Xeon L5639 Overclocking on X58

[dragantoe]

Thanks for the fast reply.. I will start putting her together then.
How much a of a speed difference will I feel going from the 920 to the L5639??
I'm hoping the difference will be night and day.
Not that the 920 is a slouch by any means.

most games aren't going to take advantage of all the cpu power this xeon has, so in most you won't notice a huge difference except in heavily multithreaded games, which will be great in the upcoming months, but if you are using it for multithreaded tasks and you overclock it sufficiently, this xeon at 4 ghz performs as well as a 3770k at ~4.7ghz.

 

[HeaveN_AkirA]

Nice thread, i was looking at thise CPUs but i didnt know thay could offer such overclock. I m thinking to put one in GB X58-ud5/Extrime ,so i wonder can i hit BCLK 220, and can i ask to add MB bios version for every MB compatible with that xeon.

 

[TerryMathews]

New PSU got here yesterday, gave me some insights and let me clear a few issues up. Turns out, the Xonar cards have a hard incompatibility issue with NF200 chips. Some boards were fixed with a BIOS update. Guess what EVGA never did for their SR-2...

This board is definitely power hungry and doesn't like ripple. A few USB issues disappeared with the new PSU.

So far rock stable at 185 bclk. Not what I'd hoped but what I'd expected based on reading about it. No complaints as this is a board I fixed so anything is a bonus. Going to do some benchmarks when I get home from work. 3dmark and Handbrake. Any other requests?

Full system specs:
-EVGA SR-2 motherboard
-2x Intel Xeon L5639 @ 185x16 = 2960MHz, turbo up to 3700MHz
-2x Corsair H60s in push-pull with 4 Arctic F12 PWM fans
-Rosewill Blackhawk Ultra case
-24GB of DDR3 1600 (6x4GB sticks) running at 1440MHz (gets flakey at 1850 which is my next memory multiplier): 6 independent memory channels
-2x AMD Radeon HD6950s with unlocked shaders
-1.5tb WD Caviar Black boot drive
-4tb Hitachi 5400RPM data drive
-Lite On Blu Ray reader/DVD writer
-Rosewill multi-format flash card reader

And since EVGA are a bunch of cheap dicks who didn't feel the need to update the BIOS of a $500 motherboard... I had to sell off my beloved ASUS Xonar Essence STX. I replaced it with a SPDIF header and a Firestone Audio Fubar IV Plus DAC/headphone amp. ETA is Wednesday, very interested to hear the sound quality.

Cinebench 11.5: 16.66 pts. For comparison, there is another active thread where an i7-4960X on LN2 Gets 16.89 pts at 5600MHz. Not bad considering respective TCOs.


Lost a little bit on 3dmark due to the reduction in clock speed. Realistically, it's a negligible loss compared to the MSI board one running proc at 200x16; I doubt I'll be able to notice the difference in gaming performance.

 

[dragantoe]

New PSU got here yesterday, gave me some insights and let me clear a few issues up. Turns out, the Xonar cards have a hard incompatibility issue with NF200 chips. Some boards were fixed with a BIOS update. Guess what EVGA never did for their SR-2...

So if anyone wants a good deal on an Xonar Essence STX check out my FS thread.

This board is definitely power hungry and doesn't like ripple. A few USB issues disappeared with the new PSU.

So far rock stable at 185 bclk. Not what I'd hoped but what I'd expected based on reading about it. No complaints as this is a board I fixed so anything is a bonus. Going to do some benchmarks when I get home from work. 3dmark and Handbrake. Any other requests?

Here's a tease for now I'll edit this post with the full system specs.



Cinebench 11.5: 16.66 pts. For comparison, there is another active thread where an i7-4960X on LN2 Gets 16.89 pts at 5600MHz. Not bad considering respective TCOs.


Lost a little bit on 3dmark due to the reduction in clock speed.[/URL] Realistically, it's a negligible loss compared to the MSI board one running proc at 200x16; I doubt I'll be able to notice the difference in gaming performance.

this is an incredible post! i was floored by the cinebench score, however mine gets 10 pts on a single chip(which is still insanity for the price!) which left me wondering why you can't get your bclk to 200? is it the mobo's fault? also, what are temps like? mine has yet to reach 50C at 4 ghz. also, I originally had problems with my xonar, but reinstalling the card and drivers fixed it for me!

 

[TerryMathews]

this is an incredible post! i was floored by the cinebench score, however mine gets 10 pts on a single chip(which is still insanity for the price!) which left me wondering why you can't get your bclk to 200? is it the mobo's fault? also, what are temps like? mine has yet to reach 50C at 4 ghz. also, I originally had problems with my xonar, but reinstalling the card and drivers fixed it for me!

The board can't take it. Most SR-2s can't from what I read. USB flakes out at 186, stops POSTing altogether past 190.

Keep in mind the SR-2 is not the same as these X58 motherboards. Different northbridge, different southbridge.

I've only seen BIOS temps and I don't trust them. I'm going to install a program to pull the CPUs thermistor. Any suggestions?

 

[Gillbot]

The board can't take it. Most SR-2s can't from what I read. USB flakes out at 186, stops POSTing altogether past 190.

Keep in mind the SR-2 is not the same as these X58 motherboards. Different northbridge, different southbridge.

I've only seen BIOS temps and I don't trust them. I'm going to install a program to pull the CPUs thermistor. Any suggestions?

Downside is they are flakey, up side is you have 2 sockets vs. one. :thumbsup:

 

[crashtech]

Any suggestions?

Yes, post your score over here:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2339944

You'll be in second place, quite an achievement!

Would you run single-threaded, too, just for posterity?

 

[SunnyD]

No overclocking will be going on here... but it will be fun having WAY too much overkill for a home server:

Second socket is empty, but I do have a second 5639 sitting on my desk. I just fired everything up to make sure the board/chip posts, since I didn't know if I'd need a Xeon 5500 to flash the board (early bios revs of the board don't support 5600 series chips). Plus I don't have a PSU with 2x EPS plugs, nor do I have an EPS adapter (yet).

 

[Gillbot]

be brave, throw in #2 and see what happens

 

[TerryMathews]

Yes, post your score over here:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2339944

You'll be in second place, quite an achievement!

Would you run single-threaded, too, just for posterity?

Sure.

 

[TerryMathews]

this is an incredible post! i was floored by the cinebench score, however mine gets 10 pts on a single chip(which is still insanity for the price!) which left me wondering why you can't get your bclk to 200? is it the mobo's fault? also, what are temps like? mine has yet to reach 50C at 4 ghz. also, I originally had problems with my xonar, but reinstalling the card and drivers fixed it for me!

Idle, measued at the Cores by HWMonitor, is 28-32oC depending on the core. Max when running IBT is 50-58oC depending on the core.

Unfortunately, this isn't a software problem it's a hardware problem. I was getting STOP 124 BSODs without drivers loaded for the card. I was even getting them in safe mode.

There's not a lot online about it, but there are a few posts here and there about an incompatability between it and the NF200 bridge chip. Some manufacturers fixed the issue with a BIOS update - EVGA elected not to do so. You can also bypass the issue by putting the card in a slot not powered by an NF200 bridge; unfortunately, the SR-2 is all NF200 PCIe slots.

Trust me, I really want this card to work. I have a pair of 15ohm headphones that just don't sound right with onboard audio. :'(

 

[crashtech]

You could try a USB sound card.

 

[TerryMathews]

You could try a USB sound card.

I'll probably just end up buying a headphone amplifier.

 

[crashtech]

Some of those USB dongles have s/pdif, and you could use your own dac, that is, if you are picky about sound.

 

[cr4zyw3ld3r]

I have got a Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 with the F13 bios and I just recently got this processor. Shmee has been helping out with parts and what not. However,
I cannot get it past 3.2 Ghz it seems to me that the board refuses to boot with the memory at or higher than 1333Mhz. The rest of my specs below
RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600Mhz 9-9-9-23 at 1.5v
CPU Cooler: Antec Kuhler 920
PSU : Thermaltake TR2 700w

I realize some of the hardware might be irrelevant but I am stumped. I was curious if you could offer some help or possibly share your bios settings?

 

[TerryMathews]

I have got a Gigabyte X58A-UD5 with the F13 bios and I just recently got this processor. Shmee has been helping out with parts and what not. However,
I cannot get it past 3.2 Ghz it seems to me that the board refuses to boot with the memory at or higher than 1333Mhz. The rest of my specs below
RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600Mhz 9-9-9-23 at 1.5v
CPU Cooler: Antec Kuhler 920
PSU : Thermaltake TR2 700w
GPU: XFX 7970 3gb w/boost
HDD WD 640gb 32m cache 7200rpm

I realize some of the hardware might be irrelevant but I am stumped. I was curious if you could offer some help or possibly share your bios settings?

Are you really certain the RAM is the problem? If you're posting at 3200MHz, you're at 200BCLK (right?) which is pretty high for the X58A. It can vary board-to-board and there are a few BIOS settings that can shore up a marginal overclock, but 200 is very good by anybody's standards.

 

[dragantoe]

I'll probably just end up buying a headphone amplifier.

allow me to recommend the fiio e9, it's great sounding

 

[cr4zyw3ld3r]

yes BLCK is at 200.

But with the F6 bios I had it at 3.6Ghz and 225 blck with the ram at 1600 albeit the o/c was unstable. That is why I am curious as to what I can do, because I really do not want to go to an older bios.

 

[crashtech]

allow me to recommend the fiio e9, it's great sounding

Would the Fiio E10 be a better fit here?

 

[TerryMathews]

yes BLCK is at 200.

But with the F6 bios I had it at 3.6Ghz and 225 blck with the ram at 1600 albeit the o/c was unstable. That is why I am curious as to what I can do, because I really do not want to go to an older bios.

I think I would be looking at what changed between BIOSes. Uncore multiplier? I know on the MSI board I had, an earlier BIOS let you set uncore multiplier, later BIOS had an automatic setting that you couldnt change.

 

[cr4zyw3ld3r]

I think I would be looking at what changed between BIOSes. Uncore multiplier? I know on the MSI board I had, an earlier BIOS let you set uncore multiplier, later BIOS had an automatic setting that you couldnt change.

Not sure but it is odd that one bios supports booting withram at its native frequency while the other does not

 

[TerryMathews]

Not sure but it is odd that one bios supports booting withram at its native frequency while the other does not

Are you sure your BIOS is recalculating the frequency based on your BCLK?

My EVGA SR-2 does not, so I have to calculate by hand which "memory frequency" gives me the right divider for my BCLK.

I use DDR-1066 to get 1440 at a BCLK of 185.

To check this, get your rig booting and check your BIOS settings against CPU-Z.

 

[cr4zyw3ld3r]

Every time I mess with BLCK my ram freq changes accordingly, however pc does not want to boot past certain frequencies I will probably talk to Shmee more in regards to this as I will be heading over to his place in a bit to take a look at the rig. I will post my findings then.

 

[dragantoe]

Would the Fiio E10 be a better fit here?

it's not as powerful as the e9, but does offer a dac, so for lower powered headphones yes it would be better

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

allow me to recommend the fiio e9, it's great sounding

Would the Fiio E10 be a better fit here?

Do either do Asynchronous?