Fine tuning my new build: Need help with Overclocking and some other minor issues

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My new system:
Corsair 600D case
Corsair H50 CPU water cooler
G.Skill Ripjaw X DDR3 1600 8gb 2x4gb sticks
Intel core i5 2500k sandybridge
Radeon 6950 2bg
Asus p8p67 LE
WD Caviar Black 7200 RPM 1TB w/ Win 7 Ultimate
Zalaman 80 plus rated 850 watt PSU
Some random 250gb PATA harddrive out of my old PC with bootable WinXP Pro

I ordered all of the components except for the motherboard before the recall, so I was totally ready for sandybridge. Then the recall came and I never got my motherboard so I had to take what I could get (Asus p8p67 LE). I didn't think that the mobo was going to be bad or anything, I just didn't do any research on it before I bought it because I just needed to get my system build.
I cannot seem to change my CPU multiplier in the BIOS, which is the only way of overclocking a sandybridge, it is capped at 33x and I cannot figure out how to remove the cap. I looked around and it seems like that is just the way this motherboard works, which is frustrating as it is $20(?) cheaper than the board above it that has the feature. I would have easily payed $50 for the feature had I known it didn't have it (these mobos were all but impossible to find, I payed way more than it is worth). You can, however, change the turbo multiplier as you wish. I put mine at a tasty 46 (~4.8ghz turbo mode) which is where I would like to have my cpu multiplier at =/ So my question is, how can I make turbo mode permanent so I can gain from my overclocking? I am running CPU-Z while playing wow and every time I look at my clockspeed it is either WAY below stock or @ stock (3.3ghz).
I played WoW on full ultra in a raid for 4 hours then played Battlefield on completely maxed for 5 hours and when I checked my temps at the end of the night, my cpu never went above a puny 42 Cecilius! Why does turbo not engage and why does my processor not at least work a little and get hot when I'm playing WoW in a raid, i mean I still dropped to less than 30 FPS during big AOEs, so it could still work faster.
How do you control the turbo on a sandybridge? I don't care one bit about energy consumption or w/e I want power at whatever cost! Is there any software to aide me with this?

One other thing, when I cold boot my pc it will start up, move for 2 seconds, then die, then properly boot. Is this normal?

[Saithes]

You have to set the AI Tweaker to Manual, then change the Turbo Multiplier from Auto to whatever you want. A bios update should fix that cold boot problem, here's a link to the latest provided by an ASUS rep:

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1578865

Sandybridge doesn't overclock exactly like its predecessors at all, you have to use the Turbo Multiplier to overclock rather than the actual CPU Multiplier. WoW isn't a very good game to "test" your CPU temps lol... If you're overclocking get a Stress test program like Prime95 and run Small FFT's for an hour or two at the very least.

[BicycleMafioso]

I may be incorrect about this, but;
Turbo doesn't kick in if all the cores are busy. It's meant to boost the main core when the others idle. Or something.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw_NISjMv44
See if this video helps you out.
It's aimed to be thorough.

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I already have my turbo multiplier set where I want (x46).

I really don't like turbo and would rather turn it off and oc my cpu entirely to at least 4.5.


Is AI tweaker software or the stupid part of the graphical BIOS?

[Saithes]

I may be incorrect about this, but;
Turbo doesn't kick in if all the cores are busy. It's meant to boost the main core when the others idle. Or something.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw_NISjMv44
See if this video helps you out.
It's aimed to be thorough.

False, when you overclock using the Turbo Multiplier it takes pretense over the standard CPU Multiplier. You can't overclock without changing the Turbo Multiplier on Asus. How do I know this? Oh wait I own one

[nwo]

I may be incorrect about this, but;
Turbo doesn't kick in if all the cores are busy. It's meant to boost the main core when the others idle. Or something.

I believe that was only true for the first generation of turbo boost which was used on the first generation i5s and i7s. I have the 2nd generation sandy bridge i7 in my laptop and turbo boost definitely kicks in when all 4 cores are in use.

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False, when you overclock using the Turbo Multiplier it takes pretense over the standard CPU Multiplier. You can't overclock without changing the Turbo Multiplier. How do I know this? Oh wait I own one

Well that confused me more. How can I actually overclock with turbo? I don't think I've yet seen it actually kick in. WTB a turbo button so I can just decide when I want it to go faster -.-

[BicycleMafioso]

I believe that was only true for the first generation of turbo boost which was used on the first generation i5s and i7s. I have the 2nd generation sandy bridge i7 in my laptop and turbo boost definitely kicks in when all 4 cores are in use.

Good to know, thanks!
I might've actually gotten the turbo-info on the Sandy bridge confused with the 1100T.

[Saithes]

Well that confused me more. How can I actually overclock with turbo? I don't think I've yet seen it actually kick in. WTB a turbo button so I can just decide when I want it to go faster -.-

Download below, set the memory to 2048 and leave everything else default then click start.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=201670

Get CPU-Z here: http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html
Open it up while LinX is running and it should be at whatever you set the Turbo Multiplier to.

---------- Post added 2011-02-24 at 09:27 PM ----------

Good to know, thanks!
I might've actually gotten the turbo-info on the Sandy bridge confused with the 1100T.

Yeah, the turbo kicks in regardless of how many threads or cores are being utilized but at a different extent. When you set a fixed Turbo Multiplier it only goes to that speed, it won't go to anything below or anything above on load which is how it overrides the original CPU Multiplier.(Since Turbo kicks in regardless of the usage)

[nwo]

Good to know, thanks!
I might've actually gotten the turbo-info on the Sandy bridge confused with the 1100T.

Yep, that's kind of how AMD's bootleg turbo works. It is only available on the hexa cores and it will only kick in when 3 or more cores are idle.

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Thanks for the info Saithes, but how can I force my CPU into turbo mode. Wow doesn't seem to be making it happen and I could certainly gain from the cpu being faster. When I drop down to 25 FPS during really intense mechanics it certainly isn't my 2gb 6950 that can't take it, it's my CPU. I don't understand why the turbo needs some "trigger" to start going?

[Saithes]

Thanks for the info Saithes, but how can I force my CPU into turbo mode. Wow doesn't seem to be making it happen and I could certainly gain from the cpu being faster. When I drop down to 25 FPS during really intense mechanics it certainly isn't my 2gb 6950 that can't take it, it's my CPU. I don't understand why the turbo needs some "trigger" to start going?

You don't force it, it should automatically use turbo if Turbo, EIST and C3/C6 states are enabled in Bios. You simply set the AI Tweaker to Manual, change the Turbo Multiplier to whatever and just boot into windows. Windows will continue to report 3.4 or 3.3GHz because it doesn't take into account the Turbo Overclocking. Also, if you go into the CPU Power Options, make sure the Multiplier is set to Auto.

It's because the CPU downclocks on idle. Then when load is put on the CPU it raises to the proper clock speed(the turbo multiplier).

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", EIST and C3/C6 states are enabled in Bios"

Do you have a write up on what these are, I'm not a knowledgeable ocer.

[Saithes]

", EIST and C3/C6 states are enabled in Bios"

Do you have a write up on what these are, I'm not a knowledgeable ocer.

EIST is Enhanced Intel Speedstep, C3 and C6 are powerstates the CPU enters either during sleepmode or idling.

On idle:


In WoW:



I think I confused you though. So here's what happens. No matter whatever, at stock clocks or overclock turbo will engage regardless of how many cores or threads are being utilized during load. When turbo is set to Auto, it has multiple states for how many cores are used up to 4x multiplier over Stock Clocks. (1x for each core that isn't used.)

When you set a fixed multiplier such as 48x or 46x, you aren't getting this variable change based on how many cores are being used. Instead, when any load is put on the cores you get a FIXED CLOCK SPEED using the turbo multiplier instead of using the stock CPU Multiplier.

So the run down is, the base clock speed for the 2500K is 3.3GHz, which is a 33x Multiplier at stock but has up to 4x that can be applied based on how many cores are being used when the multiplier is set to AUTO.

So, comprehend that the turbo turns on no matter what, and that fact that you have a fixed multiplier means that you will always get that clock speed instead of the stock 3.3GHz.

Understand now? The turbo just overrides the CPU's stock multiplier because by default, turbo turns on no matter how many cores are under load.

If its set to auto though, it does this:

34x for 4 cores being Utilized
35x for 3 Cores being Utilized
36x for 2 Cores being Utilized
37x for 1 Core being Utilized

If you set a fixed multiplier, it doesn't use that method and instead just used the fixed(aka set in stone) multiplier. Which would be:

46x for 4 Cores being Utilized
46x for 3 Cores being Utilized
46x for 2 Cores being Utilized
46x for 1 Core being Utilized