P55A UD4P and i5 750

[BoombasticSloth]

Just picked up the Gigabyte P55A UD4P and will be clocking the i5 750. The batch for the cpu is L931B689. It will be used for the office so that is why it only has a 7900GS GFX card. I only needed dual dvi card to pivot 2 Dell 24" Ultra sharp monitors.

My goal is to clock it to about 3.6-4.0 with the least amount of voltage all around because it will pretty much be on 24/7. I was tempted to get the Asus P755D-E or Pro, but I have been so happy with the EP45 UD3P's that I decided to stay with Gigabyte. I may not be able to spend as much time oc'ing this rig as I would like to because it has to be put to work in the office. However, I would like to get to 4.0ghz with vcore around 1.3v. I might settle up to 1.35v. If not, I will settle for 3.8ghz or whatever clock speed I can get at 1.3v vcore.

I will post templates and some screenies of my venture when time permits.

Hope it all works out.

[BoombasticSloth]

Re: P55A UD4P and i5 750

Flashed bios to F5.
This bios is pretty easy to navigate through.
Looks like it might even be easier to OC than the EP45 UD3P in terms of the amount of settings.

Did a mild OC at 3.2ghz and primed for a few hours. Plopped in the other 2 sticks of memory and memtesting now with 4 sticks at 3.6ghz.

Will post up a template later. Took some snapshots of bios settings so I can translate to spreadsheet and bios template.

The ripjaw heatspreaders were a bit tall so I had to position the fan on Hyper 212+ a little higher up on the HS than I would have liked but it is ok. Seems to cool the cpu fairly well so far. Lots of room in the Storm Scout to house tall cpu HSs. So far pretty happy with the build.

[B]i5 750 F5 bios[/B]

Advanced Frequency Settings:

CPU Clock Ratio..........................[20X]
CPU requency...........................3.60GHz(180x20)
Advanced CPU Core Features...............[Press Enter]
QPI Clock Ratio..........................[x32]
QPI Link Speed...........................5.76Ghz
Uncore Clock Ratio.......................16x
Uncore Frequency.........................2880Mhz

Advanced Core Features  [Press Enter]:

Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech................[Disabled]
CPU Cores Enabled........................[All]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)..................[Disabled]
C3/C6/C7 State Support...................[Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor......................[Auto]
CPU EIST Function........................[Disable]
Bi-Directional PROCHOT...................[Auto]


>>>>>   Standard Clock Control <<<<<

Base Clock (BCLK) Control................[Enabled]
BCLK Frequency ..........................[180]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.)..........[Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD)...........[8.0]
Memory Frequency (MHz)...................1440
PCI Express Frequency (MHz)..............[100]
C.I.A.2..................................[Disabled]

>>>>>   Advanced Clock Control   <<<<<

CPU Clock Drive..........................[ 800mV]
PCI Express Clock Drive..................[ 900mV]
CPU Clock Skew...........................[   0ps]

Advanced Memory Settings:

Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.)..........[Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD)...........[8.0]
Memory Frequency (MHz)..........1333.....1440
Performance Enhance   (SPD)............. [Standard]
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD)............ [Expert]
Profile DDR Voltage .....................1.5V
Profile QPI Voltage .....................1.1V
Channel Interleaving............6........[Auto]
Rank Interleaving...............4........[Auto]

>>>>>   Channel A & B

Channel A Timing Settings            [Press Enter]:
Cas Latency Time...................9....[9]
tRCD...............................9....[9]
tRP................................9....[9]
tRAS...............................24...[24]

>>>>>   Advanced Timing Control

tRC................................33..[Auto]
tRRD...............................4...[Auto]
tWTR...............................5...[Auto]
tWR................................10..[Auto]
tWTP...............................21..[Auto]
tWL................................7...[Auto]
tRFC...............................74..[Auto]
tRTP...............................5...[Auto]
tFAW...............................20..[Auto]
Command Rate (CMD).................2.. [AUTO]

>>>>>   Misc Timing Control

B2B Cas Delay..........................[Auto]
Round Trip Latency.................56..[Auto]

Channel A Turnaround Settings [Press Enter]:
Different DIMMs........................[Auto]
Different DIMMs........................[Auto]
On The Same Rank.......................[Auto]

>>>>>   Channel A Writes Followed By Writes

Different DIMMs........................[Auto]
Different DIMMs........................[Auto]
On The Same Rank.......................[Auto]


Advanced Voltage Settings:

******Mother Board Voltage Control ******
Voltage Types............Normal......Current
--------------------------------------------

>>> CPU
Load Line Calibration.................[Disabled]
CPU Vcore..................1.225V.....[1.275V]
x Dynamic Vcore(DVID)..... +0.0000V...AUTO
QPI/VTT Voltage............1.100V.....[1.190V]

>>> MCH/ICH
PCH Core...................1.050V.....[1.120V]
CPU PLL....................1.800V.....[1.860V]

>>> DRAM
DRAM Voltage..............1.500v.....[1.500V]
DRAM Termination.........0.750v......[0.75V]
Ch-A Data VRef............0.750v.....[0.75V]
Ch-A Data VRef............0.750v.....[0.75V]
Ch-B Data VRef............0.750v.....[0.75V]
Ch-B Data VRef............0.750v.....[0.75V]


Miscellaneous Settings:[/SIZE]

Isochronous Support....................[Enabled]
Virtualisation technology..............[Enabled]

USB Storage Function ..................[Enabled] 

(Located In Integrated Peripherals Page)

[Psycho101]

Re: P55A UD4P and i5 750

If possible you may want to buy a mounting kit for a TRUE and sneakily swap the Hyper 212+ with one in one of your Dual Core Rigs. I have nothing against the 212+, it's a good cooler but would be better suited to a lower TDP dual. You'd see no temp increase on the Dual + Hyper but would likely see a good decrease if fitting the TRUE to your i5 750.

From experience (only built one rig so far on P55 with a 860) you may need a little more than 1.35V to get a stable 4GHz. the one I built would do 4.1GHz on ~1.48V. No matter how much tweaking I did I couldn't lower it. This config would have been fine if watercooled but using a TRUE temps were ~90c at full load with HT on, too much for the customers comfort zone. We had to settle for 3.85GHz at 1.39V loading at 79c. Seems that as with Core 2, pushing the CPU to the limit of its frequency, after a certain point produces an exponential heat increase.

A P55A UD5 is going to be my choice because I can run 8x/8x crossfire and also use the chipset powered 4x PCIe for a RAID card.

I was planning on getting 4GB of Ripjaw but if yu can get 8GB stable at 3.6-3.8GHs I may just go double-bubble. That way I can have a larger RAM drive and maybe install some programs there. In actual fact a 2-4GB RAM drive plus 4GB of system RAM would be plenty for me.

Sounds like a great system, very useful for CPU intense tasks. Windows can be a bit snappier on a Quad too, that's the only thing I miss about my Q8200. The SSD's make up for it though. Keep us all informed.

[BoombasticSloth]

Re: P55A UD4P and i5 750

Hi Psycho, I haven't been on here for a while so it's good corresponding with you again.

Yeah, I was going to get a TRUE Black with the 1156 bolt thru kit, but I wanted to see how the Hyper 212+ would do. I am rather impressed with the Hyper 212+ to be honest with you. Plus it was less than half the price of the TRUE black with the 1156 bolt thru kit. The CM HS was really easy to install as well so I am not sure why I have read that people found the HS difficult to install. Maybe its because I have the newer G1 version.

The reason for the P55A was because I wanted to plan for raid 0 Intel SSDs when the prices get more cost effective. Even if I enable the USB3 or the SATA3, and I lose a bit of bandwidth from my GFX, it is not going to matter to me because this isn't a gaming rig anyway. Hence the 7900GS.

Doing a quick test with 3.80Ghz at the moment with these settings:
So far I am liking this board and it is handling the 4 sticks of Ripjaws mighty fine. Crossing my fingers that it can do it at 4.0ghz (20x200) at under 1.35vcore and at the memories rated 1600mhz speed with SMM at 8 at 1.5vdimm.

[B]i5 750 F5 bios[/B]

Advanced Frequency Settings:

CPU Clock Ratio..........................[20X]
CPU requency.............................3.80GHz(190x20)
Advanced CPU Core Features...............[Press Enter]
QPI Clock Ratio..........................[x32]
QPI Link Speed...........................6.08Ghz
Uncore Clock Ratio.......................16x
Uncore Frequency.........................3040Mhz

Advanced Core Features  [Press Enter]:

Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech................[Disabled]
CPU Cores Enabled........................[All]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)..................[Disabled]
C3/C6/C7 State Support...................[Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor......................[Auto]
CPU EIST Function........................[Disable]
Bi-Directional PROCHOT...................[Auto]


>>>>>   Standard Clock Control <<<<<

Base Clock (BCLK) Control................[Enabled]
BCLK Frequency ..........................[190]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.)..........[Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD)...........[8.0]
Memory Frequency (MHz)...................1520
PCI Express Frequency (MHz)..............[100]
C.I.A.2..................................[Disabled]

>>>>>   Advanced Clock Control   <<<<<

CPU Clock Drive..........................[ 800mV]
PCI Express Clock Drive..................[ 900mV]
CPU Clock Skew...........................[   0ps]

Advanced Memory Settings:

Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.)..........[Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD)...........[8.0]
Memory Frequency (MHz)..........1333.....1520
Performance Enhance   (SPD)............. [Standard]
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD)............ [Expert]
Profile DDR Voltage .....................1.5V
Profile QPI Voltage .....................1.1V
Channel Interleaving............6........[Auto]
Rank Interleaving...............4........[Auto]

>>>>>   Channel A & B

Channel A Timing Settings            [Press Enter]:
Cas Latency Time...................9....[9]
tRCD...............................9....[9]
tRP................................9....[9]
tRAS...............................24...[24]

>>>>>   Advanced Timing Control

tRC................................33..[Auto]
tRRD...............................4...[Auto]
tWTR...............................5...[Auto]
tWR................................10..[Auto]
tWTP...............................21..[Auto]
tWL................................7...[Auto]
tRFC...............................74..[Auto]
tRTP...............................5...[Auto]
tFAW...............................20..[Auto]
Command Rate (CMD).................2.. [2]

>>>>>   Misc Timing Control

B2B Cas Delay..........................[Auto]
Round Trip Latency.................56..[Auto]

Channel A Turnaround Settings [Press Enter]:
Different DIMMs........................[Auto]
Different DIMMs........................[Auto]
On The Same Rank.......................[Auto]

>>>>>   Channel A Writes Followed By Writes

Different DIMMs........................[Auto]
Different DIMMs........................[Auto]
On The Same Rank.......................[Auto]


Advanced Voltage Settings:

******Mother Board Voltage Control ******
Voltage Types............Normal......Current
--------------------------------------------

>>> CPU
Load Line Calibration.................[Disabled]
CPU Vcore..................1.225V.....[1.275V]
x Dynamic Vcore(DVID)..... +0.0000V...AUTO
QPI/VTT Voltage............1.100V.....[1.190V]

>>> MCH/ICH
PCH Core...................1.050V.....[1.120V]
CPU PLL....................1.800V.....[1.860V]

>>> DRAM
DRAM Voltage..............1.500v.....[1.500V]
DRAM Termination.........0.750v......[0.75V]
Ch-A Data VRef............0.750v.....[0.75V]
Ch-A Data VRef............0.750v.....[0.75V]
Ch-B Data VRef............0.750v.....[0.75V]
Ch-B Data VRef............0.750v.....[0.75V]


Miscellaneous Settings:[/SIZE]

Isochronous Support....................[Enabled]
Virtualisation technology..............[Enabled]

USB Storage Function ..................[Enabled] 

(Located In Integrated Peripherals Page)

[Psycho101]

Re: P55A UD4P and i5 750

You seem to be doing well atm if those Ripjaw are stable with just 1.5V (they're 1.65V rated). If it does fail, then VDIM and QPI voltage may be able to stablize the system without additional Vcore.

[BoombasticSloth]

Re: P55A UD4P and i5 750

From experience (only built one rig so far on P55 with a 860) you may need a little more than 1.35V to get a stable 4GHz. the one I built would do 4.1GHz on ~1.48V. No matter how much tweaking I did I couldn't lower it. This config would have been fine if watercooled but using a TRUE temps were ~90c at full load with HT on, too much for the customers comfort zone. We had to settle for 3.85GHz at 1.39V loading at 79c. Seems that as with Core 2, pushing the CPU to the limit of its frequency, after a certain point produces an exponential heat increase.

See that is the thing about OC'ing. For me I set a OC goal for a destined task for the rig. I suspect I will be able to hit 3.8ghz at low vcore, but after 3.8ghz I may have to do some considerable bump in voltages in vcore and VTT. Even though people are ramping up and using high VTT, Intel specs the max VTT at about 1.21v. If I have to use excessive voltage and heat to achieve marginal benefits, then it is not worth doing. For instance, if I had to use 1.38-1.4+ vcore and 1.30-1.35v VTT, just to get another 200mhz on each core, for me it is not worth it. For me the benefits of lower voltage, lower noise from air cooling solutions, and lower temps more than makes up for the 200mhz that I probably won't notice in real work applications at work anyways. I don't concern myself about bragging rights and such. I am more interested in a stable system that strikes a balance for processing power, electrical requirements, low noise, low temps, and longevity (if that means anything in dealing with computers). Also, I am not interested in spending literally months like some people do load testing just to tweak a few mhz out of their system. One would think that there would be more important things to do in life.

Hmm.... the box says rated 1.5v. That is why I bought them. I wasn't interested in 1.65v because I wanted a greener solution. I purposely bought these they are tested at 1600mhz at 1.5v so that I could try to achieve 200x20=4000mhz at SMM 8, 200x8=1600 at 1.5vdimm. It also gives me an option if I wanted to oc the ram higher. I could always bump up the Vdimm. They are the G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL.

[Psycho101]

Re: P55A UD4P and i5 750

Looks like those Ripjaw are different to the ones I used. I built using the 8-8-8-24 model, rated 1.6-1.65V.

The thing with QPI voltage is that rather than there being a finite limit on what level of voltage to use, the much more important factor is the voltage difference between QPI Voltage and VDIMM. As long as these are kept within 0.5V of eachother then up to 1.35V QPI would be considered quite sedate. Some RAM kits specify QPI's of between 1.25 and 1.35 to allow them to be run at their optimal speed. This seems to be one area where Intel have been extremely conservative. It's a possibility that the 1.21V spec is there to keep it within 0.5V of VDIMM. At 1.21V RAM voltages between 1.35 (lowest I've seen for DDR3 so far) and 1.71V are acceptable

Lsdmeasap will know more, but as far as I know, at moderate QPI and the correct gap between it and VDIMM you will be safe.

[BoombasticSloth]

Re: P55A UD4P and i5 750

I wouldn't be surprised if the ripjaws you used and the ones I am using are similar. I don't know for certain, but they are probably binned that way for marketing purposes. If I had to tighten my timing from 9-9-9-24 to 8-8-8-24, I would probably have to use 1.6-1.65v.

Thanks for the info about QPI/VTT. I was prepared to go as high as 1.25v, but I may raise my limit. Thanks again. Your knowledge and expertise is always much appreciated.

[BoombasticSloth]

Re: P55A UD4P and i5 750

Ok, passed 24 hr Prime Blend at 3.8ghz with 4x2gb of the CL9 Ripjaws using the template below. I guess my initial hunch was right at 3.8ghz at 1.30+-v. I have a feeling I might need 1.38v +- to get 4.0ghz with temps probably at around 70c at load. I don't think this interests me with the Hyper 212+. Although, my impression of the Hyper 212+ is that it is a pretty good HSF for moderate oc'ing, especially for the price. If I have time, I could always replace the TRUE 120 off my Asrock 939Dual SATAII with the Hyper 212+ and get a 1156 bolt-thru kit for the TRUE if I wanted to pursue 4.0ghz for the P55A. (Thanks Psycho. I forgot I had a TRUE on my Asrock.)

I must say, even at 3.8ghz this new box is pretty damn snappy. More so than my E8400's. I like it a lot. It seems the integrated memory controller and the extra 2 cores is worth the upgrade.

If time permits I may tighten the timing a bit, otherwise, I think this is the sweet spot for what I need this box for. Highly recommended.

[B][U]i5 750 F5 bios[/U][/B]

Advanced Frequency Settings:

CPU Clock Ratio..........................[20X]
CPU requency.............................3.80GHz(190x20)
Advanced CPU Core Features...............[Press Enter]
QPI Clock Ratio..........................[x32]
QPI Link Speed...........................6.08Ghz
Uncore Clock Ratio.......................16x
Uncore Frequency.........................3040Mhz

Advanced Core Features  [Press Enter]:

Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech................[Disabled]
CPU Cores Enabled........................[All]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)..................[Disabled]
C3/C6/C7 State Support...................[Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor......................[Auto]
CPU EIST Function........................[Disable]
Bi-Directional PROCHOT...................[Auto]


>>>>>   Standard Clock Control <<<<<

Base Clock (BCLK) Control................[Enabled]
BCLK Frequency ..........................[190]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.)..........[Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD)...........[8.0]
Memory Frequency (MHz)...................1520
PCI Express Frequency (MHz)..............[100]
C.I.A.2..................................[Disabled]

>>>>>   Advanced Clock Control   <<<<<

CPU Clock Drive..........................[ 800mV]
PCI Express Clock Drive..................[ 900mV]
CPU Clock Skew...........................[   0ps]

Advanced Memory Settings:

Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.)..........[Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD)...........[8.0]
Memory Frequency (MHz)..........1333.....1520
Performance Enhance   (SPD)............. [Standard]
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD)............ [Expert]
Profile DDR Voltage .....................1.5V
Profile QPI Voltage .....................1.1V
Channel Interleaving............6........[Auto]
Rank Interleaving...............4........[Auto]

>>>>>   Channel A & B

Channel A Timing Settings            [Press Enter]:
Cas Latency Time...................9....[9]
tRCD...............................9....[9]
tRP................................9....[9]
tRAS...............................24...[24]

>>>>>   Advanced Timing Control

tRC................................33..[Auto]
tRRD...............................4...[Auto]
tWTR...............................5...[Auto]
tWR................................10..[Auto]
tWTP...............................21..[Auto]
tWL................................7...[Auto]
tRFC...............................74..[Auto]
tRTP...............................5...[Auto]
tFAW...............................20..[Auto]
Command Rate (CMD).................2.. [2]

>>>>>   Misc Timing Control

B2B Cas Delay..........................[Auto]
Round Trip Latency.................56..[Auto]

Channel A Turnaround Settings [Press Enter]:
Different DIMMs........................[Auto]
Different DIMMs........................[Auto]
On The Same Rank.......................[Auto]

>>>>>   Channel A Writes Followed By Writes

Different DIMMs........................[Auto]
Different DIMMs........................[Auto]
On The Same Rank.......................[Auto]


Advanced Voltage Settings:

******Mother Board Voltage Control ******
Voltage Types............Normal......Current
--------------------------------------------

>>> CPU
Load Line Calibration.................[Disabled]
CPU Vcore..................1.225V.....[1.30625V]
x Dynamic Vcore(DVID)..... +0.0000V...AUTO
QPI/VTT Voltage............1.100V.....[1.270V]

>>> MCH/ICH
PCH Core...................1.050V.....[1.140V]
CPU PLL....................1.800V.....[1.900V]

>>> DRAM
DRAM Voltage..............1.500v.....[1.500V]
DRAM Termination.........0.750v......[0.75V]
Ch-A Data VRef............0.750v.....[0.75V]
Ch-A Data VRef............0.750v.....[0.75V]
Ch-B Data VRef............0.750v.....[0.75V]
Ch-B Data VRef............0.750v.....[0.75V]


Miscellaneous Settings:[/SIZE]

Isochronous Support....................[Enabled]
Virtualisation technology..............[Enabled]

USB Storage Function ..................[Disabled] (Located 

In Integrated Peripherals Page)

Load:



Idle:

[Psycho101]

Re: P55A UD4P and i5 750

That's a pretty good result. Bear in mind that 59c is actually extremely low for a Nehalem based CPU. In actual fact, 75c would be quite low. If one considers for example the C2Q/C2D comfort zone to be 65c, this would IMO convert to 75c on an i5/i7. The max I would want to see on an i5 with no HT ofc is probably 75-80c and on an i7 with HT on maybe 75-80c.

If you've reached the limit with your CPU then you may also find a surprise with the Ripjaw. The 1.65V 8-8-8-version I used was stable in the end at 7-8-7, so maybe yours can go 8-9-8, 8-8-8-or 8-9-9 on stock volts. On i5/i7, at stock RAM speeds a Command rate of 1N/1T may also be possible, though probably not in conjunction with lowered primary timings. It's 50/50 as to whether you can actually get 1T with 8GB, but you could get lucky.

[BoombasticSloth]

Re: P55A UD4P and i5 750

Seasons Greetings,

If I had to do it again, I think I would get the CL7 Gskills 1600mhz ECO 1.35v. At the time, they were about 25% more than the ones I bought, but after pulling the trigger, I later found a place that sold the CL7 ECO's for only 15% more.

My personal comfort zone for my C2D was about 60c, and I guess I just used that as my comfort zone for i5. I was testing the box at home on top of my desk. If I had placed it on the floor, the ambient temp would have dropped by 1-2c as would the load temp. Plus I have it a little bit warmer in my house than the office, so I am pretty sure if I had done the tests in the office, the load temps would have been lower still. Then again, I would have to increase voltage to address 4.0ghz, do more testing, and I don't feel like R&R the HS's on my Asrock and the P55A.

I tried to tighten the timing to 8-9-9 with 1.66v last night and I got memtest errors on test 2. I was too tired to try tweaking it. While I would like having the extra processing power, I have always been a low voltage, low noise, and low temp junkie so I think I will just leave the settings as it is because I have to get this rig to the office and put it to use. I think it is a pretty balanced setup for its intended use. Thanks for the tips though.


All the best.

[Psycho101]

Re: P55A UD4P and i5 750

Yep, I suppose pushing it any further would be a waste for a general purpose work station.

If possible, when you get time, could you post a few bench results? Perhaps SuperPI 1M and 32M along with the Everest RAM and Cache Benchmark.

[BoombasticSloth]

Re: P55A UD4P and i5 750

Here you go. I also posted benchies for the e8400 @ 4.25ghz. No wonder it felt snappier on the i5.

i5-750 @ 3.80ghz




E8400 @ 4.25Ghz