Need assistance boosting performance on your old i7 960 Bloomfield CPU
Need assistance boosting performance on your old i7 960 Bloomfield CPU
Here’s a rewritten version of your text:
So here’s what I recently did—I bought new RAM for my system and have a few questions about how to best boost the overclock of my CPU core frequency.
Spoiler:
My current setup includes
Intel i7 960 (d0)
Alpenföhn Brocken CPU cooler
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R rev2.0
GSkill Ripjaws X 2400MHz 4x4GB DDR3
Current BIOS Settings:
BCLK
156 MHz
(CPU Clock Ratio x25 = 3.9 GHz)
Memory Frequency:
1872 MHz
(x12 System Memory Multiplier)
RAM timings @10-10-10-25
Uncore Frequency:
3744MHz
(x24 Uncore Clock Ratio)
QPI Link Speed:
5.61 GHz
(x36 QPI Clock Ratio)
PCI Express Frequency:
100 MHz
Load-Line-Calibration: Level 1
CPU Vcore: 1.23125 V
QPI/VTT Voltage: 1.34 V
CPU PLL: 1.88 V
DRAM Voltage: 1.66V
Rest is on Auto
I’m running smoothly with these configurations (tested with Prime95 for two hours at peak core temperatures of 68°–73°C).
My goal is to push the memory frequency as high as possible, but if I exceed 1920MHz for memory frequency (which would be 3840MHz uncore), I encounter a WHEA_uncorrectable_error BSOD after about ten minutes of testing.
I think adjusting my voltages might be necessary, though I’m cautious not to increase QPI/VTT voltage beyond the typical limit of 1.35 V.
Are there other adjustments I could make? Or any tips to maximize memory frequency?
Spoiler:
My BIOS is updated
RAM has been verified with Memtest86
It doesn’t matter whether I raise BCLK or lower clock ratios—I found the results consistent. Setting BCLK to 193 and memory multiplier to x10 (1930MHz) still leads to the same BSOD after a few minutes of Prime95 testing.
If I keep BCLK above 185MHz, booting becomes much slower, so I stick with the current settings.
You have 2400 memory but are only operating at 1872, which suggests you can go higher. It seems your uncore ratio is still too high; you don’t need more voltage. Consider raising your memory to 2400 while reducing the uncore ratio so the final frequency reaches about 3.6GHz. I tested 200 BLCK with a 20x ratio for the CPU, achieving 4.0GHz and an uncore around 3.6. My QPI link speed was also higher than expected. I’ll need to upgrade my older rig to review my numbers. Also, the old X58 chipset wasn’t built for 2400 memory—back then they were designed for 1066, and getting 1600 was already fast. It might be the chipset limitation. There weren’t really 2400 memory options back then.
Thanks for your respond!
Yes, this is true. My chipset is only designed for 1066 memory so I'm not able to simply set the memory frequency to 2400 because my cpu is limiting. But that's the thing, I want to push the mem frequency as high as possible and then adjust the cpu frequency.
I read many tutorials on how to overclock the i7 960 and everyone said that I have to set the uncore frequency double the memory frequency.
Do you know what the WHEA_uncorrectable_error bluescreen stand for?
The i7-960 can be overclocked to 4.0 to 4.2 easily. I previously had an i7-920 at 3.8GHz and later an Xeon x5670 at 4.2GHz. The issue appears to be a CPU error or chipset problem. I don't know the exact voltage you're using, but it should be simple to adjust.
The uncore double memory frequency doesn't consider the 2400 memory you're running. That's significantly high for uncore; keep it at around 3.6 or lower.
You can observe my CPU voltage in the initial post under BIOS settings. However, the uncore frequency must be twice the memory frequency, and if this isn't the case, it becomes unstable.
Sorry about the caps, copied from a note pad file.
Here are the details of my settings for 920 on an Asus P6T Deluxe. I used three 4GB 1600 MHz 1.5V RAM modules. Running 1600 stable at 1.5V didn’t work, so I reduced the RAM speed to 1149. I wasn’t sure about running DRAM at 1.65V even though it’s recommended, but the system still performed well—no issues with IBT or Prime small ffts/blend for extended periods. It hasn’t missed a beat. You can see what you’re capable of getting from this machine. I’m not certain if doubling the uncore bit was necessary, but I followed the same advice when I was overclocking previously.
Frequency settings: 4GHz, SPEEDSTEP disabled, CPU ratio 21, BCLK frequency 191, PCIE frequency 100, DRAM frequency 1149, UCLK/UNCORE frequency 2298, QPI link auto, CPU voltage 1.27V, PLL 1.88, QPI/DRAM 1.27, DRAM voltage 1.5V, C1E support enabled, HT enabled, A20M disabled, Intel CSTATE disabled.
I’m considering adding a bit more voltage to the CPU and lowering the RAM speed/uncore, just to test how it affects performance.
Thanks for your reply!
All the guides I've seen mentioned this point, but I'm not sure if it's still accurate or useful.
I'm okay with pushing my CPU to 4.0 - 4.2GHz, but I want to improve RAM speed/uncore without changing the QPI/VTT voltage, since I've read the safe maximum voltage is 1.35V.
I'm trying to find ways to keep the system stable without adjusting those settings.
I've been running DRAM at 1.65V for 9 years and my system still works well, so I feel confident it's safe for me.
Uncertain about whether uncore advice is outdated, but likely still relevant since it appears in many guides. Back then, I was advised Bloomfield prefers odd multipliers, so I chose 21/191 instead of 20/200. It seems the main challenge was adjusting QPI and CPU voltage to achieve stable memory controller frequency. Adjusting memory speed wouldn't be that critical if you need to reduce it for stability.