Turbo or Fixed overclock?

[JJimmyJ]

Hello

I have a new gigabyte ga z77-d3h. Got a cheap upgrade which allowed me to move from my old amd phenom.
I'm new to Intel overclocking, been reading guides galore etc but still confused.

I want power saving options to remain so my overclock downclocks and reduces voltage when not running full load.
My understanding is set multiplier to required amount (ie 45) then turn off all power saving options. Set vcore to say 1.3 then stress test using Prime95 and adjust voltage if needed (or reduce if stable to get lowest voltage possible).
Once that's done, how do you set the power saving options?
Some say set vcore to 'Normal' then use VID to adjust to reach desired stable voltage. Others claim to use Turbo to set the turbo to 45 and then it downclocks properly.
Are C3/C6 states needed or is C1E sufficient?

Thanks

Specs are:
i7 2600k, GA Z77-D3H, 8gb Teamgroup Orange 2400, running on a dual rad.

[kalniel]

Hello

I have a new gigabyte ga z77-d3h. Got a cheap upgrade which allowed me to move from my old amd phenom.
I'm new to Intel overclocking, been reading guides galore etc but still confused.

I want power saving options to remain so my overclock downclocks and reduces voltage when not running full load.
My understanding is set multiplier to required amount (ie 45) then turn off all power saving options.

I would suggest that disabling power saving options is not what you want to do if you want to keep power saving.

Up to you how much power saving you want to use - speedstep/C1E reduces the power when the processor is idle, C3/6/7 further reduce the power when the processor is sleeping.

Setting a fixed voltage may prevent C1E from working, so instead use the dynamic voltage option in the BIOS. Add only as much as you need to maintain stability at your desired frequency.

Turbo doesn't really matter - it's just a method of allowing for higher frequencies if only one or a few cores are being used, but that's only an issue in cases where your cooling is marginal really, might as well set the multiplier to the turbo multiplier so you're in effect turboing for all cores.

[JJimmyJ]

Hi

So, once I know my stable voltage I'll re-enable C1E and EIST. Then I'll need to work on the offset voltage. Would I be right in thinking the following:
Say 1.3v is my stable voltage. I go into vcore on MB and set to 'Normal'. This shows a voltage next to it at 1.260 (which I assume is system setting). I would then need to set offset to +0.040 to make it up to 1.3?
If that then overvolts or drops below 1.3 would I then need to look at adjusting the LLC or would I just add more to the offset?

Thanks

[mikeo01]

That's correct

Offset voltage simply adds the desired voltage from the VID. VID is the CPU's request voltage so offset simply adds X amount onto it depending on the frequency.


Simply re-enable the power options. You may have to increase offset slightly higher to accompany for the power savings features, such as C3/6/7 as they may cause crashes. However you may simply disable this if you don't use the sleep function

It's good old C1E, EIST and Offset that makes everything runs smoothly and allows your voltage and multiplier to drop. Also make sure your Windows power plan is set to "High performance" when stress testing and set back to "Balanced" once you've found your stable OC (Just to ensure your processor can throttle back to minimum processor states).


But yes load line calibration simply over shoots your voltage to accompany for vdrop. LLC allows you to run at lower voltages at idle too rather than setting a higher vcore to compensate for vdrop

[JJimmyJ]

Grand. Thanks folks. Roll on hometime, I have some tinkering to do

[mikeo01]

Good luck with it

[nniitt]

Someone did this kind of test before,(cannot recall where did you see it). With turbo mode, you can save about 50 quid a year. So my point is it's totally meaningless to expect power saving could actually save much energy. Besides, enable C1E and other power saving options like c3,c6 may cause instability for your OC.