F3-16000CL9T-6GBTD + Asus P6T V2 BIOS Settings - Stable 4.0GHz and 2000MHz

[railgrinder]

Hi Everyone,

I finally found some time to play around last weekend to get my cpu and mem to run stable at these speeds. It took a while of playing around and combining settings from the posts in the BIOS config guides (specifically the P6T and Rampage guides) since there wasn't a "direct" guide with this memory and motherboard. In any event, here are the settings that I've used:

Ai Tweaker Tab (Items NOT listed are set to AUTO)
|
|- Ai Overclock Tuner - Manual
|- CPU Ratio Setting - 20.0
|- Intel SpeedStep - Enabled
|- BCLK Frequency - 200
|- PCIE Frequency - 100
|- DRAM Frequency - DDR3-2005MHz
|- UCLK Frequency - 4009MHz
|- QPI Link Data Rate - Auto
|
+- Dram Timing Control
 | 
 |- DRAM CAS# Latency - 9 DRAM clock
 |- DRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay - 9 DRAM Clock
 |- DRAM RAS# PRE Time - 9 DRAM Clock
 |- DRAM RAS# ACT Time - 24 DRAM Clock
 |
 |- DRAM timing Mode - 1N
|
|- CPU Voltage - 1.22500
|- QPI/DRAM Core Voltage - 1.52500
|- DRAM Bus Voltage - 1.66 (ignore the warning since QPI and DRAM voltages have a difference of .5v or less)
|
|- Load-Line Calibration - Enabled
|- CPU Clock Skew - Normal
|- CPU Spread Spectrum - Disabled
|- IOH Clock Skew - Normal
|- PCIE Spread Spectrum - Disabled

Advanced Tab
|
+- CPU Configuration (items NOT listed are all set to Enabled)
 |
 |- CPU Ratio Setting - 20.0
 |- Active Processor Cores - All
 |- A20M - Disabled
 |- C State package limit setting - Auto
|
+- Chipset
 |
 |- North Bridge Configuration - PCI Express Selector - Auto
 |- Intel VT-d Configuration - Intel VT-d - Enabled
|
+- PCIPnP
 |
 |- Plug and Play O/S - Yes

Power Tab
|
|- Suspend MOde - Auto
|- Repost Videon on S3 Resume - No
|- ACPI 2.0 Support - Enabled
|- ACPI APIC support - Enabled

Now some of you might be asking why I have certain items enabled such as Speedstep, C1E, C-State, VT-d, Plug and Play O/S and ACPI support while some other guides advise to disable these. Simply put, I need them for two reasons - I run multiple virtual machines simultaneously and I'd prefer to have the power consumption as dynamic/automated as possible. Also, I figure that a "true" stress tests should have as many features/instruction sets enabled and run within a 64-bit environment.

For those wondering how I tested, here's a list of what I used with screenshots:

Testing done without any errors:

Memtest86+ v4.00 - 10 passes
Prime95 (64-bit) v25.9, build 4 - Blend - approx 3 hours, 45 min
Prime95 (64-bit) v25.9, build 4 - In-place large FFTs - approx 9 hours

Hardware and drivers used (that matter) during stress-testing:

Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

i7 920 - D0 Stepping
Asus P6T Deluxe v2 - BIOS version 0704
G.Skill F3-16000CLT-6GBTD Kit (installed in ORANGE slots)
Zotac 8800GT AMP! Edition
Corsair H50 (Enermax Cluster - Push; Enermax Magma - Pull, Q-Fan Control disabled in BIOS)
Antec Skeleton - Top fan medium speed
Xigmatek NRP-MC751 - 750W

Asus Turbo V1.01.04 (contains driver for ACPI utility - driver can be installed without installing application)
Geforce version 195.62
Intel Chipset driver (none installed - used default MS drivers)
CPU-Z v1.52.2
RealTemp v3.40

Temps went as high as 76C and averages around 73-74C during full load on all 8 threads and idles around 36-34C.

CPU-Z Validation


Prime95 64-bit - In-place large FFTs test screenshot - Note: I just noticed that the screenshot shows a CPU Voltage of 1.21875 but I had errors with this voltage shortly after I took the screenshot. I bumped it up to 1.22500 and ran stable for the approx same length of time. Unfortunately, I didn't get a screenshot after changing the voltage but this was the only thing different.


Prime95 64-bit - Blend test screenshot

[gpb500]

Interesting. I have the same RAM running at 1970Mhz on a Asus P7P55D (i5 @ 3.6) and found it unstable at 1.65v...but instead had to lower it to 1.6v or 1.587v. Maybe a difference in RAM sample variation or 1366 vs 1156 sockets or that I have 4 sticks...or who knows what. Anyhow, nice job and informative post!

[moebius]

3 hours and 45 of blend test with Prime95 are not enough to call it STABLE.
With Prime 95 you need at least 10-12 hours of blend to call it stable.To call it stable it is as well needed to run AT LEAST 20 passes of IBT with maximum memory,32 threads and XTREME STRESS(right click on start button).To me it happened that it crashed after 14,15 pass...and i had to slightly raise cpuvtt to solve the problem.

[anthonyl]

Hi

I have the exact same setup as you have and tried the BIOS settings you have listed....however this does not work at all for me...I get as far as "Starting Windows" and just as Windows starts I get a brief glimps of a BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH and then the system re-boots.

Any suggestions?

The only way that my PC will boot is is I have all settings on AUTO...(not very exciting)..lol

[railgrinder]

Hi

I have the exact same setup as you have and tried the BIOS settings you have listed....however this does not work at all for me...I get as far as "Starting Windows" and just as Windows starts I get a brief glimps of a BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH and then the system re-boots.

Any suggestions?

The only way that my PC will boot is is I have all settings on AUTO...(not very exciting)..lol

Wow. Old thread to dig up but i'll try to help.

Note that I have switched to a different set of RAM about 3 months ago (F3-16000CL9T-6GBTDD note the extra D) and currently use different settings. However, I've been using the settings I posted before switching.

I'm just wondering how exact your setup is to mine:

1. What power supply and video card are you using?
2. What HSF/cooling method are you using? In addition to the H50, I have a 40mm fan cooling the stock northbridge heatsink as well as the small asus fan cooling the mosfet heatsink (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI1wRB2jYUs).

Also, have you tried the following:

1. Have you updated your bios? I'm now currently on 1108 and still had stability when using F3-16000CL9T-6GBTD.
2. Have you tried increasing your QPI/DRAM Core Voltage? Increase slightly, test/burn-in and repeat as necessary.

On a separate note, if you're wondering why I switched to a different model, it's because the newer model (with the extra "D") can reach the same results with just 1.6V with the same settings.

[anthonyl]

Thanks for replying...

I have a Gigabyte 1200 watt PSU
2 x ATI 5870's in crossfire

Stock cooling...

Someone said cooling was the problem but would it not at least boot into windows for a little while..not BSOD straight away?

I am on the latest BIOS 1108

[railgrinder]

Yah the only way to get it to run at these speeds is via overclocking and stock won't cut it. You're most likely overheating before getting in to the OS.

Your power supply should be sufficient but I would highly suggest to invest with a better HSF. You might want to go into the BIOS > Power > Hardware Monitor to check temps. Let it idle for about 10 min and check your CPU and MB temps. Mine idles at 39C and 35C respectively in the BIOS.

If you can get in to this menu as soon as you reboot from the BSOD, it should be slightly higher than your idle temps and should give you very rough idea of how hot things are, keeping in mind that it's cooled down quite a bit by the time you get back in here.

If possible, hit F8 before the OS loads to get the windows Advanced Boot Options and select "Disable automatic restart on system failulre" to get your BSOD error code (0x1234ABCD) and reason (MESSAGE_IN_CAPS) if available.

[GSKILL TECH]

You need to adjust QPi/DRAM Core Voltage. This differs from CPU to CPU, so your CPU may want higher or lower. You need to trial and error test to see what voltage is best and most stable.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH