more research at work tomorrow.
@ Drugz - yeah, i am going to have to do it that way. just thought it would be cool if i could do it through grub.
@BJ - This for now is just an attempt to se ethe effects of caps lat on my stablity / preformance, until i can find out more information on my locked cpu and limited bios features. i guess my biggest question is, where to start with the voltages. my volts are preset incriments, obviously one at a time, but if i run in to a no post again, how do i know that adding more vcore will solve the problem if i cant reallt target seperate the bclk from the cpu multi. also if i up the memory multiplier, and i dont post do i need to add more vtt.
@ Drugz - yeah, i am going to have to do it that way. just thought it would be cool if i could do it through grub.
@BJ - This for now is just an attempt to se ethe effects of caps lat on my stablity / preformance, until i can find out more information on my locked cpu and limited bios features. i guess my biggest question is, where to start with the voltages. my volts are preset incriments, obviously one at a time, but if i run in to a no post again, how do i know that adding more vcore will solve the problem if i cant reallt target seperate the bclk from the cpu multi. also if i up the memory multiplier, and i dont post do i need to add more vtt.
OG buckshot jr
TD Admin
I'm not really understanding your question here, specifically regarding "target seperate the bclk from the cpu multi" part. The CPU voltage is just that, for the entire cpu, regardless of bclk or multiplier. Boot up, run CPU-Z: under the VID Voltage you'll see a value - that's the recommended minimum voltage for your specific chip (apart from the other exact same chips, cause they're all unique with respect to how they handle speed and power). From this value, you can begin to negotiate a lower and lower voltage (again, in increments, testing each time you lower the cpu voltage) until you can no longer boot and/or are unstable. This will be your minimum voltage. Throughout this testing, maintain your overclock speed - the idea here is achieve the absolute minimum voltage required to run your chip at your desired speed.
I would never, under any circumstance, touch the memory voltage. If anything, instead of "AUTO", I would assign the correct value that your RAM is rated for - if it's DDR3, it could be 1.65V or 1.85V, check the RAM itself, it should say right on the stick(s).
Changing the speed/multi of the ram will only affect speed/performance/stability, regardless of RAM voltage.