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Shamino's Maximus VI series Xtreme OC guide (+ IMOG's condensed list of important notes)


Massman

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Should be fine to have this one in the open now as NDA lifted two weeks ago. This is pretty much the one and only guide you will need for the M6E explaining all the little things for extreme overclocking. Godlike guide :ws:

 

Much of this is specific to the M6E and M6G. Much of it is specific to subzero overclocking - if you aren't sure if any part of this might be a really bad idea, don't do it. However this also includes a lot of insight for overclocking Haswell. The official guide is 42 pages long, and includes some things I am leaving out for brevity - this condensed version won't include numerous things, like VGA hotwire, location of all buttons covered in the guide and manual, etc. My goal is to turn 42 pages into something less than a few screens worth of information, while covering the most important things, and referencing to the guide when needed.

 

You should read the whole guide. Some people won't, or don't have time, and this is an okay substitute for them. I wrote this to memorize it, and as my own quick reference handbook.

 

My guide is broken out by component of the platform - CPU, STRAP, BCLK, RAM, etc. Most of this I have paraphrased, based directly off Shamino's comments. Parts in italics are direct quotes from the guide - treat it like gospel, as that is exactly what it is.

 

(~ http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7501162)

 

Bulletpoint information on

 

OC PANEL FEATURES AND SPECIAL THINGS

  • Hole in socket, for inserting thermal probe on back of CPU (If you use this, cover the probe with tape or it will short the CPU)
  • OC Panel Pause feature - this is on the OC panel and operates via on/off switch. By default, it pauses 3 seconds, unpauses 3 seconds, until turned off. It can also pause 5 seconds, with 3 second runs in between. Finally, it can pause+slow mode then unslow+unpause every 5 seconds. This is for CPU intensive benchmarks, where temperature control is important to max frequency and stability (like running wp1024 at wp32 speeds)
  • OC Panel Voltage - on the fly voltage adjustments
  • OC Panel Ratio/BCLK control - on the fly ratio/bclk changes
  • OC Panel Power - power reset on OC panel, easier to reach
  • OC Panel Thermometer - accepts 2 k-type probes, so you don't need a separate thermometer to read your probes
  • OC Panel ground hole - to place ground of multimeter, so you don't have to poke ground on your power cables
  • OC Panel Fan headers - 4 fan headers, which you can control via oc panel

 

OVERCLOCKING

  • CPU
    • CPU Core Voltage - should be high, so your friends don't call you a sissy
    • Input Voltage - should be .4-.5V higher than vcore, needed for core clocks stability
    • Cache Voltage - If you increase uncore, you can increase this

    [*]UNCORE (CACHE FREQUENCY)

    • Set uncore min/max ratio to the same value, so it does not fluctuate (unless you want power savings)
    • UNCORE Frequency = BCLK x CacheRatio. "200-300Mhz less than core frequency is more than enough to eliminate cache bottleneck." This means UNCORE only has to be high enough to not bottleneck the CPU; extra uncore may hurt stability more than it helps performance.

    [*]BCLK

    • If you leave most M6E settings on auto, you can just change BCLK and core voltages and it will mostly work fine - the auto settings work alright for instance if you set 125 BCLK, the board uses the appropriate strap and settings. 250 strap doesn't work, all others can work.
    • Use the OC Presets for an idea of which voltages to change, and by how much, to make different settings work. Based on those, you can tweak your own settings.
    • PLL Selection - If deviating from BCLK by more than 5% from your selected strap, choose SB PLL. This will help PCIe graphics or devices tolerate the BCLK.
    • PLL Filter - Can leave on Auto. Under 170 BCLK, set low BCLK mode. Over 170BCLK, set high BCLK mode. Auto should do this automatically.

    [*]STRAPS

    • When changing straps, keep BCLK and PCIE/DMI frequency in mind.
    • You can use the black PCIe slot, which is always at 100MHz to ensure the video card isn't a limiting factor.
    • Source Clock Tuner is important for BCLK settings - Asus has taken care of this in its auto settings, but keep this in mind when changing BCLK to target a BCLK in an ideal range. This can be adjusted to make the effective clock more precise, or to give greater margin for BCLK. "Simply said, at 100 Strap, the best for big margin (upwards and downwards from 100) is 6Ohm DBL, while 7Ohm makes the clock more precise. 7ohm offers an approximate 5% up-down margin while 6 offers up to 20%." For example, this means with the 100 strap, if you want to hit 102 BCLK it is better to use the 7Ohm setting, but if you want to hit 108 BCLK, it is better to use the 6Ohm setting. Further reading for other straps is available on page 22-23 of Shammy's guide, but the ideal settings for both straps give 5% and 20% margins.

    [*]RAM

    • Use a higher BCLK strap when pushing RAM frequency. Highest working ratios per strap: 100 BCLK = 2933, 125 BCLK = 3666, 167 BCLK = 4900.
    • Set Maximus Tweak to Mode 2 for best overclocking
    • Sometimes easier to OC RAM at 1T than 2T
    • IO D voltage likes to be 50mv higher than IO A
    • Most IMC's top out around 4000+. Below that usually its DRAM capability.
    • Red slots typically best, refer to guide for details on page 24
    • Some frequencies can be harder to boot, and you may be able to boot at higher frequencies than what you were not able to boot, "so trying higher when lower does not work is not crazy."
    • "Latency Compensator when enabled tries to make opportunistic latency compensation that may increase performance or smoothen out the Memory training process. So try and compare overclocking performance with it enabled and disabled. You can also trying enabling it when the whole system hangs at ‘55’ or 03’ or ‘69’ when pushing tight timings with high frequencies."
    • DRAM CLK PERIOD - Usually 14 works great for high RAM frequencies
    • Scrambler setting - leave at optimized for best overclocking
    • Sense Amplifier - settings work good at auto. Refer to page 27 for detail.
    • DRAM SWIZZLE - Bit 0 enabled usually for best OC, bit 1 enabled usually for best OC, bit 2 enabled improves performance, disable for higher frequencies/tighter timings, bit 3 enabled usually. More detail available on page 28.
    • MRC Fast Boot - Enabled. This keeps memory from retraining at reboots, unless settings are changed
    • RAW MHz Aid - Disabled, unless going for 3100MHz+ RAM speeds. This reduces performance.
    • IC Optimizer - compare auto versus selecting your specific RAM IC. May help or hurt, depending on how similar your RAM is to the RAM used to create these settings - changes hidden settings.

    [*]IMC

    • To bin IMC, try to boot at 3800-4000 MHz RAM range, and increase it gradually to see which CPU makes it higher before it gives the "23" Post code

    [*]CPU POWER MANAGEMENT

    • This controls settings for the integrated VR on the CPU. These are ideal settings for LN2 (This may not be advisable for air cooling): (picture at overclockers.com original post)

    [*]DIGI+ POWER CONTROL

    • How to set DIGI+ for LN2 (This may not be advisable for air cooling): (picture at overclockers.com original post)
    • Changing Input Boot voltage can help avoid cold boot bugs when subzero.

    [*]TWEAKERS PARADISE

    • A lot of "stuff" here with unclear utility. Refer to page 30 of the guide for details and explanations.
    • Termination Anti-Aliasing - Enabled usually best
    • ICC Ringback Caller - At >115MHz DMI, enable. At <85MHz DMI, disable.
    • BCLK Amplitude - "Most times, +5 works great for overclocking"
    • DMI Gen 2 - "When pushing BCLK to the 200 region (meaning DMI frequency of 120MHz), disabling DMI Gen 2 will help get more DMI, thus improving BCLK stability
    • CPU PCIE Controller - Disable for 2D benching, and use the black slot for graphics card. This will disable all other slots.
    • Internal Graphics - Disable to force off internal CPU graphics.
    • SVID Support - disable when overclocking

    [*]VOLTAGES

    • Fully Manual Mode Voltage - Enabled.
    • Max Vcore - This will force vcore to be equal to VCCIN. You can't change vcore then, you have to change VCCIN. Good for going past 2V. For example, set eventual VCCIN to 2.1V, in the OS increase input voltage and apply, then increase core ratio. This setting was better for early ES steppings, not so good for later steppings as they like more gap between VCCIN and VCORE.
    • CPU VCORE - Anything above 1.8V is potentially dangerous, even on cold.
    • CPU Cache Voltage - "Usually I set 2.0V on this when doing Extreme Overclocking on LN2."
    • SA Voltage - Helps with RAM overclocking. 1.15-1.3V usually more than enough to max ram. Setting 1.3V typically eliminates IMC as possible variable.
    • IO A helps RAM overclocking. 1.15-1.3V usually more than enough.
    • IO D helps RAM overclocking. 1.15-1.3V usually more than enough. Likes to be 50mv higher than IO A. Too high can worsen cold bugs.
    • Y IO D likes to be 50mv higher than IO A. Can use 1.3 when pushing high ram frequencies to take IMC out of the equation.
    • PCH VLX Voltage - Useful when pushing DMI/BCLK. Lower voltage when >115MHzDMI, higher voltage when <85MHz DMI. 1.1 or lower, or 1.7 or higher.
    • PCH ICC Voltage - At <85MHz DMI, use 1.7V or higher. At >115MHz DMI, 1.25V or lower.
    • Clock Crossing Voltages - Defaults at 1.15V. Lower this for >115MHz DMI frequency. If PCIe is unstable, increasing this can help. .8V is often good for overclocking. Increasing clock croossing vboot voltage to 1.65V can help with cold boot bug.
    • X-Talk Cancellation Voltage - Default 1.0V. Increase can stabilize BSOD 0124. If max vcore setting is enabled, decreasing this can give more stability.
    • PECI voltage - If changing PCH voltage, make the same changes to PECI.

    [*]PLL TERMINATION VOLTAGE

    • Default 1.2V
    • The range between 1.25V to the value of CPU Input Voltage (VCCIN) is a dead zone the processor will not like.
    • At >160 BCLK, set PLL termination reset voltage and Eventual PLL termination voltage to same level as input voltage (VCCIN) or higher
    • At <160 BCLK, sometimes reducing PLL termination voltage helps stability. 1.1 or 1.0 might make the processor more stable at high clocks or subzero temps.
    • If you increase VCCIN in the OS, increase PLL termination voltage first

    [*]TEMPS

    • When temps get lower, vcore output gets higher. Temperature compensation can help with this so that your applied voltage is more similar to output voltage. Refer to page 34 for more details.

 

Would've loved to put it all here as text, but it would take too much time. Hope someone will rework all this as an easier to read guide.

 

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Edited by Massman
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I wrote a quick reference that I just finished. It is just shammy's guide paraphrased, in a format that is 4 pages when printed instead of 42 pages. Everyone should read Shammy's whole guide - I haven't read the bible, but I bet it sucks compared to his guide. For anyone else who would like a quick reference or a reminder after reading it, my version of the quick guide is here:

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7501162#post7501162

Edited by I.M.O.G.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi guys!

 

I have a maximus vi extreme, but I can not install xp, I get blue screen with two different xp versions. In the official website no downloads for xp, it´s not supported??

 

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VI_EXTREME/#support_CPU

 

but I've seen xp installed on this motjherboard, what is the secret? or what I do wrong??

 

I tried hhd >> aich, ide and legacy but nothing

 

Thaks!!

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Hi guys!

 

I have a maximus vi extreme, but I can not install xp, I get blue screen with two different xp versions. In the official website no downloads for xp, it´s not supported??

 

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VI_EXTREME/#support_CPU

 

but I've seen xp installed on this motjherboard, what is the secret? or what I do wrong??

 

I tried hhd >> aich, ide and legacy but nothing

 

Thaks!!

 

Tried IDE instead of AHCI?

 

Yes i tried it, but nothing. I'm downloading another windows xp

 

Thanks

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