EVGA X79 SERIES overclocking guide

[k|ngp|n]

Ok here we go, X79 Series OC guide. Since its virtually the same bios on the FTW, SLI and CLASSY boards, this guide can apply to whole family of EVGA X79 motherboards.
Before you start, make sure to have the latest BIOS version installed on the board. X79 BIOS can be found here.
For starters, I would advise to put some active cooling on PWM heatsink at the top of the board if overclocking heavily on air or water. Even just low power fan is good enough and will provide adequate airflow. When using dual channel, you can use either the two inside or two outside slots without issue. The board can support memory speeds of up to 2600mhz in quad channel depending on CPU. Its the same for all motherboards. Some Sandy-E cpus have good imc's and can run up to as fast as 2600mhz and beyond, some can't even post at 2400mhz. It all depends on cpu.

For starters I go into bios and setup the basics. System overview page can be helpful in determining cpu temps, detected vram, voltages, etc. Best to always have a look here every post when pushing the cpus subzero to make sure the IMC isn't wigging out and dropping channels:


Now to speed up posting I usually disable the Raid Storage option rom when not in use to avoid getting that menu screen every time:


Go into OVERCLOCKING menu > CPU CONFIGURATION > CPU power management configuration and set all the advanced power cpu settings. Set C1E to disable then go into CPU power management config and set C3,C6, and C7 report options to disable. This is all you need to do for OC without speed step at desktop, do not mess with EIST or TURBO options as it is unnecessary. Also be sure to set power options in windows control panel to high performance:


Now lets go OVERCLOCKING main menu and set all cpu settings first before adjusting memory.
If you are planning to do overclocking in windows beyond what is set in bios, be sure to set ELEET ratio control to enabled so u can adjust multi/bclk on the fly. Set CPU MULTIPLIER control to manual along with desired cpu multiplier, PLL Voltage Override to enabled (if using higher than 40x), Vdroop to disabled, and OCP setting to disabled:


When "OC mode" is enabled, it will disable all extra devices used you see here:


Voltages used will depend on target cpu/bclk/memory frequencies and capabilities of cpu. For this first part of the guide we will tune for 4.5-4.7ghz as this seems to be a sweet spot on most cpus for solid and reliable gaming type stability on air. At the the end of the guide I will give slightly different settings for subzero OC. Leave other settings at auto unless mentioned here:
Vcore > Fixed > 1400mv-1500mv (depending on cpu and if using air/water cooling)
Vdimm > 1650mv for both sets of channels and closer to 1700mv or more if pushing 2500mhz (Imc's need it for stability)
Vccio > 1200-1250mv
Vsa > 1250mv
PCH > 1200mv
Set CPU multi to 45-47x and reboot and run some tests to make sure everything is stable before adjusting memory frequency and timings. Find the sweet of the cpu on air/water first, then proceed to memory tuning.

For memory settings go OVERCLOCKING > Memory configuration > Performance Memory Config to set the frequency you want. In this case, I am using a cpu that has a stronger IMC so I will use 2400 divider as this gives best performance with lower bclk instead of using say 2133 divider with 116 bclk divider. Half of the cpus I tested didn't like 2400 divider, so if you are seeing it not working, use 2133 instead and it should be good:



Reboot with timings at auto to make sure the cpu can work with 2400 divider, and if so go back into bios and fine tune the timings keeping in mind that the board works best on 2400 divider + with most memory for socket 2011 at CL10. I am using GSKILL RIPJAWS Z which is rated at 10-11-11-31 so that's what I usually set for my main timings when I overclock. The board will set good timings automatically based on memory divider, so most users wanting good stability for their gaming or daily rig don't need to do anything except set memory divider. For those wanting the most performance and frequency, now is the time to fine tune:


Base on my experiences with the board, I would suggest to use these secondary timings when pushing 2400mhz+. Unless manual timing is stated, leave other timings at Auto:
TWR - 30
TRFC - 145
TWTR- 10
TRRD - 10
TRTP - 10
TFAW - 30
TRC-75 (if using 4way higher values over 85 can help some cpus with stability when running higher memory frequencies)
Command rate - 2T (especially when using quad 16GB)


Third timings should be adjusted carefully and in most cases left at auto, the board will auto tune these based on selected frequency so always remember to reboot one time after u set frequency so the boards sets everything right. Leave RTL and IO alone as auto settings are best. When setting other third timings manually over 2400mhz, these timing sets are good but again your settings will depend on CPU imc and memory:
TRRDR - 1
TRRDD - 2
TWWDR - 3
TRWDR - 5
TWRDD - 5
TRWSR - 4
TWWDD - 3
TWRDR - 1
TRWDD - 5

Now for subzero overclock these settings can help with stability when pushing Sandy-E cpus hard:
PWM frequency - 1066
CPU vcore - 1.55v-1.75v (depending on cpu)
VCCIO - 1300mv
VSA-1300-1350mv
PLL Voltage 1650mv
I usually boot into windows at 50-53x multi and use ELEET to go higher on multi/bclk. BCLK of 106 on 2400 divider is supported on the board if the CPU can do it. One of the better cpus I tested could run 3d11 at this setting in quad channel with the right tuning.


Bios was a bit immature when the board was released as we were still playing catch up from previous RD team departing. Latter more recent bios are much better stability wise and offer greater range of tuning. Its now a solid X79 board and can 4-way with the best of them. Spending some time fine tuning memory especially when pushing memory hard with a capable cpu and multiple gpus is wise.
Good luck and most importantly..have fun

[_REAPER_]

Thank you

[_REAPER_]

Let me know if this looks right.

Overclocking Menu > CPU CONFIGURATION > CPU Power management
C1E [Enable]
EIST [Enable]
Turbo Mode [Enable]
CPU C3 Report [Disabled]
CPU C6 Report [Disabled]
CPU C7 Report [Disabled]
Package C State Limit [No Limit]
Core Ratio Limit Control [Auto]
Overclocking Menu
BCLK Setting
EVGA ELEET Ratio Control [Disabled]
CPU Multiplier Control [Auto]
Internal PLL Voltage Override [Enabled] setting for 4.5ghz
VDroop [Intel SPEC]
OCP Setting [Auto]
OC Mode [Disabled]
CPU Vcore Control [Fixed]
CPU Vcore [1400] setting for 4.5ghz
DIMM Voltage Control [1650mv] Corsair Dominator GT 2133mhz
CPU VCCIO (mv) [1200mv]
CPU VSA Control [Manual]
VSA Voltage (mv) [1250mv]
CPU PLL Voltage Control [Auto]
PCH Voltage Control [1200mv]
Overclocking > Memory Configuration > Performance Memory Config
Performance Memory Profiles [Manual]
Memory Multiplier Configuration
Memory Frequency [2133]

[k|ngp|n]

Originally Posted by _REAPER_

Let me know if this looks right.

Overclocking Menu > CPU CONFIGURATION > CPU Power management
C1E [Disable]
EIST [Enable]
Turbo Mode [Enable]
CPU C3 Report [Disabled]
CPU C6 Report [Disabled]
CPU C7 Report [Disabled]
Package C State Limit [No Limit]
Core Ratio Limit Control [Auto]
Overclocking Menu
BCLK Setting
EVGA ELEET Ratio Control [Disabled]
CPU Multiplier Control [Manual]
set at 45x
Internal PLL Voltage Override [Enabled] setting for 4.5ghz
VDroop [disabled]
OCP Setting [Auto]
OC Mode [Disabled]
CPU Vcore Control [Fixed]
CPU Vcore [1400] setting for 4.5ghz
DIMM Voltage Control [1650mv] Corsair Dominator GT 2133mhz
CPU VCCIO (mv) [1200mv]
CPU VSA Control [Manual]
VSA Voltage (mv) [1250mv]
CPU PLL Voltage Control [Auto]
PCH Voltage Control [1200mv]
Overclocking > Memory Configuration > Performance Memory Config
Performance Memory Profiles [Manual]
Memory Multiplier Configuration
Memory Frequency [2133]

I made some adj but yah looks totally good for 4.5 man. I use this platform at these settings everyday for testing vgas and its very reliable and rock stable.

[_REAPER_]

I just wanted to again say thank you I am down to 5 days and a wake up... it is time to leave the Hindu Kush

[Aonoa]

I have a X79 Classified and G.Skill Ripjaws Z rated for 9-11-11-31 @ 2400Mhz, but I have so far been unable to get my system to POST when trying a 2400MHz frequency. Are you of the opinion that it is because my CPU is not good enough? I would have expected all 3960X CPU's to be able to handle that? I always assumed it was poor motherboard BIOS compatibility, only one of the two XMP profiles work, for instance. I will try a little more testing going with the settings you have provided in this guide, and I have the latest BIOS 41.

Thank you for this guide and any assistance.

UPDATE: Failing to POST with memory @ 2133MHz and 9-11-11-31, which are the timings the modules are rated for and lower frequency than what it is rated for. This seems to me to be BIOS related, it seems odd if that is due to a "bad" CPU. I have to increase the timings to 10-11-11-31, and now I see that 10-10-10-30 works, still at 2133MHz.

[k|ngp|n]

some cpus cant post 2400 actually. Dont use cl9 tho.
for 2400 to work really nice, I use 10-11-11-33 on my ripjaws kit with 1.65v vdiimm. Also try manually tuning your third timings like this and loosen trc to 85-95:
1
2
3
5
5
4
3
1
5

[Aonoa]

Thank you for the suggestions, but my system still won't POST with those settings, I tried trc up to 95.

I am currently running with 10-10-10-25, CR 1 @ 2133MHz and all of the other timings on auto and 1.65v vdimm. CPU is stable at 4.6GHz. It seems like I have no choice but to remain on 2133 and just lower the timings as far as they can go down, because I have yet to be able to POST @ 2400 with any settings. With everything else in the BIOS at their default settings, and then just manually changing the memory, it still won't post with 11-11-11-33, TRC 95 @ 2400.

[TiN]

Make sure you use latest BIOS, and don't forget to crank VSA and VCCIO voltages a little (1.1-1.2V depend on CPU).
What POST code it hangs? If it's B9 then you can try some memory timings,voltages etc.

As Vince mentioned, not all CPUs work fine with 2400MHz.
I just tried 16 pcs 3960X's, only 9 pcs can boot with 2400MHz. So it's near 50/50 chance that you are lucky

[BostonJeff]

I have G Skill Sniper DDR3 1866 CL9-10-9-28...I noticed it's not rated for 2011...will this work with X79 SLI.