Foxconn BlackOps Shared BIOS settings

[sashin]

Also, i will assemble my QX9650 tommorow for more quad FSB testing, hopefully i can update the first post with some new findings.

That would be great. I have tried the loser timings and settings as suggested to get my quad core overclocking stable BUT the highest i can get this memory (Cellshock Blue kit) is 425 FSB with G28 with multi 9.5 Anything higher....believe me i have tried all the timing and voltage settings as suggested in the start of this thread BUT i just cannot get my computer to boot....Anyone else here with quad core and Cellshock with higher than 425 FSB with this mobo?

[tripgood]

Here's a couple of mem timing tweaks using my settings above. I still think there is more head room in the sub timings. I can't complain about this board at all. I like 500fsb and memory throughput. Very tempted to ditch Vista and re-load xp though!

[sashin]

I haveto retract my previous statemet.............i cannot run my system stable at 425 or 421 for that matter. I tried to run Super Pi 32M or Prime 95 and the whole system just stops responding. I hae tried to leave as many setting in auto as possible except the memory timings....3DMark 06 and Vantage are stable...BUT nothing else. Will post my BIOS settings later

[jonbass]

Hi!

I am very happy to see so many people posting in this thread, also i am glad to see you are sharing your settings and results .

I must also say that i am very very sorry that i havent been around posting new results and settings as i promised, also i haven´t answer you guys that asked about settings, and i am so sorry for that. I have been really busy this week, i got some bad news and i have been trying to sort these things out.

I hope that i will get the time tommorow to continue this thread, i will try helping the ones that had problems with stability etc. I hope that sounds OK.

And once again, i am very sorry for the delay.

[tripgood]

No worries mate!
Looking forward to your qx9650 results with this mobo. The blackOps is my third x48 and this is the first one i ran with a dual core. Quads require much more tweaking for a decent fsb. My p5e3 premium and qx9650 will do 450-455fsb with corsair ram but stability goes away with anything higher. Good Luck!

[saaya]

I haveto retract my previous statemet.............i cannot run my system stable at 425 or 421 for that matter. I tried to run Super Pi 32M or Prime 95 and the whole system just stops responding. I hae tried to leave as many setting in auto as possible except the memory timings....3DMark 06 and Vantage are stable...BUT nothing else. Will post my BIOS settings later

06 and games run fine but prime and pi fail?
thats odd... sounds more like a cpu problem then?
whats the max fsb you can get with a 6x cpu multiplier and low memory divider?

no worries jonbass!
you helped a big deal, just take your time, you dont have to spend a few hours here every day trying to help people, unless of course you want foxconn to hire you or something

[Xello]

Hi guys. I'm currently going through the settings on this board trying to get the best 24/7 prime stable OC i can, i have a QX9650 with 2x2gb of corsair XMS3 1600 9-9-9-24 1.8v (stock settings) memory.

I spent all day yesterday cranking the fsb up one mhz at a time, with 1T memory @ 7-7-7-14 (2.15v) and 9.5x multi, and i managed to get to 431mhz before windows started crashing on loading. This gave me a personal best of 11.5s~ on superpi 1m, and was actually game stable, but what a bummer when i tried a prime run and 1 or more cores dropped out after a minute

So today i've tried lowering the fsb back down (i can actually get a 24/7 stable OC of 4.4ghz from a 11x multi on 400fsb, but i wanted to see if i could drop the multi and increase the memory a bit [1:4 cpu333]) and to my dismay i couldn't get any kind of decent fsb overclock, even when i dropped to 420mhz. At that point i decided the memory settings may not be my problem, so i started looking at GTL values on the cpu as i read these can be tweaked to provide stability if certain cores are dropping out during prime. Now i have no idea what these actually do, i'm just going by other people's advice, and i've been told that if gtlref 1 is 5 steps lower than gtlref 0, stability increases. That tallies with the anandtech preview article (though they were testing a c2d) where they used -1 and -6. I figured i'd start there, so i set -1,-6,-1,-1. That got me stable for a little longer, so i was glad that i might be on the right track. Other cores have started dropping out after 10 or 20 minutes now, so i'm just doing a plus or minus step here or there on whatever core is needing it, and hopefully i'll land on a stable setting... Not too proficient i know but i'm pretty new at this. I figure once i do land on a stable GTL setting i can perhaps try to increase the fsb again and see what happens.

One thing is for sure so far, when i was rock stable @ 4.4ghz from 11x multi on 400fsb / 1600mhz memory ALL of my gtl values were at default/auto. So thus far i can conclude that increasing the FSB on a quad core will require GTL tweaking!

My other bios settings right now:

cpu - 1.41v target, 1.39v actual
cpu PLL - 1.5v~
vpu VTT - 1.5v~
NB - 1.67v
NB GTL - +2
SB - 1.5v

dram - 2.15v
dram pull up / pull down / ref all Auto, i'd appreciate someone explaining what these do and what i might do to increase OC'ability / stability.

memory timings currently all auto except 7-7-7-21 2T

Thanks!

[jonbass]

Hi!

Now i have assmebled my QX9650 in the Black Ops motherboard, so far i have done some besic testing, will try to tweak my settings more when i get the time.

First of, it seems like the G28 BIOS is a bit harder to achive high FSB with, or it have been so for me atleast. It may be so that i have to try some more to figure out the right settings, i will offcourse keep you guys updated. So far i have managed to run 455 Mhz FSB, not 24/7 stable, but like i said, i havent had a chance to tweak my settings yet. I hope and belive that 460+ should work with some more tweaking. Also, right now we have really warm here in sweden, so that makes my results suffer a bit.

I will continue my tests tonight and hopefully be able to get the CPU/ board higher, my results and settings will be posted here tomorrow .


Xello
Thank you for your settings and results , it looks great.

saaya
Thank you, i am very glad to hear that

tripgood
Thank you, my QX9650 results are on their way now after some delays.
So far the Black Ops workes pretty good with my quad CPU, i still have a bit more tweaking to do if i want to get higher FSB than 455Mhz with G28.
Results etc tomorrow .

sashin
I will post settings that have worked for me to get high FSB with quad tomorrow.

But when finding the max FSB i would suggest you lower your multipler to mayby 8x or 9x, also, try tweaking your NB, GTL ref and VTT voltage. Be carefull because high voltage may kill your hardware. Also, make sure your ram settings and ram divider are optimized.

A question, do you set FSB in BIOS ?
It can help using Aegis Panel and try your overclock in windows first.

But like i said, settings that workes for me will be posted tomorrow.

[Xello]

Well i've not had much luck with the gtl's, i've tried many different settings at both negative and positive values and the longest prime run i've had is 20 mins, that's with 420 fsb with 9 multi and 8-8-8-24 2T.

I've dropped back down to 415 fsb, though if i go much lower i'm not sure i won't be better off at 400 and 11x multi like i had before, at least i could tighten to cas 7/6 at that setting.

Look forward to seeing your results jonbass.

[sashin]

Hi!

Now i have assmebled my QX9650 in the Black Ops motherboard, so far i have done some besic testing, will try to tweak my settings more when i get the time.

First of, it seems like the G28 BIOS is a bit harder to achive high FSB with, or it have been so for me atleast. It may be so that i have to try some more to figure out the right settings, i will offcourse keep you guys updated. So far i have managed to run 455 Mhz FSB, not 24/7 stable, but like i said, i havent had a chance to tweak my settings yet. I hope and belive that 460+ should work with some more tweaking. Also, right now we have really warm here in sweden, so that makes my results suffer a bit.

I will continue my tests tonight and hopefully be able to get the CPU/ board higher, my results and settings will be posted here tomorrow .



sashin
I will post settings that have worked for me to get high FSB with quad tomorrow.

But when finding the max FSB i would suggest you lower your multipler to mayby 8x or 9x, also, try tweaking your NB, GTL ref and VTT voltage. Be carefull because high voltage may kill your hardware. Also, make sure your ram settings and ram divider are optimized.

A question, do you set FSB in BIOS ?
It can help using Aegis Panel and try your overclock in windows first.

But like i said, settings that workes for me will be posted tomorrow.

Thanks jonbass...i am able to get the system stable at 420 FSB with 9.5 multi. NB and SB Voltage is 1.5 and so is VTT voltage. CPU voltage is 1.46 in BIOS. Memory timings are 7-7-7-18 1T at performance level 6. CPU vs Memory speed 1:4 CPU 333. Control, command and clock skew are set at -1 for DRAM slots 2 and 4 as i am using the white ram slots. Memory voltage is 1.812 in BIOS. All other memory settings are left on auto. I am water cooling my cpu and NB is standard fan cooling only and when i say stable...i can run 3DMark Vantage, 3DMark 06, Super Pi, Custom PC 2007 Benchmarks, Everest Lavasys Benchmarks. All of these benchmarks were run with internet connection and normal antivirus software monitoring running in the background and Vista Aero display functions were NOT disabled.I cannot run Prime 95 stable though...not even for 1 minute,,,i get BSOD. I overclock using BIOS only and use the Aegis panel on for monitoring temps. At max loads my cpu temp reads 65 degrees celcius..!!
Looking forward to getting some of your settings and trying them on my system. I was going to phase change my setup this weekend BUT as i was manipulating my Mach 2 GT.. i started hearing a hissing sound and looks like i have gas leak of my r404a refrigerant....so unable to test at higher settings.
My target is running 4.80 with phase change....if possible..!!

[sashin]

One other info jonbass...what are your hardware signature? I have also left all the GTL voltages at referance values.

[Xello]

Hey Sash, the Aegis panel on my system gives temp values +10, as does HWmon, have you tried Realtemp?

[sashin]

Hey Sash, the Aegis panel on my system gives temp values +10, as does HWmon, have you tried Realtemp?

Yep Realtemp it gives anywhere between 8-12 degrees lower than Aegis panel. Using Everest....while running the first 1 minute of Prime 95 before getting BSOD, i have seen temps of individual cores (usually core 2 or 3) going up to 90 degrees celcius !!

[Xello]

Yep Realtemp it gives anywhere between 8-12 degrees lower than Aegis panel. Using Everest....while running the first 1 minute of Prime 95 before getting BSOD, i have seen temps of individual cores (usually core 2 or 3) going up to 90 degrees celcius !!

I'd go with Realtemp, it's spot on for me, with 32c idle and 47-56c max load during prime, during the rather hot weather we've been having even here in scotland.

Little update on my status, i went into the bios and wrote down all my settings, sorry i don't have Excel to to a proper table.

This is my original setting before i started to play around with upping the fsb above 400, it is 24hr prime stable:
__________________________________________

CPU multi 11x (4.4ghz)

+.5 Disabled

FSB 400

Ratio 1:4 cpu333

Memory clock 1600mhz

CPU Voltage multi 1x

CPU target voltage 1.41254v

CPU actual voltage 1.3994v

Vdroop on

CPU PLL 1.508861v

VTT 1.35v

NB voltage 1.5v

NB GTL +2 step

DRAM voltage 2.15v

Dram pull up auto

DRAM pull down auto

DRAM Ref voltage +2

Timings 7-7-7-18 2T, refresh period ratio x1, all others auto.
__________________________________________

My SuperPi 1m at those settings is 13.088s, and my everest scores are read 9164 write 8521 copy 8635 latency 59.6.

My goal with tweaking the FSB is to get as good a stable overclock as possible, using those scores as a comparison. I can go stable with 450fsb however i dropped the multi to 7x to do so, but that puts me at 3.15ghz and i don't really want to stay that low when i know the cpu can go so much higher. I stopped messing with the GTL values for now until i actually know what to do with them, i was basically just wasting my time there i think.

My current attempt is so far 30 mins prime stable, using same settings above with the following changes:

cpu multi 8.5x (3.7ghz)

FSB 440 (mem 1760mhz)

VTT 1.425v

NB voltage 1.673v

Timings 9-9-9-24 2T (stock settings), i decided to put at stock timings while i found a decent fsb then perhaps attempt to tighten later.



P.S am i the only one around here not using cellshock rams

[jonbass]

Hi!

I am back, but i had a really long day so i will not write that much just post settings and results, and then i will update tommorow with more info regarding settings etc.

This is the system used right now.

Intel QX9650
Foxconn Black Ops // BIOS G28 (results posted now)
Cellshock Blue 1866
Asus 9800GX2
Silverstone Olympia 1000W
WD Raptor 36GB-74GB.

Cooling
Big typhoon on the CPU, rest of the system stock cooling.


FSB 455,



This is the settings used for the 455Mhz FSB result, i will update the first post when i get the time with more suggested settings for quad, but for now i write them here.

CPU Clock Ratio:..........................8x
CPU Clock (FSB): ........................455Mhz
CPU Clock vs Memory Speed:.......1:4 333
System Memory Speed:...............1820Mhz
CPU Clock skew Control:..............Auto
CPU Clock Amplitude Ctrl:............800
PCI Express Clock: .....................101Mhz
Spread Spectrum:...................... Disable
Over Clock Recovery:..................Enable


Limit CPUID MaxVal:...................Disable
C1E Function:............................Disable
Execute Disable Bit:...................Disable
Vrtualization Technology:...........Disable
Frequency Unlimit:.....................Enable
Core Multi-Processing:................Enable
Cold Bug Boot Fix:......................Disable


CPU Voltage Multiplier:................1x
CPU Voltage Setting:...................1.45v
CPU Vdroop Compensation:..........Enable

CPU PLL Voltage Setting:.............1.508
Cpu VTT Voltage Setting:.............1.45
Cpu GTL Ref 0. Voltage:...............+10
Cpu GTL Ref 1. Voltage:...............+5
Cpu GTL Ref 2. Voltage:...............+10
Cpu GTL Ref 3. Voltage:...............+10
NB Voltage Setting: ...................1.55-1.6
NB GTL Ref Voltage: ...................Auto
SB Voltage Setting:....................1.575

DRAM Voltage Setting:................1.916
DRAM Pull-Up Voltage:................Auto
DRAM Pull-Down Voltage:............Auto
DRAM Ref Voltage:.......................Auto

Something i have noticed is that the voltage on some of the settings are really picky, you have to find the exact right voltage for high FSB.
Also, i could reach 440 Mhz FSB without the GTL ref settings tweaked, i used Auto. So i think i can get higher FSB if tweaking GTL ref a bit more.

I will post my memory settings tommorow, and like i said earlier, i will update the first post with more suggested settings for quad overclocking soon.
Now i have to get some sleep.

EDIT:

sashin and Xello

Xello:

First of all, are you using the Blue 1866Mhz Cellshock? D9JNL?
If so, try lovering your Dram voltage, these memorys doesnt like high voltage, mine gives me error with evrything above 2.05v. The best voltage for me have been 1.916-1.95 on Black Ops. Also, when trying to get high FSB, use 8-8-8-21, and performance level on 7-9.

To get high FSB NB voltage gives a great boost, but be very careful, high voltage may kill hardware. I have used around 1.5-1.6, now i also have very good temp on the NB. lower your multipler to 8x or 7x, try NB voltage 1.55-1.6v, make sure you have sufficent cooling for this. Also, a bit higher VTT, be very carefull with this setting. You dont have to raise it if you dont feel comfortable with it.
Then use Auto on al GTL ref settings, NB GTL, Dram etc, also Auto on Dram pull up etc. The only voltage raised is the standard ones.
Then try to raise FSB, first boot with 400Mhz and raise in windows with set FSB or aegis panel, when it stops, go into BIOS and raise to the last setting that worked. When you cant get higher, then try tweaking GTL ref settings.

I will continue tommorow with more suggestions that may help you.

Sashin, i will try to help you tommorow, it very late here in Sweden and i really have to get some sleep.

[tripgood]

Thank you for your settings jonbass . I have a decent qx9650 chip on my p5e3prem mobo and 450 fsb has been the sweet spot for me. I have another qx9650 that is not as good and I am reluctant to use it on my blackops. My question is...can you run the d9jnl's at 7 latency @450-455fsb? That should allow you to use a PL of 6 which will give much better performance. I am somewhat discouraged with 45nm quad core performance on x48 mobo's. The BlackOps and other high end x48 boards really shine with 45nm dual cores and that is where I get the best memory performance.

It would be wonderful to post and bench a quad @500fsb+ and low PL but I don't think that will work on x48.
Cheers!

[Xello]

:EDIT: i've continued this in the overclocking guide thread :EDIT:

Xello:

First of all, are you using the Blue 1866Mhz Cellshock? D9JNL?

Actually i'm on a 2x2gb Corsair XMS3 DHX 1600 kit, (TW3X4G1600C9DHXNV). I've read reviews where people are pumping 2.2-2.3v into them, but i didn't quite want to go that high. They're taking 2.15v no problem, and they're getting decent cooling from the DHX heat spreaders and being in a fairly cool zone of the TJ07 case right below the 2 top outtake fans.

I made a really big mistake though, at the settings where i thought i was 4.4ghz stable i had no idea about EIST and how to turn it off, i had it on 'disabled' in the bios, but infact you need to set it to 'native' in the bios and turn the power saving mode off in Windows. With that set properly, i can't even boot into windows @ 4.4ghz Nor am i even stable at 400fsb 10x = 4ghz, which i'd rather have as a minimum, but cores are dropping after 20-30 mins so i will go back to GTL tweaking, starting at +10, +5, +10, +10, and i will record in a text file each and every value i tweak and what happens in prime when i do it.

My NB temp maxes at 45 degrees with 1.67v, though i've taken that back down to 1.5v while i'm still at 400fsb and trying to get to 4ghz through the multi.

:EDIT:

Here are my results so far today, i started off with the same settings as you jonbass

+10, +5, +10, +10 - core 4 failed in 19 mins

+10, +5, +10, +5 - core 4 failed in 32 mins

+10, +5, +10, +4 - core 4 failed in 5 mins

+10, +5, +10, +6 - core 4 failed in 18 mins, core 1 failed in 35 mins

+9, +5, +10, +7 - core 4 failed in 30 mins, core 1 45 min+ stable

+9, +5, +10, +3 - core 4 failed in 17 mins

As you can see up til now i've bascially just been trying random up/down adjustments on whatever core was failing, mostly core 4.

Then I found a post from LardArse about the GTL's - according to him each step in the bios adds .0005 to the default value of 0.66x, so for example at VTT 1.35v and default GTLref my gtl value is [1.35 x 0.66] 0.891v, and +1 step would be [1.35 x 0.6605] 0.891675v, +2 step would be [1.35 x 0.661] 0.89235v etc. Please someone correct me if this is wrong.

Now after digging through the 790i Data Corruption thread and finding a post from "5010" he mentions this:

".67x is 00mv(standard) in the 790iU Bios

65nm Quads like it abit higher; .68x - .70x

Duals + Yorkies like it lower; .66x - .63x or even less (as low as .58x according to LardArse)"

So if 0.66x is standard in the blackops bios, i think i can start using my calculator to work out where i should be. Assuming the above is correct, the GTL settings for 45nm cpu's on the blackops should actually all be negative (if not default) - so far i've been testing positive values so i hope that explains why i've been unable to achieve stability. (Please note that i am indeed going for 100% 24/7 prime stability here)

Also, in the blackops bios the maximum adjustment for GTL is +31 and -31, that gives leeway of 0.0155x either way. Thing is that puts the max figure at 0.6755x, and the lowest at 0.6445x - if 65nm quads need .68 - .70 that's a bit of a problem for this board, right? I hope my 45nm quad doesn't need lower than 0.6445x..

:EDIT: i've continued this in the overclocking guide thread :EDIT:

[jonbass]

I still haven’t had the time to update the first post with more quad settings, I have been very busy finishing up my Foxconn Black Ops review for a Swedish forum. And yesterday I finally managed to complete it . So now I will hopefully have the time to sit down and make an update on the first post as I promised.


Thank you very much for the info, I will read about your progress Xello in the overclocking thread.

This board is a bit tricky, for me it has taken very many hours to figure out the best settings for my hardware. Also, it may be so that there are better settings than the ones that I have found so far, but I am still trying to get higher and finding new values that work.

The one thing that always have worked for me when it comes to stability with FSB is higher NB voltage, especially when running quad core the NB volt can be really helpful. To get 455 MHz FSB I had to use somewhere between 1.55-1.6 for bench stability.
As for 2 x 2gb Corsair XMS3 DHX 1600 kit, I have no experience with these sticks. Do you know what chips your kit has? The Cellshock memory’s that I mentioned have D9JNL chips and these doesn’t like high voltage at al. I have to stay under 2.05-2.1 or else I only get instability. But if you have D9GTL then high voltage works better.

About EIST and other settings that can improve and affect oveclocking / stability, i am thinking about writing down more of the settings in BIOS like CPU Features etc that I have used and make another diagram of that. Now maybe most of you guys already know how these settings should be set. But if someone wants info about other parts of BIOS please let me know.

[Xello]

it has taken very many hours to figure out the best settings for my hardware.

Tell me about it

The one thing that always have worked for me when it comes to stability with FSB is higher NB voltage, especially when running quad core the NB volt can be really helpful. To get 455 MHz FSB I had to use somewhere between 1.55-1.6 for bench stability.

Quite true, i've also noticed that the NB is quite stable at anywhere up to 51c for me, i read elsewhere that X48 is extremely unstable with a NB over 45c so that could be down to the board or my cooling system but it's a good thing anyway.

[jonbass]

Yes, this board needs some patience to really master, but if you take the time and manage to find the settings that match your hardware, Black Ops really rocks

Like i said before, i had a lot to do lately with my Black Ops review, but now it is out for anyone that understand swedish
Hope it´s ok for me to post it here, if not i will remove the link.

http://www.techsweden.org/index.php?view=9KETS4

[HDCHOPPER]

well eye dont read swedish but pictures say a 1000 words
looks like a great review jonbass

[sashin]

I have managed to get this fofconn board stable at 445 x 9 with my quadcore at 8-8-8-21 1T and L7 performance level. Will post up my BIOS setting this weekend. I can so far get through SPi up 8M calculation with no error. 16M seems to stop responding half way. 3DMark 06 and 3Dmark Vantage stable, Custom PC Benchmark 2007 stable, Everest Benchark Utility stable. All this were run with internet connection and antivirus enabled...ie looking to use this system 24/7 stable without diabling and doing much tweaking. Any further input anyone. Just want to get this thing up to 4.5GHz to 5.0GHz with phase change if possible...............actually 4.8GHz and i will be happy.

[btdvox]

Best guide iv eseen so far- Keep this up- Hopefully you'l update it!

[Slovnaft]

Does anyone else run a Q9450 on BlackOps?! Almost everyone I've seen that has this board has either some QX or Q9650.

[saaya]

sorry i didnt reply earlier, i was on a business trip and we are preparing for games convention in germany next week, working on x58, and preparing to move to our own new office in 2 weeks, so... theres quite a lot going on here!

if my comments are outdated let me know
if any of you has a question and still needs some help and tips on pushing up the fsb let me know!

i wanted to see if i could drop the multi and increase the memory a bit [1:4 cpu333]) and to my dismay i couldn't get any kind of decent fsb overclock, even when i dropped to 420mhz. At that point i decided the memory settings may not be my problem, so i started looking at GTL values on the cpu

so with another memory divider 430fsb is rock stable? so before you ran lower than 1600 memory speeds with 999, and then you tried 11x400 and 1600 777 was rockstable? but now you cant even get 1650 888 stable, right? you using 1gb or 2gb sticks?
the problem COULD be your memory and not the fsb... did you play with the DLL options in the memory timings? its easier than gtl cause with memtest 86 you can immediatly see if a setting works better or not, and there is a much smaller window of settings that work, not like with gtl where a wide range of settings works somewhat but only one of them is really stable.

oh and your vcore is quite low for 4ghz+, are you sure 1.4v is all you need for that speed?

Thanks jonbass...i am able to get the system stable at 420 FSB with 9.5 multi. NB and SB Voltage is 1.5 and so is VTT voltage. CPU voltage is 1.46 in BIOS.

hehehe your ging for a "one voltage fits all" approach?

Yep Realtemp it gives anywhere between 8-12 degrees lower than Aegis panel. Using Everest....while running the first 1 minute of Prime 95 before getting BSOD, i have seen temps of individual cores (usually core 2 or 3) going up to 90 degrees celcius !!

thats pretty high and might be the problem.... how high can you go with the 6x multi?

i don't have Excel to to a proper table.

table is here
and open office is here