CPU PLL is a little low. Try 1.65.

You could also try raising the IOH to 1.3 and see if that helps.

Run linX for a good 3 hours or longer to make sure your Vcore and VTT are Ok.

Then run Prime95 Blend for atleast 10 hours.

Also dont trust what E-Leet says. Especially for Vdimm and VTT. Those two voltages tend to be off by a pretty large margin.

Locking up (in games only) at stock settings is one of the hardest things to troubleshoot. Especially in gaming systems. It could be anywhere from software/driver issue, to faulty hardware.

1 notch up on the vcore should fix it, post back if it doesn't. That or up the CPU PWM

Just curious, but what is the difference between running the Prime95 blend for 6 hours or running it for 11 hours?

I only ask because I ran it for 6 hours and passed 209 tests with 0 errors, etc and just couldn't see the point in doing it another 5 hours.

First Off Cronic,, have to say HUGE Thanks Your guide is awsome!! would have been easier on me if I was not so hard headed and impatient.  Posted my template for your review and guidance, if you could review it and let me know what you think, I would appreciate it. So far passing LinX and Prime initial testing (about 10 passes each) have to test over night to confirm all is rock steady but it passes initial tests!! 
 
The IOH V Core, IOH/ICH/IO voltage chages are from a different guide (Shashimi, butched the spelling sorry) that advised these changes for SLI/CF setups.
 
I have a few questions though, IOH PLL V Core and VTT PLL V Core, I do not seem to see these in my BIOS is this a Classified thing?? Also ACPI suspend, I take it this is for sleep mode? I never use sleep so I gues it doesnt Matter. PnP/PCI Max payload, currently I have it set for 2048 based on 2X 5870's should I up it?? Also take a look at my Bios voltages for Vtt and DIMM big difference between whats in BIOS and Eleet I guess this is normal??
 
Took your advise on Memory did not want to go over the rated speed (8,8,8,24,78) by changing the Uncore Freq so I droped the timings. So far so good. 
 
My only concern is VREG temp 73-75 full load, I read somewhere that it can go alot higher but seems a tad high compared to some of the other comments here. not sure how to lower it with out causing instability, maybe its fine please advise.

Mother Board ( EVGA X58 E-758 )
Bios ( 2z )
CPU ( i7-960 D0 )
CPU Cooler (Nochtua)
NB Cooler (stock)
GPU Cooler ( stock)
Memory ( Dominator 1600 C8 )
PSU ( Kingwin 1220W)
GPU ( ATI 5870X2 )
Drivers ( 10.4 )
Operating System ( Windows 7 64 HP )
HDD ( M225 256GB)
Frequency Control
CPU Clock Ratio ( 23X )
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ( 175)
MCH Strap ( Auto )
CPU Uncore Frequency (2805Mhz) (16X)
CPU Clock Skew ( 0 ps )
Spread Spectrum ( Disabled )
PCIE Frequency (Mhz) ( 100 )
Memory Feature
Memory Speed ( Standard )
Memory Control Setting ( Enabled )
Memory Frequency ( 1067Mhz / 2:8 )
Channel Interleave Setting ( 6 Way )
Rank Interleave Setting ( 4 Way )
tCL Setting ( 7 )
tRCD Setting ( 7 )
tRP Setting ( 7 )
tRAS Setting ( 20 )
tRFC Setting ( 56 )
Command Rate ( 1t )
Voltage Control
EVGA VDroop Control ( Without VDroop )
CPU VCore ( 1.27 )
CPU VTT Voltage ( +1.75mv ) 1.37 Eleet
CPU PLL VCore ( 1.5 )
IOH PLL VCore ( ??? ) Dont see this on my Bios
DIMM Voltage ( 1.575 Bios )  1.63 Eleet
DIMM DQ Vref ( +0mV )
QPI PLL VCore ( 1.225 )
IOH VCore ( 1.375 )
IOH/ICH I/O Voltage ( 1.625 )
VTT PWM Frequency ( ??? ) Dont see this on my Bios
CPU PWM Frequency ( 800 KHZ )
CPU Impedance (auto )
QPI Signal Compensation ( auto )
CPU Feature
Intel SpeedStep ( Disabled )
Turbo Mode Function ( Disabled )
CxE Function ( Disabled )
Execute Disable Bit ( Disabled )
Virtualization Technology ( Disabled )
Intel HT Technology ( Enabled )
Active Processor Cores ( All )
QPI Control Settings ( Enabled )
QPI Link Fast Mode ( Enabled )
QPI Frequency Selection ( 4.800 GT/s )
OC Recovery ( Enabled )
Turbo Performance ( Disabled )
PnP/PCI PCI Express
Maximum Payload Size ( 2048 )
Power Management Setup
ACPI Suspend Type ( S1 (POS) )
HPET Support ( Enabled )
HPET Mode ( 64-bit )
 
Thanks again for the great guide and let me know if it needs some tweaks

Storgal

First Off Cronic,, have to say HUGE Thanks Your guide is awsome!! would have been easier on me if I was not so hard headed and impatient.  Posted my template for your review and guidance, if you could review it and let me know what you think, I would appreciate it. So far passing LinX and Prime initial testing (about 10 passes each) have to test over night to confirm all is rock steady but it passes initial tests!! 
 
The IOH V Core, IOH/ICH/IO voltage chages are from a different guide (Shashimi, butched the spelling sorry) that advised these changes for SLI/CF setups.
 
I have a few questions though, IOH PLL V Core and VTT PLL V Core, I do not seem to see these in my BIOS is this a Classified thing?? Also ACPI suspend, I take it this is for sleep mode? I never use sleep so I gues it doesnt Matter. PnP/PCI Max payload, currently I have it set for 2048 based on 2X 5870's should I up it?? Also take a look at my Bios voltages for Vtt and DIMM big difference between whats in BIOS and Eleet I guess this is normal??
 
Took your advise on Memory did not want to go over the rated speed (8,8,8,24,78) by changing the Uncore Freq so I droped the timings. So far so good. 
 
My only concern is VREG temp 73-75 full load, I read somewhere that it can go alot higher but seems a tad high compared to some of the other comments here. not sure how to lower it with out causing instability, maybe its fine please advise.

Mother Board ( EVGA X58 E-758 )
Bios ( 2z )
CPU ( i7-960 D0 )
CPU Cooler (Nochtua)
NB Cooler (stock)
GPU Cooler ( stock)
Memory ( Dominator 1600 C8 )
PSU ( Kingwin 1220W)
GPU ( ATI 5870X2 )
Drivers ( 10.4 )
Operating System ( Windows 7 64 HP )
HDD ( M225 256GB)
Frequency Control
CPU Clock Ratio ( 23X )
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ( 175)
MCH Strap ( Auto )
CPU Uncore Frequency (2805Mhz) (16X)
CPU Clock Skew ( 0 ps )
Spread Spectrum ( Disabled )
PCIE Frequency (Mhz) ( 100 )
Memory Feature
Memory Speed ( Standard )
Memory Control Setting ( Enabled )
Memory Frequency ( 1067Mhz / 2:8 )
Channel Interleave Setting ( 6 Way )
Rank Interleave Setting ( 4 Way )
tCL Setting ( 7 )
tRCD Setting ( 7 )
tRP Setting ( 7 )
tRAS Setting ( 20 )
tRFC Setting ( 56 ) Might be a little low but leave it if you're stable. I use 58.
Command Rate ( 1t )
Voltage Control
EVGA VDroop Control ( Without VDroop )
CPU VCore ( 1.27 )
CPU VTT Voltage ( +1.75mv ) 1.37 Eleet   Lowering this can help with the Vreg temps, as long as you are stable.  
CPU PLL VCore ( 1.5 )
IOH PLL VCore ( ??? ) Dont see this on my Bios
DIMM Voltage ( 1.575 Bios )  1.63 Eleet
DIMM DQ Vref ( +0mV )
QPI PLL VCore ( 1.225 )
IOH VCore ( 1.375 ) Return this to Auto 1.1v that should help Vreg temps, Ive never had a problem with SLI 280's with leaving that at Auto
IOH/ICH I/O Voltage ( 1.625 )  Turn this back to Auto as well
VTT PWM Frequency ( ??? ) Dont see this on my Bios
CPU PWM Frequency ( 800 KHZ )
CPU Impedance (auto )
QPI Signal Compensation ( auto )
CPU Feature
Intel SpeedStep ( Disabled )
Turbo Mode Function ( Disabled )
CxE Function ( Disabled )
Execute Disable Bit ( Disabled )
Virtualization Technology ( Disabled )
Intel HT Technology ( Enabled )
Active Processor Cores ( All )
QPI Control Settings ( Enabled )
QPI Link Fast Mode ( Enabled )
QPI Frequency Selection ( 4.800 GT/s )
OC Recovery ( Enabled )
Turbo Performance ( Disabled )
PnP/PCI PCI Express
Maximum Payload Size ( 4096 )
Power Management Setup
ACPI Suspend Type ( S3 )
HPET Support ( Enabled )
HPET Mode ( 64-bit )
 
Thanks again for the great guide and let me know if it needs some tweaks

I changed a few things in red for you, everything else looks great. Good work!

I have a few questions though, IOH PLL V Core and VTT PLL V Core, I do not seem to see these in my BIOS is this a Classified thing??

Yes. Those features are only on the Classified Motherboard.

Also ACPI suspend, I take it this is for sleep mode?

Yes. S3 sleep does wonders for me. But the Computer does need to be restarted every once in a while or weird things can start happening. I love S3 Sleep because of how fast it resumes compared to booting up. About 4 seconds to be exact. compared to 30-40 seconds of booting windows.


Also take a look at my Bios voltages for Vtt and DIMM big difference between whats in BIOS and Eleet I guess this is normal?? 

Yes. Absolutely Normal. Eleet has always been a big difference from Bios for those 2 Voltages.

Yes. upping the Vcore to 1.26 was probably a good idea, since you are using "with vdroop" the vcore will be somewhere around 1.22 during load. If you were to leave it at auto, your vcore would have dropped below 1.2 and probably would have crashed @ 3.9ghz.

As for ram, it depends on how many mhz below stock. If you are 100-200 mhz below stock you can lower Vdimm to 1.63 and lower timings from 8-8-8-24 to 7-8-7-24  and it should remain stable, use Prime95Blend to test.

If your ram is only 30-70mhz underclocked then i would just lower Vdimm to 1.63 and leave the Timings alone.

Yep. No problem. Thanks

What a great guide.
 
As the name implies i never really got into overclocking, mostly because i never purchased a processor and motherboard that was good enough to do it.
 
using ur guide i got to a stable 3.8 (see attachments for pics)  the gflops in linX were stable for a 50 test and did 6 hrs of prime
 
Looking at my volts and temps it sure looks like i could get to 4.0 or higher fairly easy.  
 
I7 930 D0 chip
evga x58 sli mobo
H50 cooler
patriot viper 1333 6gb
HT is on
Turbo is on
everything else is set as you suggested
 
at 3.8 my specs are
vcore  1.287 with vdroop
VTT  +100
VDIMM 1.6 (RATED 1.65)   timings are 7 7 7 20 74  1t  the memory is coming out at like 14xx
memory is underclocked at 2:8 
x21 mult  174
Everything else is on auto
highest core temp was 62c after 30 test of Linx
 
When i push for 3.9 or 4.0 I BSOD or windows locks at any voltage over 1.3 on the vcore, ive tried from 1.3 to 1.45 using ur guide
for assistance. 
 
Mabye i should just call it a day and be happy with 3.8 but ill ask for ur guidence first.
 
**Edit**  the pics are during a LinX test again i do have vdroop on the volts i listed are what are in the bios

XXChronicXX

Yes. upping the Vcore to 1.26 was probably a good idea, since you are using "with vdroop" the vcore will be somewhere around 1.22 during load. If you were to leave it at auto, your vcore would have dropped below 1.2 and probably would have crashed @ 3.9ghz.

As for ram, it depends on how many mhz below stock. If you are 100-200 mhz below stock you can lower Vdimm to 1.63 and lower timings from 8-8-8-24 to 7-8-7-24  and it should remain stable, use Prime95Blend to test.

If your ram is only 30-70mhz underclocked then i would just lower Vdimm to 1.63 and leave the Timings alone.

If I post my bios template would you mind taking a look at it and telling me what I could possibly change.  I am content with 3850 MHz because I could care less about 4000 MHz, but I would still like to know what settings to use if I ever did get interest in running it.

Make sure you are also raising the QPI PLL. Also make sure you dont have the CPU PLL too far below stock. Usually people set it below stock which is 1.8,  I have mine at 1.5 for 3.8ghz. But i need 1.65 for 4ghz.

Make sure you run Linx 25-50 times to test your voltage and also run Prime95 for at least 10 hours to make sure you will hold stability.  I did like you the first time and only ran it for 6 hours and there were no errors, but to be on the safe side I ended up running it for 10 hours 18 minutes so that it could complete the cycle.

Well you can use 59, but a lot of people are saying they do no like 59.  Many people are running versions before 49, but I am running 51 and don't plan on flashing for a while unless something comes out that I just have to have.

In all seriousness there isn't really much reason to clock beyond 4 GHz unless you just want too for the hell of it.  My system runs stable at 4235 MHz, but I decided to down clock to 3850 and start working back up to 4025 so I can have the lowest possible voltages and temps allowed.

The only way you will get 1600 MHz from the memory is either going to be with a high over clock using a 2:8 ratio or by increasing your ratio to 2:10 or 2:12 and thus lowering your BCLK to the 3350-3600 range.  If you do that then you will get ram at 1600 other wise you will need to lower your timings which would basically compensate for the lower speeds setting.

Hey Chronic, could you take a look at my template and make some suggestions on what I can lower voltage-wise.  I have been able to run it stable at 4 GHz+ but I did not like the temps or voltage I was using so I decided to lower the speed and start from scratch.  Right now its stable at 3850 MHz and has done 70 LinX runs as well as a full Prime95 cycle in 10 hours 18 mintes with 0 errors or warnings.

I do plan on going back to 4025 MHz and then stopping, but I want the lowest possible values on my way back to 4 GHz.

Mother Board ( EVGA X58 E-758 )                                                       
Drivers ( 1025 )
Bios ( 51 )                                                                                                     
CPU ( 930 DO 3001A125 )                  
CPU Cooler ( H50 Slipstream Push/Pull )
Memory (Corsair Dominator 1600 DDR3 10600 )
PSU (Corsair HX850W )
GPU ( GTX 470 SC )
Drivers ( 197.55 )                                                                                                  
Operating System ( Windows 7 64 HP )


Frequency Control
CPU Clock Ratio ( 21x )                                                                                         
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ( 183)                                                                      
MCH Strap ( 1600 )
CPU Uncore Frequency (Mhz) ( 2933 MHz { 16X } )                                                
CPU Clock Skew ( 0 ps )
Spread Spectrum ( Disabled )
PCIE Frequency (Mhz) ( 100 )

Memory Feature        
Memory Speed ( Standard )
Memory Control Setting ( Enabled )
Memory Frequency ( 1067 MHz / 2:8 )                                                                
Channel Interleave Setting ( 6 Way )
Rank Interleave Setting ( 4 Way )
Memory Low Gap ( auto )
tCL Setting ( 7 )
tRCD Setting ( 7 )
tRP Setting ( 7 )
tRAS Setting ( 20 )
tRFC Setting ( 59 )
Command Rate ( 1t )


Voltage Control
EVGA VDroop Control ( Without VDroop )
CPU VCore ( 1.23125 )                                                                                                
CPU VTT Voltage ( +100 )
CPU PLL VCore ( Auto (1.800v) )
DIMM Voltage ( 1.65 )
DIMM DQ Vref ( +0mV )
QPI PLL VCore ( Auto (1.100v) )
IOH VCore ( Auto )  
IOH/ICH I/O Voltage ( Auto )
PWM Frequency ( 800 KHz )
ICH VCore ( Auto )



CPU Feature
Intel SpeedStep ( Disabled )
Turbo Mode Function ( Disabled )
CxE Function ( Disabled )
Execute Disable Bit ( Disabled )
Virtualization Technology ( Disabled )
Intel HT Technology ( Enabled )
Active Processor Cores ( All )
QPI Control Settings ( Enabled )
QPI Link Fast Mode ( Enabled )
QPI Frequency Selection ( Auto )
OC Recovery ( Disabled )

PnP/PCI PCI Express
Maximum Payload Size ( 4096 )

Power Management Setup
ACHI Suspend Type ( S3 )
HPET Support ( Enabled )
HPET Mode ( 64-bit )