QPI confusion (Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R)

[LinuxNewbie]

Hi,
Can anyone advise how the QPI Link Speed relates to QPI Frequency on a GA-EX58-UD3R please?

Basically am a complete newbie to OC'ing and would like to overclock a Core i7 920 (DO Stepping) from the stock 2.66GHz to 3.8GHz.

Understand the following (please correct as necessary)....

1). CPU multiplier: 20x.
2). QPI Frequency: 3.8GHz (this is where the confusion sets in as I've no idea what to enter in the BIOS as it has 'QPI Link Speed' settings instead of QPI Frequency settings (at a guess there is some relationship however)).
3). DRAM Frequency: Maximum speed of installed RAM (1600MHz).
4). CPU voltage: 1.275V (possibly a little different however not exceeding 1.4V).
5). DRAM Bus Voltage: 1.64V - 1.66V (cannot recall what options there are).
6). CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled
7). PCI-E Spread Spectrum: Disabled

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you.

[wazza300]

Re: QPI confusion (Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R)

Qpi link speed should be fine on 36x,for 3.8ghz set cpu voltage to normal,dram voltage to 1.66v and qpi/vtt voltage to 1.315v,enable Intel turbo boost and multithreading

Then set 19x200 bclk,and set ram spd multiplier to 8x,and set uncore freq to 17x

[LinuxNewbie]

Re: QPI confusion (Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R)

Qpi link speed should be fine on 36x,for 3.8ghz set cpu voltage to normal,dram voltage to 1.66v and qpi/vtt voltage to 1.315v,enable Intel turbo boost and multithreading

Then set 19x200 bclk,and set ram spd multiplier to 8x,and set uncore freq to 17x

Hi,

Thank you for your reply. Much appreciated.

[Acebmxer]

Re: QPI confusion (Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R)

Yeah suggest you leave qpi set at 36x

[wazza300]

Re: QPI confusion (Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R)

I'm not 100% sure but I think its how fast the integrated memory controller processes info to and from your memory,usually you would need to set to 44x if you had 12gb of ram or high oc of 4.2ghz+,try those settings and post back how you get on

[LinuxNewbie]

Re: QPI confusion (Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R)

Qpi link speed should be fine on 36x,for 3.8ghz set cpu voltage to normal,dram voltage to 1.66v and qpi/vtt voltage to 1.315v,enable Intel turbo boost and multithreading

Then set 19x200 bclk,and set ram spd multiplier to 8x,and set uncore freq to 17x

Hi, Thanks for your reply again. Followed your suggestions to the letter (apart from using 1.64v for DRAM voltage as the Corsair Sticks are rated at 1.65v and I'd not wanted to damage them and, unfortunately whilst a boot was successful after about 20-30 secs my machine froze.
Is it safe to set the DRAM voltage at 1.66v (without damaging the sticks) and is it this that was likely to have caused the freeze-up?

Thank you .

[wazza300]

Re: QPI confusion (Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R)

Yes you have to set 1.66v for 1.648v in Windows,my ram is the same its safe and normal,try with 1.32 or 1.33v qpi/vtt voltage this time

[Acebmxer]

Re: QPI confusion (Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R)

Hi, Thanks for your reply again. Followed your suggestions to the letter (apart from using 1.64v for DRAM voltage as the Corsair Sticks are rated at 1.65v and I'd not wanted to damage them and, unfortunately whilst a boot was successful after about 20-30 secs my machine froze.
Is it safe to set the DRAM voltage at 1.66v (without damaging the sticks) and is it this that was likely to have caused the freeze-up?

Thank you .

Try what wazza has suggested. If the system freezes I have found could either qpi/vtt voltage or vcore. usually qpi/vtt keep slowing increasing and see if that helps then try running LinX 20-25 loops with max memory or prime95 to test for stability.

[LinuxNewbie]

Re: QPI confusion (Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R)

Yes you have to set 1.66v for 1.648v in Windows,my ram is the same its safe and normal,try with 1.32 or 1.33v qpi/vtt voltage this time

Hi,

Thank you.

Here's what I've configured in the BIOS (exactly as they appear on the GigaByte Mobo BIOS setup utility) Hope have interpreted your recommendations correctly:-

CPU Clock Ratio: '19x'
QPI Link Speed: 'x36' (QPI Link Speed shows as 7.2GHz)
BCLK Frequency (MHz): '200'
.... CPU Frequency shows as 3.80GHz (200x19) therefore think the above settings are correct (CPU Clock Ratio and BCLK Frequency anyway).
Uncore Frequency: 'x17' (Uncore Frequency shows as 3400MHz)
System Memory Multiplier: '8.0'
Intel Turbo Boost: 'Enabled'
CPU Multi-Threading: 'Enabled'
DRAM Voltage: '1.660v'
*CPU Vcore: '1.275v'
*QPI/Vtt Voltage: '1.315v'

* These are under the heading 'Load-Line Calibration which is selected to 'enable' however noticed that there are readings next to these as 1.1875v and 1.175v respectively - at a guess these are default values?

Done a reboot and system seems stable however CPU-Z is not showing any changes - does CPU-Z show stock settings or should these have changed according to the above configuration?
**** Ignore the above please. Don't think that I'd done an 'F10' to save the settings only saved the profile. CPU-Z is now showing the correct information. ****

Thank you .

[wazza300]

Re: QPI confusion (Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R)

If you have all the power saving options turned on in the bios,cpu-z will only show full cpu speed when its under load,and idle speeds if idle

Yes it shows two settings,ones the default and ones the one you set yourself

So you stable now at 3.8ghz? What cooler are you using? Use coretemp to monitor cpu cores keep them below 80c

[LinuxNewbie]

Re: QPI confusion (Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R)

Yes you have to set 1.66v for 1.648v in Windows,my ram is the same its safe and normal,try with 1.32 or 1.33v qpi/vtt voltage this time

Hi,

Really confused. According to CPU-Z the settings have reverted to previous ones as follows:-

Core Speed: 2400MHz
Multiplier: x12
Bus Speed: 200
QPI Link: 3599.8MHz

Did have Cloud OC installed however this has been uninstalled.
Also tried easytune6 however this has been uninstalled as well.
(Neither of the above were a success).

Any idea's what's happening with the settings please?

CPU-Z did report the new settings originally however they've reverted back which is causing a lot of confusion. Sorry for being a pain.

Thanks.

[wazza300]

Re: QPI confusion (Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R)

It's normal,its just auto downclocking to save power,if you run linx and stress it it will jump to 3.8ghz if you want it to run at 3.8ghz all the time then turn off c1e in advanced cpu features in bios and select high performance profile in Windows power saving options,please note that cpu will run at full voltage set in bios

Your bus speed in cpu-z would say 133 if it was stock,but it says 200 so thats right,Any heavy apps or games and the multiplier would switch to 19x200 giving you 3.8ghz

[LinuxNewbie]

Re: QPI confusion (Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R)

It's normal,its just auto downclocking to save power,if you run linx and stress it it will jump to 3.8ghz if you want it to run at 3.8ghz all the time then turn off c1e in advanced cpu features in bios and select high performance profile in Windows power saving options,please note that cpu will run at full voltage set in bios

Your bus speed in cpu-z would say 133 if it was stock,but it says 200 so thats right,Any heavy apps or games and the multiplier would switch to 19x200 giving you 3.8ghz

Hi, That makes sense now (thanks). Didn't think that the CPU was downclocking to save power. The Mobo was originally installed in a machine that Overclockers U.K. built and there's a profile they've created in the BIOS. Selected that instead and noticed that CPU-Z initially reported the correct settings however as you've said it then downclocked.

Googled 'Linx' and it comes up with the following forum thread (there's a link to a download there but it's no longer pointing towards the download only a landing page):-
LinX - A simple Linpack interface - Page 10 - XtremeSystems Forums

Is Prime95 worth giving a try?

Oh, by the way, any idea's what the maximum safe temperature(s) is/are for the core(s) of an an i7 920 please? Don't want to go overheating my CPU.

Also can the same OC'ing be done on a CO Stepping i7 920 at all? Just have another recently built rig with one of those installed. Guess was unlucky to have bought a CO Stepping CPU as opposed to a DO Stepping CPU.

Thanks .

Overclockers U.K. profile configuration:-
Core Speed: 3800MHz
Multiplier: x19
Bus Speed: 200
QPI Link: 3599.9MHz (fluctuating a little)

Temperatures have shot up to:-
74C
73C
74C
71C

[Acebmxer]

Re: QPI confusion (Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R)

The latest version of LinX or prime95 can be found in the post sticked to the top of this forum. Along with alot of other programs and drivers. There is a paged sticked for the latest bios also.

Keep core temps at or under 80c for 24/7 use.

[LinuxNewbie]

Re: QPI confusion (Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R)

If you have all the power saving options turned on in the bios,cpu-z will only show full cpu speed when its under load,and idle speeds if idle

Yes it shows two settings,ones the default and ones the one you set yourself

So you stable now at 3.8ghz? What cooler are you using? Use coretemp to monitor cpu cores keep them below 80c

Hi,
Apologies for missing this reply.

Was getting anxious with the temperatures approaching 80c (thankfully didn't reach 80c though).
Surprising how quickly the temperatures rise with a stress-test running. Very rapid increase.

I've built this rig using a Chieftec Case that was pre-modded by Alpha-Cool however the mod was done back in 2006 from what I've gathered and basically the Case has been sat on a shelf at a warehouse until literally only a few weeks ago when I'd bought it.

The tubing needed replacing as the coolant had crystalised in the tubes. Decided not to use coolant but deionised water only and a Silver killcoil to reduce the possibility of algae build-up. Everything's been given a thorough flush-through and thankfully the pump is working okay. Surprised how quiet it all is as build a rig around a CoolerMaster Cosmos S fitted with one of their own 'stock' liquid-cooling kits and the pump on that is noisy.

The radiator that is in use allows for one 80mm fan to be fitted only therefore at a guess the temperatures are going to run high with overclocking.

At stock settings the temperatures are 45C, 41C, 47C and 43C respectively which I think are acceptable.

Just checked and there's just about enough room to add an additional 80mm fan the opposite side of the rad that a fan is already fitted to (so that the rad is set-up in a 'push-pull' configuration). What do you think - Is this worth considering?

Thanks again for your help with all of this - much appreciated .