Evga X58 Sli ultimate overclocking/ overview/ discussion thread

[SirKronan]

SirKronan post up your BIOS settings.

D0 Ocing seems to be quite a bit different (easier) than C0 clocking. You might just be messing with stuff that doesnt need to be touched. At 4.1Ghz my D0 is stable at stock VTT voltage.

Going to try to get my 4.2 stable. It errored on the 6 pass of Intel Burn test...I think I need to raise my QPI PLL to 1.45...Will post some results soon as I feel satisfied.

Most stuff I've kept stock, and it seems fine and dandy at 3.8GHz. But of course I want to hit 4.0GHz, in fact, I'd hope to at least hit the 4.2GHz stable I had on my C0 .... also on air.

I've tried using eleet to make subtle adjustments here and there at the 4.0GHz mark and so far I can't get any combination of voltage settings to be prime stable.

I'd like to eliminate the memory as an issue, even though it never was with my C0 chip. So I tried knocking the RAM down to 2:6 (it's always been at 2:8). For some reason the BIOS didn't like that and made me go back in and change it in order to eliminate the error message.

I'm beat for tonight, but I'll try and post some exact settings tomorrow. Would you rather have them from the BIOS, Eleet, or both??

[jaggerwild]

figured I post that I'm up and running all though that is all I have done as for right now using an old OS hard drive so I cleaned then loaded everything. My temps seem good, there is a ton of stuff for me to learn and I want to set up windows 7 in a raid 0 config on two sata II hard drives I have.

one question I do have is it OK to lower the default stock voltage to the CPU? As it stands now nothing changed in the bios the cpu is at 1.270v, this is a xeon w3520 so it is hard to find any info on it.


thanks guys!

[jaggerwild]

Hey Sirkronan,

I have been reading from the beginning of this thread, only to about the third page good info(Thank you!). I was originally very unstable but just flashed my bios with the SZ7F witch opened up the memory profile(XMP), my current OC is about 3320 on stock 1.27v. the only thing I have changed as per your earlier posts is the memory voltage and the CPU VTT upped it to 1.60 as I read over at the E forum that is should be with in.05 of theDimm votage. I have not run anything for stability testing as usually failed before this but just ran 2005 3D mark

(Sorry I covered the specs as I was using screen hunters) I'll post a better one in a few minutes.
Batch #3901A
So long story short my question is, I'm running the 1600 memory when I up the blk it raises the memory way past it to around 2000 is that OK to run it like that? Should I up the voltage for the mem? Any help!!

[Garrett]

DO NOT run the cpu VTT @ 1.60v
You should run the cpu VTT within 0.50v of the Vdimm voltage, NOT 0.05v!!

You may very well burn your cpu within moments!!!!

And within 0.50v I mean it can be 0.10, 0.20 up until 0.50v... it doesn't have to be 0.50v precisely

[jaggerwild]

DO NOT run the cpu VTT @ 1.60v
You should run the cpu VTT within 0.50v of the Vdimm voltage, NOT 0.05v!!

You may very well burn your cpu within moments!!!!

And within 0.50v I mean it can be 0.10, 0.20 up until 0.50v... it doesn't have to be 0.50v precisely

I'm loading windows 7 now so will be a while before I'm back up

[jaggerwild]

DO NOT run the cpu VTT @ 1.60v
You should run the cpu VTT within 0.50v of the Vdimm voltage, NOT 0.05v!!

You may very well burn your cpu within moments!!!!

And within 0.50v I mean it can be 0.10, 0.20 up until 0.50v... it doesn't have to be 0.50v precisely

Cool!
It's under water, but thanks for the heads up! I have to update my window7 fresh install. But can't as the computer is in another room so I odered a patch cable to run to the other room. Just set up two 160 gig WD 7200 HDD in raid zero under the Intel raid.

[ReverendMaynard]

anyone give the B2B - CAS function a go with the new beta bios yet?

[Solarfall]

anyone give the B2B - CAS function a go with the new beta bios yet?

dang i've been busy with other stuff that i have not even remembered to check if evga had put out new bioses, i will be testing it once i get my new cpu next week

[Johnmark]

Has anyone got this board on full water? I'm thinking of buying it but want to make sure there are WB's for at least the N.B. and anything else that runs hot on this board like mosfets

[LC_Nab]

Theres a full block for it EK one , it covers SB/NB and mosfets , you should be set .

[Johnmark]

Theres a full block for it EK one , it covers SB/NB and mosfets , you should be set .

Just had a look on the EK site and for some reason do not have a full coverage solution for the EVGA SLI 3. Although they do have a couple kits for it that contain a NB/SB block and then one for the mosfets. Nice looking blocks.

Although now that I think of it I'm not sure you need anything on the SouthBridge chip as it runs cool already. So it's just seems to be a waste of water pressure.
eg At this moment I'm running Prime and Fur together (21x20 @ 1.38v) so the system is loaded to the max. There is a Swiftech NB WB and Asus's heat pipe on the SB and Mosfets w/no fan. Current NB is 57C and SB 46C, before I put the WB on the northbridge the temp. would reach 80c-90+C under load (stock mount).

Thanks for the reply, I'm off to have a look for NB only blocks for this board.

[LC_Nab]

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=25277 , They do have a block that covers SB/NB and mosfets , maybe you dint look in the right place . And Ive been reading that they both run toasty specially if you plan to OC , and there is not much pressure drop . Depending on what pump setup you have, anyways good luck man .

[SirKronan]

Finally got some better clocks using a new method. The new settings are working great. I don't have time to post screens right now, as usual. But I will point out that this is the FOURTH EVGA motherboard that WILL NOT SLEEP and WILL NOT HYBERNATE. My 680i, both 780i's, and now my x58. Sleep doesn't work AT ALL, and neither does hybernation. Tried messing with settings. No go. Doesn't matter whether it's Vista or Windows 7. I'm destined to have a computer that's on or off, no sleeps or hibernation for me. Kind of inconvenient sometimes. Is it an EVGA thing or an x64 thing?? I'm at a lost.

[ReverendMaynard]

Finally got some better clocks using a new method. The new settings are working great. I don't have time to post screens right now, as usual. But I will point out that this is the FOURTH EVGA motherboard that WILL NOT SLEEP and WILL NOT HYBERNATE. My 680i, both 780i's, and now my x58. Sleep doesn't work AT ALL, and neither does hybernation. Tried messing with settings. No go. Doesn't matter whether it's Vista or Windows 7. I'm destined to have a computer that's on or off, no sleeps or hibernation for me. Kind of inconvenient sometimes. Is it an EVGA thing or an x64 thing?? I'm at a lost.

It's an 'overclocking and using energy saving setting' thing with pretty much every board that I've used from the P5B-D, Striker i680, P5Q-D, DFi X48, Gigabyte X58 and eVGA X58.

If you think about it, saving energy and overclocking doesn't make much sense anyway because when it is on, it's pulling more wattage anyway right?

[SirKronan]

It's an 'overclocking and using energy saving setting' thing with pretty much every board that I've used from the P5B-D, Striker i680, P5Q-D, DFi X48, Gigabyte X58 and eVGA X58.

If you think about it, saving energy and overclocking doesn't make much sense anyway because when it is on, it's pulling more wattage anyway right?

None of them would sleep at stock settings either, but ultimately you're right. If I were to use this as a server or legal torrent box I would be nuts. 400w on idle ... are you kidding me?!?!

Anyways, It would be nice if when I left it in a hurry I could just let it sit for a while and it would go to sleep. All the other computers in the house do this. But it really doesn't matter. Other than that, I'm having a lot of fun with this board. It's even better now at 4.0GHz. Can't wait to get water in this thing! (non-conductive, of course)

[Neuromancer]

Just finished reading the ENTIRE thread LOL

I have been banging my head against the 222 BCLK wall for about a month now. My rig is apart right now but going to put it back together so should be up and running tomorrow afternoon when the new HDD arrives

I have been running air and water, with the rad in the window on 20F nights, so temps were not an issue, and have run up to 1.575 volts.

I did manage to hit 223 as dual core, but normally one of two things happen when I set 223 with Eleet.

a) System freezes
b) CPU usage goes nuts, cores will take turns being fully loaded. And it partially freezes the system, mouse arrow moves in jumps as load switches to another core.


Have tried up to 110 PCIE freq, and some 1.4ish volts on VTT and QPI.

Tried loosening the ram up to 8-8-8 normally running it at 2:8 multi 7-7-7 1.8-1.825 volts. For ~1700 MHz (3x1GB Patriot Viper Extreme ELK kit, hey $50 for 3GB of DDR3 new is not a bad deal )

Already knew about IOH core and IOH/ICH I/O core settings, very useful for 3d clocking. IOH helped me get more stability in the 220 range as well.

I even tried setting the Extreme Cooling BIOS option but that did not help either SIGH

Hoping after fresh install and BIOS upgrade I will get some better results



OP: I checked both links in your sig and did not see any posts by shamino in either one? Not sure what nuggets you were talking about

[SirKronan]

I'm still waiting on parts to go water, but so far on air this thing is still running extremely well. 4.0GHz on 1.3 volts. Incredible stability and reliability. The D0 in it now most definitely requires less voltage than the C0 I had in it originally. At first it didn't overclock as well, and I was pretty upset, but I followed a couple different guides and finally got it to 4.0 and 4.2 stable. I keep it at 4.0 instead of 4.2 because I took one of the fans off my TRUE, and temps are a wee bit toasty at 4.2. I'll push it some more when I get ready to watercool it.

I just wanted to update people and give newcomers an idea of the longevity potential of this board. So far, mine is doing extremely well and shows no sings of trouble for the near future. Obviously something can break anytime, but so far so good.

This system pulls more from the wall at idle than all the other computers in my house put together, btw.

[ReverendMaynard]

I'm still waiting on parts to go water, but so far on air this thing is still running extremely well. 4.0GHz on 1.3 volts. Incredible stability and reliability. The D0 in it now most definitely requires less voltage than the C0 I had in it originally. At first it didn't overclock as well, and I was pretty upset, but I followed a couple different guides and finally got it to 4.0 and 4.2 stable. I keep it at 4.0 instead of 4.2 because I took one of the fans off my TRUE, and temps are a wee bit toasty at 4.2. I'll push it some more when I get ready to watercool it.

I just wanted to update people and give newcomers an idea of the longevity potential of this board. So far, mine is doing extremely well and shows no sings of trouble for the near future. Obviously something can break anytime, but so far so good.

This system pulls more from the wall at idle than all the other computers in my house put together, btw.

I recently dumped my water cooling loop and went back to air. Gave SS a shot but something was wrong with it and it couldn't handle the load. Benched it a 4.8ghz 3D and 4.75ghz wprime. This chip runs 1024m wprime at 4.6ghz 1.3v

Some DICE action is coming up and I'll post my results here.

[Solarfall]

Just finished reading the ENTIRE thread LOL

I have been banging my head against the 222 BCLK wall for about a month now. My rig is apart right now but going to put it back together so should be up and running tomorrow afternoon when the new HDD arrives

I have been running air and water, with the rad in the window on 20F nights, so temps were not an issue, and have run up to 1.575 volts.

I did manage to hit 223 as dual core, but normally one of two things happen when I set 223 with Eleet.

a) System freezes
b) CPU usage goes nuts, cores will take turns being fully loaded. And it partially freezes the system, mouse arrow moves in jumps as load switches to another core.


Have tried up to 110 PCIE freq, and some 1.4ish volts on VTT and QPI.

Tried loosening the ram up to 8-8-8 normally running it at 2:8 multi 7-7-7 1.8-1.825 volts. For ~1700 MHz (3x1GB Patriot Viper Extreme ELK kit, hey $50 for 3GB of DDR3 new is not a bad deal )

Already knew about IOH core and IOH/ICH I/O core settings, very useful for 3d clocking. IOH helped me get more stability in the 220 range as well.

I even tried setting the Extreme Cooling BIOS option but that did not help either SIGH

Hoping after fresh install and BIOS upgrade I will get some better results



OP: I checked both links in your sig and did not see any posts by shamino in either one? Not sure what nuggets you were talking about

i would suggest you to try a different bios some of them actually make and impact on max clock speeds, its just a matter of testing and determining what works best on your cpu and system. btw might be a good idea to try and push the VTT and QPI voltages even higher than 1.4 ish i run both when im benching with this board at 1.51v past that and the whole board just feezes also the uncore might be holding you back try various different settings.
you should do the overclocking consistently and linearly.
find a stable setting and then start to play with the settings/voltages, always saving the one that gives you more mhz. trail and error my friend thats pretty much the only way to do it

[shaolin95]

Hello
I got a question about OCing with this mobo.
I see some people suggest chaing PCI-E to 101 or more.
Why is that?
Also, on a guide I saw suggesting this it said 101 (not for SSD).
Why not for SSD?
Thanks

[Robilar]

This thread certainly seemed to die out?