GA-Z68XP-UD3P - Why no LLC with Normal setting vCore? Help!!

[dualcore]

I understand that setting vCore to Normal, allows you to now use Dynamic vCore, but why is LLC disabled if you use Normal vCore??
What's interesting is - Touch Bios allows you to adjust the LLC - but has 0 effect, and the bios actually has it grey'd out.... bug??   
Is it really suppose to work in the bios, but accidentally grey'd out?
So I now need to make sure the Dynamic vCore is set properly to compensate for massive vDroop??
I thought LLC should be an option in this situation...

Setting the vCore to AUTO sets the vCore waaaay to high on boot (1.33v), and LLC (even though you can set it, seems to have no effect @ all).  I'm a bit perplexed that AUTO vCore on 4.4Ghz sets to 1.33 vCore in Bios, and again, LLC has no effect.  You can set to LL1 thru LL7 (all i tried), all  have the same effect, nothing!  Another Bug??

Which leads me to the last option - Manually setting the vCore.... shockingly LLC does work.. however there's a major problem........
If you set the vCore manually, then the vCore never lowers when the CPU Clock is 1.6Ghz, it's STUCK always what you set it.
Actually LvL6 LLC will INCREASE the vCore under 100% load - to help with vDroop, great for stability!!  Which is what I was looking for in the normal or even the auto vCore setting.......

The major problem with manually setting vCore is there's no drop in vCore for 16x multi (1.6Ghz) - which is what the PC idles @ 99% of the time.  For instance, if you set the vCore to 1.26v, and LL6 for 4.4Ghz, it works great.. and I can Pass Prime95 with no issues.... but,
what about when the multiplier is @ 16x, the vCore is stuck @ 1.26v!  It will never lower to 1.0v!   
Why does C1E nor EIST not lower the vCore like it does with Normal and Auto.....
1.26v for 1.6Ghz is waaaaay to freakin' high!

What am I missing here? 

[Brains11]

I have the same problem. I had to use LLC Level 6 to get my 2600K stable at 4.5 Ghz. I had to set vCore at 1.30v.
Now when it's running idle at 1.6Ghz (multiplier x 16) it's still using 1.30v ~ 1.34v Both C1E and EIST not lowering the vCore

[timtom33]

Same here, can someone confirm if it's safe?

All i did was put the multiplier to x44 and left everything else (voltages etc) on auto, as i figured that was safer than manually increasing them as i don't want a massively high O/C.

[dualcore]

Good to know I'm not the only one... I thought I was going crazy....

To the guy above me.....setting to AUTO seemed a bit too high for me, so I've been using normal with Dynamic vCore adjustment of -0.010.
The system idles @ 1.6Ghz @ 0.984v.
Remember that LLC does NOT function, even though you can adjust via TouchBios (it has no effect).
So under full 100% load (44x x 100), the 1.320v is now 1.272v under load, since LLC will not kick in......

Seems like a new bios is in order to fix our situations..... this is NOT how this is suppose to work.

I'm having some USB 3.0 External HDD issues now too......   Drive never is recognized after a reboot (WTF!)
Not very happy ATM

[timtom33]

BTW - there is an updated driver for USB 3.0 on Gigabyte site.

Ok after playing around for a bit, I left everything in BIOS on Auto again (Multi Step Load Line Disabled) and it reports 4.4 Ghz with 1.27v, for that speed the voltage seems to be reporting correct. On idle it says 0.98v for 1.6 GHz.. (i am just using TouchBIOS to see these readings).

UPDATE - after further testing 4.4Ghz everything on auto crashes after about 8-10 mins of Prime95... 4.2/4.3 Ghz on everything Auto is fine after 20 mins+, so seems stable..

I would like 4.4Ghz though...

HOWEVER - If i apply the settings you guys stated above, i can get 4.4/4.5 etc, but the vcore stays at 1.32v even at 1.6Ghz...

Whats the fix for this as it's not ideal for overclocking? That voltage of 1.32 at 1.6 Ghz can't be good long term... seems we are stuck with having everything on Auto in the BIOS with a multiplier of 4.2/4.3 for now :-(

[Brains11]

Seems like vCore not dropping when idle is by design if the voltage is set manually. I've googled a bit and similar boards of ASUS and MSI  won't lower the voltages aswell at idle if the vCore is set manually. I still would like to know if 1.33v at idle 1.6Ghz (in my case) would reduce the lifespan of the processor. For now back to stock settings and processor running at 4.3Ghz which is 100% stable

[timtom33]

To the guy above, agreed, i have just looked into this as well and it seems it is by design, and apparently this is where Offset voltages come in.

If anyone experiments (i have limited time at my computer this week and next) and has any success, can you post your settings? As It would be good to get to 4.4 / 4.5 Ghz with volts around ~1.3v on load and dropping to ~1.0v when idle...

Not looking for a crazy overclock, but a safe and stable 4.4 / 4.5 Ghz  for 24/7 use would be nice..

[dualcore]

There is a new Bios out for our board - F4a - however after flashing, my memory reported in Windows was DDR3-1333, even though the bios was set to 1600, and even when the system starts, it says MEMORY 1600Mhz.
CPU Speed & Voltages seemed to be all over the place... constantly changing, and never settling in.
I didn't experiment much, as I ended up going back to the F3 bios.

To the gent above me.....
I'm stable @ 4.3Ghz with Normal vCore, and an offset of -0.010.
That gives 1.320v (yes, it's high, but with no Load Line Calibration option, it's got to be high to compensate for vDroop!).
On Prime95 with all 4 cores 100%, vCore will drop to 1.284v, and that's plenty stable for 4.3Ghz.
Because of the -0.010 the 1.6Ghz vCore is .984v (very low), and CPU will idle @ about 24-26c.
Cores are between 30 and 37c respectively.

For 4.4, you can set your Offset to 0.005, or no adjustment at all.
Bios will be 1.330, and vDroop is 1.296 under 100% load.
This is not necessarily good... let me explain why......
@ 25% CPU usage, you are going to see readings of 4.4Ghz, and 1.33v, that's quite high for only 4.4Ghz.
@ 50% CPU usage, 4.4Ghz, and a slight vdroop to 1.32v
@ 75% CPU usage, 4.4Ghz, and another vdroop to 1.31v
Most CPU's never reach 100% on all 4 cores, unless we use stability programs... or folding.  I didnt say all, I said most!!!
So for all intensive purposes, while 1.33v is stable, it's much to high for everyday use......

In a perfect world.  
What we want is.
vCore @ 1.296v and for it to stay @ 1.296 for 4.4Ghz @ 100% load.
When idle it SHOULD drop to 1.0v, and 1.6Ghz....
I cannot find any combination of that happening on this board (and maybe it's simply NOT possible... period!)

What I don't understand is... why can't Load Line Calibration be used when the Vcore is set to NORMAL.
I'm convinced as well, that setting vCore to Auto, LLC has no effect.
Setting to LLC2 thru 10 results in the same outcome - usually a crash, because Auto doesn't set the right voltage for 100% CPU Load - vdroop kills it!
It may be FIXED in the F4a bios, but I never stayed on there long enough to test... Voltages were all over the place, and memory speed was incorrect.

[brianbye]

Im having the same problem as everyone else.  Temps were too high for me at 44x100 with auto voltage so I dropped down to 39x100 with auto voltage.  Now temps are acceptable but I bought the 2600k so that I could get a decent overclock.

Any of you experienced guys care to post stable settings for 44x100?

Thanks,
Brian

[timtom33]

This seems correct (posted earlier in this thread...

"Seems like vCore not dropping when idle is by design if the voltage is set manually. I've googled a bit and similar boards of ASUS and MSI  won't lower the voltages aswell at idle if the vCore is set manually. I still would like to know if 1.33v at idle 1.6Ghz (in my case) would reduce the lifespan of the processor. For now back to stock settings and processor running at 4.3Ghz which is 100% stable"

I also asked the question on multiple forums and everyone is running their CPU at 4.7 (for example) 100% of the time as for a proper overclock you should disable speed stepping and have it running at a constant clock speed (like all chips did a few years ago)...

[timtom33]

Can someone in this thread who noticed vcore not dropping with CPU speed try the below, i just want to find out if there is a problem with the board and speedstep when OCing or if its just a case of playing around with the settings more:

"With either EIST, C1E or C3/C6/C7 enabled will vcore lower in idle. Only when EIST is enabled will the multiplier drop as well. Vcore will only drop when you use the auto or dynamic vcore setting, when you use a fixed value vcore will not drop during idle, regardless of the energy saving features enabled. With EIST enabled only the multiplier will drop but not the vcore. At least that's how it works on my mobo. When using a mobo that doesn't offer a dynamic vcore setting the only way to have vcore lowering during idle is to use the auto setting, but since most mobo's like to overvolt this will limit your overclock or have a negative impact on power usage.

I'm a Lynnfield not a Bloomfield user so things might be different but I have to say that EIST is not necessary to use the full turbo mode with my cpu, only C3/C6/C7 states need to be enabled. If I disable EIST while Turbo and C3/C6/C7 are enabled, my multiplier will change between x24 in idle or when no more than 2 cores are used and x21 when 3 or 4 cores are used. When I disable C3/C6/C7 the highest multiplier is x21 (this makes sense since to use the x24 turbo multiplier unused cores must be deactivated and C3/C6/C7 does just this). Disabling or enabling C1E has no effect on turbo at all."

Its seem mixed on other forums, some people with other boards (ASUS etc) can OC with speedstep/vcore working as it should, some can't and leave it off...

[Benz]

Why don't you use dynamic vcore (DVID) also known as the Offset Voltage? I'm using it for my overclock 4.0GHz @ 1.260v. No vdroop and It's rock stable.

[Dark Mantis]

Yes I agree Benz that should offset the VDroop.

[FoLmEr]

Yes, using DVID is the only way to overclock while maintaining a low vcore at idle on these boards.

On my 2600K I'm using +0.140 for a 4.8GHz overclock, resulting in ~1.392v full load and ~1.128v at idle.
Using LLC, I'd have to set Manual to 1.390v w/ LLC of 6 to achieve the same load voltage, but, as you know, it won't lower the vcore at idle.