Overclocking Extreme Edition... Multiplier or BCLOCK?

[earwicker7]

I'm getting ready to overclock my i7 980x; being an extreme version, the multiplier is unlocked. Should I start overclocking with the multiplier or the BCLOCK? Are there any parameters the multiplier should stay within, or should I just be looking at heat and stability? Also, is dealing with the voltage any different if you are using the multiplier?

 

[TheOtis]

I don't have an i7, so I'm going off of fundamentals here...

With an unlocked multiplier, you want to increase the multiplier first. After you hit a wall and it's no longer stable at said multiplier, bump it down one notch and increase the BCLOCK. From my understanding the BCLOCK is like the reference clock on an AMD CPU. Aside from that, it's just like overclocking anything else. Watch your temps and stability.

 

[Slaymate]

I would start by finding out what the Maximum BCLK speed you can get out of the cpu. Once I know that I would try various combinations of BCLK and Multiplier settings to see just what settings works the best. And you have to keep track of your memory speeds during the entire process.

 

[earwicker7]

I would start by finding out what the Maximum BCLK speed you can get out of the cpu. Once I know that I would try various combinations of BCLK and Multiplier settings to see just what settings works the best. And you have to keep track of your memory speeds during the entire process.

Question: Given that I'm on air, heat is probably going to be the limiting factor on how high my BCLOCK can go, correct? So, say I'm maxed out... does jacking up the multiplier not also add heat? If that's the case, I would think I wouldn't be able to do anything with the multiplier if the BCLOCK is maxed out. So confused lol.

 

[Slaymate]

Heat is always a factor. Your 980X isn't going to hit the BCLK speeds that my 920 can, but generally speaking a higher BLCK will give you the most performance.

25 x 160= 4000 is going to perform better than 26 x 154 = 4004. The main reason for this is the ability to set a better memory speed. Your memory speeds are regulated by the Memory Multiplier and it's going to be a even value number as in 8, 10, 12 etc... You have DDR3 2000, at a BCLK setting of 133 you can't set your memory for 2000 MHz, 133 x 14= 1862 MHz or 133 x 16= 2128 MHz. Your probably not going to be able to run your memory at 2128 MHz. So you need to increase your BLCK up to 143 to get close to 2000 MHz (143 x 14 = 2002).

It's all in the math and having something to keep it all cool.

 

[earwicker7]

Which generates more heat, raising the BCLOCK or raising the multiplier?

On the memory multiplier, is it a good idea to raise the BCLOCK and change the memory multiplier at the same time so that it is close to 2000MHz, then test for temp/stability, or do you want to raise the BCLOCK, test, then raise the memory multiplier and test? Also, is there a point where you need to raise any voltages for the memory multiplier? If so, how do you tell when you need to do this (is there a specific BSOD to look out for, or behavior in a stress test)?

 

[patonb]

Usually when you crash/fail the test its time to up your voltages.

More Vcore is ususally the biggest heat increaser... Again more voltage = more heat.

 

[Slaymate]

You want to always adjust your BCLK and Memory Multiplier at the same time, if needed. When you raise the BCLK it will change the Memory Speed! If this new speed is out of tolerance then it must be adjusted or the system will be unstable or it just won't post.

As for your BSOD's and the changes that are required, have you looked at my http://www.techist.com/forums/f10/i7-overclocking-guide-224693/. Your Gigabyte motherboard bios may call some of the settings by a slightly different name but they should be simular. You can alway Google any settings you see in "your" bios that your unsure of. Or you can post them here and we may be able to figure out what they are.

 

[thirdshiftdj]

i7's usually like odd multi's. Not a rule but keep that in mind.

edit: Kind of like how low VIDs would use lower vcore compared to a higher VID chip, but some higher VID chips will out clock a lower VID chip. It doesn't always hold 100% truth.

 

[Slaymate]

I got your PM, but it's hard to give advise when I don't know exactly what settings your using. Can you fill this template out please? The Template is based off of my EVGA Classified Bios Settings so you may need to make a few changes.

Bios Template

• Mother Board ( )
• Drivers ( )
• Bios ( )
• CPU ( )
• CPU Cooler ( )
• Memory ( )
• PSU ( )
• GPU ( )
• Drivers ( )
• Operating System ( )

Frequency Control

• CPU Clock Ratio ( )
• CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ( )
• MCH Strap ( )
• CPU Uncore Frequency (Mhz) ( Mhz { X } )
• CPU Clock Skew ( )
• Spread Spectrum ( )
• PCIE Frequency (Mhz) ( )
• OC Recovery ( )

Memory Feature

• Memory Speed ( )
• Memory Control Setting ( )
• Memory Frequency ( )
• Channel Interleave Setting ( )
• Rank Interleave Setting ( )
• Memory Low Gap ( )
• tCL Setting ( )
• tRCD Setting ( )
• tRP Setting ( )
• tRAS Setting ( )
• tRFC Setting ( )
• Command Rate ( )

Voltage Control

• EVGA VDroop Control/Load Line Calibration ( )
• CPU VCore ( )
• CPU VTT/QPI DRAM Voltage ( )
• CPU PLL VCore ( )
• DIMM Voltage ( )
• DIMM DQ Vref ( )
• QPI PLL VCore ( )
• IOH VCore ( )
• IOH/ICH I/O Voltage ( )
• ICH VCore ( )
• PWM Frequency ( )

CPU Feature

• Intel SpeedStep ( )
• Turbo Mode Function ( )
• CxE Function ( )
• Execute Disable Bit ( )
• Virtualization Technology ( )
• Intel HT Technology ( )
• Active Processor Cores ( )
• QPI Control Settings ( )
• QPI Link Fast Mode ( )
• QPI Frequency Selection ( )