Should i make the jump?

[Aquinus]

You could try setting the PLL voltage to 1.85v but, it's entirely possible that the combo of motherboard and CPU just might not want to clock that high. I would also set the turbo power limit a bit higher. Try 130, just keep an eye on loaded temps.

 

[Vayra86]

Just a word on pixel density (res : screen size):

For 100% scaling normal viewing distance and comfortable reading of text, 95-110 DPI is the sweet spot. That is about 23-24 inch @ 1080p, 27 inch @ 1440p. Go under and you can count pixels, go over and you're squinting or crawl into your screen.

 

[Agility]

You could try setting the PLL voltage to 1.85v but, it's entirely possible that the combo of motherboard and CPU just might not want to clock that high. I would also set the turbo power limit a bit higher. Try 130, just keep an eye on loaded temps.

Alright will try increasing PLL to 1.85V. I do not believe that my clock is ruined just cause a new set of rams is installed. As i was running at 4.5Ghz with CPUVCore: 1.35V and Qpi/VTT: 1.1V

 

[Agility]

Just a word on pixel density (res : screen size):

For 100% scaling normal viewing distance and comfortable reading of text, 95-110 DPI is the sweet spot. That is about 23-24 inch @ 1080p, 27 inch @ 1440p. Go under and you can count pixels, go over and you're squinting or crawl into your screen.

Hey Vayyra86, thanks mate. Yeah i've read online that online and am rocking 108PPI for 1440P @ 27Inches. Considering to look into 3440X1440 35Inches if a 144Hz monitor is out (Would be having the 1080Ti by then )

EDIT: Running it at 4.2ghz allowed me to boot to windows, Prime95 crash after 5minutes instead of BSOD @Aquinus

CPU VCore: 1.450V
QPI/VTT: 1.200V
CPU PLL: 1.86V

 

[TheGuruStud]

Nvidia with Vega around the corner? Maybe if you had said a 1080 for 400 bucks.

 

[Aquinus]

EDIT: Running it at 4.2ghz allowed me to boot to windows, Prime95 crash after 5minutes instead of BSOD @Aquinus

Running the IMC that fast is probably limiting you. Try dropping down to 1866Mhz without touching the timings and see if it becomes stable.

 

[Agility]

Nvidia with Vega around the corner? Maybe if you had said a 1080 for 400 bucks.

AMD had 3.5 Years to get their shit together. But no, they had so many disappointment again and again with rebrands + minor improvements.

Running the IMC that fast is probably limiting you. Try dropping down to 1866Mhz without touching the timings and see if it becomes stable.

Testing with the same settings but 1866Mhz instead.

@4.2Ghz
CPU VCore: 1.450V
QPI/VTT: 1.200V
CPU PLL: 1.86V

 

[hat]

I thought you already had 4.5GHz before?

Doesn't Sandy Bridge have an "uncore" (memory controller) frequency? I'm not sure what it's tied to. Maybe having such a high memory speed, combined with a high CPU clock (and therefore high cache frequency, which is also part of the uncore) is throwing something out of whack. Maybe you need to lower your cache and uncore frequency.

I could be wrong about all this, last time I played with uncore was when I had x58 and that was years ago... I still regret getting rid of it too.

 

[Agility]

I thought you already had 4.5GHz before?

Doesn't Sandy Bridge have an "uncore" (memory controller) frequency? I'm not sure what it's tied to. Maybe having such a high memory speed, combined with a high CPU clock (and therefore high cache frequency, which is also part of the uncore) is throwing something out of whack. Maybe you need to lower your cache and uncore frequency.

I could be wrong about all this, last time I played with uncore was when I had x58 and that was years ago... I still regret getting rid of it too.

You can check my post here https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/should-i-make-the-jump.232169/page-3#post-3638411 for my bios settings. No such uncore option from what i see.

Also yes, i was running at 4.5Ghz with a 1600Mhz 2X4GB Ram. Changing to the new 2133mhz rams causes me to drop to 4.1Ghz stable.

@Aquinus Seems that dropping to 1866Mhz allowed me to run Prime95 with these settings

CPU VCore: 1.450V
QPI/VTT: 1.200V
CPU PLL: 1.86V

But a curious question to ask, is it worth it to trade off 2133Mhz to 1866mhz just for a 100mhz increment and higher voltages? Cause it seems to me that 4.1Ghz 2133Mhz would run better in games VS 4.2Ghz 1866Mhz

 

[TheGuruStud]

AMD had 3.5 Years to get their shit together. But no, they had so many disappointment again and again with rebrands + minor improvements.

What do you call a 1080 that's 11% faster than my 980ti? And that just keeps going back years and years. AMD has been the better buy for many, many years until Maxwell (b/c it could clock).

I can't wait for the raging to commence of all the 1080ti buyers. Epic meltdowns everywhere.

 

[hat]

I'm sorry, I don't really know. I know uncore is a thing, but I dunno if it was on Sandy Bridge or if your board in particular would allow you access to it. What I do know is I would suggest running 2133 RAM with whatever CPU speed you can get. If 1866 lets you run the CPU a little faster, then you can try comparing benchmarks, but I have a feeling 2133 RAM would win all around in tests that aren't entirely CPU based. I wouldn't go back to 1600 at all.

 

[Aquinus]

I'm sorry, I don't really know. I know uncore is a thing, but I dunno if it was on Sandy Bridge or if your board in particular would allow you access to it. What I do know is I would suggest running 2133 RAM with whatever CPU speed you can get. If 1866 lets you run the CPU a little faster, then you can try comparing benchmarks, but I have a feeling 2133 RAM would win all around in tests that aren't entirely CPU based. I wouldn't go back to 1600 at all.

It might just be because my 3820 has quad channel memory but, I don't notice any difference between DDR3-1600 and DDR3-2133. I would opt for higher core clocks than higher memory clocks. Plus, you can always get back some of that performance by running tighter memory timings at lower frequencies along with the higher core clocks. That at least makes up for some of it, not that you'll notice it anyways in practice.

 

[hat]

If 1600 RAM let you run 4.5GHz, but now you're struggling to get high CPU speeds with faster RAM, then I'd place the blame on... other stuff not related to CPU core and RAM speed. You know the CPU was stable before with slower RAM, so it's not the CPU core. You know the RAM is stable at 2133, so it's not the RAM.

You probably don't need so much vcore, but vtt (goes to the memory controller) is probably your only hope. PLL might help, but it does... a lot of things, and should probably be left alone and only modified as a last resort. Only extreme overclockers should use this. It's too bad you don't have a way to adjust uncore, as lowering that speed might be the key. If you can't lower it, the only thing you can do is shove voltage into it, but too high might be dangerous for your hardware and it still might not work.

@Aquinus Any RAM in quad channel already has enough bandwidth, so running high speeds won't help too much... only to drop the latency, which is better achieved by tightening timings.

 

[Aquinus]

@Aquinus Any RAM in quad channel already has enough bandwidth, so running high speeds won't help too much... only to drop the latency, which is better achieved by tightening timings.

Even still, I'm pretty sure that the 2600k isn't bandwidth starved running dual channel DDR3-1600. I'm not opting for that, I think that the OP should stick to 1866 and see where it goes.

 

[hat]

But what about all the gains from faster RAM, even in gaming, on later platforms? The processors aren't much stronger than Sandy Bridge.

 

[TheGuruStud]

But what about all the gains from faster RAM, even in gaming, on later platforms? The processors aren't much stronger than Sandy Bridge.

There isn't much. I'm running 1600 b/c I'm too lazy to OC it. I'm slaying games and getting better framerates than reviewers with much beefier systems.

 

[Aquinus]

But what about all the gains from faster RAM, even in gaming, on later platforms? The processors aren't much stronger than Sandy Bridge.

But, we're talking about the OP's 2600k. Just because newer CPUs can take advantage of it more doesn't mean that my 5 year old 3820 is any more capable now than it was before with faster memory clocks. The same is true for any CPU. As far as not being "stronger," I disagree. There are some workloads that will execute faster on the i7 4770HQ in my work laptop than on my 3820.

 

[TheGuruStud]

But, we're talking about the OP's 2600k. Just because newer CPUs can take advantage of it more doesn't mean that my 5 year old 3820 is any more capable now than it was before with faster memory clocks. The same is true for any CPU. As far as not being "stronger," I disagree. There are some workloads that will execute faster on the i7 4770HQ in my work laptop than on my 3820.

+1

Mem controller is much more important, I'm sure.

 

[Agility]

Sorry for being away. I will try to work my way up to getting it running at 4.2ghz 2133mhz. I find that the trade off is too much to reduce it to 1866 just for an extra 100hz

Currently Prime95 @ these settings

@4.3Ghz CPU 1866Mhz Ram
CPU VCore: 1.475V
QPI/VTT: 1.260V
CPU PLL: 1.88V

My CPU temps are at 76 degree
Core 1 79
Core 2 86
Core 3 89
Core 4 85

Sounds good? @Aquinus

 

[jaggerwild]

Lower CPU PLL pretty sure anything past1.7V is a waste. Edited to adjust true amount

 

[Agility]

Lower CPU PLL pretty sure anything past1.6V is a waste

Lowered as quoted, kind sir

@4.3Ghz CPU 1866Mhz Ram
CPU VCore: 1.475V
QPI/VTT: 1.260V
CPU PLL: 1.6V

Will post if there are any issues. Prime95 again.

 

[Aquinus]

Lower CPU PLL pretty sure anything past1.6V is a waste

The PLL tends to vary between CPUs. Some like more voltage and some like less. FWIW, PLL on my 3820 is stock at 1.8v.

 

[jaggerwild]

wow that is high!! Aquinus have you tried lowering it? @Agility try 1.7then back it down from there

 

[Agility]

The PLL tends to vary between CPUs. Some like more voltage and some like less. FWIW, PLL on my 3820 is stock at 1.8v.

Hmm my computer just hung after 30minutes of Prime95 at these settings

@4.3Ghz CPU 1866Mhz Ram
CPU VCore: 1.475V
QPI/VTT: 1.260V
CPU PLL: 1.6V

Not sure if it was unstable or i was just trying to be funny cause i was watching twitch while running Small FTT (which is CPU heavy)

EDIT: After looking into my BIOS settings did i just realise that the normal CPU PLL Voltage is at 1.8v too.

wow that is high!! Aquinus have you tried lowering it? @Agility try 1.7then back it down from there

Got it, setting PLL to 1.7 and will try to replicate the same things i was doing.

 

[Agility]

@jaggerwild

Not good. Had a hardlock on my PC after 10minutes even at PLL 1.7. Going back to 1.8 and see if the same issues occur.

EDIT: Still occurs, will go back to PLL 1.88V and test. If it fails again i believe 4.3ghz is a no-no unless i go higher Vcore voltages

These settings still look like the best spot for my computer.
@4.2Ghz 1866Mhz
CPU VCore: 1.450V
QPI/VTT: 1.200V
CPU PLL: 1.86V

Seems if i want to go higher settings i would have to increase huge voltage. @Aquinus

@4.3Ghz 1866Mhz
CPU Vcore: 1.5V?
QPI/VTT: 1.25V?
CPU PLL: 1.86