[First Look] DFI 680i LT NF-680i LT SLI (56K Warning~~~)

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Originally Posted by virtualrain

So palese, what CPU were you clocking on the DFI and what settings did you try?

Also, what were you able to achive on the EVGA?

I'd like to know your experience on both boards in more detail (as painful as it may be for you to re-live! :p: ).

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Xeon X3220, I tried all the GL settings Tony listed as well as the one he likes, All I want is a 3.1Ghz or 3.2Ghz OC with moderate FSB. Nothing works but what was funny was when I got to the end of my rope I pushed the clock speed to 3.6 out of frustration and for the first time I got to windows only to crash but at least it passed safe mode, so I slowly lowered everything but was not able to get pass safe mode again.

On the Evga Rev1 with the P27 bios I reached 3.2Ghz and FSB if I remember was something like 360. Also my cpu was set at 1.35v with no other volt adjustments.

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Originally Posted by Lood007

I'm sure Mr. Wu is still tweaking this as we speak. As long as he sticks to it, I believe we'll see some good Quad OC in the future.

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Maybe they'll stick with it if more people are actually able to purchase one. The results seem decent enough for such an immature board. The layout and appearance IMO is awesome (far better then anything else I've seen). But none of it matters if no one can find one to purchase and when they do, have to spend $300 for it. Usually support & sales of a board go hand and hand so if the price drops and more people can get a hold of them then maybe they'll stay working on it.

So, here's an update on my overclocking adventures... (read back to post #879 for the background).

I started with these settings:

CPU VID: 1.45 (start at reasonable overvolt)
CPU Drive: Strong
DRAM Drive: Weak
DRAM Volts: 2.22 (just to keep RAM happy)
NB Core: 1.39 (start small)
SB Core: 1.62 (as per Tony's guide)
SB Dual: 1.52
LDT: 1.22 (no OC'ing here)
VTT: 1.40 (as per Tony/Raju's suggestion)
GTL0/1: 170
GTL2/3: 95
GTLNB: 85

Started OC'ing and running 30min. test with OCCT:

300FSB = OK
320FSB = OK
340FSB = OK
360FSB = OK
380FSB = Windows Doesn't Load

Increase CPU VID: 1.475; NB: 1.42
380FSB = Windows Doesn't Load
Roll back to 370FSB
370FSB = No Post - I assume there's a hole here back to 380FSB
380FSB = Windows Doesn't Load
Try tweaking GTL2/3 in steps of 2-3 points from 95 to 128
Try tweaking GTL0/1 up by 5
Increase CPU VID: 1.5; NB: 1.44
Try VTT=1.44 with above GTL values
Increase CPU VID: 1.55; NB:1.51
Try VTT=1.49 with above GTL values
Give up on 380... can't get Windows to load - must be a hole

Start 385FSB with CPU VID= 1.55, NB=1.51, VTT=1.44, GTL0/1=180, GTL2/3=100, GTLNB=90

385FSB = OK
395FSB = OK
400FSB = OK

Great! I'm basically back where I was last Friday (blog link). So I decide to run PRIME overnight... failed after 45min.

I just don't think OCCT is a good stability test... 30min is not long enough to assess true stability. I think it uses some form of PRIME code anyway based on the way I could see it cycle loading the cores just like different FFT sizes in PRIME.

So I've proven that my board/proc will boot and be somewhat stable with a variety of settings at 400FSB. It works at:

VTT=1.44; GTL0/1=180; GTL2/3=100; GTLNB=90
VTT=1.52; GTL0/1=180; GTL2/3=180; GTLNB=90

So I guess my processor is very flexible with GTL settings but nothing is rock solid stable.

I really don't know what to do to get a real stable (i.e. 4+hours IMHO) overclock with 380+ FSB. It just doesn't seem to be in the cards here.

LOL, u guys are really pushing me towads grabbing an EVGA when i get my quad... i had really high hopes for this board as all my previous DFI's have been great, but it seems like this one is alot of work for no extra gain.. at least as far as quads are concerned.

@ VR - You know you can set OCCT to run as long as you want and or infinitely, yes? If it's proof for others that you have a stable OC you may be spinning your wheels. Mayhaps stick with settings that pass 30 mins of OCCT and just start throwing everything you can at it to see if you encounter BSODS and lockups...If you can pass EVERYTHING but prime you may just want to take a break and just try using your rig for a couple of days...

when i get a chance today i'll try those settings with any necessary tweaks... if i can pull off a 400 x 8 i'd be fine with that for now...

everest has a system stability test that can stress all 4 cores do people ever use it for reliability testing?

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Originally Posted by OldGuy

@ VR - You know you can set OCCT to run as long as you want and or infinitely, yes? If it's proof for others that you have a stable OC you may be spinning your wheels. Mayhaps stick with settings that pass 30 mins of OCCT and just start throwing everything you can at it to see if you encounter BSODS and lockups...If you can pass EVERYTHING but prime you may just want to take a break and just try using your rig for a couple of days...

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I guess so... perhaps I'm being overly demanding. It irks me that I can run prime endlessly at stock but it fails after 45min on OC. Is that a good OC? It use to be that 8+hrs PRIME stable was the measure of a good OC. The other thing with PRIME was that it was the ONLY test you needed to run... if you could pass it, you could be assured you wouldn't error out in anything else.

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Originally Posted by virtualrain

I guess so. It irks me that I can run prime endlessly at stock but it fails after 45min on OC. Is that a good OC? It use to be that 8+hrs PRIME stable was the measure of a good OC.

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I'm from the 8+ hour school as well but at some point you have to question what is still valid moving forward and whether or not you want to keep hitting your head against the wall...take a breather ;)

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Originally Posted by OldGuy

I'm from the 8+ hour school as well but at some point you have to question what is still valid moving forward and whether or not you want to keep hitting your head against the wall...take a breather ;)

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You have a point. Maybe after a new BIOS release it will be worth getting back at... :brick:

:toast:

C2D and 680i will be legacy hardware by the time this hits the UK.

P965 Infinity has been out for some time now and still it aint even in the UK. Not, it's been in stock and sold out. It ain't never been in stock ONCE.

Pathetic distribution.

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Originally Posted by Mekrel

C2D and 680i will be legacy hardware by the time this hits the UK.

P965 Infinity has been out for some time now and still it aint even in the UK. Not, it's been in stock and sold out. It ain't never been in stock ONCE.

Pathetic distribution.

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Be carefull what you wish for :D

well it sold out at newegg... but took much longer than i expected. hopefully oskar will be devoting lots of time to the BIOS.

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Originally Posted by palese

Be carefull what you wish for :D

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Hey Palese... I still want to hear your story (more specifics) with the DFI and what you get on the EVGA.

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Originally Posted by virtualrain

Hey Palese... I still want to hear your story (more specifics) with the DFI and what you get on the EVGA.

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Well for the DFI I used Tony's guide as well as your settings, I can not get past safe mode, there must be something in bios that I am overlooking that needs to be disabled :confused: This is the first board "and I do have a few" that I can not get into windows with on an OC.

If I could just get into windows then the tweaks would not be that big a deal, but safe mode is all I get. Stock is not an issue at all so I know all my hardware is compatible.

Have you tried the new Evga rev1 ? If not you owe it to yourself to do so, there is not a lot to say about it other then it is by far the easiest board out there to OC.

Extreme OCing on the Evga would require robust cooling , but moderate OC speeds of say an E6600 or X6600 @ 3.0Ghz to 3.4Ghz air is fine with very minor Volt adjustments.

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Originally Posted by virtualrain

380FSB = Windows Doesn't Load

Increase CPU VID: 1.475; NB: 1.42

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Well... i guess this is proof, as if we needed it, that not all chips will react the same. using your base settings i starting clocking up. was a little nervous around 380 from your experience but i booted windows fine @380 and ran everest stress-test 10 mins to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

continued on to 390 and finally 400 with absolutely no changes to the settings whatsoever. my CPU is even under-volted at idle through droop by .04v

i'll do some stability testing now... i'm sure you're interested in Prime results. used that a lot back in the day with my abit board so i'll give it a go!

i took a screenshot for posterity...

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...001/400fsb.jpg

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Originally Posted by Jobeo

Well... i guess this is proof, as if we needed it, that not all chips will react the same. using your base settings i starting clocking up. was a little nervous around 380 from your experience but i booted windows fine @380 and ran everest stress-test 10 mins to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

continued on to 390 and finally 400 with absolutely no changes to the settings whatsoever. my CPU is even under-volted at idle through droop by .04v

i'll do some stability testing now... i'm sure you're interested in Prime results. used that a lot back in the day with my abit board so i'll give it a go!

i took a screenshot for posterity...

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...001/400fsb.jpg

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More importantly can you show your bios settings, I cant get this POS to boot to windows with any OC:fact:

Sweet... but let's see 400x9! :D I could hit 3200MHz without changing any settings either... but getting to 3.6GHz, might be another story. :p:

At any rate, you've given me a new idea... I'm going to try 400-450x8 to see if I can get a more stable OC at 3.5 to 3.6GHz on the x8 multi.

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Originally Posted by palese

More importantly can you show your bios settings, I cant get this POS to boot to windows with any OC:fact:

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lol... i feel your pain. just gotta stick with it. the settings i'm using are right from VR's post. except for the CPU vid.

although i can boot windows and everything runs fine its neither prime nor OCCT stable right now. fails both. as far as 3.6ghz with an x9 goes we'll see about that ! ! lol. i don't have the cooling for it right now. at 3.2ghz i'm hitting around 70C peak.

but i have some parts coming tomorrow which should help with that. and if heat really becomes and issue i can break out meh vapochill but i don't enjoy working with it.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...X001/bios2.jpg http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...X001/bios1.jpg

My God im in Windows @ 3.1 :banana: :woot:

Jobeo that combo worked for me thanks, and a big thanks to virtualrain as well.

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Originally Posted by palese

My God im in Windows @ 3.1 :banana: :woot:

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:eek:

:)

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Originally Posted by palese

My God im in Windows @ 3.1 :banana: :woot:

Jobeo that combo worked for me thanks, and a big thanks to virtualrain as well.

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I hope you mean you are in Windows at 3.1GHz and not Version 3.1 :eek: :D

Glad to hear you making progress!

For fun, I maxed voltages for a suicide run and was able to boot once into Vista x64 (a stability test on it's own) at 3.8GHz (425x9)! Not stable at all and could only get in at one set of GTL settings and even then only 1 in 3 times and doing anything would hang it. I was able to get CPU-Z and Speedfan going long enough to grab a screen :D

http://members.shaw.ca/virtualrain/3800mhz.png

CPU VID = 1.6
NB V = 1.65
SB V = 1.62
VTT = 1.6
GTL1 = 200
GTL2 = 170
GTLNB = 100

:eek: Don't try this at home! :eek:

@ Jobeo, I notice you are running unlinked/auto at 1600/800... doesn't linked/sync'd give you the same result (1600/800)? Any reason why you went with that?

Also, I see you OC'd the PCIe bus out of the gate... does that help, hinder, neither or unknown with respect to overall OC stability?

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Originally Posted by virtualrain

@ Jobeo

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i went unlinked cause i had more success with it last week. ultimately i'd like to bump that to 1250 which is what my memory is certified capable of ...

as far as the PCIe clocks go i should probably just bump that down. i read a report somewhere that it barely even affects FPS anyways... i'm not sure what effect it has on an OC but its probably a good idea to bump it back so there's no chance for it to interfere...

Think i can live with it...for now

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/2...0315hh0.th.jpg http://img452.imageshack.us/img452/2...3152ce0.th.jpg

Not bad, hopefully we'll see some BIOS improvements within the coming weeks.