1366 x58 Xeon Enthusiast overclocks club

x58 said:
I'm thinking of getting either a W3680 or X5675 to upgrade my trusty old i7 920 which sits in a Gigabyte X58 Extreme motherboard. The W3680 has an unlocked multiplier but also has a higher TDP when compared to the X5675. I can get both for the same price and would like to overclock the CPU, wondering if anyone can shed advice on which one to get?
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I had the same board and both are great upgrades. With that said stock TDP goes out the window as soon as you start overclocking. I would go for whichever suits your OC goals and have fun 😉. I ran a 5670 in mine and it was rock solid at 4.2ghz
 
ChineseStunna said:
I had the same board and both are great upgrades. With that said stock TDP goes out the window as soon as you start overclocking. I would go for whichever suits your OC goals and have fun 😉. I ran a 5670 in mine and it was rock solid at 4.2ghz
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Thinking to go with the X5675 as it runs cooler. I haven't changed the thermal paste on the CPU since I set this up around 10 years ago! Any recommendations on what to use? Will be using the Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 cooler which should hopefully be able to keep the temp down.
 
x58 said:
Thinking to go with the X5675 as it runs cooler. I haven't changed the thermal paste on the CPU since I set this up around 10 years ago! Any recommendations on what to use? Will be using the Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 cooler which should hopefully be able to keep the temp down.
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Grizzly Kryonaut is the favorite choice these days for standard applications. Though you won't go wrong with any of the top rated pastes.
 
x58 said:
Thinking to go with the X5675 as it runs cooler. I haven't changed the thermal paste on the CPU since I set this up around 10 years ago! Any recommendations on what to use? Will be using the Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 cooler which should hopefully be able to keep the temp down.
Click to expand...

I did a quick and dirty test on my dual X5675's while my system was Processing Vulkan shaders for Metro Exodus as a result of an Nvidia driver update. Processing shaders makes 100% use of all 12C/24T, so I flipped my UPS to display wattage in order to gauge power draw at full load.

~450 watts and ~65 degrees heat output, air cooled in a fairly compact Dell T5500 workstation. I was actually quite impressed, IMO that's not too bad at all.

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bjtag said:
x58 Has been the BigBlock CPU of Computers... Big Heavy - Fast Strong - Lasts for Years...
I know mine been a Beast since Day 1...
Will be very sad when she goes...
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Very poetic and true, 45mm Bloomfields were good, then Westmere just took it to another level. I'm sure years down the road this will be my "retro build", along with an original socket A Duron that can overclock 100%
 
One thing to consider about my above power draw result is that figure includes my 4k monitor, turn the monitor off and power draw drops by ~40 watts...
 
bjtag said:
x58 Has been the BigBlock CPU of Computers... Big Heavy - Fast Strong - Lasts for Years...
I know mine been a Beast since Day 1...
Will be very sad when she goes...
Click to expand...

for sure i still have a x58 in service to run game servers off of and some meta trader to make me some money works pretty good my x58 def has had more life then the x99 i had i feel like my x99 was a money pit for time i got out of it compared to the x58. And my asus board is built like a tank i had 2 PSU's go bad and burn the atx and eps part of board i cleaned it up shaved off the burnt plastic and it was back in service.
 
bal3wolf said:
for sure i still have a x58 in service to run game servers off of and some meta trader to make me some money works pretty good my x58 def has had more life then the x99 i had i feel like my x99 was a money pit for time i got out of it compared to the x58. And my asus board is built like a tank i had 2 PSU's go bad and burn the atx and eps part of board i cleaned it up shaved off the burnt plastic and it was back in service.
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Had EVGA 850w nearly burn to the ground on my x58 rig 3 years ago when I was mining with 3x 1080ti 's... Plugged new one in still kicking to this day...
 
bjtag said:
Had EVGA 850w nearly burn to the ground on my x58 rig 3 years ago when I was mining with 3x 1080ti 's... Plugged new one in still kicking to this day...
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yep i was mining on a 5970 and 5870 when i had my first psu smoke on the x58.
 
FlawleZ said:
L
There was a number of X58 boards that were equipped with SATA 3 and USB 3.0. Granted I think most had the marvel controller which sucked. I ran an X58 Sabertooth for a while and I loved that board. So sad it randomly stopped posting. X58 is still plenty capable for many things today . Just look at how many people are still using an AMD FX platform.
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Yeah, I had that same Sabertooth X58 board. The Marvel controller even with "SATA3" was slower than the Intel SATA2. It wasn't worth using. USB 3.0 is easy. PCIe x1 add-on cards are cheap. I got a couple with front panel connectors and didn't have any issues.
 
OK so I just couldn't stay away from X58, picked up a Asus P6X58d-e that has the built-in SATA3 (I know crappy Marvel) and USB3. Now to get a Xeon and some RAM for it to see if this Asus can outgun my Gigabyte on overclocking.
One fun/nice tidbit - Asus bios comes with VT-d (PCI-e passthrough) for virtualization available in the stock BIOS which is nice if you're running ESXi (what I used my Gigabyte for the first few years), the Gigabyte boards did not have this option, however, to their credit, the support team was supercool and an engineer gave me a "custom" BIOS that enabled this hidden feature for the board.
 
I hope you guys are happy haha, the other piece of kit I could never let go is my Silverstone Fortress FT02 case, never thought I'd be so attached to these 2 things
 
ChineseStunna said:
OK so I just couldn't stay away from X58, picked up a Asus P6X58d-e that has the built-in SATA3 (I know crappy Marvel) and USB3. Now to get a Xeon and some RAM for it to see if this Asus can outgun my Gigabyte on overclocking.
One fun/nice tidbit - Asus bios comes with VT-d (PCI-e passthrough) for virtualization available in the stock BIOS which is nice if you're running ESXi (what I used my Gigabyte for the first few years), the Gigabyte boards did not have this option, however, to their credit, the support team was supercool and an engineer gave me a "custom" BIOS that enabled this hidden feature for the board.
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Gigabyte have always been really good in this regard. My Gigabyte GA60XET S370 Tualatin motherboard didn't have a 1/4 pci/agp divider on release, I sent an email to Gigabyte highlighting the issue and they released an upgraded BIOS with not only a 1/4 divider, but also a 1/5th and 1/6th pci/agp divider. As far as I'm aware, it was the only S370 motherboard that could run a 166MHZ FSB with pci/agp perfectly in spec.

I've still got that motherboard and the Pentium 3S 1.26Ghz processor, it still runs great under Windows 2000 to this day.
 
My first X58 was was a Giga UD7. It was a really nice board. Beautiful even. But it was so sloppy with its voltages. Terrible. I sold that board and moved into a Rampage III Formula. It was a literal night and day difference. I probably wont run another Gigabyte board lol.
 
freeagentt said:
My first X58 was was a Giga UD7. It was a really nice board. Beautiful even. But it was so sloppy with its voltages. Terrible. I sold that board and moved into a Rampage III Formula. It was a literal night and day difference. I probably wont run another Gigabyte board lol.
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Every brand has their hit or misses for sure, personally my preference is Asus/Gigabyte then eVGA. MSI on the other hand won't touch if I could help it. I think they've improved over the past few years but working in a computer shop back in the 90s-2000s just put a bad taste in my mouth with them, not to mention earlier days can't overclock to save their life.
 
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ChineseStunna said:
Every brand has their hit or misses for sure, personally my preference is Asus/Gigabyte then eVGA. MSI on the other hand won't touch if I could help it. I think they've improved over the past few years but working in a computer shop back in the 90s-2000s just put a bad taste in my mouth with them, not to mention earlier days can't overclock to save their life.
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I hear Asus isn't like they were before, msi is still carp, and giga is godly. I couldn't say because all of my stuff is old. I thought Assrock was junk until I got one, have to say its pretty decent.. I was an Asus guy, still am I suppose, but my last Asus died, extremely rare event for me. I only had 1 other Asus die but that was in the 939 days and I think my PSU took it out. Might have pushed my NEO 480 a bit too hard :D I take back what I say about Giga, I'm sure they pulled their balls together by now.
 
freeagentt said:
I hear Asus isn't like they were before, msi is still carp, and giga is godly. I couldn't say because all of my stuff is old. I thought Assrock was junk until I got one, have to say its pretty decent.. I was an Asus guy, still am I suppose, but my last Asus died, extremely rare event for me. I only had 1 other Asus die but that was in the 939 days and I think my PSU took it out. Might have pushed my NEO 480 a bit too hard :D I take back what I say about Giga, I'm sure they pulled their balls together by now.
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I've heard lots of good things about ASRock as well, esp. their server stuff is interesting and innovative in terms of design/features. Funny they were literally spun out of Asus to handle OEM orders (part of Pegatron) then Pegatron basically decided to go after its maker ASUS and created ASRock
 
In my early days of X58 I ran a Foxconn Flaming Blade. That board was awesome, pushed my i7 920 to 4.2Ghz no worries.

My Gigabyte GA60XET will push my Tualatin P3 1.4 to 1.7Ghz no problem in the world.
 
Hi all!
New time poster - Old time user here! Hope you're all OK in these times :)

- I've been using X58 platform since 2010. Always used my i7-920 and now switched to XEON W3680 because 6 cores and price.
My system:
Motherboard: ASUS P6X58D - Premium
CPU: Xeon W3680 (133 X25)
RAM: GSkill Ripjaws 1600Mhz (9-9-9-24)
Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 (new)
GPU: GTX 1060 6Gb

- Just got a new Noctua cooler bacause @4GHz I was getting temps high @80'sºC and wasn't comfortable with... Now with the NH-D15 i'm in the mid 60's @4.2Ghz under full load! This is the speed i'm trying to test now.

- I've tried some tweaking and got about:
3.8 Ghz - 1.216v Vcore (X19)
4.0 Ghz - 1.296v Vcore (X20)
4.2 Ghz - 1.336v Vcore (X21)
BLCK = 200
QPI/RAM (VTT) = 1.25v or 1.225v
RAM - 1.60v
LLC = Enabled

- I'm trying to use voltage OFFSET to get to same voltages or thereabouts, and got the benefit of reduced voltage when not under load. Got SPEEDSTEP enabled and other C STATES.

  • Right now I'm focusing using the OFFSET voltage because of the benefits of low voltage when just browsing or doing low load stuff.
  • Now, i used OCCT, AIDA64 and IBT and some GTA5 runs to get stability tests. I use GTA because I got to understanding that many times I got a good test (pass) in OCCT and AIDA64 tests but then after 15 or 20 minutes playing GTA it crashed to desktop telling me there is some kind of instability. Then I bumped Vcore a notch and it got better. Also bumped a little ICH (1.82v) just in case...
  • This is not unique to GTA, it happened also in some other low activity programs.
  • Well this is strange to me because it isn't what I was used to.
  • I can only think that is has something to do with the low voltage situations with the C STATES or something... Maybe you guys can help me here try to understand what can it be???
  • Or maybe some kind of setting that can make it stable. I'm not an expert so.. :sneaky:

Thanks ;)
RicK
 
  • I also have a question regarding the QPI/North speed. I'm using 3200Mhz as reference (and always used). Is ther eany benefict regarding SEEN performance upping this value? lets say 3400 or 3600? Keeping in mind that will probably be necessary to up the QTI/VTT voltage substantially for a minor gain??
  • Another thing that always intrigued me was if has any difference in using for ex. BCLK 200 + 20X Multi (4000Mhz) or 16B BCLK + 24X Multi (~4000Mhz) ??? Is there a benefit in using a high base clock? Or a lower is the same and have lower CPU loads at idle for instance??
Thanks :)
RicK
 
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Nice system. With my old D14 I was able to run my X5690 @ 4300 everything stable. I could bench higher of course, but was tough getting airflow back then.. its fans were quiet and barely moved any air. Running a high bclk is preferable mainly for memory performance, and it gets the QPI up. Not only for increased reads/writes but also latency. A higher uncore is also preferable, there are differing views on max qpi vtt, but I ran 1.39v for years with my uncore @ 3600. Mostly ran 200x21 ram at 800MHz 6-6-6-20 1T 1.65v. I've got a Rampage III Formula with X5690 and a bunch of different memory. Some Hypers, BBSE, PSC, and a lil Hynix. Those ones are no fun. IIRC I had to run my IOH at about 1.25v or so once I got over 4GHz. Didn't matter if I was running a low, medium, or high bclk. YMMV of course. Make sure you check the bios now and then to make sure the voltages you set are actually what they are, some boards sag more than others in the voltage dept. Leaning towards QPI VTT and VCORE.
 
Hi freeagentt thanks for you helpful insight!
- Regarding the Noctua D15 it's night and day from what I was used to! Now the temps are my least concern.

- I understand the higher BCLK get higher QPI and RAM speeds. That will leave me in doubt about this 2 options:
BCLK = 160 X25 Multi = 4.0 Ghz --> QPI = ~3200 --> RAM = ~1600
BLCK = 200 X21 Multi = 4.0 Ghz --> QPI = 3200 --> RAM = 1600
- Now i can use the same speeds for different BCLK's, the only gain i see is with 160 when IDLE in windows i get 1920 Mhz (160X12) because of speedstep. And with BCLK 200 I got 2400 Mhz IDLE... Well in low task I gain the lower volts/temps with the 160 BCLK. All this because I can change the settings in the BIOS for the QPI and RAM values, even with different BCLK's and Multi's.
- I don't know if this makes any sense or as some advantage/disadvantage...

- I have a feeling what you said about checking in BIOS to make sure voltages is a thing , yes. I'll be checking more often. Because sometimes the system is all good and other times restarts. it's gets some BSOD in low/medium load operations (youtube or playing). I'll try to bump the IOH also as you suggested to check it.👍

Regards,
RicK
 
I cant help you with that buddy, sorry. I turned off all power save stuff, no speedstep..1 clock 1 voltage. I could never get it to work right. Not like on a more modern setup. For instance, yes I could get it drop down to 1600mhz , but voltage would still be high, so in my eyes no point and a waste of time.
 
I set my offset to a positive number. I had my X5660 running at 4.2Ghz with a BCLK of 200. I adjusted the RAM divider so it was at 1600Mhz. With speedstep it would drop to 2.4Ghz and maybe 1.0V and under load it would jump to 1.35V.
 
Lol I think I was doing it wrong :D

I don't remember what I was doing. But I will remember our little chat when I do pull my x58 out of its box again god knows when and I will figure it out.

I got it working on my Z77 no problem lol.
 
Hi all, thanks for insight.
- Right now i've got pretty stable:
4.0 Ghz - 1.296v MAX - Vcore ( Multi X20)
BLCK = 200
Norh bridge = 3200 Mhz
QPI/RAM (VTT) = 1.25v
PLL = 1.84
IOH = 1.12
RAM (12Gb+6Gb Ripjaws)- 1600 Mhz @1.64v
LLC = Enabled

Disabled CSTATES (except Speedstep and C1E - these are ON)

  • I think it's pretty stable, run various benchmarks, as IBT very high and custom (~8000 mem ) , OCCT, played some games etc. etc. SOLID.
  • -Temps are in 60's region max, for testing. In general gaming around 50ºC to 60ºC.

  • Now some day I might wanto to try 4.2 GHz. I did little testing and did game fine @1.336 VCore , but did 1 test in IBT (high) which fail and did not try again. Maybe someone can give some ideias for that kind of overclock? Raise Vcore? VTT? PLL?

Thanks,
Best Regards,
RicK
 
Hi all!
Well, after a few more tests I end up with the following settings:
4.0 Ghz - 1.296v - Vcore ( Multi X20) using offset voltage (+ 0.2000v)
BLCK = 200
North bridge = 3200 Mhz
QPI/RAM (VTT) = 1.225v
PLL = 1.80 (stock)
IOH = 1.10 (stock)
RAM (12Gb+6Gb Ripjaws)- 1600 Mhz @1.60v (for now - will try lower voltages)
LLC = Enabled
C-STATES all enabled + SPEEDSTEP

- Stable as it is 100%. Temps in 60ºC in CPU.
- 4.0 I think it is done. Now I might try to bump to 4.2 and see what it got for me :)

Regards,
RicK
 
rickmig said:
Hi all!
Well, after a few more tests I end up with the following settings:
4.0 Ghz - 1.296v - Vcore ( Multi X20) using offset voltage (+ 0.2000v)
BLCK = 200
North bridge = 3200 Mhz
QPI/RAM (VTT) = 1.225v
PLL = 1.80 (stock)
IOH = 1.10 (stock)
RAM (12Gb+6Gb Ripjaws)- 1600 Mhz @1.60v (for now - will try lower voltages)
LLC = Enabled
C-STATES all enabled + SPEEDSTEP

- Stable as it is 100%. Temps in 60ºC in CPU.
- 4.0 I think it is done. Now I might try to bump to 4.2 and see what it got for me :)

Regards,
RicK
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Nice nice! I've just placed an order for my X5670 to start my 3rd X58 build around the Asus p6x58d-e that I picked up. Twist this time, will try to run 8GB ECC Reg RAM sticks to max board out at 48GB total, beyond the "24GB max" limit
 
Hi!
ChineseStunna i've order an X5675 also! Just to take some comparison. But for now i'm liking very much my W3680!
UltraTaco Well the step for 4.2, form me, is to push the multiplier to X21 (instead of X20 which is now) and bump the core voltage a bit maybe to 1.336v and QPI to 1.25v. And see how it goes from there.

- Another thing I'm curious about, is SDD / NVME performances in our beloved X58. I did some tests in the HDD's and SSD I have, and would to like to have some comparison just because if I buy a new hard drive I want to know if tis OK to go with SSD (Samsung Evo 860 for ex.) or NVME is worth it... I know there are some difficulties booting from NVME with X58 right?

Regards,
RicK
 

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rickmig said:
Hi!
ChineseStunna i've order an X5675 also! Just to take some comparison. But for now i'm liking very much my W3680!
UltraTaco Well the step for 4.2, form me, is to push the multiplier to X21 (instead of X20 which is now) and bump the core voltage a bit maybe to 1.336v and QPI to 1.25v. And see how it goes from there.

- Another thing I'm curious about, is SDD / NVME performances in our beloved X58. I did some tests in the HDD's and SSD I have, and would to like to have some comparison just because if I buy a new hard drive I want to know if tis OK to go with SSD (Samsung Evo 860 for ex.) or NVME is worth it... I know there are some difficulties booting from NVME with X58 right?

Regards,
RicK
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rickmig very cool! I decided to stick with my trusty X5670 but X5675 definitely gives you an additional 1x on multiplier and I think W3680 is even stronger. Your first 128GB SSD benchmark looks off the charts, was it done with this board? Seems like there might be some caching going on.
Using NVME on X58 from my research seems doable and not hard unless you want to use it as a boot drive, here's a tutorial I found but didn't get to do: https://mrlithium.blogspot.com/2018/04/uefi-booting-nvme-on-x58-project-w.html
 
ChineseStunna I think the RAPID setting from Samsung Magician was doing all the caching. I disabled it and got more real scores. Now looks normal? It was done in this system yes (asus P6X58D Premium). It's also connected to the SATA 2.0 port. I also have a SATA 3.0 (marvell) but i don't know if it's better... i think not.
Regards.
 

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rickmig said:
ChineseStunna I think the RAPID setting from Samsung Magician was doing all the caching. I disabled it and got more real scores. Now looks normal? It was done in this system yes (asus P6X58D Premium). It's also connected to the SATA 2.0 port. I also have a SATA 3.0 (marvell) but i don't know if it's better... i think not.
Regards.
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Ah yes that makes a lot more sense and numbers look good. From everything I've read the marvel controller sucks on this board and perform worse than the SATA2 ports off the Intel chipset
 
Hi all!
- I tried the SATA port 3.0 (Marvell) for the SSD and got a little bit better results in read tests and and some even below at write speeds... I think it's maybe a little bugged the controller... It takes much more time to load to windows and sometimes it got some jitters when moving arround windows or something. I reverted to the INTEL 2.0. In the real world I don't really see difference besides more stability in INTEL one.

- Meanwhile I got my X5675 yesterday! Time to do some tests. Installed it all OK.
- In BIOS i could see some diferences regarding W3680. The W3680 had option to change the turbo and cores max multiplier, which i've tried but didn't do much, or I don't know how to... TDP is now 95W (X5675) instead of 130W (W3680). And multipliers in X5675 goes from 12X to 23X (Turbo 25X). There's no 24X.
- For me, I went straight from my stable 4.0 with the W3680 (settings in post above) to the same in the X5675. Then for the 4.2 with 1.3v Vcore in the BIOS. Tested it and drop it until it become unstable = 1.270v~.
- Now i'm @ 4.2 Ghz with 1.296v MAX and going strong with all my usual tests/games!

- So conclusion (for now): The X5675 got to 4.2 with the SAME voltage as the W3680 and with lower temps! Right now i'm doing OCCT and max temp. is 50ºC. in IBT got me to 68ºC tops. Idles @30ºC. My case is NOT OPEN! Just for the record. Just upped the fans for testing. I'm using 3 more fans besides the CPU cooler.
- I think this chip is bit better overhaul in comparison of the W3680. Maybe lucky or the 95W giving some edge here I don't know...
- In the future will test it to 4.4 and see... I think I got som margin left from Temps. and Volts. In the W3680 I could also get to 4.2 but it required me around 1.35v+ and to daily use it got my fans to blow a little bit more and the noise it's not wotrh for me.

4.2 Ghz - 1.296v MAX read in CPU-Z - Vcore ( Multi X21) using offset voltage (+ 0.2250v).
BLCK = 200
North bridge = 3200 Mhz
QPI/RAM (VTT) = 1.25v
PLL = 1.80 (stock)
IOH = 1.10 (stock)
RAM (12Gb+6Gb Ripjaws)- 1600 Mhz @1.60v 9-9-9-24 1T
LLC = Enabled
C-STATES all enabled + SPEEDSTEP on
Temps in around 50ºC MAX while gaming and 68ºC peak while stress testing. 22ºC room temp. Idles @ 30ºC tops.
Cooler = Noctua NH-D15.

Regards,
RicK
 
Nice RiCK!

If you want NVME on x58 for boot you either have to find an older samsung 950 pro drive or similar with legacy boot, or using a boot loader on another device with something like Clover or DUET.

Here's my usual settings for the last several years lol:

4.2 GHz, 1.272 V
BCLK 200, CPU Multiplier 21. Speedstep on
QPI Link 3600
*QPI/RAM (VTT) = 1.25v
*PLL = 1.80 (stock)
*IOH = 1.10 (stock)
RAM 3x4gb Mushkin blackline - 2000 MHz 1.65v, 9-11-9-27 2T

* I think those are correct voltages for me, I'll have to verify.

averaging ~54ºC at full load without maxing out my fans, custom water loop with a triple radiator. ~23ºC idle with the CPU throttling
 
Hi Rick.

If I remember correctly, the Marvell controllers on X58 occupy only a single PCIe lane, which means it is only fast enough for a single modern SSD (500MB/s max over SATA3). If you run more than one SSD on the controller, you will see a performance drop in some situations. Also, because it operates over the PCIe bus, there is more 'work' being done to access the data. Generally the Intel controller performs better in most scenarios for these reasons despite being only SATA2.

The reason why PCIe storage won't work on X58 is because the vast majority use NVME. NVME is an interface protocol over PCIe, so it had to be supported by the chipset. I think, from memory, thijs could be implemented with a simple BIOS update. There was either a compatibility issue with X58, or they simply didn't want to support the older platforms to encourage people to upgrade. Either way, NVME is unsupported on X58 to the best of my knowledge.

There are other, non-standard, storage devices that will work, but if you look at myu posts on page 1, they are a bitch to get working, and you have to compromise in some way. I gave up in the end.
 
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