Phase2: Receiving, Building, & Overclocking New Gaming Rig

[OS-Wiz]

Looks great on temps for that test. Now, using the same overclock, do Prime95 Blend test for at least 10-15 mins. Keep watchful eye on temps and be ready to shut the test down if temps get over 65C or so.

 

[Computear]

Does everything look right on my GTX 680?

 

[Computear]

OC'd to 4.4 GHz at stock voltage, temps averaging 44-46C under 100% load, max 51C. Also, Core 4 is a beast.

I accidentally changed the bus speed to 100.0 MHz, I think it was at 100.5 MHz before? Is that important?

Screenshot was 15 minutes into a Prime95 Blend test.

 

[OS-Wiz]

Does everything look right on my GTX 680?

Yes, that's stock clocks.

---------- Post added at 11:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:21 PM ----------

OC'd to 4.4 GHz at stock voltage, temps averaging 44-46C under 100% load, max 51C. Also, Core 4 is a beast.

I accidentally changed the bus speed to 100.0 MHz, I think it was at 100.5 MHz before? Is that important?

Screenshot was 15 minutes into a Prime95 Blend test.

Wow, great temps! Keep BCKL at 100.0 for now. See how far you can go with just bumping up the multi at stock BCKL and stock voltage for now. You can work on BCKL later.

EDIT: Once you have raised the multi so high you start getting Prime95 errors, blue screen or reboot, back off the multi two clicks, start Realtemp, and do a run on 3DMark 11 and see waht temps are and if the OC will be stable running 3DM11.
Then you can start OCing the 680 with EVGA Precision X.

 

[Computear]

3D Mark 11 showed my GPU core clock @ 705 MHz for some reason? GPU-Z shows 1059 MHz though.

 

[Computear]

I got a 4.8 GHz @ 1.3 V stable, but I reverted to my 4.4 GHz @ stock voltage.

 

[Hameister]

All expected results Compy,

Appears to me that everything is working well for you. 3dMark11 results are what I'd expect, without over clocking the GPU.

Your CPU over clock, and temps are also what I'd expect. The processors without Hyper-Threading capabilities, run about 10c cooler than those with HT, so it allows you steeper over clocks, within the same temperature range.

You can see how much higher my temps are, at a similar over clock, utilizing all threads.

 

[Computear]

So, I'm happy with my 4.4 GHz @ stock voltage OC. What benchmarks / stress tests should I now run to ensure stability?

Also, I wanted to switch it to 4.6 GHz on Core0 & Core1, 4.4 GHz on Core2, and 4.2 GHz on Core3, to see if I could get that stable at stock/low voltage, but it won't let me adjust individual core multiplier anymore? I seem to recall having the ability to before, but now its locked, and I don't know what setting I changed that locked that?

Also once I'm happy with my OC & tested to be stable, I should turn SpeedStep and C1E back on, right?

Also, I left my computer on overnight (after I was convinced it was stable from 30 minutes of Prime95 Blend with no errors and no temps over 52C) with my 4.4 GHz @ stock voltage OC... When I woke up my computer was locking up and acting slow, then blue-screened... even though the CPU was pretty much at idle all night (with speedstep on, so only running at 1600 MHz), when it didn't BSOD or error at all after 30 minutes of Prime95 blend and other benchmarks at 100% load? Should I be concerned? Bump up my voltage? I'll probably have to bump my voltage anyway if I want a stable 4.6/4.6/4.4/4.2 OC, right? What's a "good" voltage for that OC? 1.2V? 1.25V? 1.3V? I want to try to get 4.6/4.6/4.4/4.2 stable under 1.3V if possible... Is that feasible? Should I bother? Would 4.4/4.4/4.2/4.0 at stock voltage be better, considering I probably won't be able to notice any difference in gaming (my primary, and nearly only, use)? Voltage set to offset seems to run at 1.136V under full load if that matters.

Or would it be best to just leave a 4.4 GHz across all 4 cores OC @ stock voltage if I can ensure it is stable there?

For a 24/7 OC.

 

[Hameister]

So, I'm happy with my 4.4 GHz @ stock voltage OC. What benchmarks / stress tests should I now run to ensure stability? Aruana - Heaven - 3dMark11 - 3dMark Vantage

Also, I wanted to switch it to 4.6 GHz on Core0 & Core1, 4.4 GHz on Core2, and 4.2 GHz on Core3, to see if I could get that stable at stock/low voltage, but it won't let me adjust individual core multiplier anymore? I seem to recall having the ability to before, but now its locked, and I don't know what setting I changed that locked that? See my BIOS screen shot below. You must be in "Auto" mode, and you cannot select BCLK, and Turbo Mode must be on as well.

Also once I'm happy with my OC & tested to be stable, I should turn SpeedStep and C1E back on, right? With your board, you may not have that option, once you've chosen variable core overclocks.

Also, I left my computer on overnight (after I was convinced it was stable from 30 minutes of Prime95 Blend with no errors and no temps over 52C) with my 4.4 GHz @ stock voltage OC... When I woke up my computer was locking up and acting slow, then blue-screened... even though the CPU was pretty much at idle all night (with speedstep on, so only running at 1600 MHz), when it didn't BSOD or error at all after 30 minutes of Prime95 blend and other benchmarks at 100% load? Should I be concerned? Bump up my voltage? Yes, 2 bumps, this is not unusual, there is a reason for this, but it's rather complicated, so we'll save it for another time.

I'll probably have to bump my voltage anyway if I want a stable 4.6/4.6/4.4/4.2 OC, right? Yes. What's a "good" voltage for that OC? 1.2V? 1.25V? 1.3V? There is no such thing as a "good voltage", every chip is different. Any experienced over clocker will tell you that a "good voltage", is the lowest voltage your particular chip requires, for a stable OC, at the freq. you desire.


I want to try to get 4.6/4.6/4.4/4.2 stable under 1.3V if possible... Is that feasible? Maybe, it depends upon your particular chip. Should I bother? Would 4.4/4.4/4.2/4.0 at stock voltage be better, considering I probably won't be able to notice any difference in gaming (my primary, and nearly only, use)? Again, it's up to you. Most people I know, see how far they can push a new cpu to familiarize themselves with the chip, and it's characteristics. After they've tortured the poor thing for a week or so, most guys settle in with a mild overclock, perhaps 300 to 400MHz over stock, so they can continue to run it at, or slightly below, stock, Vcore. That's the best tradeoff between performance and longevity. Voltage set to offset seems to run at 1.136V under full load if that matters. Normal.

Or would it be best to just leave a 4.4 GHz across all 4 cores OC @ stock voltage if I can ensure it is stable there? That's fine as well, and ties in with what I suggested above.

For a 24/7 OC.

See attachment below...

 

[Computear]

See attachment below...

How much is "2 bumps"? Other than that, good information, thank you.

Turbo Mode -is- enabled, this is what's locking my variable core clocks?

If I can't use Speedstep/C1E with variable core clocks, should I just stick with Turbo Mode so that I can?

If 4.4 GHz was almost stable at stock voltage, would it be better to bump up the voltage, or just reduce the OC to 4.2-4.3 GHz? You mentioned that the difference between 4.2 GHz and 4.6 GHz isn't even really noticeable right now, I think I might just lower it to 4.2 GHz if I can get that stable @ stock voltage.

Also, would there be any difference between 4.2 GHz @ stock voltage and 4.3 GHz @ stock voltage in terms of chip longevity?