Xeon L5639 Overclocking on X58

[LarsSvenn01]

Short PSU cables is annyoing, found out that the fan noise was because of the motherboard cable crossing the cpu exhaust fan.

Don't know why the GPU looks like its falling on the picture, looks straight really. Some strange illusion lol.

Btw:

x5680 worked well on P6T deluxe v1. Some problems with bios settings for OC, but gonna try some more before i post the result



Edit:
I noticed im really rusty at overclocking, not that i was that good to begin with, but found lots of great guides now that ive spent a lot of time reading trough. This is basicly a new hobby lol, find most of it interesting.

I knew the "scary" limits so i tried a lot by now and was so happy i managed to boot it at 4,8ghz lol.... Wasent stable at all thou, so finding my Bclk limit at the moment. Seems to need some fine tuning to get it over 190, will probably share result in a couple of days, with new picture. new fan and gpu(1070)

 

[LarsSvenn01]

9 435 with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680(1x) and Intel Core i7-920 Processor
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/11668041


19 014 with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070(1x) and Intel Xeon Processor X5680
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/11721141



X5680 Settings @ 4,5 ghz
Cpu ratio: x25
Bclk: 180
Mem: 1443 mhz
Uclk: 2707mhz
Qpi link: Auto

Dram Timing, 8,8,8,20,N1

Vcore: 1.35
VTT: 1.4
IOH volte: 1.2

Speedstep, C-state and c1: disabled


Longest test i had was 1 hour, Large FTT prime95


Notes:
*Memory worked fine at same timings and up to 1600mhz, dident have issues there either, dident test futher.
*Bclk worked fine uptill and included 190 wih IOH[1.1-1.2] and VTT [up to 1.38], also had cpu ratio [x15] and vcore [Auto]. x6 memory and dram timmings on auto
*While having x25 multiplier i struggle with heat over 180bclk. Diden't expect that actually. Going to try to lower voltage while keeping it stable. That way i might be able to raise both voltage and Bclk together while keeping temperature lower.


Going to see how much i can lower Vcore and VTT now while holding:
x25
180 Bclk
Mem: 1400-1600,
Uclk: 2600-3200
Timing 8,8,8,20

Any tips or notes?

There are 3 things in particular i hope someone know a reasonable answer to:
1. Why do we set the voltages manually instead of letting motherboard decide? Got some theories worked out in my head around it.
2. I read several places that you should test cpu overclock with small ftt instead of large ftt in prime95. I know there are many tests. But i feel like the Large Ftt will BSOD me faster if something is unstable
3. Would i benefit from lowering CPU ratio and increase Bclk to 190(Memory wise). Basicly just gaming FYI

 

[Burpo]

I always leave Speedstep, C-state and c1 enabled and never an issue. I also use adaptive voltage for CPU. QPI voltage is as important as CPU volts, and raising it may allow you to lower cpu volts a tad.
You wouldn't have such a heat problem had you gone with the 95w X5670 instead of 130w X5680.

Nice results BTW.. These old Xeons when overclocked still get the job done!

 

[LarsSvenn01]

Thanks

Cant remember quite why i disabled them, think it was because im not after energy preservation atm. Tried with the Vcore at Auto now, seemed to stay at 1.35-1.36 under full load, for short test. So i set it manually to 1.35 while i will try to decrease VTT to see if i can decrease temperature slightly while holding it stable. Getting up to 94c under full load, normally at 89-90 full load, which is to high, considering im maxing my fans atm. So if i want higher Bclk i need to find a way to lower the temperature. I am happy with even 4,4ghz that being said im curious of the potential with my current cpu cooler

If i should choose again i would indeed go with x5670 or x5675 They might require more volt for same cpu speed thou?

 

[Burpo]

Yes, the X5670 was my choice, even above the X5675. It was easy to get stable & had lower temps.. Tho, anything above 185bclk requires some finesse. Your Asus P6T DELUXE lacks settings that the Sabertooth has, and is harder to push to extremes. Never the less, you achieved some nice results!

 

[LarsSvenn01]

I could tweak some other voltages down and test to see, but i lose stability by going down on VTT and Vcore, so I think its fair to say i reached the potential at 4,5 ghz.

Vcore: 1.35
VTT: 1.38

Is lowest i manage without spending a lot of time tweaking. So i guess i will satisfy with that and possible lower Bclk from 180 to 176. Maybe i will consider selling the x5680 for profit at local market while i look for a x5675 over seas.

Less info around x5675 then x5670 i guess. But i just spent several days reading overclocking guides and i 2,9 -> 3,0 sounds better if i want to sell my whole pc later. I might get a new picture tonight or tomorrow

Edit:
I went with 176 Bclk and uped my 1600mhz ram to little over 1700mhz while uping the uncore with it to about 3300

From about 1450/2700.

Pc actually felt much snappier, but it would show 2gb ram in windows. So guess i will have to sacrifice some of the ram potential.

176bclk and about 1450/2700.

By lowering Bclk from 180 to 176, i lowered the full load temperature with 5-10c. Which leaves me at 80c under max load which im satisfied with Will get a photo up once i fix this new "USB device not recognized" problem with my phone

 

[LarsSvenn01]

Testing for heat goal, might be usefull info for some: (Changed IOH to 1.18 from 1.2)

Idles around 30c at all the sets, Temperature, celsius is measured by HwInfo max core temp. x25 multiplier. Short tests(Basicly around 10 min to see the temp stabilize) prime95, Large FTT for temperature estimation


Midrange+ CPU Air cooler?
Asus p6T deluxe
x5680
12gb ocz gold, 6 sticks


From (180 Bclk voltage settings) Set 1:
Bclk: 176
Vcore: 1.35
VTT: 1.375

Full load: 74-82c



Downed voltage: Set 2: FAIL BSOD 10 min
Bclk: 176
Vcore: 1.3
VTT / QPI/DRAM: 1.3

Full load: 72-80c.




Downed Bclk: Set 3:
Bclk 175
Vcore: 1.3
VTT / QPI/DRAM: 1.3

Full load: 70-78c



Down Bclk: Set 4:
Bclk 170
Vcore: 1.3
VTT / QPI/DRAM: 1.3

Full load: 70-76c



Downvoltage: Set 5: FAIL BSOD 3 min
Bclk 170
Vcore: 1.25
VTT / QPI/DRAM: 1.25



Downvoltage attempt 2: Set 6:
Bclk 170
Vcore: 1.275
VTT / QPI/DRAM: 1.275

Full load: 65-73c



Downvoltage: Set 7:
Bclk 170
Vcore: 1.2625
VTT / QPI/DRAM: 1.26875

Full load:
66-72



Downvoltage: Set 8:
Bclk 170
Vcore: 1.25
VTT / QPI/DRAM: 1.2625

Full load:
65-71



Down Bclk Set 9:
Bclk 164
Vcore: 1.25
VTT / QPI/DRAM: 1.2625

Full load:
64-69



Down voltage: Set 10:
Bclk 164
Vcore: 1.20
VTT / QPI/DRAM: 1.225

Full load:
59-65






Silent tests:
2 fans off (CPU pull fan, Red inbetween fan). Letting core max reach 80c before turning push fan on



Fans off: Set 11 FAIL BSOD 10 min
Bclk 164
Vcore: 1.20
VTT / QPI/DRAM: 1.225

Full load:
About 60-70

Tok about 3 min to reach 80c without the main fans. Doubt i will be near this load with gaming, which makes me willing to try higher clock again. Thinking up to 75c with only push fan under full load would be ideal. Making the silent build able to fend for itself, again i wont be at these loads. But i will have to test with GPU temperature to get the realistic temperature later.




2 Fans off: Set 12 (Set 8 loadout) FAIL BSOD 15-20 min
Bclk 170
Vcore: 1.25
VTT / QPI/DRAM: 1.2625

Full load:
65-70

Really STRANGE considering Set 8 was same temperature. I got the top 140mm fan in the cpu fan plug. Its possible, but to me it seems like that plug runs pretty much 100% at all temps, which is why i dont want push or pull fan there, might consider push fan thou




2 Fans off: Set 13 (Set 7 loadout)
Bclk 170
Vcore: 1.2625
VTT / QPI/DRAM: 1.26875

Full load:
66-72



Guess i have to reconsider my airflow, cause fans off seem to reach same temperatures :S Possibly gotten cooler in the room, gonna max out fans afterwards to see direct difference

63-71 with maxed fans :S Guess i have to adjust the chassis air flow are maybe the air flow is so good that the extra fans wont make a difference?


Obs:
Full fans are now 2-3c lower then set 7 making a lot of these tests unreliable, so they will be very roughly

Tried lowering Dram voltage alone ended in BIOS with a single reseted boot, therfore i took the opportunity to test stock speed aswell

STOCK:
Almost fans off: 52-57c






End result settings:

Set 7 loadout
Bclk 170
Vcore: 1.2625
VTT / QPI/DRAM: 1.26875

Full load:
2 Fans off: 66-72
Almost 3 fans off: 68-75
Max fans: 63-71



Intel x5680 Bios Settings: @ 4,25
Cpu ratio: x25
Bclk: 170
Mem: 1360 mhz
Uclk: 2720mhz
Qpi link: Auto

Dram Timing, 8,8,8,20,N1

Vcore: 1.2625
VTT: 1.275
IOH volte: 1.18

Speedstep, C-state and c1: disabled

2 Fans off: 66-72
Almost 3 fans off: 66-75
Max fans: 63-71



Think i decided to go with Intel x5680 Bios Settings: @ 4,25ghz
Cpu ratio: x25
Bclk: 170
Mem: x8
Uclk: 2556
Qpi link: 6100ish

Dram Timing, 8,8,8,20,N1
DRAM v: 1.64

Vcore: 1.2625
VTT: 1.275
IOH volte: 1.2



Speedstep: Disable
C-state: Enable
c1: Enable

Input appreciated for these settings Still editing a little

Also considering lowering RAM voltage, i got some shit ram sticks so probably have to change timings to then. Could lowering vram let me lower vtt?

QPI link No point having higher then 6400?

All fans at "low-med" ish (low noise) Peaks: Core max 76, cpu socket max 66. 1 hour prime








Edit: Airflow related
Tried to shift around with fans in many different combos. All the other combos seem to up the heat 10-20c which means the current airflow i have is actually pretty sweet. I thought the CPU pull was weared out as it was making an annoying sound at med-high load, turned out to be the PSU power cable crossing behind, might buy a new PSU with longer cables to get it behind the board... Anyway that ended up in me buying that little power fan with almost 100cfm and sub 30dBA. That red guy.. I have now tilted it more to redirct the front air intake flow directly to the cpu. Which i think drasticly increased the good airflow i got . Might see if i can find a stronger 140mm fan for the front intake and side intake next time i need anything tech related from the net. The fan controller dident seem to be able to turn all the fans completly off which might explain the good temps "without fans" running them at low instead, which makes very little noise

 

[Wiznaz]

Got the bad CPU refunded today and went ahead and ordered a refurb W3690. Should be here by Saturday.

 

[LarsSvenn01]

Got the bad CPU refunded today and went ahead and ordered a refurb W3690. Should be here by Saturday.

Why W instead of X? Isent it same, but without possibilty of dual and with less supported memory? Seems more expensive too?

 

[Burpo]

Why W instead of X? Isent it same, but without possibilty of dual and with less supported memory? Seems more expensive too?

Not to mention throttling/instability occurs earlier with the lower max TCASE temp of 67.9°C.
For overclocking, I'll take Westmere EP over Gulftown anyday..

 

[Wiznaz]

Where do you see an X5690 cheaper than a W3690? I paid $120.65 for it shipped. My mobo does not support dual CPU and RAM is fine at 12GB. I went with the W3690 because I will eventually install it in an old Dell T3500 personal media server. There is no OCing available with those so the X5675 wouldn't be the best choice.

 

[LarsSvenn01]

Couldent see any now, that is correct, feel like ive seen some at 150$. Think i also some new x5680 at 160$ at amazon, free shipping. Thought w3690 was about same at ebay, guess i remember wrong. Might go up and down.

To me it seems like both are slightly under $200. Which is why i went with x5680 at about 120$.

Hard choice for 5675 and 5680 thou. It seems to peak with core temp around 70c with fans at low with a midrange air cooler, would think 5675 would be about same at 4,25 ghz?

 

[scannall]

I'm seeing x5687 Xeons on eBay starting at $59 shipped.

 

[Wiznaz]

That is a good 4 core

 

[Wiznaz]

I installed the W3690 last night. I did a quick 31x Multiplier and it brought me up to 4.14 Ghz. I will work on a proper OC tune for it tonight. On a side note, I forgot my P6X58D-E doesn't have native SATA3 for my SSD after seeing Samsung magician showing it on SATA2.

 

[ThatsABigOne]

I got hooked thanks to this thread. I purchased Xeon x5650 on ebay for 40 bucks and sold my old i7 960 for the same amount. Free upgrade. lol

This chip has been amazing. I am taking it easy at 3.6ghz with 0V offset and every other voltage at almost minimum. Super stable and somewhat cool CPU despite a case with bad air flow. I peak around 78*C after 20 minutes of IBT. My initial overclock of same frequency peaked 93*C.

This chip is a much better overclocker than my old i7. Super happy!

EDIT: after tweaking some more, I was able to have a stable 3.606 ghz overclock with .00625v offset. Temps peak at 74*C during IBT.

 

[Wiznaz]

I am also enjoying the new-to-me Xeon processor. Solidworks is a lot more responsive with my new CPU. I think I need more than 12GB RAM now. What are your thoughts on getting cheap server RAM from a tech refurbish company vs getting gaming ram like what I already have? I don't need ECC but if it's part of the deal then sure. How much slower would server RAM be?

 

[Burpo]

" It's the same difference between P6X58E-WS and P6X58D-E, the latter one doesn't support ECC. ECC modules such as CPU and RAM would work on a non-ECC mobo. They just won't have ECC function.
ECC modules are designed for stablity in mind. That is crucial for 24/7 all year round data servers. But ECC is less important in creative workstations that do photo, video editing and 3D stuff as they are not running 24/7 all year round. However, ECC workstation might be useful in rendering animation or any CPU intensive processing job that takes longer than a few hours to complete. The last thing you want is a crash after the job has been process 12+ hours. Using ECC modules on gaming rigs is a waste of money, unless in case like W3680"

http://www.overclock.net/t/1370422/asus-p6x58d-e-with-xeon-w3680

Edit, from personal experience, you can run ECC non registered ram on an Asus P6X58D-E board.
The board will support up to 48Gb ram.

 

[Wiznaz]

Thanks for the quick reply, Burpo! I agree I do not need ECC for my desktop needs, just more RAM. Now my question is, how much slower will my computer be by adding Dell Workstation 6x4GB (PC3-10600) 1333MHz in lieu of my existing Corsair XMS3 6x2GB 1600MHz (PC3 12800)? It's more RAM but at a slower frequency.

 

[Burpo]

You're not going to feel much difference, but benchmarks will show a small difference.

 

[ThatsABigOne]

Thanks for the quick reply, Burpo! I agree I do not need ECC for my desktop needs, just more RAM. Now my question is, how much slower will my computer be by adding Dell Workstation 6x4GB (PC3-10600) 1333MHz in lieu of my existing Corsair XMS3 6x2GB 1600MHz (PC3 12800)? It's more RAM but at a slower frequency.

You won't notice a difference unless you do synthetic benchmarks.

Does ECC memory work on Sabertooth motherboard?

 

[Burpo]

No ECC support for Sabertooth, but I've used Apple 1066 ECC ram, and successfully overclocked it to 1537mhz.

 

[ThatsABigOne]

Let me clarify. Can I run ECC memory, even if ECC function doesn't work?

 

[Burpo]

Yes, as long as it's not registered, but I'm pretty sure the Dell ram Wiznaz wants to use is registered.

 

[Wiznaz]

Yes, as long as it's not registered, but I'm pretty sure the Dell ram Wiznaz wants to use is registered.

Yes, to my understanding I would have to run only the registered Dell ram or only the Corsair ram in order for the system to recognize it. Is that right? Or do you mean I must find unregistered ram?