QPI/DRAM Voltage - 1.35V: This is poorly worded by Asus - it should read uncore or QPI/memory
controller voltage so not to confuse it with the actual memory voltage. Increasing this is
also necessary as it helps overclock the base frequency as the uncore area overclocks increase
in relation to the CPU core overclocks. This voltage is tied to actual DRAM voltage - the two
are directly connected on the motherboard. You'll need to increase this to keep the CPU safe.
While Asus and Intel (rightly) scare everyone (read: uneducated) into thinking that 1.65V
on the DRAM voltage should be the absolute limit before you reach for the fire-blanket, all
that's really needed it to obey this: keep the CPU uncore voltage within 0.5V difference of
the DRAM voltage and there's no problem. Over this potential difference and you’ll greatly
increase the chance of CPU death, but it certainly won't happen instantly in a big ball of
fail fire if you make a mistake.
We found that enabling the HPET (High Performance Event Timer), or as Asus label it, APCI 2,
is critical for keeping the clocks on Core i7 CPUs accurate. Without it turned on, the
multiplier jumps around crazily if we watch CPU-Z, but with it on, the multiplier reading is
solid and the clock frequency only jitters very slightly according to fractional variations
in the base clock.
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