**Official** Asrock Z68 Extreme4 thread. Share your experiences, OCs & tech issues!

[Ket]

Thanks for all the replies...

the rams i'm running on default

GSKILL 2x4GB 2133Mhz rated 1.65V

F3-17000CL9D-8GBXLD
System Type DDR3
Intel XMP certified, designed for Intel P67 & Z68
CAS Latency 9-11-9-28-2N
Capacity 8GB (4GB x2)
Speed DDR3-2133 (PC3 17000)
Test Voltage 1.65 Volts
Registered/Unbuffered Unbuffered
Error Checking Non-ECC
Type 240-pin DIMM

didnt change the timing for the rams , voltage was set to 1.65v manually..

While I don't have that specific kit I can throw out some general things to try;

- Set timings, speed and voltage manually. Don't just load up the XMP profile.
- Increase vcore by .3-.5v
- Change VTT to 1.155v

I uploaded some UEFI shots a page or two back, you may find those useful.

[JoOs7eR]

Post your LinX and HW Monitor screehshots showing the GFlops and Processor Powers reported.

Anyway most likely, inadequate vcore still.

Untitled-6.jpg

[JoOs7eR]

[MacClipper]

LinX output looks like it is on the low side if you are running 4.7GHz and RAM@2133 so there is most likely some throttling going on and your rig is prob. not fully stable yet.

[JoOs7eR]

LinX output looks like it is on the low side if you are running 4.7GHz and RAM@2133 so there is most likely some throttling going on and your rig is prob. not fully stable yet.

Thanks Mac for the reply

So what you suggest?

Pump more vcore ? or run the rams @ low clock speed?

Cheers

[MacClipper]

Already replied back at VRZ, hope you can find a good balance in the end.

[Sined]

only issue ive got now, is a very small one, almost dosent matter, my bus speed is 99.8, even when set to 100 in the bios, and when i set it to 100.2, its actually on 100.2, Weird, but 0.2 is properly not going to make a difference, so just going to leave it on 100 ^_- running v1.5 uefi bios ofc

[noddi]

only issue ive got now, is a very small one, almost dosent matter, my bus speed is 99.8, even when set to 100 in the bios, and when i set it to 100.2, its actually on 100.2, Weird, but 0.2 is properly not going to make a difference, so just going to leave it on 100 ^_- running v1.5 uefi bios ofc

Its 99.8 if you have spread spectrum enabled. 100 if it's disabled

[Anusha]

though i thought i would get lower idle power consumption by going from a P55 i5 750@3.8GHz (with all the power saving features ON) to this board with 2600k@ 4.5GHz, it wasn't the case. new system uses about 5W more than the old one when doing nothing. it could be that the Z68 isn't as good as P67 when it comes to power draw, as you have to have the iGPU powered up all the time. but stil...aren't the reviews showing a 25W or more less power draw at idle for the SB? iGPU can't be using 30W!!!

127W vs 133W, system power draw from the mains + wireless router. (measured from the main power meter with every other appliance unplugged)

[Sined]

shouldent 100.2 be 100 with it enabled then?

[SabreWulf69]

Any chance of some suggestions for settings in the BIOS for this board for this setup --> http://www.nrnl.org/challenge-beat-t...roof-t821.html ?? Any help say with screenshots to get to 5.0GHz temporarily for a benchmark would be great, and also some recommended settings for a 24/7 4.6GHz clock would also greatly appreciated. Loving this board so far,

- SabreWulf69

[Ket]

Thanks Mac for the reply

So what you suggest?

Pump more vcore ? or run the rams @ low clock speed?

Cheers

Use IBT w\ AVX. I put a link for it in this thread. Make sure you assign every available MB of RAM for maximum accuracy of the test.

only issue ive got now, is a very small one, almost dosent matter, my bus speed is 99.8, even when set to 100 in the bios, and when i set it to 100.2, its actually on 100.2, Weird, but 0.2 is properly not going to make a difference, so just going to leave it on 100 ^_- running v1.5 uefi bios ofc

As already mentioned, disable Spread Spectrum

though i thought i would get lower idle power consumption by going from a P55 i5 750@3.8GHz (with all the power saving features ON) to this board with 2600k@ 4.5GHz, it wasn't the case. new system uses about 5W more than the old one when doing nothing. it could be that the Z68 isn't as good as P67 when it comes to power draw, as you have to have the iGPU powered up all the time. but stil...aren't the reviews showing a 25W or more less power draw at idle for the SB? iGPU can't be using 30W!!!

127W vs 133W, system power draw from the mains + wireless router. (measured from the main power meter with every other appliance unplugged)

Have you disabled any onboard features you aren't using in the UEFI?

Any chance of some suggestions for settings in the BIOS for this board for this setup --> http://www.nrnl.org/challenge-beat-t...roof-t821.html ?? Any help say with screenshots to get to 5.0GHz temporarily for a benchmark would be great, and also some recommended settings for a 24/7 4.6GHz clock would also greatly appreciated. Loving this board so far,

- SabreWulf69

..Clicky

[SabreWulf69]

Thanks Ket Just wondering, why are so many people overclocking with SpeedStep enabled. Thought this was a no-no when it came to serious overclocking. I am using most of the settings you gave except for Speedstep and it works just fine for a 4.6GHz clock with a 1.360V vCore. Is this too high a vCore? I guess I'm also lazy and can't be bothered resetting multiple times then running constant stability tests to get the lowest one possible so a recommendation will do. I also leave virtualization off as I have no personal use for this. As I have heard, if you ain't gonna use something, then it's best to disable it as a general BIOS housekeeping rule of old as most will know. My reasoning behind disabling Speedstep is that anything that 'dynamically and automatically' adjusts in the computer can upset things when you are overclocking as I have personally experienced over time. Some of the same reasoning behind disabling thermal control(s) and whatnot I believe. Also would you happen to have a link to explain what that the PLL Overvoltage feature is specifically for? Would you have any conclusive tests showing what it does with it both disabled then enabled? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks once again,

- SabreWulf69

[Anusha]

Have you disabled any onboard features you aren't using in the UEFI?

Of course.
Here's the link to all my UFEI screens. Let me know if I can improve further.

[MacClipper]

Hey Ket, think it's about time for you to kickstart a new thread so you will be all ready if and when your new toy comes in...

[Anusha]

But, don't forget us.

[anewbie]

I've no intention of overclocking (purchased this board for linux and while the board itself was higher end than required; I needed display port and a lot of sata ports; sata cards quickly bump the cost of board with fewer ports)
-
Shoudl I not enable spectrum spread ? Also is there anythig I actually need to set in the bios outside of defaults (and making sure sleep mode is enabled; as this system will run 24/7) ??
-
so far very happy with the board; layout and feature set is very nice (nicer than my p67 board). Bit pricey but really needed 7 sata ports.
-
a few specific bios questions (I checked the manual and could not find good descriptions):
south bridge - what is Deep Sx (s4/s5) ???
- what is on/off play ?? (it seems to force deep sx off)
- cpu - exactly what does power saving option enable ?
-
Is there a better manual for the asrock bios? Most of the manual simply repeats the name of the option without explaining what the options (for example power saving - enable disable - enables and disable power saving; well gee i knew that but does it mean?);
-
One thing I noticed is the chip labeled v8 (south bridge?) gets extremely hot to the touch; wouldn't surprise me if it is over 70C (the asrock and cpuid tools dont' show the temp). I guess this must be normal but still it seems awful hot.

[radier]

Just ask ASRock support. They gave me specific answer about MIMO.

[Anusha]

yes, i have to agree, ASRock need a proper manual writer.

[anewbie]

Ok. One last question; there seems to be two methods to reset bios settings; witch in back and jumpers. For using the jumper you power down and there are other precautions mentiond in the manual. For the switch in the pack do you use this switch when also powered down ? Does it differ from the jumpers in any way other than being more convenient?

[Anusha]

i turned off the pc, but didn't disconnect the power from wall. pressed the button in the i/o panel, and it worked.

[Bruce Banner]

I started my OC with this board and a 2500k last night.
I'm not understanding how the VCC works.
I have it on offset +.005, the value next to it bounces .98-1.28V etc.. I have throttling on.
On load Still 1.289V or so max in prime 95.

All I really minipulated was the multipler, to X44 got it going at 4.4ghz.
I have no clue how to take it further. I see some people with VCC 1.35 etc...

Example this guy, I don't agree with his settings but he shows a 1.35 Vcc and +.05 offset.
I don't get it, how did he get 1.35V?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e04-5hjk-I

[Nelly]

I have a big problem with my new Z68 Extreme4 board.
I cannot make Extreme4 to boot when my intel 320 SSD drive is connected to any of the motherboard sata ports except Marvel's ones.
The board locks itself with endless boots loop, each time it comes to B3 state, then reboots and so on.
When I disconnect intel ssd drive all goes to normal.
I've tried: updating bios to 1.4, changing controller mode (AHCI, IDE etc.) to no avail.
The crytical thing is that my ssd is hardware encrypted with ATA security password set.
When I stipped off the ATA password all is working OK, no boot loop. But disabling ATA password effectively switching off internal encryption so no more security.
I cannot afford that. It seems the board (intel ATA controller to be more precise) has problems with ATA secured hard drives
I'm scratching my head now. I can return the board and pick something else. But have no guarantee that the problem is not the chipset fault so buying Asus or something else will give me nothing.

Did you manage to get this get fixed?

[jpm]

put together my i7-2600k / z68e4 system yesterday and so far the chip is responding fairly well. as a first step i've got it stable at 4.4ghz @ 1.295V on air and closed case. with speedstep and the various sleeps enabled the cores idle at about 32C, this is in ~24C ambient. under a number-crunch load like prime95 the cores fully loaded run about 65C, if tortured then it will eventually stabilize in 70C-80C, depending on the core. but the case venting seems to be working as MB temperature levels at 40C during the torture. VCC is a little jumpier than i was expecting, although it hangs around 1.291 most of time, it actually flips about between 1.286 and even as high as 1.312 as i was able to catch here:

44.44.110703.ibtpass.jpg

strange that the first few linpack runs go around 93GFlops before it settles in around 98.7GFlops. have seen some other posts at this clock showing around 107GFlops, not sure about the difference.

110703213039.jpg

no big surprises in the bios. many/most settings here resemble what other people have been posting. for now using high (200W) duration power limits with a zero turbo voltage level and LLC level 1, which basically kills turbo mode and runs all clocks at 44x multi whenever not speedstep'd down. this is kind of chucking all that fancy new thermal management stuff out the window and running the chip more like a "classic" core 2 duo/quad. but it's a simpler way to stabilize (imo). will play with that thermal stuff next.

110703213048.jpg

the DIMMs are acutally low voltage, rated for 1.35V. trying to avoid having to mess with the PLL, VTT, or VCCSA. but i still set them all manually because i don't like trusting a number called "Auto".

110703213114.jpg

left the other fancy stuff enabled because if they did it right they won't interfere with my clock. if these things don't work then i blame the OC, not the fancy features. they all work just fine at normal clocks.

110703213242.jpg

next i'd like to see if i can get a single-core turbo boost profile on top of the 4.4, although i'm not sure if the complexity of optimizing the duration power limits, load line calibration, and additional turbo voltage makes it worth the trouble. if i could stabilize a single core turbo boost at 4.8ghz with a multi-core 4.4ghz clock that would be significant. don't know if that is possible yet with this system design.

[Ket]

Hey Ket, think it's about time for you to kickstart a new thread so you will be all ready if and when your new toy comes in...

If the Z68 Fatality Pro doesn't have any issues, its unlikely I'll get one from Asrock. At the very least I'd need 4-5 people mentioning different issues with the board before I'd be able to ask. Asrock are fast learners though, they have been very careful in making sure none of the bugs the early P67 E4 UEFIs had made their way into the Z68 E4 UEFIs so I see no reason why that would change for the Z68 Fataility Pro.

Ok. One last question; there seems to be two methods to reset bios settings; witch in back and jumpers. For using the jumper you power down and there are other precautions mentiond in the manual. For the switch in the pack do you use this switch when also powered down ? Does it differ from the jumpers in any way other than being more convenient?

The Clear CMOS button on the back is very much for convenience and will do the job fine most of the time. If a full CMOS reset is required though you need to;

- Remove CMOS battery
- Remove power cord
- Set CMOS jumper to "clear" position
- Wait 1 min
- Press power button 2-3 times (discharges capacitors)

Did you manage to get this get fixed?

The issue is still being looked at. If I don't hear anything by around mid-week I'll chase things up a bit.