9900k OC, trying to make sense of it all

[R0x0r]

Hello fellow ROG overclockers,

I’m a new overclocking, I am experiencing some difficulty and I like to tap into your breadth of knowledge and advice. I would appreciate your patience and understanding if I am breaking any unspoken rules.

First the important build deets:
MOBO: ASUS ROG STRIX Z390-E Gaming
CPU: Intel i9-9900K @3.6 ghz (Cooling Noctua-NH-D15)
RAM: 32 DDR4 GB G.Skill 3200 mhz
GPU: Asus 2080TI
PSU: 750W
Storage: 1) 1TB EVO SSD 2) 250 EVO SSD 3) 3TB HDD 4) 3TB HDD (no, no RAID unfortunately))
OS: Windows 10 edu

After reading up on the guide found here: https://rog.asus.com/articles/overcl...-overclocking/ I decided to embark on my OC journey…I’ve also done a fair amount of reading for similarity (see: https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthrea...n-overclocking)

At stock clock settings, I ran the RealBench tool to stress the system to calculate the cooler score, which after several stress tests, went from 97 -> 167 and finally had landed on 197.

Based on that cooler score, the AI Optimized settings predicted that the OC could ramp all the way to 5.2 ghz, which as a surprise to no one, when the AI was enabled, failed to load into the OS. After several BSOD errors, I figured I needed to try something different. Therefore, after some manual tweaking, I found that the manually modifying the AI Optimism setting to 90 (equivalent to 4.8 ghz) would successfully load the OS and again, and, after several stress tests, the OC has proven stable never surpassing 79*C under stress.

With this information in front of you, I have 2 questions:
1. What are the steps I need to take to OC my XMP enabled ram from its current speed at 2666 mhz to its rated speed of 3200 mhz?
a. From what I understand I cannot leverage the AI AND XMP
2. Is there a better way intervene on the AI prediction rather than modifying the Optimism score? What would you recommend?

A final statement, as an enthusiast I want to squeeze out as much performance as possible, but a realist, I only play games (PUBG, FO76, CoD, BF, and so on) on the PC (granted would love to play at 4K and VR in the future, along with Anthem and Division 2). Would any other realists like to talk me out of pushing the chip any further?

Thanks for your advice ahead of time!

[x-rated]

i would suggest you not to use AI oc at all, you have to adjust just a few things manually
you can start with this, everything else leave as it is
dont forget to reset bios to its defaults first

EXTREME TWEAKER:
AI Overclock Tuner.................................XMP I
SVID Behavior......................................Best-Case Scenario
1-Core Ratio Limit.................................50
Max CPU Cache Ratio................................50
CPU Core/Cache Voltage.............................Adaptive Mode
Additional Turbo Mode CPU Core Voltage.............1.350


EXTREME TWEAKER -> EXTERNAL DIGI+ POWER CONTROL:
CPU Load-line Calibration..........................Level 6
CPU Current Capability.............................170% (or as much as possible)

EXTREME TWEAKER -> INTERNAL CPU POWER MANAGEMENT:
Long Duration Package Power Limit..................4095
Package Power Time Windows.........................127
Short Duration Package Power Limit.................4095
IA AC Load Line....................................0.01
IA DC Load Line....................................0.01

[R0x0r]

i would suggest you not to use AI oc at all, you have to adjust just a few things manually
you can start with this, everything else leave as it is
dont forget to reset bios to its defaults first

EXTREME TWEAKER:
AI Overclock Tuner.................................XMP I
SVID Behavior......................................Best-Case Scenario
1-Core Ratio Limit.................................50
Max CPU Cache Ratio................................50
CPU Core/Cache Voltage.............................Adaptive Mode
Additional Turbo Mode CPU Core Voltage.............1.350


EXTREME TWEAKER -> EXTERNAL DIGI+ POWER CONTROL:
CPU Load-line Calibration..........................Level 6
CPU Current Capability.............................170% (or as much as possible)

EXTREME TWEAKER -> INTERNAL CPU POWER MANAGEMENT:
Long Duration Package Power Limit..................4095
Package Power Time Windows.........................127
Short Duration Package Power Limit.................4095
IA AC Load Line....................................0.01
IA DC Load Line....................................0.01

Indeed, I'll ensure to reset BIOS--Thanks so much for the advice! I'll update this evening on progress.

[djmarks]

Indeed, I'll ensure to reset BIOS--Thanks so much for the advice! I'll update this evening on progress.

Hi R0x0r - just wondering how you got on as I have the same cpu!

[R0x0r]

DJMarks and X-Rated:

Here's an update: After following X-Rated's suggestion I was able to successfully boot into Windows. Shortly after, I ran additional stress tests and benchmarks using RealBench.

The image below shows the bench score from 1/19 (when I was running ~4.8 ghz) next to the bench stats pulled after X-rated's suggestions


Interestingly, the CPU doesn't seem to be OC'd at all, so after I post this, I'm going to go into BIOS to confirm all the settings have saved. You can also note that the Max temp after both Benching and Stress capped at 48*C so I have a feeling that I need to tweak further.

I'll update shortly.

[R0x0r]

I’ll admit, when trying to find the 1-core ratio limit as X-rated suggested, I had a difficult time. *Images below are the settings I updated.*


*

See my options from the choices in the next image

Is the highlighted option the one I want to modify to sync all cores?

[x-rated]

yes, sync all cores
it should be enabled automatically by enabling xmp profile, but if not, set it manually

[R0x0r]

yes, sync all cores
it should be enabled automatically by enabling xmp profile, but if not, set it manually

That's what it was!


As you can see, the chip is running a little warmer than I would prefer (capped out at 85*C), but then again I don't think I will be stressing regularly with how I will be using it. That, and I'm not using a custom cooling loop (and probably will never) so not bad for the Noctua!

I'll plan to run some more stress tests today to confirm stability, but I'm confident that with your help, the settings will keep me happy for some time to come.

Thanks so much for your help X-rated!

[Eclipt]

Heya, glad to see you are getting progress and results from your setup

As for the AI overclocking - never worked for me at all on a 9700k and a Strix z370-F board. Offers completely bull settings

As for the settings proposed in above reply - perfect settings to start with! Basically ticks off all the most important boxes. As for XMP - select the appropriate 3200mhz RAM and forget about it. XMP is factory overclocking, so you don't have to

Now that you are running stable, save those settings that work and optimize your system:
1. Reduce your voltage from 1.35 to 1.34 and test for stability again. I am happy with Intel XTU stress test for 10mins for this. If that passes - cut 0.01v down until you crash. Then get back to the last stable value and stability test the #$%^ out of your CPU. Again, I am fine with just leaving XTU until I get back from work and my system never crashed during gaming
2. Optimize your LLC (although, I don't think this CPU should need anything lower than 6), have CPU-Z open and see how much voltage drops on full load. If it is closest to your manually set value, your optimal. If it goes above - definitely try reducing it (this might need an increase in the manual voltage set). If it drops too much, you might benefit from an LLC increase and a decrease of your manually set voltage. As the name suggests, this is Calibration and should be done by carefully trying out different values and monitoring voltages and temperatures - try to get a balance
3. Lock in: Enable SVID, set IA/DC load line to 0.01, choose Adaptive Voltage and set your stable value. Open CPU-Z, do light stuff (don't load it so it vdroops, you don't want LLC to kick in or anything here) so your CPU runs at it's full GHz and check voltage - if it is higher than was set in adaptive voltage, write that value down (that's the default voltage for your GHz in the SVID table), use it in your Adaptive Voltage setting and add some negative offset there to reach your target. Then you should have Adaptive mode working.
4. Have fun

[djmarks]

Heya, glad to see you are getting progress and results from your setup

As for the AI overclocking - never worked for me at all on a 9700k and a Strix z370-F board. Offers completely bull settings

As for the settings proposed in above reply - perfect settings to start with! Basically ticks off all the most important boxes. As for XMP - select the appropriate 3200mhz RAM and forget about it. XMP is factory overclocking, so you don't have to

Now that you are running stable, save those settings that work and optimize your system:
1. Reduce your voltage from 1.35 to 1.34 and test for stability again. I am happy with Intel XTU stress test for 10mins for this. If that passes - cut 0.01v down until you crash. Then get back to the last stable value and stability test the #$%^ out of your CPU. Again, I am fine with just leaving XTU until I get back from work and my system never crashed during gaming
2. Optimize your LLC (although, I don't think this CPU should need anything lower than 6), have CPU-Z open and see how much voltage drops on full load. If it is closest to your manually set value, your optimal. If it goes above - definitely try reducing it (this might need an increase in the manual voltage set). If it drops too much, you might benefit from an LLC increase and a decrease of your manually set voltage. As the name suggests, this is Calibration and should be done by carefully trying out different values and monitoring voltages and temperatures - try to get a balance
3. Lock in: Enable SVID, set IA/DC load line to 0.01, choose Adaptive Voltage and set your stable value. Open CPU-Z, do light stuff (don't load it so it vdroops, you don't want LLC to kick in or anything here) so your CPU runs at it's full GHz and check voltage - if it is higher than was set in adaptive voltage, write that value down (that's the default voltage for your GHz in the SVID table), use it in your Adaptive Voltage setting and add some negative offset there to reach your target. Then you should have Adaptive mode working.
4. Have fun

Hi Eclipt. I'm avidly reading this thread as I've a very similar rig to R0x0r.
I've a question about your reference to the offset - what value do you suggest and can you explain (briefly) it's purpose with adaptaive voltage?

Cheers