BloodRage P11 and BCLK 200 - very late surprise

[Mescalamba]

Been probably ages since I played with OC, but recently (or not so recently) my PC was showing some instability (crashed now and then for unknown and untrackable reasons). I thought (like everyone usually does) that my OC is rock solid. Well, maybe it was, maybe it isnt (next days will show).

But, I tried to reset to pretty much factory default and play with OC from there. I was reviewing individual settings, trying again for max BCLK (http://hwbot.org/submission/999140_m...0_4644.33_mhz/ .. did this ages ago, not really stable). My daily OC was lower and on much lower BCLK. Cause high BCLK, like 200 was always pretty unstable for me.

And I accidentally stumbled on why (probably).

Remember how BloodRage has 1.8V QPI PLL settings? Well, instead increasing I tried to actually lower it (atm around 1.65V). Based on the internet, 1.8V isnt actually needed. Also not entirely sure its really QPI PLL voltage.

Anyway, where higher settings did nothing good for me, lowering it to 1.65v actually allowed me for very easy 200 BCLK. And I mean like super easy, my VTT is buffed just by +60mV and IOH only by +0.01V.

Funny thing that we often dont question defaults, or try lower them while OCing, if some default isnt bit too high. Turns out, this one could be.

I know its probably worthless atm, users of Bloodrage will be close to none, let alone someone trying to OC it. Just thought I will share my findings.

[MacClipper]

Mescalamba, you may not be totally alone.

I just got a newish FlamingBlade last month and having fun tinkering with 2 cheap Xeon x5650s@200FSB 4GHz meanwhile so just keep on exploring.

[Mescalamba]

Yea I saw cheap Xeons (Westmere) and even 980 on the market, so Im tempted to give that a go.

[MacClipper]

Just go for the Westmeres, so much better deal than the old Nehalems and Gulftowns.