Noob: Overclocking i7-930 with P6T Deluxe V2 and Noctua NH D14

Hi guys.

Sorry for the typical noob overclocking intro. I've followed another thread on another forum and clocked the above to 3.6 before which was the first part of an i7-920 overclocking tutorial.

I still kept a couple of Asus or Intel bios options enabled which meant that the rig stayed quite slow unless it was pushed harder and then the OC eventually kicked in and the Mhz went up.

Because the tutorial was for the 920 and not specifically the 930 I was concerned about having the optimized settings. (Although I appreciate no CPU, ambient temp etc are the same) I also read around online and a few more knowledgable people than me were disagreeing with the advice or figures shown or suggested.

Having subscribed to Tom's youTube vids and followed his advice and appreciated his style and commitment - I was hoping to come here and get a second opinion based on actual i7-930 experience.

This room is very hot in summer and very cold in winter. (I'm a brit living in Japan at the moment).

As per the title - my humble rig is a 930 on a P6T Deluxe V2, 6 gigs of Corsair XMS3 DDR 3 (1600) with a Noctua NH D14 for cooling, a Silverstone Raven RV02 case, Silverstone ST 1000 P PSU and a Sapphire HD 5870 (2010). It's not the highest spec - but I'm coming from a 3.4 Ghz P4 rig I used for 5 years - so I'm quite chuffed for now.

I basically want the PC to be as zippy as possible within acceptable temps. I'm new to this and the idea of having it only speed up when necessary was quite appealing if it saves mostly heat and maybe energy but I'm open to advice and opinions. So far it is back to default settings with the ram set to 1600 in the bios. I've uninstalled the Asus applications and would prefer to just stick with the bios.

To start - please let me know what to and what not to enable. As an overclocker do you always run your cpu at overclocked speed or do you run speedstep or whatever it's called so it only kicks in when pushed?

Anyway - obviously I'm a nub - so I'm all yours - tell me what to do and treat me gently.. ;)
 
Right this might take a while to get your head round but the best thing to do is go and play over the weekend, it soon becomes 2nd nature.

Disable speedstep, C1E, and Intel turbo.

Go to extreme tweeker, all your work is in here now.

set the overclocking control to Manual

Ratio to 20

BCLK is the main point for adjustment that will effect the overclock, as this changes so will the DRAM value but all you have to do is hit enter on this and you can change it. For now set this so its 10x the BCLK value - 133x10 = 1333.

DRAM Timing settings, manualy set the first set to 9 - 9 - 9 -24 (or if you ram is 888-24 then set it to that, a quick google will see or look at the sticks there will be a sticker)

UCLK this should for now be set to 2x the ram speed (1600 = 3200)

There a voltage option you can change to X-performace

Set the Load Line Calibration to 100%

CPU Vcore, this should be ok upto 1.4v on that cooler but tbh around the 1.35v mark should be getting you 4ghz. Because of your ram will will have to change dividers there later.

CPU PLL - up to 1.9 is fine

QPI volts this is directly linked to the UCLK speed 1.65v is ATX max but tbh yours should do it at 1.3 - 1.4v

IOH is basically the northbridge, as the BCLK goes up this will need increasing but for now Id leave it.

------------

Download Prime 95, CPUZ & Hwmonitor and install them all on the machine before starting.

Right for now set your bios too:

BCLK to 160

ram to 1600

UCLK to 3200

Vcore to 1.25

QPI to 1.325

go to windows and load up HW monitor, prime and cpuz.

cpuz should show you have a clock of 3.2ghz - 3200mhz

ALWAYS keep an eye on the temps on HWmonitor, if it hits 80c thats too hot and will probably be due to your high ambient temps.

load up prime with the 'maximum heat maximum stress' and watch the temps rocket.

If this is stable then we can start slowly increasing the bclk by 5 or 10 at a time. When it becomes unstable you can just increase the vcore by .25v at a time.

There is no quick way you have to put the time in fella. If you try what Ive written here and report beack we can take it that step further.
 
Tom.

Which part of your advice do I start first?

1. set the overclocking control to Manual

Ratio to 20


or

2. Download Prime 95, CPUZ & Hwmonitor and install them all on the machine before starting.

Right for now set your bios too:

BCLK to 160

ram to 1600

UCLK to 3200

Vcore to 1.25

QPI to 1.325

go to windows and...
I'm assuming 2?

(I followed 1 and then got stuck on the stuff directly below here..)

..Also "There a voltage option you can change to X-performace

Set the Load Line Calibration to 100%"

I didn't see where that voltage option was to X-performance etc.

The Load line Calibration showed enabled, disabled or Auto.

I appreciate the heads up and it's good fun..

(I've since discarded the changes and rebooted and I'll sit tight..)

I'm keeping an eye on this thread via my cell phone too if I'm in the bios.

Cheers..
 
download the stuff and have it ready.

Set LLC to enabled. That board may not have the x-performance bit fella, not all bios's are the same Im just trying to cover all bases as someone will ask this again in a couple weeks.
 
Prime 95 shows 3 test options plus the custom:

The first stating Max stress etc, the next down stating Max temp etc.

The 3rd - blend and 4th Custom...

What's LLC ?
 
I followed your number 2 advice

Right for now set your bios too:

BCLK to 160

ram to 1600

UCLK to 3200

Vcore to 1.25

QPI to 1.325

and the options defaulted at a little over - for example 1604 as opposed to 1600. The voltages were keyed in exactly.

The pc is currently ticking over at 3359.97MHz (Core Temp) 46, 45, 48 and 43 degrees. No stress test yet. Not sure what LLC is? I've also disabled speedstep, C1E, and Intel turbo.
 
Load Line Calibration.

You forgot to set the multiplier to 20btw dude.... thats why its 3.35 and not 3.2 dead.

Some things will be a few mhz out but thats fine aslong as its in that area.

Now get HWmonitor running and start prime.
 
Right this might take a while to get your head round but the best thing to do is go and play over the weekend, it soon becomes 2nd nature.

Disable speedstep, C1E, and Intel turbo. Done

Go to extreme tweeker, all your work is in here now.

set the overclocking control to Manual Done

Ratio to 20 Done

BCLK is the main point for adjustment that will effect the overclock, as this changes so will the DRAM value but all you have to do is hit enter on this and you can change it. For now set this so its 10x the BCLK value - 133x10 = 1333. Done

DRAM Timing settings, manualy set the first set to 9 - 9 - 9 -24 (or if you ram is 888-24 then set it to that, a quick google will see or look at the sticks there will be a sticker) Done

UCLK this should for now be set to 2x the ram speed (1600 = 3200) Done

There a voltage option you can change to X-performace N/A

Set the Load Line Calibration to 100% Enabled

CPU Vcore, this should be ok upto 1.4v on that cooler but tbh around the 1.35v Done mark should be getting you 4ghz. Because of your ram will will have to change dividers there later.

CPU PLL - up to 1.9 is fine Done

QPI volts this is directly linked to the UCLK speed 1.65v is ATX max but tbh yours should do it at 1.3 - 1.4v Done 1.3

IOH is basically the northbridge, as the BCLK goes up this will need increasing but for now Id leave it.

What now?

I've done all of the above and saved and rebooted. I'm surfing at at 48 48 51 46 degrees at 2672.69 MHz. (With CPUZ, HW Monitor and core temp running plus browser)

I haven't yet done the extra stuff colored green below: Waiting instructions...Please see Orange text below..

Cheers..

------------

Download Prime 95, CPUZ & Hwmonitor and install them all on the machine before starting. Done

Right for now set your bios too:

BCLK to 160

ram to 1600

UCLK to 3200

Vcore to 1.25
Currently 1.35!

QPI to 1.325Currently 1.3 !
 
Or would you prefer I undo most of the stuff above and just start with the green stuff plus ratio 20, LLC, Disable speedstep, C1E, and Intel turbo. etc? and prime it?
 
Why is it running 2.6ghz? I said to set the bclk to 160. and why are the volts so high? Theres absolutely NO need for them to be that high yet mate.
 
Yeah I've since reset.

Ref:

Right for now set your bios too:

BCLK to 160

ram to 1600

UCLK to 3200

Sorry - why am i unable to get exactly 3200 and 1600 when I enter 160?

I am entering 20.0 in the CPU ratio field (is that wrong?)

Cheers again.

Must sleep for work soon.

Will be back most of the night tomorrow.
 
Thats all correct, with the voltage at something like 1.25vcore.

You dont need it at 1.35v yet all thats doing is making everything hotter. We will increase the vcore when we clock later.

You need to watch temps with prime running now dude. I may not be able to walk you through every step of this as I plan on swimming in alcohol tomorrow night its been a long week :p
 
I can't get those settings - I'm just referencing what you've said - those are the settings I'm trying to enter.

I can't get exactly 3200 and exaclty 1600 to show up when i enter 160.

I am entering a ratio of 20 which I thought was supposed to help. Maybe I'm entering a ratio of 20 in the wrong place..

I don't expect you to walk me through Tom. I hope you have a good weekend and relax.

I'll keep playing and I'll keep the voltages on the low side.

Cheers.
 
Stage 1 Overclock:

Speedstep - disabled

C1E - Disabled

Intel turbo - Disabled

Load Line Calibration - Enabled

Ratio - 20

BCLK to 160

ram to 1604

UCLK to 3207

Vcore to 1.25

QPI to 1.325

Core Speed 3200 Mhz

Ran Prime 95 BLEND for 1 hour. No errors. Max temp was 69, 68, 69, 64 in a warm room.

10 minutes after stopping test, temps are (in a warm room) 44, 45, 47, 42.
 
Stage 2 Overclock:

Speedstep - disabled

C1E - Disabled

Intel turbo - Disabled

Load Line Calibration - Enabled

Ratio - 20

BCLK to 165

ram to 1650

ram timing set to 9 9 9 25

UCLK to 3300

Vcore to 1.25

QPI to 1.325

Core Speed 3300 Mhz

Ran Prime 95 BLEND for 1 hour. No errors. Max temp was 68, 68, 69, 65. (Room was cooler than before)

Should I be adjusting anything else at this stage as opposed to just the BCLK? (DRAM?)Cheers for any headsup anyone..

(must sleep - back later..)
 
ram should be 999-24. if you keep upping the bclk the ram will in the end get to a limit that it wont go higher and you will have to change the divider on it.

Its should do 170 to 180 ish before the ram will tap out.
 
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