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Maximus IV GENE-Z BIOS Guide - Overclocking

Raja
Level 13
The Maximus IV Gene-Z is the smaller sibling to the flagship Maximus IV Extreme and Maximus IV Extreme-Z motherboards. Many of the overclocking features found on the bigger siblings make their way onto the Gene-Z.



We’ve also managed to provide you with a 250 amp capable VRM on the Gene-Z to supply CPU Vcore. That means the Gene-Z should be capable of keeping up with its full sized ATX counterparts when it comes to processor overclocking!


We’re going to walk you through key BIOS overclocking features and break down their usage, to help you get the most from this exciting little motherboard.


Upon entering UEFI BIOS, we navigate to the AI Tweaker menu:

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CPU Level Up: Allows us to select a pre-set profile that contains voltage and bus adjustments to apply a mild overclock to the system. Use this setting if you do not wish to overclock the system manually.

Load Extreme OC Profile: For extreme overclocking only. Contains a pre-set that sets all processor and system current thresholds to maximum – in order to facilitate quick setup when overclocking the processor under sub-zero cooling.


Ai Overclock Tuner: Options are Auto, Manual and X.M.P.


Auto: This is the default setting, and needs to be changed to Manual if you wish to change BCLK (BCLK is the base reference frequency from which processor and other system bus frequencies are derived).


X.M.P: Extreme memory profile, use this option if you have Sandy Bridge qualified XMP memory. X.M.P. profiles contain pre-sets for system buses and in some cases voltages. If the specified speed of the DIMMs is greater than the supported memory frequency of the platform, a platform specific X.M.P. profile option becomes mandatory because processor core and memory controller voltage requirements vary from architecture to architecture. High-speed enthusiast memory kits manufactured before the inception of the Sandybridge platform may not contain the necessary/adequate voltage offset settings for the system to be completely stable. In such instances, manual adjustments of memory controller voltage and memory timings may be necessary.


Selecting the X.M.P setting opens up options for X.M.P profile selection (the kit may contain more than one X.M.P profile), and also opens up the BCLK option for changing system bus frequency. Note that memory operating frequency and maximum CPU operating frequency are shown towards the top of the Ai Tweaker menu, while memory timings and voltage are displayed next to the XMP profile selection box.




BCLK/PCIe Frequency: This function becomes available if X.M.P or Ai Overclock Tuner “Manual” are selected. The base BCLK frequency is 100MHz. As the name implies, changing the BCLK frequency will also change PCIe frequency. The maximum CPU core frequency is derived via multiplication with the Turbo Ratio setting (final frequency is displayed at the top-left of the Ai Tweaker menu).


Bear in mind that the adjustment margin for this setting is not large - most processors have a range from 95~107 MHz. Changes to BCLK and stable operation of high memory frequencies (DDR3-2133+ for example) may benefit from manipulation of clock skew settings (more on that subject later in the guide).



Turbo Ratio: Options are “Auto”, “By All Cores” and “By Per Core”. A description of these settings is provided in the right-hand column of the UEFI BIOS and can be seen when the Turbo Ratio setting is selected.



By All Cores: This sets the CPU core frequency multiplier; multiplied by BCLK to give the target CPU frequency (under full load conditions if SpeedStep is active). “Auto”: Stock CPU multiplier Ratio used. Manual numerical entry of the desired Turbo Ratio is accepted.

Per Core
: Allows setting the maximum Turbo multiplier of each physical processor core.
The available multiplier range is limited by both processor model and the ability of each CPU.



Internal PLL Overvoltage:
Options are “Auto”, “Disabled” and “Enabled”. A manual setting of “Disabled” is recommended within the bounds of moderate overclocking. Using Core frequency multipliers in excess of 45X may need a setting of “Enabled”. The requirements of the “Enabled” setting will vary from processor to processor. The unfortunate side-effect is that resume from S3 sleep states is not possible when Internal PLL Overvoltage is set to “Enabled” - this is a hardware limitation, and only fixable by Intel.




Memory Frequency: “
Autowill automatically select a memory multiplier ratio according to memory module SPD (Serial Presence Detect). Manual selection of the available memory frequency multiplier ratios is possible and works according to the abilities of the DRAM and processor. Granular control of memory frequency is available by manipulating BCLK (within functional limits).




Memory Bandwidth Booster
: Uses a tighter set of memory timings for benchmarking purposes. Use only with enthusiast oriented memory kits. Keep disabled when using 4GB DIMMs or when gunning for maximum memory frequency.


iGPU Max Frequency: Sets the maximum iGPU frequency in 50MHz steps (implied).





EPU Power Saving Mode
: When “Enabled” is selected, utilizes power phase management based upon system loading to reduce system power consumption. A setting of “Disabled” is recommended for heavy overclocking.
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104 REPLIES 104

Spathi wrote:
I suspect 1.35 will be fine for 10 years. I suspect Intel would say the limit is 1.38, but they have not as yet put this on the webpage. The smaller chips get the more the old rules of thumb go out the window, as these chips are designed to deteriorate over time depending on if you thrash it with a database or not.

As Raja said 1.4 or below is probably OK, but it is up to you. Some people had complete failures at 1.35 and 1.38, but they probably had other bad settings or unlucky chips.

once you go past 1.38V (or whatever it is) you are probably playing with Intels design half life. A certain increase will halve the life of the CPU, so if you care you really want to know what that increase is. People increasing to absolutely what works might be playing with fire or it might be fine depending on how they load it, hard to know who to believe ;oP. If someone has a huge OC though and it fails in a few weeks or a few months, they could then if they were lucky maybe reduce the OC and volts and it might then take twice as long to fail again... eventually they will degrade the CPU and OC to where it has a half life of more than two years and they will call it stable.

Internal PLL overvoltage it lets cores get up past 4.8 more easily (apparently), turn it off and don't worry about it. A PLL is a thing that stabilizes the clock signal from the bus and synchronizes it. I don't get why people say it needs to go higher, but it might have something to do with making the bus signal clearer in the CPU by amplifying the signal.

VccIO depends on your Memory Voltage and what works for your memory and CPUIO. VccIO relates to memory it has no effect on overclocking the actual cores I think.
1.5V ram 1.05 VccIO (or more may be needed for overclocked memory)
1.65V ram 1.15 VccIO (or more may be needed for overclocked memory)
1.25V ram 0.971-1.2 I tested as OK, but 1.05 or below would be it.

It really depends on the memory modules you have and may not even matter. There is a thingie in the CPU IO that sinks unneeded volts from the memory and that is specced at 0.5V.. So you would not want to run VccIO as 1.05 for 1.65V Ram.. but I might be wrong


cool thanks... there are much settings i need to learn 🙂 i was just a little bit afraid for running it like that (i know other people do that but they probably dont understant or care about what happens to the CPU). i sold my Q6600 that was overclocked at 3.6 on air for 2 years and the CPU was still fine to use and overclock, so i hope i can do the same with this one when the time comes.

by the way, i was surprised to see that the raid 0 i used to have on Gigabyte X38-DQ6 with my Q6600, was still working on my new rig i5-2500k with ASUS Maximus IV Gene-Z and i booted windows normaly 😄 can u explain why? are the NB chips backwards compatible?

p.s your name means Sword in Greek 😛

Spathi
Level 9
Interesting to hear about the RAID working, RST is a firmware software raid so must be easier for Intel to keep it compatible across platforms.
I was wondering when I read this the other day.
It is a firmware RAID system, rather than hardware RAID or software RAID
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Rapid_Storage_Technology

Yeah it has been my online gamer tag since 1996 (yes there were mmo's back then!), too slow to grab in steam and on PS3 though. Spathi is a creature from StarCon, but someone said it means sword once so I though it was even cooler after that, lol.

hellwalker
Level 7
hello guys,

i'm in the middle of searching the best voltage for my 2500k @ 4.5Ghz, then i suddenly realize that my multiplier stuck on 45 even on light load. i've checked the speedstep, and it's on. maybe i've done something wrong?

Raja
Level 13
Set Vcore phase control to standard or optimized. Windows will also need to be set to the balanced profile power defaults for multiplier step down. If you want Vcore to step down then you will need to enable C1E and use Offset Mode for Vcore.

-Raja

hellwalker
Level 7
@ Raja@ASUS :

yep it's working now! 🙂 enabled c1e and offset vcore (following your tips on offset vcore oc). i've been running prime95 blend test for 2 hours now 🙂
thank you!

Retired
Not applicable
Hey guys, 1st time here, and thanks for this great guide. I've been trying to overclock an Intel i5 2500k and 2x4 Corsair Vengence 1600 mhz. I tried the Windows auto overclock to 4.3ghz and extreme 4.5ghz but those failed. I went to set Bios to 4.2ghz and changed the Ram to 1600 mhz. That seemed to work though my temps jumped from average high 57'c to 72'c on some cores. I have a Cooler Master Hyper 12 Plus with Artic Cooling MX-4 paste. Idle temps are 35'c average using Core Temp. I don't know which temperature reading is accurate as Core Temp, Asus Probe, Bios, etc show different. I am aiming at 4.5ghz if I can, but will need help getting there as I am not too familiar with this board and\or CPU\Memory combo.

What is the normal temp range we should aim for on air cooling?

dja2k

dja2k wrote:
Hey guys, 1st time here, and thanks for this great guide. I've been trying to overclock an Intel i5 2500k and 2x4 Corsair Vengence 1600 mhz. I tried the Windows auto overclock to 4.3ghz and extreme 4.5ghz but those failed. I went to set Bios to 4.2ghz and changed the Ram to 1600 mhz. That seemed to work though my temps jumped from average high 57'c to 72'c on some cores. I have a Cooler Master Hyper 12 Plus with Artic Cooling MX-4 paste. Idle temps are 35'c average using Core Temp. I don't know which temperature reading is accurate as Core Temp, Asus Probe, Bios, etc show different. I am aiming at 4.5ghz if I can, but will need help getting there as I am not too familiar with this board and\or CPU\Memory combo.

What is the normal temp range we should aim for on air cooling?

dja2k


my maximum at 4.5ghz is at 65c on 3rd core with a prolimatech megashadow (while running intelburntest avx)

if anyone is watching, how can we monitor the actual voltage ?? i mean i've set my vcore at 1.30, and LLC at High, my system is stable at 4.5ghz, but how can i see the actual voltage?

when running intelburntest i can see vid in core temp go up till 1.411, does that mean its actually running at 1.411v at that time ? i'm a bit worried about the LLC voltage spikes if any.

is there any other software to monitor it better? thanks

Raja
Level 13
If you really want a more accurate reading then it's best to buy a DMM and use the onboard measuring points. To limit overshoot, use a lower LLC setting.

Raja@ASUS wrote:
If you really want a more accurate reading then it's best to buy a DMM and use the onboard measuring points. To limit overshoot, use a lower LLC setting.


so could i have set 1.3v for core voltage and LLC will push voltage over 1.5?? so theres absolutely no way to know what voltage is going into the cpu except if u get a DMM right? or LLC has actual limits?
i'm asking because in hwmonitor or aida i can see max vcore at 1.3v but i think theres much more voltage being put into the cpu...