i7 920 and Rampage II Extreme Overclock help/guide

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I should probably fix that, I am not at 4.0ghz yet It is what I would like to be projected at when I'm finished with over clocking. I will start over clocking probably next weekend after more research and I am waiting on some parts, I will post my voltages here. It is my first time so everything will be experimental but I have been reading up on a lot so I am confident things will go well.

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Thanks I will definitely look that up how far did you get? and which problems did you mainly incur during the process?

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I was unstable at very high volts. But right now I'm running stable at 3.8 with .01volts below vid ( stock for 2.6ghz ). I'll try to get even lower.

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Not sure if you have a CO or a DO but this guy has a CO and and I was going to try to follow his set up for a first try.

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Wow Thanks Killer that was exactly what I was looking for. I think when I get all of this figured out and better I will make a similar guide and post it here. along with a video review and how to. There aren't very many on youtube. Until then I will keep this thread updated with my OC progress and post any questions or problems.

Thanks again!

Greetings from Portugal

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Hey man I got up to 4.2 stable with low volts and nice temps. Do you still need help?

Sure I can help. Here are my bios settings. I will be posting a video pretty soon when I get home from vacation. Here are the settings I used to reach 4.0 Ghz with a Core i7 920 (DO) This will allow you to get 4.0 Ghz on all cores and 4.2 Ghz in turbo mode. If you don't want to reach 4.2 just make sure you turn off (turbo mode). Note: Try my CPU voltage first. If it still blue screens that is a sign that you need more voltage. If it does'nt blue screen then you can try to back it off a little at a time. Do this in .05 increments. For Example 1.43 then 1.38 then 1.33. The same goes when increasing your Vcore Voltage. (What is in red are my personal notes and findings that I though you might find helpful)

-System-
MB - Asus Rampage 2 Extreme
CPU - Intel Core i7 920
RAM - Corsair dominator GT 3X2GB 1600mhz Cas 8
CPU Cooler - Prolimatech Megahalems
Fan - Pushpull Scythe Kaze 3000rpm 130CFM
VGA - 2 5770's in CF
PSU - Corsair HX-1000watt
HDD - Corsair P128 SSD for Os 300gb WD raptor for games etc
----------------------------------------------
AI overclock - manual
OC from CPU level up - AUTO
OC from Memory level up - auto
CPU Ratio setting - auto

CPU configuration
CPU Ratio Setting - auto
C1E Support - disable
Hardware prefetcher - Enable
Adjacent Cache line prefetcher - enable
Intel Virtualization tech - disabled
CPU TM Function - disable
Execute Disabled bit - disabled
Intel HT Technology - disabled

*if this is enabled it will increase temps and lower benchmarking scores) -you don't need to use HT atleast in games yet.*

Active Processor Cores - all

A20M - enable
Intel Speedstep tech - enable

*this lowers your cpu speed down to stock speed when you are in idle) For example my CPU is clocked to 4.0 ghz -4.2 with turbo mode enabled. When I am in idle my speed drops from 4.2 too 2.66 which decreases temperatures and help conserve some power. (longer lasting CPU life if enabled*

Turbo Mode-enable

*Also note that Turbo mode can not be enabled if speed step is disabled at least on this motherboard)
Intel Turbo Mode tech - enable (your bclk will show 200 and your bios will say 4000mhz in CPU-z it will show 4.2ghz because turbo mode will be enabled.*

Intel C-STATE tech - disabled

*here is a picture of what your CPU settings should look like*

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...1&d=1228734723

BCLK frequency - 200

*you should see 4000mhz in your bios as your cpu speed*

PCIE frequency - 100

*always set at 100*

DRAM frequency - DDR3 1603MHz

*this is for ddr3 1600mhz memory*

UCLK frequency - AUTO
QPI frequency - AUTO

Dram timing control NOTE: YOUR RAM WILL BE DIFFERENT. GO WITH STOCK SETTINGS

1st iformation - 8-8-8-20

*these were my stock timings -USE YOURS-*

2nd information - Insert Timings Here in X-X-X-XX -X-X-Xformat
3rd information - Insert Timings Here in X-X-X-XX-X-X-X format

*This is confusing. All you need to do is manually input your timings vertically in the bios. Your timings will be different if you have different ram. You can overclock and fix your timings later.*

EPU II phase control - full phase
Load-line calibration - enable
CPU differential amplitude - auto
Extreme OV - disabled

Current voltage
Cpu voltage - 1.38
CPU PLL voltage - 1.88
QPI-Dram voltage - 1.35

*maybe 1.4*

IOH voltage - 1.2
IOH PCIE voltage - auto
ICH voltage- 1.2
ICH PCIE voltage - auto

Current voltage X.xxx v, X.xxx v, X.xxx v ,X.xxx v
DRAM Bus voltage - 1.65
DRAM REF voltage - auto

Debug mode - string
Keyboard TeakIt comtrol - disabled

CPU spread spectrum - disabled
PCIE spectrum - disabled
CPU clock skew - auto
IOH clock skew - auto

*Set your ioh and ich to 1.2, your vdimm to 1.65, your cpu pll to 1.88, and your qpi/uncore to 1.35. (maybe 1.4)*

I used intel burn test to stress test. Your CPU should be able to master the standard and high tests. Have Prime 95 and CPU-Z open at the same time so you can monitor your temps(real temp) and have CPU-Z open to monitor your voltages, and watch your core speed(it will change from idle 2.66 to 4.2) (because of speed step and turbo mode if you follow these settings.

If you get lost, post your issues, When I get back from vacation I will post a video here of a tutorial on how to do this,and how to stress test.

If you manually put in the voltages instead of leaving them at auto you have to ability to lower them. Lower voltages are always great, because they conduct less power usage, which in turn creates less thermal out put. (cooler temps) Also When i first overclocked on this system I used auto settings for PLL voltage,vdimm,ioh,and ich, and i could get to the desktop and run some stress tests, but many times i would boot up and receive blue screens.

Most of the features that are disabled durring overclocking and in this guide particularly are power saving features and safegaurd features that are useful to non overclockers. Because when you overclock you are maniupulating the power input by increasing or decreasing the voltages you need to disable these features so they wont stop your overclocking.

Turbo mode and speed step are the only true features that I understand. Hyper threading I know a little bit about, but i know enough about it to know that it should be turned off unless your using a hyperintensive app this utilizes HT ( almost no programs use it)