GA-X99-SOC Force: Basic overclock question / assistance?

[trakz]

Gurus,

I apologize for the newbie questions, but I am struggling with my understanding and I'm hopeful someone can assist (both with my understanding, and the configuration).

Goal: Basic overclock (OC) of an i7-5930k across all 6 cores (I'm ok if HyperThreading needs to be disabled). I'd be happy with an OC of >4GHz. I have a Corsair H100i cooling solution implemented.

Processor speed = Clock Frequency * Clock Ratio.

Whenever I attempt to change the "CPU Clock Ratio" (see image below) to anything other than the default value of 35, upon reboot, the BIOS throws an invalid configuration error. I'm running BIOS version F6e.

I've also attempted to change the "Turbo Ratio" for all the core states to between 38-40 and the same thing happens: BIOS invalid error thrown.

I'm super confused as to what I should be doing to make this overclock "stick". Any guidance?

[wazza300]

Re: GA-X99-SOC Force: Basic overclock question / assistance?

just set cpu clock ratio to 40x and try with a manual cpu voltage of 1.32v (might be able to lower it later)

[trakz]

Re: GA-X99-SOC Force: Basic overclock question / assistance?

Awesome, thank you; so setting a manual VCore voltage to 1.32v? Can I ask where that voltage comes from?

I did try setting the "CPU Clock Ratio" to 40 (but didn't adjust the voltage), and the same BIOS error came back. The voltage cannot be left on "Auto"?

[wazza300]

Re: GA-X99-SOC Force: Basic overclock question / assistance?

auto will usually use much more than whats needed,it depeds on each chip but start at 1.32v and lower it few clicks a time and test for stability inbetween

1.32v comes from reading on the net what other folks are using for 4ghz,im not familiar with those chips/boards but they are all basically the same to a certain point regarding overclocking,1.32v isn't high and you might be able to improve/lower it as the lower the better (aslong as you can maintain stability)

[trakz]

Re: GA-X99-SOC Force: Basic overclock question / assistance?

I'm still confused why if using "Auto" for voltage would throw the invalid BIOS error when I set the "CPU Clock Ratio" to 40. It seems that changing that ratio to anything other than stock (35) throws the invalid BIOS config error.

I also noticed that on Intel's Tuning Utility, the CPU Clock Ratio is grey'd out (but it can be changed for per core Turbo rates).

Seems odd.

[wazza300]

Re: GA-X99-SOC Force: Basic overclock question / assistance?

did it work/oc with a manual voltage?

auto might be applying too much or not enough voltage idk,but auto cpu voltage is always regarded as not very accurate/reliable

not sure about the intel software,but all software overclocking is also poor in comparison to bios/manual overclocking

[trakz]

Re: GA-X99-SOC Force: Basic overclock question / assistance?

I didn't try with manual voltage yet. I will do that as soon as I get home. :-)

Thank you for the insight / background.

[stasio]

Re: GA-X99-SOC Force: Basic overclock question / assistance?

Hi,
atm for GA-X99-SOC Force basic overclock guide are not posted yet,so hope will be soon.
In the mean time follow this threat on OCN:
GIGABYTE X99 Motherboard Discussion/Club

Only Guide I found, is for Asus X99 R5E board,so maybe will help:

https://www.asuswebstorage.com/navigate/s/B605469F3A324AF1AEC24D86144113FCY

[trakz]

Re: GA-X99-SOC Force: Basic overclock question / assistance?

Woo hoo! So happy!

Setting the VCore by hand, then resetting the CMOS did the trick.

Was able to get a stable 45x multiplier (at 100MHz) with 1.315v (took the screenshot below before I reduced the voltage).

Max temp under stress test was 68 deg C.

This is such an improvement.

Thank you for the guidance.

[parsec]

Re: GA-X99-SOC Force: Basic overclock question / assistance?

Glad you have it working now.

But I must say, the usual way to OC modern Intel processors is by changing the Turbo multiplier of the cores, not what is normally the processor's base frequency multiplier, the CPU Clock Ratio option in the BIOS screen shot.

An option to change the base frequency multiplier is unusual, although in the case of X99 platforms, that is probably related to the ability to use base clock "straps". That is, the standard base clock (BCLK) is 100 (100MHz), and an optional strap of 125 (125MHz) is available, among others. I don't see a CPU strap option in the screen shot.

OTOH, the CPU Clock Ratio option may be another way of implementing an "all core" multiplier, rather than a "per core" multiplier OC. The per core option is what I see in the screen shot under the Intel Turbo Boost Technology option.

The X99 platform is not one that lends itself to teaching OCing to newbies... just sayin'...

There is a lot more going on, or is possible with the BIOS CPU voltage settings, you may be just getting started.

[trakz]

Re: GA-X99-SOC Force: Basic overclock question / assistance?

The X99 platform is not one that lends itself to teaching OCing to newbies

hey, you can't blame a guy for trying, I wanted to try and explore the newest shiny!

Here's the config from Intel ETU, with the BIOS settings to the right.

It looks like it's doing exactly as you describe - setting the "CPU Core Ratio" in fact only changes the per core multipliers.

I can manually set the frequency, I wonder if it's worth reducing the multiplier and increasing the frequency? Would this allow for reduced voltages? Longer processor lifespan?

I am actually very happy with the OC I've currently got (based upon: AnandTech | The Intel Haswell-E CPU Review: Core i7-5960X, i7-5930K and i7-5820K Tested) - but if there are suggestions to tweak even further, I'd be interested in trying that

[parsec]

Re: GA-X99-SOC Force: Basic overclock question / assistance?

The final core or processor speed/frequency, whether set by the core multiplier and standard BCLK (Reference Clock in IXTU), or core multiplier and changing the BCLK or straps, makes no difference in processor voltage requirements or processor life span.

Changing the BCLK can cause instability in other areas of the mother board, since the BCLK is used by other things, such as the PCIe lanes. That is a general statement about current Intel hardware, X99 has features/options that allow the processor to change the effective BCLK to the processor without changing the actual BCLK frequency. I'll leave the fun of discovering that option on your own to you.

Did you run the CPU or memory stress tests that IXTU has? If so, what are the core or CPU temperature you're getting? Did your OC survive a multi-hour run of a CPU stress test? Most enthusiasts don't consider an OC to be stable until it can pass hours of stress testing without overheating or thermal throttling of the CPU occurring.

I'm glad to see you are using IXTU, it is a great tool for learning over clocking. Most over clocking enthusiasts don't like it, they don't trust over clocking done in Windows. Intel added the ability to manipulate the same CPU registers used to OC a CPU that are set in a BIOS/UEFI, in the OS environment with IXTU, and mobo manufactures have access to the same software tools. In general, they have done a poor job using them in their utilities, while Intel's software is great IMO.

[trakz]

Re: GA-X99-SOC Force: Basic overclock question / assistance?

I'm going to run a couple of hour stress test over the weekend and I'll post the results of that. I did run a 30 minute stress test and several 5-10 minute tests over the past week or so. Peak temp was 68 deg C, with average around 62.

XTU is awesome, I really like it's layout and the way it presents information (and supports public benchmarking against other OC'ers!!!).

X99 has features/options that allow the processor to change the effective BCLK to the processor without changing the actual BCLK frequency.

Would you happen to have any more info on that? Maybe a link? I'd be super interested to read more / learn. I did notice that from Overclocking, Performance Analysis and Conclusion | bit-tech.net:

Intel RC code limitation on X99 means running memory faster than 2,666MHz results in a change of BCLK from 100MHz to 125MHz

so if I choose to go down the rabbit hole of memory overclocking, it probably makes sense to find the best stable processor overclock at that core frequency, and then build off that.

Thoughts?

[parsec]

Re: GA-X99-SOC Force: Basic overclock question / assistance?

Here's one thread started by a Gigabyte rep that may be useful:

GIGABYTE X99 Motherboard Discussion/Club

You can find a general Haswell OC guide in the sticky section of the Intel CPUs forum.

Your CPU, a Haswell-E, is rather new so OC guides are still works in progress.

Frankly, given what I have read, the bugs in this platform are still being worked out.

I don't own an X99 system, so no personal experience. The CPU "straps" found on the mainstream Haswell boards (Z97) don't work well in my experience, at least on my ASRock Z97 board. That is, since they really aren't there.

[stasio]

Re: GA-X99-SOC Force: Basic overclock question / assistance?

GIGABYTE X99-OC Guide ....atm

GIGABYTE Tech Daily: GIGABYTE X99-OC Guide