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Finally finished my i7 setup!

oggmonster

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Finally finished my i7 setup!
« on: October 15, 2010, 05:43:36 pm »
After 3 different hardware failures – RAM x2 and my PSU x1 my i7 setup is FINALLY complete!

Equipment being used:
X58A-UD3R V2.0
i7 930
Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 12800C9
Noctua NH-D14
Antec 900 case
8800 GTX (this will be going asap!)
320GB WD caviar sata2
Vista HP x64 SP2




motherboard with all the gubbins










 – all in the case, yes I am aware its a mess :P

BIOS M.I.T Shots.


overview of M.I.T


Current status


clock ratio, QPI + BCLK settings


X.M.P and RAM timings


Voltages – is nice to see all voltages under one single menu!

Was aiming for 4ghz prime stable (6-8 hours) for me personally this is plenty as the machine is used for gaming primarily. Well once I replace my 8800gtx :P


7 hours or so prime stable, was really confused by huge difference in temps on core #3. Despite reseating 5 or 6 times it remained the same. Not overly worried as the temps are within the limits, could possibly be an uneven his


RAM running at rated freq with this overclock.

4GHz settings

Advanced CPU Features:
CPU Clock Ratio ................................ [20x]
Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech .................. [Disabled]
CPU Cores Enabled ............................ [All]
CPU Multi Threading .......................... [Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) ................... [Disabled]
C3/C6/C7 State Support .................... [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor ......................... [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function ............................ [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology ................... [Enabled]
Bi-Directional PROCHOT ..................... [Enabled]

Uncore & QPI Features:
QPI Link Speed ..............................[x36]-(Also QPI Clock Ratio)
Uncore Frequency ..........................[3200]
Isonchronous Frequency ..................[Enabled]
Uncore Clock Ratio ....................[x16]

Standard Clock Control:
Base Clock (BCLK) Control ................ [Enabled]
BCLK Frequency (MHz) .....................[200]
PCI Express Frequency (MHz) ........... [100]

C.I.A.2 [Disabled]

Advanced Clock Control:
CPU Clock Drive ..............................[700mV]
PCI Express Clock Drive ................... [700mV]
CPU Clock Skew ............................. [0ps]
IOH Clock Skew ............................. [0ps]


Advanced DRAM Features:
Performance Enhance ...................... [Standard]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P) ......... [Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) ........ [8]
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) .......... [Quick]
Channel & Rank Interleaving...............[Auto]

Channel A + B + C

##Channel A Standard Timing Control##
CAS Latency Time ......................[8]9   
tRCD .......................................    [8]9
tRP .........................................     [8]9
tRAS .......................................[20]24


##Channel A Advanced Timing Control##
tRC ........................................[Auto]
tRRD .......................................[Auto]
tWTR .......................................[Auto]
tWR ........................................[Auto]
tWTP .......................................[Auto]
tWL ........................................[Auto]
tRFC .......................................[Auto]
tRTP .......................................[Auto]
tFAW .......................................[1] 2t
Command Rate (CMD) ................

##Channel A Misc Timing Control##
Round Trip Latency .....................[Auto]

B2B CAS Delay ..........................[Auto]


Advanced Voltage Control:

CPU
Load Line Calibration ................. [Level 2]
CPU Vcore ...............................[1.32500v]
QPI/VTT Voltage 1.715v ............[1.315v] 
CPU PLL 1.800v .......................[1.840]   

MCH/ICH
PCIE 1.500v ...........................[Normal]
QPI PLL 1.100v ........................[Normal]
IOH Core 1.100v ........................[1.260]
ICH I/O 1.500v ........................[Normal]
ICH Core 1.1v .........................[Normal]

DRAM
DRAM Voltage 1.500v ..............[1.68]
DRAM Termination 0.750v [.84]
Ch-A Data VRef. 0.750v [.84]
Ch-B Data VRef. 0.750v [.84]
Ch-C Data VRef. 0.750v [.84]
Ch-A Address VRef. 0.750v [.84]
Ch-B Address VRef. 0.750v [.84]
Ch-C Address VRef. 0.750v [.84]

Am aware that some voltages are a bit excessive, they will be brought down in time.

Always like to give EasyTune a try. So did my usual thing – downloaded + installed latest version. Pressed the big red “3” button


Prime stable, with a 3.52ghz clockspeed, BCLK of 160mhz


And stable memory too :)


Again another impressive board from Gigabyte. People have said about x58 chipsets being hard to overclock. This certainly was not the case with this board, just make sure you do a bit of research before you go doing anything and you will be laughing. I also think the EasyTune feature is great to ease novices into overclocking and was pretty impressed that it was prime + memtest stable!
A 43% clockspeed  increase on the manual overclock and 26% on the easytune is nothing to be snuffed at.

Next stop 4.2ghz ;)
There's no place like ::1

Dark Mantis

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Re: Finally finished my i7 setup!
« Reply #1 on: October 15, 2010, 05:52:46 pm »
Yes looking very good mate. You seem to have got it cracked ok. ;)
Gigabyte X58A-UD7
i7 920
Dominators 1600 x6 12GB
6970 2GB
HX850
256GB SSD, Sam 1TB, WDB320GB
Blu-Ray
HAF 932

Gigabyte Z68X-UD5-B3
i7 3770K
Vengeance 1600 16GB
6950 2GB
HCP1200W
Revo Drive x2, 1.5TB WDB RAID0
16x DLRW
StrikeX S7
Full water cooling
3 x 27" Iiy

oggmonster

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Re: Finally finished my i7 setup!
« Reply #2 on: October 15, 2010, 05:54:23 pm »
Aha cheers buddy! It was a piece of cake once the hardware faults had been sorted! :/
There's no place like ::1

Dark Mantis

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Re: Finally finished my i7 setup!
« Reply #3 on: October 15, 2010, 06:10:19 pm »
Ah, each to their own. I always think the hardware problems are the easiest! ;)
Gigabyte X58A-UD7
i7 920
Dominators 1600 x6 12GB
6970 2GB
HX850
256GB SSD, Sam 1TB, WDB320GB
Blu-Ray
HAF 932

Gigabyte Z68X-UD5-B3
i7 3770K
Vengeance 1600 16GB
6950 2GB
HCP1200W
Revo Drive x2, 1.5TB WDB RAID0
16x DLRW
StrikeX S7
Full water cooling
3 x 27" Iiy

oggmonster

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Re: Finally finished my i7 setup!
« Reply #4 on: October 15, 2010, 06:16:54 pm »
The first time a stick of RAM failed it was intermittant and played with BIOS versions + settings to no avail. The 2nd stick of RAM that failed was just plain dead :P Then I had PSU issues which were also intermittant, certain rails would only fail after the psu became fairly warm.
Needless to say, it was a nightmare :P Though the motherboard has remained stable throughout all of these shenanigans! :D
There's no place like ::1

Dark Mantis

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Re: Finally finished my i7 setup!
« Reply #5 on: October 15, 2010, 06:19:07 pm »
Yes I can imagine that you weren't a happy bunny! How did you manage not to drop kick it out the window? :o
Gigabyte X58A-UD7
i7 920
Dominators 1600 x6 12GB
6970 2GB
HX850
256GB SSD, Sam 1TB, WDB320GB
Blu-Ray
HAF 932

Gigabyte Z68X-UD5-B3
i7 3770K
Vengeance 1600 16GB
6950 2GB
HCP1200W
Revo Drive x2, 1.5TB WDB RAID0
16x DLRW
StrikeX S7
Full water cooling
3 x 27" Iiy

absic

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Re: Finally finished my i7 setup!
« Reply #6 on: October 16, 2010, 08:34:36 am »
Hi oggmonster,

Just wanted to say looks a nice build.
Quote
just make sure you do a bit of research before you go doing anything and you will be laughing
I thought this comment was very incisive and is something I whole heartedly agree with.

I also have the Noctua NH-D14 cooler and have been mightily impressed with its cooling capabilities. Yes, it is huge but it does such a good job and so quietly too.  

Now, if you have a spare one of these rigs knocking around, I might be tempted to come over to the dark side (Intel)

ps I can see the back of St Anne's School from my window, does that count?
« Last Edit: October 16, 2010, 08:46:44 am by absic »
Remember, when all else fails a cup of tea and a good swear will often help! It won't solve the problem but it will make you feel better.

oggmonster

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Re: Finally finished my i7 setup!
« Reply #7 on: October 16, 2010, 05:19:43 pm »
Yes I can imagine that you weren't a happy bunny! How did you manage not to drop kick it out the window? :o

Beer - lots of it! ;)

Hi oggmonster,

Just wanted to say looks a nice build.
Quote
just make sure you do a bit of research before you go doing anything and you will be laughing
I thought this comment was very incisive and is something I whole heartedly agree with.

I also have the Noctua NH-D14 cooler and have been mightily impressed with its cooling capabilities. Yes, it is huge but it does such a good job and so quietly too. 

Now, if you have a spare one of these rigs knocking around, I might be tempted to come over to the dark side (Intel)

ps I can see the back of St Anne's School from my window, does that count?


Thanks man, yeah was also impressed with the cooler what a monster! Definatly glad I did research beforehand instead of just jumping in headfirst as overclocking these are a compleatly different kettle of fish to the Core2Duos/quads!
 Don't have one kicking about - no :P The rev2 x58a-ud3r is a cracking board + the i7 930 has come down in price quite alot...you must be tempted ;)
There's no place like ::1

Dark Mantis

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Re: Finally finished my i7 setup!
« Reply #8 on: October 16, 2010, 05:35:46 pm »
Oh, he's tempted alright but he won't admit it ;) Come on over to the Dark Side  8) 8) 8)
Gigabyte X58A-UD7
i7 920
Dominators 1600 x6 12GB
6970 2GB
HX850
256GB SSD, Sam 1TB, WDB320GB
Blu-Ray
HAF 932

Gigabyte Z68X-UD5-B3
i7 3770K
Vengeance 1600 16GB
6950 2GB
HCP1200W
Revo Drive x2, 1.5TB WDB RAID0
16x DLRW
StrikeX S7
Full water cooling
3 x 27" Iiy

absic

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Re: Finally finished my i7 setup!
« Reply #9 on: October 16, 2010, 06:46:58 pm »
No, not even a little tempted, I'm an AMD boy at heart.

The only bits of kit Oggie's got, that I totally agree with is his CPU cooler & his PSU (I've got one of those too). The Intel CPU's are, dare I say it, overpriced.
Remember, when all else fails a cup of tea and a good swear will often help! It won't solve the problem but it will make you feel better.

oggmonster

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Re: Finally finished my i7 setup!
« Reply #10 on: October 31, 2010, 01:14:23 pm »
Overclock still 7hours+ prime stable with C.I.A2 + all energy saving features enabled :)
There's no place like ::1

Dark Mantis

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Re: Finally finished my i7 setup!
« Reply #11 on: October 31, 2010, 01:21:23 pm »
Looking good oggmonster! Trouble is what are you going to do next? It's always a bit of an anti-climax when the build is finished. :-\
Gigabyte X58A-UD7
i7 920
Dominators 1600 x6 12GB
6970 2GB
HX850
256GB SSD, Sam 1TB, WDB320GB
Blu-Ray
HAF 932

Gigabyte Z68X-UD5-B3
i7 3770K
Vengeance 1600 16GB
6950 2GB
HCP1200W
Revo Drive x2, 1.5TB WDB RAID0
16x DLRW
StrikeX S7
Full water cooling
3 x 27" Iiy

absic

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  • 5815
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  • Never give up; Never surrender!
    • Bandcamp
Re: Finally finished my i7 setup!
« Reply #12 on: October 31, 2010, 01:26:27 pm »
Being honest Oggmonster...... Nobody likes a show off! ;D

Joking aside, I am pleased that everything seems stable and solid for you. Now, all you need to do is, push it just a bit more, then it will be a truly impressive O/C.  ::)
Remember, when all else fails a cup of tea and a good swear will often help! It won't solve the problem but it will make you feel better.

oggmonster

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  • I can see Russia from my house
Re: Finally finished my i7 setup!
« Reply #13 on: October 31, 2010, 01:27:22 pm »
Attempt 4.2ghz :P and/or save up for a better graphics card + enjoy some pc games. Though both are dependant on time/money :/
There's no place like ::1

oggmonster

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Re: Finally finished my i7 setup!
« Reply #14 on: October 31, 2010, 01:28:25 pm »
Being honest Oggmonster...... Nobody likes a show off! ;D

Joking aside, I am pleased that everything seems stable and solid for you. Now, all you need to do is, push it just a bit more, then it will be a truly impressive O/C.  ::)

Haha cheers, I do want to attempt 4.2ghz, but volts on the cpu are fairly high as it is, so am kinda unsure. Will have to ask around and get some advice.
There's no place like ::1