i5 (760) OC project

[deathtical]

First I would like to thank you guys for publishing this article...

http://www.techreaction.net/2010/09/...uide-lynnfield

It helped me quite a bit while OC'n my new i5. However, I think I have hit a bit of a snag. I have read all over the place that it is pretty easy to OC an i5 (750/760) to the magical 4000Mhz mark but can't seem to get past 3400Ghz. I was wondering if you had a more advanced follow up article or if the guys in the forum could help a bit? Here are some of the details before following the guide...

MB: ASRock P55 EXTREME4 LGA 1156
CPU: Intel Core i5-760 Lynnfield 2.8GHz
RAM: Patriot Viper II 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600 (7x7x7x20)
GPU: XFX ATI HD5870 1Gb
PSU: Thermaltake 650Watt
Cooler: Prolimatech Megahalems Rev B

System info while running Prime95 and CPU-Z...

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_HAgdAkLIoHs/TN...wE2V7k/CPU.jpg http://lh6.ggpht.com/_HAgdAkLIoHs/TN...Bd_aXLc/MB.jpg http://lh5.ggpht.com/_HAgdAkLIoHs/TN...HVdXYY/RAM.jpg http://lh3.ggpht.com/_HAgdAkLIoHs/TN...BOOOCk/SPD.jpg http://lh5.ggpht.com/_HAgdAkLIoHs/TN...xy6xvM/GPU.jpg

After following the guide here is where I ended up in my BIOS...

Asrock  P55 Extreme4
BIOS Ver 1.5

<CPU Configuration Sub Menu>

CPU Ratio setting..........................: 20
C1E Support.................................: Off
Hardware Prefetcher.....................:
Adjacent Cache  Line Prefetch.........:
MPS and ACPI MADT Ordering.........:
Intel(r) Virtualization Tech...............: On
CPU TM Function.............................:
Execute Disable Bit..........................:
Intel(r) HT Technology.....................: N/A
Active Processor Cores.....................: 4
A20M..............................................:
Intel(r) Speedstep(TM) Tech.............: Off
Intel(r) Turbo Mode Tech..................: Off
Intel(r) C State Tech*.......................: Off
*C State package limit setting............:
*C1 Auto Demotion...........................:
*C3 Auto Demotion...........................:
_____________________________________

Extreme Tweaker(Continued)

BCLK Frequency.................................: 172
PCIE Frequency..................................: 100
Dram Frequency.................................: 688
UCLK Frequency..................................:
QPI Link Data Rate...............................: Auto
Memory Configuration Protect...............:

<Dram Timing Configuration Sub Menu>

1st Information

CAS# Latency (tCL).........................: Auto (7)
RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD).............: Auto (7)
RAS# PRE Time (tRP)......................: Auto (7)
RAS# ACT Time (tRAS)....................: Auto (20)
RAS# TO RAS# Delay.......................: Auto
Ref Cycle Time.................................: Auto
Write Recovery Time.........................: Auto
Read to Pre Time..............................: Auto
Four Act Win Time.............................: Auto
Back to Back Cas# Delay.....................: Auto

Extreme Tweaker (Continued)

CPU Differential amplitude..........................:
CPU Clock Skew.........................................:
IOH Clock Skew..........................................:
Extreme Engine Digi+..................................:
Digi+ Power Mode.......................................:
PWM Voltage Control...................................:
Load-Line Calibration...................................:
CPU Voltage OCP.........................................:
CPU PWM Frequency....................................:
Extreme OV.................................................:
Extreme OC.................................................:
CPU Voltage.................................................: 1.200
CPU PLL Voltage............................................: Auto (1.855)
QPI/DRAM Core Voltage.................................: 1.295 (any higher and the BIOS considers it over volting)
DRAM BUS Voltage.........................................: 1.695 (any higher and the BIOS considers it over volting)

Any ideas what I can do to reach my goal?

Thanks in advance.

[miahallen]

QPI/DRAM seems to high, and Vcore seems too low at your current settings.

Can you tell us which step you made it to, and specifically what happens when you encounter the problems? Also tell us the temps you were seeing while stress testing

[deathtical]

QPI/DRAM seems to high, and Vcore seems too low at your current settings.

Can you tell us which step you made it to, and specifically what happens when you encounter the problems? Also tell us the temps you were seeing while stress testing

Not sure what you mean by "step" but I made it all the way through the article. The issues I ran into would vary. Sometimes the system wouldn't POST. Sometimes it would BSOD while loading Windows. Sometimes it would just fail the Intel test. Temps never went above 61C, usually in the high 50s when stress testing. In my BIOS QPI is called VTT (gotta love them industry standards ). Based on the testing methodology in the article those were the stable voltages without "over volting". I think my BIOS is set to "play it ultra safe" mode. Any ideas? Thanks.

[Neuromancer]

Disable automatic restarts so you can check the stop error code you get. (right click computer icon, select properties, select advanced system settings, startup and recovery. If you are running an SSD you should already be familiar with this page as you want to disable "overwrite any existing file" on this tab anyway. Uncheck "automatically restart" so you can note the stop error you get. It is pretty self explanatory with a google searching, but for anyone that needs help...

Stop errors are represented in a 0x+8 digit code, normally abbreviated to representing the non 0 digits following the 0x. For instance. 0x00000124 = 0x124 which on core i series means a VTT issue. (QPI/DRAM on ASUS) too high or too low. 0x101 = vcore too low. 0x9c = cpu failure. There are not many. That is about half of them.

[deathtical]

Disable automatic restarts so you can check the stop error code you get. (right click computer icon, select properties, select advanced system settings, startup and recovery. If you are running an SSD you should already be familiar with this page as you want to disable "overwrite any existing file" on this tab anyway. Uncheck "automatically restart" so you can note the stop error you get. It is pretty self explanatory with a google searching, but for anyone that needs help...

Stop errors are represented in a 0x+8 digit code, normally abbreviated to representing the non 0 digits following the 0x. For instance. 0x00000124 = 0x124 which on core i series means a VTT issue. (QPI/DRAM on ASUS) too high or too low. 0x101 = vcore too low. 0x9c = cpu failure. There are not many. That is about half of them.

Thanks for the info but already know this trick (you can also get this info from the system logs provided it was able to write it before the crash). I have been supporting and building PCs for over 14 years. I have only just started getting into manual OC'n (My last MB was a Gigabyte and the OC util they have worked flawlessly so I didn't really have to dig into the BIOS). It was easy to figure out what was causing the crashes because the guide they posted only has you adjusting one thing at a time so basically, if you just changed something and something went wrong either change it back or bump up the voltage related to what you are working on. I think what I am running into is that my BIOS lists certain voltage settings as "over volting". I'm sure they are quite safe and will probably get me where I want to go but for my first attempt I just followed the guide and it said to stop when your BIOS tells you it may not be safe to use a setting. I just wanted to get some input to see if what I have done (and the system is very stable at the posted settings) looked right and get some feedback from people to see what settings they used to get their i5 750/760 to 4000Mhz. Keep the good feedback coming

[miahallen]

Not sure what you mean by "step" but I made it all the way through the article. The issues I ran into would vary. Sometimes the system wouldn't POST. Sometimes it would BSOD while loading Windows. Sometimes it would just fail the Intel test. Temps never went above 61C, usually in the high 50s when stress testing. In my BIOS QPI is called VTT (gotta love them industry standards ). Based on the testing methodology in the article those were the stable voltages without "over volting". I think my BIOS is set to "play it ultra safe" mode. Any ideas? Thanks.

By "step" I mean which of the 3 steps (1-bclock, 2-mem, 3-CPU) did you get stuck on?

If you made it all the way through, then you should have a stable system (unless you cheated ).

The reason I ask this is to help isolate what is causing the issue your running into....just basic troubleshooting.

[deathtical]

By "step" I mean which of the 3 steps (1-bclock, 2-mem, 3-CPU) did you get stuck on?

If you made it all the way through, then you should have a stable system (unless you cheated ).

The reason I ask this is to help isolate what is causing the issue your running into....just basic troubleshooting.

Where I was getting stuck was on any step where the BIOS would come up and say that to increase the voltage any more would be "over volting". The guide was very helpful and thorough. But in the end... I cheated. There is a feature in the BIOS that has predetermined settings that allows you to OC to 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 4.0, or 4.2Ghz. I selected 4.0 and bam... works like a champs. Don't think I will try 4.2 as my CPU was very close to it's thermal limits when stress testing. The system is stable though which is the important part and I may get some better fans for my cooler though to get some better air flow. Thanks for all your input guys. Without those predefined settings I don't think I would have gotten there because the BIOS pushes the system to very aggressive voltages and I don't think I would have been brave enough to do it myself. Cheers!

[miahallen]

Just because the auto OC voltages work, doesn't mean their safe....I killed my 2nd 980X with MSI's OC Gene BS (I was just curious what it would set, and it pushed VTT up to 1.55V ). Next time I tried to fire up the CPU...it was dead

My guide was written to allow you to reach a respectable OC with the lowest possible voltage

[deathtical]

Yeah, I understand what you mean. They do seem kinda high, but the system is stable, normal usage temps are in the mid to upper 40Cs. Also, based on what I've read on here and other forums the voltages aren't too far or are pretty close to what others where using. Will just have to wait and see I guess. Either way, I appreciate the article. It was very informative and gave me a little more confidence to dig around the BIOS when it comes to OC'n. As I said, I'm no stranger to working on PCs or trouble shooting them, but fairly noobish when it comes to OC'n them. Thanks again.

[miahallen]

No problem death....I'm glad it's working for you