Overclock i7 2600k to 5Ghz - Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3P

[RobPhoboS]

Hey guys,

Just finished my new build, and as mentioned else where, this is my workstation machine for rendering.

I'm using the XSPC Raystorm 750 EX360 WaterCooling Kit from Special Tech, and ideally would like to be around 5Ghz. If not every day (perhaps 4.5 24/7) but for rendering I could do with that kind of speed and bump it up.

I just have a couple of questions.

I've not overclocked anything for years, so it's all brand new to me again. Upon installing Win, I noticed the MB comes with Easy Tune, so I don't know whether to use that or to nip into the bios and set things myself from there ?

So these are my default settings in my bios which I haven't touched yet:

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

GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3P

Bios Version F6

- Advanced Frequency Settings -

CPU Clock Ratio .....................................:34

CPU Frequency.......................................:3400Mhz

PWM Frequency Control................................: [Auto]

CPU Over Current Protection..........................: [Auto]

Internal CPU PLL Overvoltage.........................: [Auto]

Real Time Ratio Changes In OS .......................: [Disabled]

Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech ...........................: [Auto]

Turbo Ratio (Core 1).................................: [Auto]

Turbo Ratio (Core 2).................................: [Auto]

Turbo Ratio (Core 3).................................: [Auto]

Turbo Ratio (Core 4).................................: [Auto]

Turbo Power Limit (Watts)............................: [Auto]

Turbo Current Limit (Amps)...........................: [Auto]

CPU Cores Enabled ...................................: [All]

CPU Multi Threading..................................: [Enabled]

CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) .............................: [Auto

C3/C6 State Support .................................: [Auto]

CPU Thermal Monitor .................................: [Auto]

CPU EIST Function ...................................: [Auto]

Bi-Directional PROCHOT ..............................: [Auto]

- Advanced Frequency Settings -

BCLK/DMI/PEG Clock Control ..........................:[Disabled]

BCLK/DMI/PEG Frequency(0.1MHz) ......................: 100

Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.).........................:[Disabled]

System Memory Multiplier (SPD) .........................:[Auto]

Memory Frequency(Mhz).....................................:1333

Internal Graphics Clock.....................................:1350 [Auto]

Extreme Memory Profile (XMP).........................: [Disabled]

System Memory Multiplier (SPD) ......................: [Auto]

Performance Enhance .....................................: [Turbo]

DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) ........................: [Auto]

Channel Interleaving .......................................: [Auto]

Rank Interleaving ............................................: [Auto]

- Advanced Memory Settings -

CAS Latency Time .............................: 9

tRCD ................................................: 9

tRP ..................................................: 9

tRAS ................................................: 24

tRC ..................................................: [Auto]

tRRD ................................................: [Auto]

tWTR ...............................................: [Auto]

tWR .................................................: [Auto]

tWTP ................................................: [Auto]

tWL ..................................................: [Auto]

tRFC .................................................: [Auto]

tRTP .................................................: [Auto]

tFAW ................................................: [Auto]

Command Rate (CMD) ........................: 2

IO Latency .........................................: [Auto]

Round Trip Latency .............................: [Auto]

CAS Latency Time ...............................: 9

tRCD ..................................................: 9

tRP ....................................................: 9

tRAS ..................................................: 24

tRC ....................................................: [Auto]

tRRD ..................................................: [Auto]

tWTR .................................................: [Auto]

tWR ...................................................: [Auto]

tWTP .................................................: [Auto]

tWL ...................................................: [Auto]

tRFC ..................................................: [Auto]

tRTP ..................................................: [Auto]

tFAW .................................................: [Auto]

Command Rate (CMD) .........................: 2

IO Latency ..........................................: [Auto]

Round Trip Latency ..............................: [Auto]

-Advanced Voltage Settings-

CPU

Multi-Steps Load-Line ..............................: [Disabled]

CPU Vcore ................................................:1.245v [Auto]

x Dynamic Vcore (DVID)...........................: 0.000v[Auto]

QPI/VTT Voltage 1.050v .........................: 1.050 [Auto]

System Agent Voltage 0.920v ................: 0.920v [Auto]

Graphics Core ................:.........................1.040v [Auto]

MCH/ICH

CPU PLL 1.800v ....................................: 1.800v [Auto]

DRAM

DRAM Voltage 1.500v ...........................: 1.500v [Auto]

DRAM Termination 0.750v .....................: [Auto]

Ch-A Data VRef. 0.750v ........................: [Auto]

Ch-B Data VRef. 0.750v ........................: [Auto]

Ch-A Address VRef. 0.750v ...................: [Auto]

Ch-B Address VRef. 0.750v ...................: [Auto]

Miscellaneous Settings

Isochronous Support ............................: [Enabled]

Virtualization Technology .....................: [Enabled]

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

Appreciate any help or pointers on this !

edit:

Looking through this guide:

http://www.overclock.net/t/910467/the-ultimate-sandy-bridge-oc-guide-p67a-ud7-performance-review

 

[RobPhoboS]

Something weird happened after changing some minor things in the bios.

When I switched the PC on today, it would reboot before it got to the bios, so I had to clear the CMOS and it booted fine.

Seems a bit odd to do that as it was working fine last night running mildly at 4.5Ghz.

 

[yassarikhan786]

For Sandy Bridge you really only need to touch the multiplier and the voltage settings.

EDIT: Change the CPU clock ratio to 50 and in the advanced voltage settings change the CPU vcore to a higher value and check for stability. You might not be able to hit 5.0GHz/you might need some crazy volts, because as you know it depends on the chip.

 

[SieB]

All you need to change is

CPU Clock Ratio .....................................:34

34 = 3.4ghz so if you want 4.5ghz set it to 45

CPU Vcore ................................................:1.245v

for 4.5ghz try around 1.33v

DRAM Voltage 1.500v ...........................: 1.500v

Set this to the voltage of your RAM

Memory Frequency(Mhz).....................................:1333

Set this to your RAM frequency

- Advanced Memory Settings -

CAS Latency Time .............................: 9

tRCD ................................................: 9

tRP ..................................................: 9

tRAS ................................................: 24

This is for your RAM timings

That is all you need to do.

 

[RobPhoboS]

Hi, thanks again for the assistance.

I had pretty much changed those few things but I'm just making sure all my drivers are up to date now.

After that I'll follow what you've noted, once it's stable at 4.5Ghz, I'm going to start trying to get up to 5Ghz.

I've noticed that my ram isn't running at full pelt, I've got 16Gb of Corsair DDR3 1600 MHz but it's running at 1333MHz, is that normal ?

(not that it matters for rendering)

 

[SieB]

Hi, thanks again for the assistance.

I had pretty much changed those few things but I'm just making sure all my drivers are up to date now.

After that I'll follow what you've noted, once it's stable at 4.5Ghz, I'm going to start trying to get up to 5Ghz.

I've noticed that my ram isn't running at full pelt, I've got 16Gb of Corsair DDR3 1600 MHz but it's running at 1333MHz, is that normal ?

(not that it matters for rendering)

You need to manually set it to 1600mhz in the BIOS.

 

[glw165]

 

[RobPhoboS]

Hey guys,

I managed to get it up to 5Ghz no problem at around 1.405 volts (iirc) but for now I'm running at 4.5Ghz for daily typical use, and will ramp it up once rendering starts again.

I was just a bit concerned about the voltage, no heat issues.

 

[8bitbreed]

Be sure to fully stress test you overclocks with p95.

 

[RobPhoboS]

Be sure to fully stress test you overclocks with p95.

Yep I certainly did (although not for a massive amount of time).

I don't want the computer randomly shutting down if it's rendering over a weekend, so I'll test again once I'm near another RENDER BENDER !