ASUS Loadline Calibration - Overclock.net

Delphi44 · 10-29-08

I remember reading somewhere that ASUS's vdroop feature (Load line Calibration) is bad for 45nm CPU's. I'm just wondering if anyone has seen anything detrimental happen to a 45nm CPU on a ASUS board with load line enabled...

**Marin** · 10-29-08

I've also have heard the same thing a lot, so I did a little research just now and found this.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...68&postcount=6

Quote:

This is not mysterious at all. LLC is a hack introduced by several MB makers to satisfy a market demand...based many clueless OCer's understanding of basic electrical engineering concepts..specifically, the concepts that are behind vdroop in the first place. With LLC enabled, transient voltage spikes when loading and unloading the CPU (games and benchmark programs, specifically) introduce spikes well outside the range of the limits tolerated by 45 nm chips. CPU degradation can be either a quick or slow process, depending on the base Vcore setting of the CPU (which is typically, much higher than VID on overclocked systems). Either way, LLC will rapidly reduce the life of a CPU by introducing massive transient overvolts every time the CPU voltages change in a dramatic way (gaming, for instance). All the MB makers did was to formally introduce a way to implement the infamous 'vdroop pencil mod' into the BIOS, requiring the clueless user to actually do it himself. So, the warning about LLC (and vdroop mods) has been there for a long time. If you burned your CPU using it...it is your fault. Caveat emptor.

zomgiwin · 10-29-08

thank you very much for that quote

+REP FO U

**RonindeBeatrice** · 10-29-08

Don't do that.

Delphi44 · 10-29-08

guess ill stick to pencil mods =)

**Robilar** · 10-29-08

I have been against them for quite some time. Vdroop is built into motherboards for a reason.

spacegoast · 10-29-08

Has anyone on this forum had a chip go bad from LLC being enabled? I haven't heard of anyone having problems with the 45nm cpu's and LLC here.

whatsthatsmell · 10-29-08

This LLC is incredibly interesting to me. I'm thrilled to have learned that LLC is a bios hack equivalent to the pencil mod.

**Robilar** · 10-29-08

Quote:

Originally Posted by spacegoast

Has anyone on this forum had a chip go bad from LLC being enabled? I haven't heard of anyone having problems with the 45nm cpu's and LLC here.

I had an E8400 die on an Asus P5E X38 board with LLC enabled within two weeks. The board itself was fine (as was the ram). Considering it was a new cpu with only a mild overclock (3.6 at the time), There were very few other things I could blame.

Intel sent me a brand new chip and I turned off LLC on that board.

ericeod · 10-29-08

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatsthatsmell

This LLC is incredibly interesting to me. I'm thrilled to have learned that LLC is a bios hack equivalent to the pencil mod.

If you are interested, here is a good read:

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericeod

It is normal to have a lower voltage in windows vs bios called vdrop. This is the voltage the CPU runs at in windows and can be seen when you run CPU-Z and look at the vcore reading. Then there is vdroop, which is the voltage drop in vcore when you put a load on the CPU. So the vdroop is actually different then vdrop.

edit: You will see a lot of people confuse it with vdroop. But vdroop is specifically the intential drop in voltage when the CPU is put under load. Vdroop is an intential safely feature as specified by Intel. This drop is to help prevent damage to the CPU as spikes in voltage often happen under loading.

Here is more on vdroop so that you can understand better what I am talking about:

Anandtech: Overclocking Intel's New 45nm QX9650: The Rules Have Changed

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ASUS Loadline Calibration

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