Stuck at stable overclock on i7 920.

[Kurumi]

Well I am at my wits end folks. Try as I might, I am unable for the life of me able to get a stable overclock. I guess it's the cursed touch.

Anyway, I have the following setup:

Intel Core i7 920 D0
ThermalRight Ultra 120 Extreme
2x Gentle Typhoon 1150 RPM link
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P w/BIOS F13
12GB OCZ DDR3-1600 7-7-7-24 link
XFX HD5870 XXX
4x Samsung PM800 128GB SSDs
Seasonic X-650W PSU
Windows 7 x64

I tried to follow this guide from Gigabyte and it seems to work... sort of.

It boots to Windows just fine but the machine fails after one pass of LinX. Temps get to 90C and stay there, which is a bit hot I do admit but no hard locks.

My settings in the BIOS are as followed:

MB Intelligent Tweaker (M.I.T):
CPU Clock Ratio [20x]
CPU Frequency [4.0GHz] [200x20]
QPI Link Speed [x36] [7.2GHz]
Base Clock Control [Enabled]
BCLK Frequency (Mhz) [200]
Performance Enhance [Standard]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) [6.0]
Advanced Clock Control:
Base Clock (BCLK) Control [Enabled]
BCLK Frequency (Mhz) [200]
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) [Auto]
Uncore & QPI Features:
QPI Link Speed [x36]
QPI Link Speed [7.2GHz]
Uncore Frequency [x13] [4000MHz]
Advanced CPU Features:
Intel Turbo Boost Tech. [Enabled]
CPU Cores Enabled [All]
CPU Multi Threading [Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) [Disabled]
C3/C6/C7 State Support [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor [Enabled]
CPU Eist Function [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology [Enabled]
Bi-directional PROCHOT [Enabled]

>>>Advanced DRAM Features
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) [6.0]
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) [Expert]
Channel Interleaving 6 [Auto]
Rank Interleaving 4 [Auto]
>>>>>Channel A/B/C
>>>>>Channel A/B/C Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time 7 [8]
tRCD 7 [8]
tRP 7 [8]
tRAS 16 [24]
>>>>> Channel A/B/C Advanced Timing Control
tRC 27 [Auto]
tRRD 4 [Auto]
tWTR 4 [Auto]
tWR 8 [Auto]
tWTP 19 [Auto]
tWL 7 [Auto]
tRFC 60 [88]
tRTP 4 [Auto]
tFAW 16 [Auto]
Command Rate(CMD) 2 [Auto]
>>>>> Channel A/B/C Misc Timing Control
B2B CAS Delay - [Auto]
Round Trip Latency 57 [Auto]

CPU Vcore 1.31250V
QPI/Vtt 1.515V
IOH Core 1.12V
DRAM Voltage 1.66V
Advanced Voltage Control:
Load-Line Calibration [Disabled]
CPU Vcore 1.40000V
CPU PLL 1.840V
>>>MCH/ICH
PCIE [1.500V]
QPI PLL [1.140V]
IOH Core 1.120V
ICH I/O [1.580V]
ICH Core 1.140V
>>>DRAM
DRAM Voltage 1.660V

My only concern is that I need VT support for VMWare. HT would be very nice to have but not necessary a concern if disabling it gets me a stable OC.

If anyone has any ideas, please feel free to toss them.

[Kurumi]

After slaving a bit more, it seems to like 3.8GHz. Dropped the CPU clock ratio from 20x to 19x. It's on pass 4 now and seems to be holding steady.

That being said, does anyone think enabling turbo will cause it to crash?

[Olly_K]

90 degrees is too high IMO. If that was me I would run the ran in the 1600-1866Mhz range and drop that QPI/VTT voltage, its making your temps skyrocket.

1.31250V VCore with LLC disabled is probably drooping to beloe 1.3v....I would enable LLC.

IOH Core (you've listed it twice, im looking at the one below vtt) looks low, try 1.375v

EDIT I would disable turbo mode for now...if you've got it set for 200x20 with turbo mode enabled, you're hitting 4.2. Try for 4ghz first

[Johnny87au]

For starts your VTT is way to high, drop it down to 1.35, QPI Link speed leave it on AUTO.. Cpu vcore 1.35 / QPI Pll 1.3 .. First of all though try getting temps down, Which cooler you using?

[Kurumi]

For starts your VTT is way to high, drop it down to 1.35, QPI Link speed leave it on AUTO.. Cpu vcore 1.35 / QPI Pll 1.3 .. First of all though try getting temps down, Which cooler you using?

I'm using a standard TRUE 120 Black.

Changed the voltages as followed:

Load-Line Calibration [Enabled]
CPU Vcore [1.35000V]
QPI/Vtt Voltage [1.355V]
Turbo Mode [Disabled]

Am I forgetting something else?

[Johnny87au]

I'm using a standard TRUE 120 Black.

Changed the voltages as followed:

Load-Line Calibration [Enabled]
CPU Vcore [1.35000V]
QPI/Vtt Voltage [1.355V]
Turbo Mode [Disabled]

Am I forgetting something else?

Qpi Pll - 1.3 .. Are you getting stable with those settings? Please post temps also.. Temps really seem awful..

[Kurumi]

Well after some more testing this is what I have so far.

QPI PLL is at 1.3V

Temps get to 85C with case open, 89C with it closed.

Can only get 19x204MHz so far. Won't hit 211MHz yet, but I think with more tinkering, it can.... maybe.

Also using Core Temp 0.99.8 to monitor temps.

[Johnny87au]

Whats your ambient temps?? You could always try reseating the IHS and using aftermarket TIM..

[Kurumi]

Ambient temps in the room are around 70 - 75F. I recently reapplied the heat sink and used the ThermalRight silver paste that I had from another build about three weeks ago. Before that I used AS5 and the temps were the same. The TRUE hasn't been lapped either.

[cowpuppy]

change your Uncore Frequency to run at 3200 qpi 7200 ram 1600 see the pattern keep them in sink