Ultimate Sandy Bridge OC Guide + P67A-UD7 Performance Review

[sin0822]

Here is what I would do if you know your way around a BIOS.
Enable real time ratio change in OS so you don't have to manually disable turbo, it will automatically do it if ratio change in OS is enabled., keep all those things disabled like you stated.

For the vcore id leave it on auto to begin with, see what voltage the board sets, and see if it can boot into windows, most times it can but might be a tad unstable at 4.5ghz, so increase it after torture testing, or even use LLC level1 plus voltage increase. LLC level2 really is for more intense overclocks, and there is no reason for you to use it.

Yea you might as well enable CPu PLL Overvoltage, but be aware with it enabled and if you use S3 sleep, then your OC will fail after trying to wake the computer up from S3 sleep, i personally do not care because i never put my computer to sleep, but for a 24/7 rig many people do. I think all Sb 2600k will do 4.5ghz without CPu PLL overvoltage, so just play around with it. Some reported having to use less vcore with it enabled.

[FL00D]

Here is what I would do if you know your way around a BIOS.
Enable real time ratio change in OS so you don't have to manually disable turbo, it will automatically do it if ratio change in OS is enabled., keep all those things disabled like you stated.

For the vcore id leave it on auto to begin with, see what voltage the board sets, and see if it can boot into windows, most times it can but might be a tad unstable at 4.5ghz, so increase it after torture testing, or even use LLC level1 plus voltage increase. LLC level2 really is for more intense overclocks, and there is no reason for you to use it.

Yea you might as well enable CPu PLL Overvoltage, but be aware with it enabled and if you use S3 sleep, then your OC will fail after trying to wake the computer up from S3 sleep, i personally do not care because i never put my computer to sleep, but for a 24/7 rig many people do. I think all Sb 2600k will do 4.5ghz without CPu PLL overvoltage, so just play around with it. Some reported having to use less vcore with it enabled.

Thanks for your reply!

By the way, isn't it better to leave 'real time ratio change in OS' and 'Turbo' disabled?

I think I'll leave the power saving settings enabled. Could you elaborate a bit on how to use the offset settings please?

Thank you very much indeed!

[Den Leiw]

excellent review

[sin0822]

thanks,

um Id leave teh power saving off, its not needed nor recommend for GB boards. What you can do is after you have stabilized the OC you can turn them back on one by one.
Enabled real time ratio change in OS will automatically disable turbo,you can disable both, i found it makes no difference.

Offset is just going off the stock voltage and then while under load it will use the addition voltage from the offset setting, it might cause instability.

[FL00D]

thanks,

um Id leave teh power saving off, its not needed nor recommend for GB boards. What you can do is after you have stabilized the OC you can turn them back on one by one.
Enabled real time ratio change in OS will automatically disable turbo,you can disable both, i found it makes no difference.

Offset is just going off the stock voltage and then while under load it will use the addition voltage from the offset setting, it might cause instability.

Thank you very much for your help and patience!

My only concern now is the board itself. I've read so much crap about it. I can only hope that I won't have any of those issues which several people have had with Giga P67 boards. Boot looping, cold boot issues etc etc.

[sin0822]

Well i think you will be fine, all P67 boards have these problems, but if you do have problems try another BIOS. Some are much more stable than others. With teh UD7 i don't have any of those problems, and with my experience with some of the newest beta's they are really getting it all fixed up. Just know that a lot of the boot loops are caused by instable OC or the board just trying to recheck and check again the OC/settings. I think since its pretty common among all P67 boards that it is part Intel's fault as well, but B3 seems to have a new BIOS code.

[FL00D]

Hey Sin,

I've started over-clocking my CPU today but unfortunately this turns out to be a lot more difficult than I expected. Here is what I have done so far:

Ratio: 45X (the max I want to accomplish)
Real-Time Ratio Changes in OS: Disabled
Intel Turbo Boost Tech: Disabled
All CPU cores: Enabled
HT: Enabled
C1E; C3/C6; CPU Thermal M.; CPU EIST Function; BI-Directiona - all disabled
BI-Directional PROCHOT - I don't know what it is, I disabled it.
Internal CPU PLL - Disabled (on advice)
CPU LLC: Enabled (no lvls for the UD4)
Vcore: 1.35V (AIDA64 Load=1.332V)
I also changed every voltage value from auto to its default value in the 'Advanced Voltage Settings' menu. I was told that leaving voltages on auto was not a good idea and that setting them would increase stability. Agree?

Now I've been testing the CPU for an hour. I'll eave LinX running for 17hrs(=200 runs). [Memory: All (7GB), problem size: 30044] I'll also blend and small FFT test the CPU, 4-2hrs.

Temps: 62C max (hottest core) - Real Temp.

All your comments are greatly appreciated!

Thank you very much.

Cheers,

[sin0822]

id leave all teh voltages you do not need tuned to auto, there is no need to tune any voltage other than vcore and vtt/qpi and vdram. Leave everything else auto lol.

Id also try enabling cpu cpll overvoltage.

[FL00D]

Sin0822,

I was told that turning HT off may substantially increase performance in games. What's your opinion about that? Do you think that people with 2600Ks should turn HT off? Sounds kind of weird to me.

Is it true that although, turning HT off increases core temps, one would need less vcore to achieve higher clock speeds?

All your replies are greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

[sin0822]

here is what i have gathered, only a game that is multi threaded will benefit from HT, others well its hard to say it will decrease performance, but it could. All in all its not worth it to turn it off on a 2600k, it is more worth it to turn it off on previous platforms because on previous platforms it took less voltage to get to the same frequency with HT off, so you could get a higher clock with HT off when temperatures mattered. With sandybridge this isn't so true, sandybridge is a new type of beast, where turning HT off isn't so beneficial to OCing like it once was, of course you can and it might help when going for that world record, but for everyday use leave it on, hell you paid for it why not use it.

[FL00D]

Cheers Sin0822

As for testing, which do you think is more effective, running LinX for 24 hrs with all memory (~7GB, ~30258 problem size) - roughly 297 runs OR running LinX for 24 hrs with less memory - more runs? Or you may recommend sth completely different testing method...

Just flashed the BIOS to F3D and I need to retest my OC settings. I'm getting tired of 24-30 hour tests though.

Thanks

PS: just got the BSoD (101), it seems 1.34V (=1.32V AIDA) is not enough with the F3D. 4.5GHz, LLC enabled.

[Khoral]

As for testing

I'd go with Prime (few hours testing will prove the system stable)

[sin0822]

yea prime 95 seems to stress and heat the sandybridge processors more than IBT. This is probably due to its arch. which more closely resembles parts of the old Pentium 4 design, back then prime 95 was the king of stability testing as well.

[FL00D]

How long would you recommend running Prime 95 and which test? Blend, SmallFFTs or Large FFTs?

Anyway, the latest version of LinX does support AVX, whereas Prime does not.

Thank you very much.

[sin0822]

yea the AVZX support just puts out stupid pretty numbers, doesn't mean it stresses the CPU better at all.

24 hours some say, i don't even stress test unless its for reviews. Honestly prime isn't used because people don't get shiny scores they can brag about. You will see many people wondering why prime fails in minutes while IBT/LinX went 24 hours.

[stasio]

yea the AVZX support just puts out stupid pretty numbers, doesn't mean it stresses the CPU better at all.

24 hours some say, i don't even stress test unless its for reviews. Honestly prime isn't used because people don't get shiny scores they can brag about. You will see many people wondering why prime fails in minutes while IBT/LinX went 24 hours.

Yeah,and what I saw is that people use legacy Prime95 instead of ver.26.6,updated for Sandy Brigde.

[chew*]

Yeah,and what I saw is that people use legacy Prime95 instead of ver.26.6,updated for Sandy Brigde.

Seems to make no difference Already tested, I grabbed the latest for a 8 gig review mostly however to force more ram to be used.

[sin0822]

I just find that prime is a much better testing tool for stability on the Sb platform's CPU. I am not too sure about RAM though between the two. i like to use memtest for RAM, but of course its not convenient .

[Mukor]

Hello!

i have a 2500K and a gigabyte ud-4 B3 and when i set the multiplier to 42 the Svid rise from 1.225 to 1.340. Ok its stable with vdroop but as i see at others this voltage is too much. Its not stable with lower vcore but to 4,6 ghz it needs 1.400 v core with llc on . Is this normal? Nearly everyone can run his cpu with stock vid at 4 ghz or 1.220 with 4.2 but i need more 0.100V to this.

Whats wrong?

Sorry for my english and thanks for your help.

[sin0822]

some CPus aren't as good as others if you can't use a lower vcore for 4.2ghz then its ok, there is nothing you can really do . some CPUs are really nice, some aren't at all.

[Mukor]

some CPus aren't as good as others if you can't use a lower vcore for 4.2ghz then its ok, there is nothing you can really do . some CPUs are really nice, some aren't at all.

:'( . And why is that when my pc is stable at 4.6 ghz and i went to sleep and i turn it off its ok but wheb i wake up and turn it on its not keep the settings just after 3x times reseting its load the default settings. :/.

And should i use llc at 4,5ghz?
And with this weak chip whats the maximum vcore to 24/7?

Thanks

[sin0822]

CPU PLL Overvoltage, specifically has a problem with S3 Sleep, its a known issue without a workaround. its like TRIM and RAID for SSDs, its a very hard programming workaround that won't be done anytime soon.

Id say if you keep it under 70C then 1.45v, if 80c then 1.4v.

[Mukor]

CPU PLL Overvoltage, specifically has a problem with S3 Sleep, its a known issue without a workaround. its like TRIM and RAID for SSDs, its a very hard programming workaround that won't be done anytime soon.

Id say if you keep it under 70C then 1.45v, if 80c then 1.4v.

Cpu pll auto and i dont use S3 sleep. Thats happened after i turned my computer on.

What abouz TRIM? I have a SSD and i'd like to use AHCI and TRIM , there will be any problems?

Thanks again

[sin0822]

no not as long as you use it on the Intel ports.

That boot thing might be a BIOS bug. People report that if they use the reset button on the board they run into more problems.

[Mukor]

no not as long as you use it on the Intel ports.

That boot thing might be a BIOS bug. People report that if they use the reset button on the board they run into more problems.

Ok. For now it stopped that bug so no problem i hope.

Thank you for sharing me this informations!

Nice rewiew btw, i read it many times