Need help OC'ing i7-930 with Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD5 to 3.8ghz

[theduke]

Ive had this build since last year and its basically used for trading. Im running @ stock levels with ram @1066. This will be my first attempt at overclocking and I would like to try and get the system too 3.8ghz with memory @1600. If need be Im willing to add more fans or watercooling, but from what ive read online Im thinking I should be OK with what I have as long as I don’t try to go any higher. I understand some of the basic concepts , but im still worried i might set something wrong. Like I said this is my first attempt and I really don’t want to destroy anything, so any help would be appreciated greatly.




Core i7-930 cpu,
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD5 Mobo(rev2.0) ,
WD Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s HD ,
WD VelociRaptor 300GB 10K RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s HD ,
Corsair HX 850W Mod PSU ,
Cooler Master HAF 922M Case,
2x nvidia quadro nvs 420's with 8 monitors
Corsair Dominator 6GB DDR3-1600 (PC-12800) CL8 Memory.
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 CPU Fan

[notshy]

I'd head over to the Gigabyte subforum.

Here are my settings for my 3.8Ghz i7930 with the same RAM but the X58A-UD3R board.

Advanced CPU Features:
CPU Clock Ratio .............................. x19
Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech .................... Disabled
CPU Cores Enabled ............................ All
CPU Multi Threading .......................... Enabled
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) ...................... Enabled
C3/C6/C7 State Support ....................... Enabled
CPU Thermal Monitor .......................... Enabled
CPU EIST Function ............................ Enabled
Virtualization Technology .................... Enabled
Bi-Directional PROCHOT ....................... Enabled


Uncore & QPI Features:
QPI Link Speed ............................... x36
Uncore Clock Ratio ........................... x17
Isonchronous Frequency ....................... Enabled


Standard Clock Control:
Base Clock (BCLK) Control ................... Enabled
BCLK Frequency (MHz) ........................ 200
Extreme Memory Profile ...................... Disabled
Exteme Memory Profile (XMP) ................. Disabled
PCI Express Frequency (MHz) ................. 100


Advanced Clock Control:
CPU Clock Drive ............................. [800mV]
PCI Express Clock Drive ..................... [900mV]
CPU Clock Skew .............................. [0ps]
IOH Clock Skew .............................. [0ps]


Advanced DRAM Features:
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P) .............. Disabled
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) .............. x8
Performance Enhance ......................... Extreme
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) ................ Expert
Channel Interleaving ........................ [Auto]
Rank Interleaving ........................... [Auto]

Channel A + B + C <<<< Use quick timing first to set manually then select expert timing
Channel A Timing Settings:
CAS Latency Time ........................... 8
tRCD ....................................... 8
tRP ........................................ 8
tRAS ....................................... 24

tRC ........................................ 41
tRRD ....................................... 6
tWTR ....................................... 6
tWR ........................................ 12
tWTP ....................................... 24
tWL ........................................ 8
tRFC ....................................... 88
tRTP ....................................... 6
tFAW ....................................... 30
Command Rate ............................... 1

B2B CASE Delay ............................. [AUTO]
Round Trip Latency ......................... [AUTO]


Advanced Voltage Control:

CPU
Load Line Calibration ........................ Standard
CPU Vcore .............. 1.11875v ............ NORMAL
Dynamic Vcore ................................ +0.13125v     <<< Total = 1.2500v
QPI/VTT Voltage ........ 1.1750v ............. 1.355v
CPU PLL ................ 1.800v .............. 1.800v

MCH/ICH
PCIE ................... 1.500v .............. [Auto]
QPI PLL ................ 1.100v .............. 1.200v
IOH Core ............... 1.100v .............. 1.140v
ICH I/O ................ 1.500v .............. [Auto]
ICH Core ............... 1.1v ................ [Auto]

DRAM
DRAM Voltage ............ 1.500v ............  1.660v
DRAM Termination ........ 0.750v ............. [AUTO]
Ch-A Data VRef.  ........ 0.750v ............. [AUTO]
Ch-B Data VRef.  ........ 0.750v ............. [AUTO]
Ch-C Data VRef.  ........ 0.750v ............. [AUTO]
Ch-A Address VRef.  ..... 0.750v ............. [AUTO]
Ch-B Address VRef.  ..... 0.750v ............. [AUTO]
Ch-C Address VRef.  ..... 0.750v ............. [AUTO]


Miscellaneous Settings:
Isonchronous Support ......................... [Enabled]
Virtualisation Technoloy ..................... [Enabled]

OTHER SETTINGS


Advanced BIOS
Quick Boot ................................... Enabled
HDD SMART Capability ......................... Enabled
No-Execute Memory Protect .................... Enabled     <<< Helps sleep in OSX
Full Screen Logo ............................. Disabled    <<< Can check what is going
Init Display First ........................... PCIE x16-1

SATA Control Mode ............................ AHCI

ACPI Suspend Type ............................ S3 (STR)
HPET Support ................................. Enabled
HPET Mode .................................... 64-bit mode
ErP Support .................................. Enabled

Give me a shout if you have any questions.

My temps are max 65-70 on OCCT or Prime95

[theduke]

I'd head over to the Gigabyte subforum.

Here are my settings for my 3.8Ghz i7930 with the same RAM but the X58A-UD3R board.

Advanced CPU Features:
CPU Clock Ratio .............................. x19
Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech .................... Disabled
CPU Cores Enabled ............................ All
CPU Multi Threading .......................... Enabled
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) ...................... Enabled
C3/C6/C7 State Support ....................... Enabled
CPU Thermal Monitor .......................... Enabled
CPU EIST Function ............................ Enabled
Virtualization Technology .................... Enabled
Bi-Directional PROCHOT ....................... Enabled
 
 
Uncore & QPI Features:
QPI Link Speed ............................... x36
Uncore Clock Ratio ........................... x17
Isonchronous Frequency ....................... Enabled
 
 
Standard Clock Control:
Base Clock (BCLK) Control ................... Enabled
BCLK Frequency (MHz) ........................ 200
Extreme Memory Profile ...................... Disabled
Exteme Memory Profile (XMP) ................. Disabled
PCI Express Frequency (MHz) ................. 100
 
 
Advanced Clock Control:
CPU Clock Drive ............................. [800mV]
PCI Express Clock Drive ..................... [900mV]
CPU Clock Skew .............................. [0ps]
IOH Clock Skew .............................. [0ps]
 
 
Advanced DRAM Features:
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P) .............. Disabled
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) .............. x8
Performance Enhance ......................... Extreme
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) ................ Expert
Channel Interleaving ........................ [Auto]
Rank Interleaving ........................... [Auto]
 
Channel A + B + C <<<< Use quick timing first to set manually then select expert timing
Channel A Timing Settings:
CAS Latency Time ........................... 8
tRCD ....................................... 8
tRP ........................................ 8
tRAS ....................................... 24
 
tRC ........................................ 41
tRRD ....................................... 6
tWTR ....................................... 6
tWR ........................................ 12
tWTP ....................................... 24
tWL ........................................ 8
tRFC ....................................... 88
tRTP ....................................... 6
tFAW ....................................... 30
Command Rate ............................... 1
 
B2B CASE Delay ............................. [AUTO]
Round Trip Latency ......................... [AUTO]
 
 
Advanced Voltage Control:
 
CPU
Load Line Calibration ........................ Standard
CPU Vcore .............. 1.11875v ............ NORMAL
Dynamic Vcore ................................ +0.13125v     <<< Total = 1.2500v
QPI/VTT Voltage ........ 1.1750v ............. 1.355v
CPU PLL ................ 1.800v .............. 1.800v
 
MCH/ICH
PCIE ................... 1.500v .............. [Auto]
QPI PLL ................ 1.100v .............. 1.200v
IOH Core ............... 1.100v .............. 1.140v
ICH I/O ................ 1.500v .............. [Auto]
ICH Core ............... 1.1v ................ [Auto]
 
DRAM
DRAM Voltage ............ 1.500v ............  1.660v
DRAM Termination ........ 0.750v ............. [AUTO]
Ch-A Data VRef.  ........ 0.750v ............. [AUTO]
Ch-B Data VRef.  ........ 0.750v ............. [AUTO]
Ch-C Data VRef.  ........ 0.750v ............. [AUTO]
Ch-A Address VRef.  ..... 0.750v ............. [AUTO]
Ch-B Address VRef.  ..... 0.750v ............. [AUTO]
Ch-C Address VRef.  ..... 0.750v ............. [AUTO]
 
 
Miscellaneous Settings:
Isonchronous Support ......................... [Enabled]
Virtualisation Technoloy ..................... [Enabled]
 
OTHER SETTINGS
 
 
Advanced BIOS
Quick Boot ................................... Enabled
HDD SMART Capability ......................... Enabled
No-Execute Memory Protect .................... Enabled     <<< Helps sleep in OSX
Full Screen Logo ............................. Disabled    <<< Can check what is going
Init Display First ........................... PCIE x16-1
 
SATA Control Mode ............................ AHCI
 
ACPI Suspend Type ............................ S3 (STR)
HPET Support ................................. Enabled
HPET Mode .................................... 64-bit mode
ErP Support .................................. Enabled

Give me a shout if you have any questions.

My temps are max 65-70 on OCCT or Prime95

Thanx. I tried your settings and they seem to work. I really didnt get a chance to run Prime 95 for a while, but when i did my temps got into the 80's within a few seconds. When i run my trading program im at about 70c ,but when im calculating alot of data i do climb higher. Dont know if its a big deal , but each core is running at a different temp. They are all within 1 or 2 degrees of each other except for one which is running about 4 degrees higher than the others. I really dont want to continually run at the temps i reached when i had my trading app running. Ill have to find a way to get them lower. If i wanted to try and tweak the OC which settings would be the main ones i would adjust or would all of them have to be adjusted if one is changed? Also, I read somewhere that voltages can be adjusted to lower temps, if so which ones? Thanx again.

[notshy]

Sounds a bit hot to me if you aren't experienced in overclocking.

I would scale back the BCLK to 160 and up the CPU Mulitplier to x 21, your SPD/RAM multiplier to x10, Uncore clock ratio x 21.
I.e. CPU at 160 x 21 = 3.36 GHz and RAM still at 160 x 10 = 1600 Mhz

Then lower the DVID and perform some stability testing. Find the lowest DVID you can apply and still have rock solid stability. Try something like OCCT on a linepack test for 20-60 mins on full stress test - this program also monitors your temps also and it will shut itself down if it thinks your machine is getting too hot.

Otherwise you might need to look at getting a larger heatsink and fan if you want to go higher. Maybe Hoctua NH-D14 - but it's a bit of a beast and will set you back a chunk more cash. Did you build the machine? How much thermal paste was put on the bottom of the heatsink? Any interest in removing it, cleaning it with something like Articlean and reapplying?

I wondered why you had 8 monitors? What do you trade?

To be honest - if this is your work machine then I think having a slightly lower overclock is probably safer as you don't want your machine to go bang.

[theduke]

Sounds a bit hot to me if you aren't experienced in overclocking.

I would scale back the BCLK to 160 and up the CPU Mulitplier to x 21, your SPD/RAM multiplier to x10, Uncore clock ratio x 21.
I.e. CPU at 160 x 21 = 3.36 GHz and RAM still at 160 x 10 = 1600 Mhz

Then lower the DVID and perform some stability testing. Find the lowest DVID you can apply and still have rock solid stability. Try something like OCCT on a linepack test for 20-60 mins on full stress test - this program also monitors your temps also and it will shut itself down if it thinks your machine is getting too hot.

Otherwise you might need to look at getting a larger heatsink and fan if you want to go higher. Maybe Hoctua NH-D14 - but it's a bit of a beast and will set you back a chunk more cash. Did you build the machine? How much thermal paste was put on the bottom of the heatsink? Any interest in removing it, cleaning it with something like Articlean and reapplying?

I wondered why you had 8 monitors? What do you trade?

To be honest - if this is your work machine then I think having a slightly lower overclock is probably safer as you don't want your machine to go bang.

I actually thought about reapplying thermal paste. I might try to later. I did build machine myself and I also replaced the motherboard in the fall and bought that CPU fan. When i applied the paste i wasnt sure if i had applied the right amount. It was only the second time ive ever done it.

Only reason im even trying to OC is because computer seem to freeze at times during the day. My monitors will gray out for a few seconds and its been driving me crazy for almost a year now. My CPU never seems to go above 30% and my mem never exceeds 50% in task manager, but i will always have moments when the computer seems to get bogged down. I think its when some markets get real volatile at times during the day. I thought i had a bad Gigabyte mobo( originally i had rev1.0) so i upgraded to rev2.0 mobo in the fall. Ive been all over different forums and have gotten all kinds of input from people but nothing ever seemed to fix it. Ive been wondering if my CPU is a bad batch(i have #3001A131), but i couldnt find anything relating to that batch online.

I was hoping a mild OC would maybe resolve issues. Im also a number cruncher. I test and develop trading systems for myself and i was hoping i could run tests through all my data quicker with an decent OC.

To answer your question i trade futures and equities and everything i do is rule based so i basically write everything into strategies. Some run on there own , but others still need human interaction during the day and thats why i have so many monitors. I feel more comfortable always having what im trading up on a monitor right in front of me instead of having to minimize some things while im looking at others. Im constantly following a basket of 8 to 12 commodities with multiple time frame charts open for each. My equities are chosen and traded a completely different way.

[notshy]

That's odd behaviour ! A bit of overclocking will give you a CPU boost and running your RAM at it's full speed should help with the multi-tasking as well.

Here's a bit of light reading on Thermal Pastes:
80-way Thermal Interface Material Performance Test | Thermal Interface Material,Thermal Paste,Heatsink Compound,80-Way Thermal Interface Material Best Thermal Paste Heatsink Compound Cooling Performance Comparison Benchmark Tests

There's some good stuff there on how to apply. Doesn't the Hyper 212 have the HDT base panels?

[theduke]

That's odd behaviour ! A bit of overclocking will give you a CPU boost and running your RAM at it's full speed should help with the multi-tasking as well.

Here's a bit of light reading on Thermal Pastes:
80-way Thermal Interface Material Performance Test | Thermal Interface Material,Thermal Paste,Heatsink Compound,80-Way Thermal Interface Material Best Thermal Paste Heatsink Compound Cooling Performance Comparison Benchmark Tests

There's some good stuff there on how to apply. Doesn't the Hyper 212 have the HDT base panels?

It is odd and it drives me crazy. I feel like this system should rock and roll and its been so disappointing. Ive always wondered if my problem was with my GPU's or with the read/write speeds of the drives due to the fact that i have so much data going to my cache, but ive never been able to figure it out. I love the system but there are always those moments when i want to throw the machine out the window.

The base has the pipes that make direct contact with the CPU. I think im going to add the 2nd optional fan to the Cpu cooler. Im going to check out that post now and reapply the paste tomorrow morning. Thanx again.

[EGC_B]

It would be best for you to invest in a good SSD. This will give you the biggest performance boost. Also for your needs I would only overclock to 3.2 and then turn on turbo boost technology. Keep all voltages on auto settings, except dram should be 1.65 volts. Also since your computing large amounts of data you should be running at least 12GB of ram. I think this will give you the best performance for your application.

[wazza300]

It was probably your ram speed being at 1066mhz that was slowing your system?,you should hit 3.6-3.8ghz with cpu voltage set to normal and leave dvid on auto or disabled if you can,set dram voltage according to your ram and qpi/vtt voltage to 1.315v

[levar86]

Hello I am new to OC-ing and I was looking into making the exact changes listed below but I had a few concerns. First I could not find "Isonchronous Frequency" in my BIOS. I am pretty sure I checked everywhere. Is that crucial? If so is there a step by step direction to find it?

In addition, "Extreme Memory Profile" and "Exteme Memory Profile (XMP)" were not listed in my BIOS. I think that is becuase I'm using a different RAM right?


My main concern is this part

"Dynamic Vcore ................................ +0.13125v <<< Total = 1.2500v QPI/VTT Voltage ........ 1.1750v ............. 1.355v"
If I understand this section correctly the left column is the current status and the right column is the new value. My current vaules were different from those listed in the chart. Should I still made the same changes or should I make a change equivalent to their change?

For

Dynamic Vcore ................................ my reading is 0 QPI/VTT Voltage ........ 1.200v ............. I do not have 1.355v as an option. I have 1.340 and 1.360


Advanced CPU Features: CPU Clock Ratio .............................. x19 Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech .................... Disabled CPU Cores Enabled ............................ All CPU Multi Threading .......................... Enabled CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) ...................... Enabled C3/C6/C7 State Support ....................... Enabled CPU Thermal Monitor .......................... Enabled CPU EIST Function ............................ Enabled Virtualization Technology .................... Enabled Bi-Directional PROCHOT ....................... Enabled Uncore & QPI Features: QPI Link Speed ............................... x36 Uncore Clock Ratio ........................... x17 Isonchronous Frequency ....................... Enabled Standard Clock Control: Base Clock (BCLK) Control ................... Enabled BCLK Frequency (MHz) ........................ 200 Extreme Memory Profile ...................... Disabled Exteme Memory Profile (XMP) ................. Disabled PCI Express Frequency (MHz) ................. 100 Advanced Clock Control: CPU Clock Drive ............................. [800mV] PCI Express Clock Drive ..................... [900mV] CPU Clock Skew .............................. [0ps] IOH Clock Skew .............................. [0ps] Advanced DRAM Features: Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P) .............. Disabled System Memory Multiplier (SPD) .............. x8 Performance Enhance ......................... Extreme DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) ................ Expert Channel Interleaving ........................ [Auto] Rank Interleaving ........................... [Auto] Channel A + B + C <<<< Use quick timing first to set manually then select expert timing Channel A Timing Settings: CAS Latency Time ........................... 8 tRCD ....................................... 8 tRP ........................................ 8 tRAS ....................................... 24 tRC ........................................ 41 tRRD ....................................... 6 tWTR ....................................... 6 tWR ........................................ 12 tWTP ....................................... 24 tWL ........................................ 8 tRFC ....................................... 88 tRTP ....................................... 6 tFAW ....................................... 30 Command Rate ............................... 1 B2B CASE Delay ............................. [AUTO] Round Trip Latency ......................... [AUTO] Advanced Voltage Control: CPU Load Line Calibration ........................ Standard CPU Vcore .............. 1.11875v ............ NORMAL Dynamic Vcore ................................ +0.13125v <<< Total = 1.2500v QPI/VTT Voltage ........ 1.1750v ............. 1.355v CPU PLL ................ 1.800v .............. 1.800v MCH/ICH PCIE ................... 1.500v .............. [Auto] QPI PLL ................ 1.100v .............. 1.200v IOH Core ............... 1.100v .............. 1.140v ICH I/O ................ 1.500v .............. [Auto] ICH Core ............... 1.1v ................ [Auto] DRAM DRAM Voltage ............ 1.500v ............ 1.660v DRAM Termination ........ 0.750v ............. [AUTO] Ch-A Data VRef. ........ 0.750v ............. [AUTO] Ch-B Data VRef. ........ 0.750v ............. [AUTO] Ch-C Data VRef. ........ 0.750v ............. [AUTO] Ch-A Address VRef. ..... 0.750v ............. [AUTO] Ch-B Address VRef. ..... 0.750v ............. [AUTO] Ch-C Address VRef. ..... 0.750v ............. [AUTO] Miscellaneous Settings: Isonchronous Support ......................... [Enabled] Virtualisation Technoloy ..................... [Enabled] OTHER SETTINGS Advanced BIOS Quick Boot ................................... Enabled HDD SMART Capability ......................... Enabled No-Execute Memory Protect .................... Enabled <<< Helps sleep in OSX Full Screen Logo ............................. Disabled <<< Can check what is going Init Display First ........................... PCIE x16-1 SATA Control Mode ............................ AHCI ACPI Suspend Type ............................ S3 (STR) HPET Support ................................. Enabled HPET Mode .................................... 64-bit mode ErP Support .................................. Enabled

I believe those were the only issues. Thanks in advance.