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[Official] The Sandy Stable Club **Guides, Voltages, Temps & BIOS Templates** Inc SPREADSHEET

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#1 ·
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**Post Your 24/7 Prime Blend Stable Sandybridge Chip**

Quote:
Need help getting your rig stable??? All you have to do is ask!
**This thread is not for discussing safe voltages for sandybridge, we have had enough of those
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so please refer to the IMPORTANT NOTICES & TIPS section below for more info**


Quote:
PLEASE READ

I take NO responsiblity for the headache / stress / anxiety / emotional discomfort etc lol that this may cause when trying to overclock and stabalize your cpu, this is a lenthy process which requires a lot of patience. If your not upto the task, then this thread may not be for you.

This is not an EASY club to join!!!

On that note, any damage, degradetion that you may encounter through stress testing or SUICIDE RUNS is your responsiblity and your responsiblity alone.

So you have been WARNED, other than that enjoy your 100% stable system and also have fun getting it there!!!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en_US&hl=en_US&key=0AldAG0FCQxM-dHFiVnRKMkdoT3BackRucFN2SjVhYkE&output=html&widget=true

(to the nearest hour)

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Those having issue's viewing the spreadsheet, HERE is the direct link.
If you find there is a mistake or anthing that needs to be changed then either PM me. Also suggestions on how to make this thread better will be greatly appreciated.

It may seem that with the updated AVX linkpack, IBT/LinX stresses the cpu more and the temps can get REALLY high. With Prime Blend my highest core is 70c, with IBT it goes to 82c. Nothing will stress the cpu more than prime so stressing with IBT is overkill. Personally I have seen other's passing IBT/LinX and failing Prime and vice versa. A combination of both can ensure more stablility (12 hours Blend then 20 IBT runs), however again, this thread is only for prime blend tests.

Using prime blend is as close to everyday general usage you're going to get, making it more optimal not overkill like the temperature IBT produces. If I want by IBT temps I would probably be recommended to tone down my overclock which I don't have to because when gaming my temps don't even reach 65c.

It's a bit like purchasing a PSU, some will base it on general usage (gaming and 3dmark benching etc), other's will base it on extreme usage like max overclocking (every last mhz you can get and extreme benching) and there are a some that will combine the extreme usage and run prime and furmark together to create an overkill condition, so recommending on that basis without notifying the OP would be stupid, completely overkill and a waste of money.

My point is I see people recommend other's to tone down overclock's and sometimes even recommend better cooling for a particular overclock because the temps have exceeded 85c with IBT while running something which is more optimal and comparable to general everyday usage like prime95, the temps will be something like 70c, which is absolutly fine.

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Rules

One last thing, PLEASE read the small print between each RULE

1. 12 HOURS+* STANDARD BLEND or CUSTOM BLEND with UPTO 80/90% of YOUR AVAILABLE RAM* used with Prime95 v27.7

***Check with task manager/performance tab/physical memory for how much AVAILABLE RAM you have, to do Custom BLEND, JUST change the amount of RAM from 1600 to 90% of your available***

***Prime FFT Length Info: Shad0wfax kindly pointed out the importance of running longer than 12hours HERE***

***All workers must be visible (hit the windows tab between options and help in prime and select tile)***

2. MUST have a screenie WHILE UNDER LOAD with your OCN name (notepad etc), CPU-Z 1.57.1+ and REALTEMP 3.67+*!!

***REALTEMP must show the duration of how long it's running, minimum of 12hours same as Prime95 like THIS!!!***
***Z68 GIGABYTE MUST SHOW EASYTUNE6 (last tab - hwMonitor)***
***EVGA USER'S MUST USE THE EVGA E-LEET UTILITY FOR VCORE READINGS***

3. LIST YOUR COOLING (notepad etc) and provide screenie of RAM, VOLTAGE, MOBO INFO via cpu-z and TASK MANAGER*

***TASK MANAGER only if your running custom blend, make sure you show Prime95 process.***

4. Must have a mild overclock 4ghz+

All submissions must follow a similar template like this!!!!
(This is mine before a few rules got amended)

CLICK HERE

IF YOU ANY PROBLEMS WITH THESE RULES PM ME OR POST IT HERE

Stability is hugely subjective, for example leaving a 20/30 tabs open and playing bfbc2 with fraps will surely drain the available RAM, that for someone could be everday usage.

Taking that into account I find that being able to stay stable for scenerio's like that, decreases your chances of getting any kind of bsod, therefore 'MORE' stability, which might be overkill to some but desirable for plenty of people.

On that note, those that have passed the blend run at 1600mb are stable for how they run their rig, for example, gaming 24/7 bfbc2 with no problems, however, it 'may' not be stable for high ram usage scenerio's which could be unlikely for some as they won't be running fraps and have 20/30 tabs open in the background because that's not how they run their rig.

Once you have done a 12hour+ blend whether it be custom or standard blend, I'm pretty sure there won't be a need to run it again and you might not get a bsod that relates to unstability of your overclock but then again you might because as you know overclocking and stress testing is not a guarantee.

There will ALWAYS be different opinons about this whole stability issue.

This is JUST the stable club, whether you go for, a standard blend or a custom blend you should be stable for what you use it for, stability is stability for your own use. If standard doesn't work for you, then go ahead and do a custom blend, that's the way I see it.

This is the stable thread, that's means general stability and extreme stability, both are included, however those with 8gb+ should really want to be using custom blend rather than normal blend (1600mb) which not only stresses the RAM and CPU but also the IMC of the chip which is important for stability.

BUT ITS TOTALLY UPTO YOU!!! - I personally recommend custom blend with upto 90% of your available RAM!!!
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Info regarding Prime FFT's and the total time it takes to complete, (credit Shad0wfax) HERE.
Finally PLEASE provide a screenshot that we can actually see!!! USE OCN'S ATTACHMENT TOOL!!!!!!

Quote:
Downloads:

Choose your sig HERE and wear it proudly

When your done visit THIS thread and add your overclocking results

*~*MAX SAFE VOLTAGE & TEMPS*~*

Before I go into this, I just want to say that this is my OWN opinion and take it as you will.

No one is absolutely certain of what the safe vcore is for the sandybridge chips. What I can tell you is that many say the max safe vcore for these chips are 1.3 region, however, intel states that the max 'VID' is 1.52 and many say that around 1.4 if your on air and 1.45 should be the max if your running water cooling. Personally I will not go above 1.5v for 24/7 with these chip but that is totally upto you. The main thing to understand is that 'YOU' have to come up with the conclusion of what the max is. That way no one is blamed if the chip degrades (none reported so far, even with so called 'high 1.4+ vcore')

Those that have killed or degraded their cpu's have done so through either by their own fault, running sucide runs with crazy voltages and by not having substantial cooling for their overclocks and voltage or for reasons like their mobo or PSU causing shorting and also BIOS bugs.

Please remember that not all chips are the same, some can do high overclocks with low voltage some cannot as you can see in this this thread and many others.

Regarding temps, CPU throttles at 95c, some say keeping it below 85c is good, some say keeping it below 80 is better, other's say below 75c is really good and there are quite a few that say 70c should be the max. Which ever one your comfortable with and if you have substantial cooling, YOU DECIDE YOUR MAX, just remember it throttles at 95c. If for example you hit 85c in stress testing then in everday usage it shouldn't be higher than 75c which I think is fine, I personally like to keep mine below 70/75c during general everyday usage
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This will conclude any max safe voltage discussions, if you have a question's about it create another thread or PM me.

*~*IMPORTANT TIPS & FINDINGS*~*

Solving BSOD 124 / Freezing / Lockups / Random IDLE BSODS / Tweaking Overclock & TIPS For Sandy Bridge User's

IMPORTANT FINDINGS ABOUT SANDYBRIDGE

PLL Voltage, VCCIO & VCCSA - READ THIS & THIS

Quote:
Originally Posted by munaim1
Just thought I'd let you guys know, I have been testing the PLL voltage further and found something quite amazing. With my current stable settings including the PLL voltage around 1.7v was stable as you can see from my submission to the club. For the last 10days or so I tried messing around with the PLL, I dropped it down to 1.4v and started going up, I kept on receiving the Error 124 and no boot up until I reached 1.55v and it passed both the 1344 and 1792 test along with a few hours of prime blend. My sweet spot is at 1.55v.
*~*OVERCLOCKING GUIDE'S*~*

Click HERE for my sandybridge guide


*~*OVERCLOCKING & CHOOSING RAM FOR SB*~*

These are all the links that come to mind when sandybridge users think about overclocking or choosing RAM:

Sandy Bridge Memory Scaling: Choosing the Best DDR3

The Best Memory for Sandy Bridge

Choosing the Best Memory for LGA1155 Platform

These articles not only help 1155 users choose RAM but also show what overclocking them really does in terms of benchmarking and everday usage. I recommend reading those before overclocking RAM or choosing it for Sandy!!
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READ THE FULL THREAD HERE: http://www.overclock.net/intel-memory/1085715-overclocking-choosing-ram-sandybridge.html

*~*LINKS TO P67/Z68 MOBO CLUB'S*~*

*~*ABOUT THIS CLUB*~*
I'm NOT looking for 'who's got the highest overclock'. If you have a mild overclock (4ghz+) then I would really like to see your prime stable with your temps and vcore. A lot of people have been using the term 24/7 by doing only an hour or so on blend. Also there are many that have to say alot when it comes to how much voltage we put through this chip and what temps are safe, sometimes incorrect info is giving and sometimes it can get confusing.

I am NOT saying join the 'lets see who can degrade their chip faster club' all im saying is, before you call your rig stable post a prime blend and share your experience and info to help others. Referencing this info in a spreadsheet is for myself, hopefully it can help others aswell.

Im sure you understand by now that this is ocn and everyone is still learning, this is my way of understanding the sb users of ocn and their experiences.

Only difference I see between the Realtemp and Coretemp is the gui and the most important thing is that real temp actually shows how long its been running so its possible to know wether it has been running for 12 min or 12 hours. That way we can see the duration and also when the temps have peaked. It provides time stamps in other words which is great.

So please use real temp.

Dont worry you wont get flamed for posting your 24/7 sb rig. I stress this: Do plenty of research and then come to your own conclusion, merely SUGGESTIONS will be made based on temps and experience of other sb users. Flaming will be reported!!

Come on now dont be shy lets see what your stable 24/7 is, also if your feeling
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then post a suicide run
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Here's my submission:

I'll go first:

12 hours blend, sig rig. my 24/7.
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These are my settings as far as I remember.

VCCSA Voltage: Auto it's advised not to touch that one
VCCIO Voltage: 1.125v
CPU PLL Voltage: 1.7v
Auto PLL Overvoltage: Enabled
PCH Voltage: Auto
VRM Frequency: 350
Duty Control: Extreme
Phase Control: Extreme
CPU Current Capability: 140%
CPU Multi 51 by each core
CPU BCLK: 100 sb doesn't like changes in bclk
CPU voltage: 1.485v Manual bios - Idles 1.485/1.490 - Loads 1.472-1.480v
DDR Voltage: 1.6v
DDR Speed: 1866mhz
DDR Timings: 8-9-8-24 1T
Spread Spectrum: Enabled
LLC: Ultra High
Intel Speedstep: Enabled
C1E: Enabled
C3/C6: AUTO

EVERYTHING ELSE IS ON DEFAULT

These worked for me to get my cpu stable at 5.1ghz, but please this does not mean it will work for you.
If you have a similar setup then using these settings could help you stabilize your overclock but will require you to tweak them accordingly

HERE are my new settings, these work exactly the same as the above, only difference is that I'm using OFFSET voltage. Notice PLL voltage is changed and VCCIO due to recent findings, you can find that info above in the IMPORATANT FINDINGS & TIPS section.


Read 'my quest for 5.1ghz stability' on how I eventually got the above settings to work for me, went through as a noob so should be helpful to all the newcomers.

THIS IS NOT 100% ACCURATE BUT SHOULD HELP

Quote:
Originally Posted by coolhandluke41;12335363
I think this may be helpful for some of you,found this on XS

The OverClockers BSOD code list
BSOD codes for overclocking
0x101 = increase vcore
0x124 = increase/decrease vcore or QPI/VTT...have to test to see which one it is
0x0A = unstable RAM/IMC, increase QPI first, if that doesn't work increase vcore
0x1E = increase vcore
0x3B = increase vcore
0x3D = increase vcore
0xD1 = QPI/VTT, increase/decrease as necessary, can also be unstable Ram, raise Ram voltage
0x9C = QPI/VTT most likely, but increasing vcore has helped in some instances
0x50 = RAM timings/Frequency or uncore multi unstable, increase RAM voltage or adjust QPI/VTT, or lower uncore if you're higher than 2x
0x109 = Not enough or too Much memory voltage
0x116 = Low IOH (NB) voltage, GPU issue (most common when running multi-GPU/overclocking GPU)
0x7E = Corrupted OS file, possibly from overclocking. Run sfc /scannow and chkdsk /r

and for all of you with GB mobos you should read this;
http://www.overclock.net/intel-general/910467-ultimate-sandy-bridge-oc-guide-p67a.html
My Quest to Stabalize 5.1ghz
hey ocn, after completely building my rig almost 3/4 weeks ago, I never had the chance to really see what its capable of. Just here and there a few bench's. Now after finally getting a break from uni I decided to take a 'closer' look at my rig. Over last couple of days I'v been stress testing and making sure all the components are completely working as they should be. I have been looking at the sb threads now and again to see what other's have achieved with air/water.

So now I have a week to get this rig up and running and would appreciate the help.

So far, as I'm writing this prime blend has been running for 1 hour, I know that it's not enough time to tell wether or not its stable but hopefully if it gets to 6 hours then its fine for me, on top of 100 passes on IBT.

Anyways lets crack on, the vdroop on this board is a real killer, I have read that llc can help, its just finding the right one that works best (4 settings on the pro board), I set the llc to ultra high and set the vcore in the bios to 1.480 and during load it gets to 1.464 (very rarely goes to 1.472) I also changed bclk to 102 and changed multiplier to 50. This enabled me to get 5.1ghz and around 1900 or so on the memory. I also loosened the memory to 8-9-8-24 2t from 7-8-7-24 2t and raised the dram volts to 1.61v. I reduced the cpu pll from its default which was something like 1.8 to 1.73. The only other change I made was that I increased the vccio from auto to 1.1.

The thing that amazed me was the temps that I been getting. My ambient temps are 20/21c, my load temps never exceeded 70
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, the custom kit and mod that I did really paid off.

nwc6qw.png


I did have a look at other sandybridge threads and I think I got myself a really good chip
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So what do you guys think, anything I should do differently or any volts that I shouldn't be changing or are the volts too high?

Thanks
 
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9
#4 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by E-Peen;12772084
Jealous of your temps
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With an H70 @ 4.5ghz I get 70c on load.
Check my sig rig for the project I did. It helped my temps a lot, as you can see.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Boyboyd;12772107
Wait a minute. Your batch sounds familiar.

Damn, we're 1 number apart. Probably created from the same sheet (or something).

Run some benchmarks like cinebench and super pi next
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I got mine to 5.4 with 1.45v but it was too hot for every day use. I bet you can go higher. See my sig for some validation.
after I get this stable I will definitely be doing a suicide run. I'll post super pi and cine once im done with prime. I might just leave this for 24/7 as I dont really want to go above 75c. By the way what's the safe highest temps for these chips?
 
#7 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by E-Peen;12772155
Same thing I'm wondering. I just got my rig built yesterday, OC'd to 4.5 and I got 70c max recorded temp over 8 hours of Blend.

Some say it's 75c, but I'm not sure.
oh okay, I guess I might just leave it like this. by the way is there any volts that I shouldn't be changing and are my volts too high? Seems to me that I got a bit lucky with my chip.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Boyboyd;12772171
Most people say 75 but i personally say 70. That's just for my computer though, you feel free to do what you want with yours
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I'll keep it below 75c.
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#9 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boyboyd;12772240
I kept mine below 80 during my blend test. lol. The thing is, blend isn't real life. I fold a lot, and i never see it exceed 70 even when my room is red hot in the day.
I thought blend was the best stresser for sb?
 
#11 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boyboyd;12772285
It is, what i'm saying is that is stresses far more than most programs will (even ones that use 100% of the CPU for days on end).
doh.gif
i get ya. What about intel burn test? After I'm done with prime I was thinking of giving it the once over with 100 runs. that a waste of time or good idea?
 
#12 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by munaim1;12772303
doh.gif
i get ya. What about intel burn test? After I'm done with prime I was thinking of giving it the once over with 100 runs. that a waste of time or good idea?
The intel burn test is a linpack test i believe, it can't hurt to run as many as you want if you have the time to be that through.

Definitely not a waste of time, if you can do 100 runs with the biggest problem size available i'd say your computer was 100% stable.
 
#13 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boyboyd;12772333
The intel burn test is a linpack test i believe, it can't hurt to run as many as you want if you have the time to be that through.

Definitely not a waste of time, if you can do 100 runs with the biggest problem size available i'd say your computer was 100% stable.
I was prime95 24hrs stable and ran ibt and left it on and failed at 484....
 
#17 ·
Lol, no. You're fine. Like everyone has been saying, until it hits 75c, you're good. Because you have to take summer temps into account, etc.

Also, I'd personally consider anywhere from 8-12 hours P95 Blend 24 hours stable. Some people say 14, some say 16. Etc.
 
#22 ·
hopefully I shall have a screenshot in the morning with more than 8+ hours prime. hopefully during that time my temps stay below the 75c mark. my highest core so far was72c, but temps usually stay in the high 60's. Hopefully the +.05 bump in vcore shouldn't really make that much of a difference in temps. catch ya'll later.
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#23 ·
hey guys a little update:

so I bumped the vcore up by +0.5 to 1.472 (load volts, bios is set to 1.485v) and left prime running last night, well I woke up and found that my pc restarted after 8 hours of prime
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. sorry I dont have a screenshot but I do have the results.txt if that helps lol.

On top of that I thought maybe I could do something else to help the temps even further. I reseated the block and re applied some ic7 and let it cure a for a couple of hours, guess what it helped
applaud.gif
it shed a few degrees of the load temps
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. I think this time round, that is the best seating I have got with the perfect amount of TIM. Anyways I'm doing another run on prime with the same volts and ambient temp, screenshot with temps will be up soon.

By the way if I bump up the vcore another +0.05 it will go to 1.49 (in bios), which I'm thinking is a little on the high side, what do you think?

Would you leave at 1.472 (load volts) with 8+ hours prime blend stable or bump up the vcore +0.05 to 1.49 and get it 12+ blend stable?

EDIT: sorry but I also increased all 6 fans on my rad from the lowest possible setting to about a 1/4(so its still silent
biggrin.gif
), which must have helped with drop in temps.
 
#25 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by munaim1;12778480
hey guys a little update:

so I bumped the vcore up by +0.5 to 1.472 and left prime running last night, well I woke up and found that my pc restarted after 8 hours of prime
sozo.gif
. sorry I dont have a screenshot but I do have the results.txt if that helps lol.

On top of that I thought maybe I could do something else to help the temps even further. I reseated the block and re applied some ic7 and let it cure a for a couple of hours, guess what it helped
applaud.gif
it shed a few degrees of the load temps
eek.gif
. I think this time round, that is the best seating I have got with the perfect amount of TIM. Anyways I'm doing another run on prime with the same volts and ambient temp, screenshot with temps will be up soon.

By the way if I bump up the vcore another +0.05 it will go to 1.480, which I'm thinking is a little on the high side, what do you think?

Would you leave at 1.472 with 8+ hours prime blend stable or bump up the vcore +0.05 to 1.480 and get it 12+ blend stable?

EDIT: sorry but I also increased all 6 fans on my rad from the lowest possible setting to about a 1/4(so its still silent
biggrin.gif
), which must have helped with drop in temps.
well if it restarted at 1.472 after 8+ hours, i would say back down the overclock or up the v. entirely up to you but if it restarted i wouldnt consider it stable.
 
#26 ·
8 hour blend test is fine for 24/7. I found that an 8 hour blend test failed the new AVX Linpack for SP1 within 5 minutes. Took a bit of tweaking to get AVX Linpack stable. Then again the 8 hour prime blend saw about a month and a half of daily use without BSOD so I'm not saying blend is unreliable, just saying it's not the best per se.

Depending how long you want to keep your chip, it may not be worth going above 1.48v to 1.49v although your cooling is amazing. If your board allows you to do this, drop CPU PLL below 1.7v, I actually tweaked it down to 1.65v to pass AVX Linpack and that seemed to have helped me. I think you can set the pwm frequency on the Asus boards up to 350hz, doing that may help you achieve stability at 5.1 w/ 1.464v as it lowers the ripple going into the cores. I'm just trying to suggest things that don't involve increasing vcore but ultimately vcore is king.

You must also consider your chip would likely be able to do 5 Ghz with much lower volts than most of us, but 5.1 is worth trying for tho.

Prime95 blend takes ages to be honest, AVX Linpack for sp1, although the temps and current draw on the cpu is much higher than blend, is a very quick efficient stability test. While prime95 blend might take 7 hours to pop up a BSOD, that OC would fail AVX Linpack in under 10 minutes, allowing you to spend more time tweaking and less time waiting for 8 hour blend runs to fail. If you try AVX Linpack however, it would be wise to lower your ambients, just to give you an idea cpu watts during blend sit at about 118w, for AVX Linpack I've seen 152watts so expect some serious heat. The only way my air cooling can handle that is sub zero ambients lol. I should go for WC but I gotta save 4000$ for tuition.

You have a very nice chip there.
 
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