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Overclocking, Benching, Events, Tweaking & Modding => Overclocking motherboards with Intel processors => Topic started by: bhavv on March 08, 2010, 07:54:21 am

Title: My Intel I7 920 D0 @ 4.2 Ghz with HT on and off ...
Post by: bhavv on March 08, 2010, 07:54:21 am
Is this supposed to be normal ...

HT off, 1.4v in Bios:

(http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/2476/4200ocnoht.th.png) (http://img8.imageshack.us/i/4200ocnoht.png/)

HT on, 1.45v in Bios (huge fail):

(http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/4366/4200oc.th.png) (http://img63.imageshack.us/i/4200oc.png/)

Its on my GA X58  UD5, also, how come voltages in CPUZ are so much lower then what I set in my Bios? I think that might be a reason for why I am needing to set the bios volts so high?
Title: Re: My Intel I7 920 D0 @ 4.2 Ghz with HT on and off ...
Post by: bhavv on March 08, 2010, 01:23:57 pm
I got up to 4.0 Ghz with HT on and ok temps, I have some Arctic MX3 ordered to replace my current Asus paste which should help to reduce the temps by a few degrees. I also managed to get my ram stable at 1600 Mhz 7-7-7-20 - I updated to the latest mobo bios which added better ram compatibility in one of the updates and increased the channel reference voltage a little.

(http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/9616/4000oc.png) (http://img708.imageshack.us/i/4000oc.png/)

My bios settings are - CPU Voltage 1.4, QPI is 1.335, CPU PLL is 1.86, and ram is 1.64.

Hyper threading really hurts overclocking and temperatures :(. The ram is Geil Ultra Series PC3-17000, rated for 2133 Mhz @ Cas 9, but it is more stable at 1600 Mhz Cas 7, or 1800 Mhz Cas 8, and wont boot at 2000 Mhz Cas 9. I am sure that this is due to having 6 modules in triple channel, the ram itself is fine and was on a great offer for OEM unboxed sticks :)
Title: Re: My Intel I7 920 D0 @ 4.2 Ghz with HT on and off ...
Post by: Elemental_Dragon on March 09, 2010, 07:24:28 pm
Voltage is WAAAAAAAAAAAY too high

i7 920 @ 4.2Ghz HT on @ 1.3v - even that is actually too high for mine but new board and the v-droop is killer - drops to 1.2v :o

QPI needed 1.38v but again - killer v-droop - BUT - I'm running 6GB DDR3 2000mhz CAS 10

My old board could hit BCLK 223 with only 1.32 QPI. Needs more IF you all RAM channels filled.

Seriously - reduce your CPU V-core and watch your temps drop. I let it on auto to test my RAM and it showed 1.36 in CPUz before v-droop kicked in under load and set it to 1.3v in BIOS and I dropped nearly 15c - and that's with Maplin's £1.50 value thermal grease!

~Bex
Title: Re: My Intel I7 920 D0 @ 4.2 Ghz with HT on and off ...
Post by: bhavv on March 10, 2010, 04:57:42 pm
It is unstable at lower volts. It needs 1.4 in bios for 4.2 Ghz without HT, 1.45 for 4.2 with HT, but the reason why this is is because the volts are being dropped in windows.

I added some MX3 and the temps have reduced by a few degrees, will post a screenie when I stress it for a while.

I have read that up to 1.4v and 85 degrees is fine for this chip. I dont understand why my voltages are running so much lower in CPU-Z! When I set 1.3v in bios, CPUZ says it is only 1.26 and anything over 3800 Mhz blue screens without being pushed up to 1.4v.
Title: Re: My Intel I7 920 D0 @ 4.2 Ghz with HT on and off ...
Post by: absic on March 10, 2010, 05:06:33 pm
I wouldn't get too hung up about the voltages. If the system is stable and the temps are acceptable there isn't really a problem.

No two rigs will run exactly the same even if they are built with identical components, that is one of the things that makes tweaking and overclocking so much fun. You can get a rough idea of some basic settings, from what other people are achieving but that's all it really is a rough idea and a starting point on your own journey.
Title: Re: My Intel I7 920 D0 @ 4.2 Ghz with HT on and off ...
Post by: bhavv on March 10, 2010, 06:25:43 pm
From plenty of reading, I have found out that up to 1.4v core, 1.35v QPI, 1.65v ram, and <85 degrees is fine for the I7.

I replaced my Asus thermal paste with Arctic MX3 today, and added an extra fan over my 5770s using a Zalman fan bridge, and this happened:

(http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/8688/4200ocmx3.th.png) (http://img101.imageshack.us/i/4200ocmx3.png/)

(http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/994/mx357701000mhz.th.png) (http://img39.imageshack.us/i/mx357701000mhz.png/)

(http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/784/mx357701025mhz.th.png) (http://img534.imageshack.us/i/mx357701025mhz.png/)

(http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/7595/mx357701050mhz.th.png) (http://img534.imageshack.us/i/mx357701050mhz.png/)

:)
Title: Re: My Intel I7 920 D0 @ 4.2 Ghz with HT on and off ...
Post by: bhavv on March 11, 2010, 12:21:00 pm
Can anyone tell me wqhy my voltages are being reduced so much while the CPU is under oad, and how to stop this from happening? I need to set 1.475v in the Bios just to get 1.396v while Prime 95 is unning. I have disabled all the power saving and auto clock / voltage settings but it still happens.
Title: Re: My Intel I7 920 D0 @ 4.2 Ghz with HT on and off ...
Post by: oggmonster on March 11, 2010, 02:17:17 pm
Can anyone tell me wqhy my voltages are being reduced so much while the CPU is under oad, and how to stop this from happening? I need to set 1.475v in the Bios just to get 1.396v while Prime 95 is unning. I have disabled all the power saving and auto clock / voltage settings but it still happens.

Its meant to do that, when you set the voltage in BIOS then you load up windows + CPU-Z you will see the voltage lower than the BIOS. This is called vdrop. Then when you run the CPU at full load the voltage will drop again - this is called vdroop (think I got them the right way round!? ) This is normal and is actually part of the intel specification.

There should be an option called Load-Line Calibration in the BIOS. This will help with the vdroop  :)
Title: Re: My Intel I7 920 D0 @ 4.2 Ghz with HT on and off ...
Post by: bhavv on March 11, 2010, 02:35:20 pm
So it is ok to leave the bios voltages set higher then?
Title: Re: My Intel I7 920 D0 @ 4.2 Ghz with HT on and off ...
Post by: oggmonster on March 11, 2010, 02:43:00 pm
Yeah, loadline will help your vdroop if you want to give it a try and can sometimes help with general stability issues. My E8600 @ 4.53ghz was set 1.43750 in BIOS, but when running full load with prime95 CPU-Z reported it at 1.408v
Title: Re: My Intel I7 920 D0 @ 4.2 Ghz with HT on and off ...
Post by: bhavv on March 11, 2010, 03:08:17 pm
Eureka!!!!

Enabling LLC made my overclock stable at lower volts. It is set to 1.4v in the bios, and reduces to 1.36v in CPUZ under load, and no BSOD for 10 mins of Prime :)

All I had to do all this time was enable LLC, but I had no idea what it was. Having it disabled on Intel Spec is what was causing my instability over 3800 Mhz.
Title: Re: My Intel I7 920 D0 @ 4.2 Ghz with HT on and off ...
Post by: oggmonster on March 11, 2010, 03:19:10 pm
Eureka!!!!

Enabling LLC made my overclock stable at lower volts. It is set to 1.4v in the bios, and reduces to 1.36v in CPUZ under load, and no BSOD for 10 mins of Prime :)

All I had to do all this time was enable LLC, but I had no idea what it was. Having it disabled on Intel Spec is what was causing my instability over 3800 Mhz.

SWEET! Nice one mate, you will probably want around 8hours prime stable. Though whats "stable" is down to personal opinion. Some people only look for 1 - 2 hours prime stable.
Though you're getting there. Keep trying  :)
Title: Re: My Intel I7 920 D0 @ 4.2 Ghz with HT on and off ...
Post by: bhavv on March 11, 2010, 03:30:22 pm
Well, it blue screened so I'm back to 1.396v :(
Title: Re: My Intel I7 920 D0 @ 4.2 Ghz with HT on and off ...
Post by: oggmonster on March 11, 2010, 03:34:28 pm
Keep going, try small voltage increases. Just be careful not to go over the reccomended voltage (if you're worried about longevitiy that is)
Title: Re: My Intel I7 920 D0 @ 4.2 Ghz with HT on and off ...
Post by: bhavv on March 11, 2010, 03:55:37 pm
1.396 is completely fine, i were running prime for the last two days to test and I have no problems.

My I7 needs just under 1.4v for a stable 4.2 Ghz, but I have enough cooling to handle it, and its not exactly ever going to reach 100% load in any other program.
Title: Re: My Intel I7 920 D0 @ 4.2 Ghz with HT on and off ...
Post by: gilgamesh on March 12, 2010, 11:50:42 am
1.396 is completely fine, i were running prime for the last two days to test and I have no problems.

My I7 needs just under 1.4v for a stable 4.2 Ghz, but I have enough cooling to handle it, and its not exactly ever going to reach 100% load in any other program.

Omn mine at 4.2 i got mine running at 1.3875 and 1.42 VTT

How i did it

increase CPU PLL to 1.85

ICH analogue voltage 1.35
Title: Re: My Intel I7 920 D0 @ 4.2 Ghz with HT on and off ...
Post by: jonj678 on March 19, 2010, 08:21:43 pm
The bios voltage is the no-load applied voltage. When the processor draws a current, the voltage drops. This is normal for voltage supplies, a battery may offer 9.5V in an open circuit but only 8V when connected to a load. When you boot windows, the processor is under slight load so voltage has dropped a bit. This is vdrop. When running prime95, it draws a lot more current and so the voltage drops more, this is vdroop. They're the same effect.

Intel encourages this specification, as voltage decreasing under load makes things less likely to burn out. LLC is defying intel's spec as a result of a few years of overclockers complaining about vdroop. Doesn't matter if they knew what they were talking about or not, you give the customer what they want or they go elsewhere. So now almost all motherboards offer LLC of some sort. Makes people happy being able to set lower numbers in the bios.

I don't much care what my idle voltage is. The processor is not drawing much current at idle, so few electrons are hammering through it and less damage is done. It's under high current conditions that the voltage matters, and llc does nothing to reduce load voltage. All it does is stress the motherboard and give you a happy feeling that your system is safe.
Title: Re: My Intel I7 920 D0 @ 4.2 Ghz with HT on and off ...
Post by: gilgamesh on March 23, 2010, 10:08:20 am
1.396 is completely fine, i were running prime for the last two days to test and I have no problems.

My I7 needs just under 1.4v for a stable 4.2 Ghz, but I have enough cooling to handle it, and its not exactly ever going to reach 100% load in any other program.

have you tried lowering it 1.3875 but upping the vtt a little bit?