I can't figure out where the Offset and Adaptive setting for my BIOS is. Where can I find it?

CreedForce

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I have an i5-4690K with a Gigabyte GA-Z97M-D3H.
When I open the BIOS, I have a smart tweak and a classic mode setting. Doesn't matter where I go, in the vcore setting I can only change to Auto, Normal, or Manual. There is not Offset or Adaptive. Also, when I set it to Normal, an otherwise unusable and grey Offset Tab becomes available and I can decide the Max/Min Voltage. I want this to happen with me deciding upper limit and the other tab deciding lower but the Offset tab can only be used with the Normal Setting. When I set the voltage myself, it does not decrease when the computer is Idle. I overclocked to 3,9 GHz with a Vcore of 1.100. I ran prime95 for 12 hrs and the highest temp recorded was 70*C.

Another thing, can my PSU handle all this overclocking? I have a VS650 with a Zotac GTX 970 and 8GB of Corsair Vengeance RAM. Please Help.
 
Solution
Actually, it seems there are three modes in that BIOS. Classic, ST mode and Startup guide (Easy mode). Classic mode is where you want to be, as you know.

I'm uncertain about the offset settings as the manual does not indicate WHAT options are available under the advanced voltage settings menu, just that it's there. As far as the the voltage decreasing when the system is idle, that's not generally behavior you want with a manual overclock, but if you want the system in control of that you probably need to enable Active State Power Management.

Check your EIST setting. This is the Intel speed step function and allows the system to lower and raise voltage and frequency based on load. This is likely either set on disabled or auto, you may...
You need to change to the advanced mode. You are in the basic or EZ mode.

That PSU is a Tier 3 unit, and not a great one either. It's not meant for either overclocking or high end GPUs as seen here on the Tier list:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html


You want a Tier 2b or higher unit for overclocking or for use with a high end card like the 970. A good 650w Tier 2B or higher unit is plenty for your purposes so long as you don't plan to add a second card later. If you do, you want a good 850w PSU for SLI plus overclocking.
 
Actually, it seems there are three modes in that BIOS. Classic, ST mode and Startup guide (Easy mode). Classic mode is where you want to be, as you know.

I'm uncertain about the offset settings as the manual does not indicate WHAT options are available under the advanced voltage settings menu, just that it's there. As far as the the voltage decreasing when the system is idle, that's not generally behavior you want with a manual overclock, but if you want the system in control of that you probably need to enable Active State Power Management.

Check your EIST setting. This is the Intel speed step function and allows the system to lower and raise voltage and frequency based on load. This is likely either set on disabled or auto, you may need to set it to enabled. Again, the manual doesn't indicate what settings are available, just that some are. Very unhelpful manual, unlike most modern boards with detailed information in their manuals. Sorry I can't be much more help as I've not used this exact board myself in any builds and the manual doesn't give me much information to assist you.

You might also want to check to see that you have the latest BIOS and if not, do so manually.
 
Solution

CreedForce

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I do have the latest BIOS, I updated a few hours back. I seem to be able to overclock at a constant Vcore of 1.1 to 3.9 GHz and the highest temperature I recorded with a Prime95 blend test was 71*C. I'll check my EIST setting and I'll also try and enable active state power management. Other than that, if you recommend leaving the voltage at whatever setting and letting it stay constant without having it drop when the computer is idle, I'll do that. Is a Vcore of 1.12 good alright if I want to run my CPU at 4.0 GHz?
PS-
Yes, the manual I received was crappier than a Chinese guide on cleaning you air conditioning.
 
Here's what to do on that. At whatever multiplier you are at, starting with base clock and gradually moving up, boot. If you can POST and boot windows, good. Then run Prime95 version 26.6. Not another version, that one.

http://windows-downloads-center.blogspot.com/2011/04/prime95-266.html

I can get into why you want to run that one versus other versions, but suffice to say that the powers that be have all agreed that the code and specifications in that version are better suited for temperature and stress testing than other, even newer, versions. Prime isn't actually designed for what we use it for. It's for finding prime meridian numbers and version 26.6 happens to be most suitable for CPU stress.

When you run Prime, don't run blend. Run small FFT's. Again, there is a good reason for this and I'd be happy to point you to the reasons if you need further explanations.

If you can run Prime on small FFT's for ten minutes without exceeding your thermal specifications or having the cores throttled, and for a half hour without an error causing Prime to error out or stop workers, then go back into the bios and increase the multiplier again.

If not, go back into the BIOS and bump the voltage up a notch. Repeat the above process to see if you can now pass testing without errors or thermal failure. Once you reach your desired overclock and it seems stable, back the voltage off a notch and run Prime for 15-24 hrs to verify actual stability. Anything less than 15 hrs means nothing and I've seen rigs error out at 20 hrs on an OC I thought was stable. If it does, bump the voltage back up a notch and retest until it passes stress without core throttling, errors, stopping workers or thermal failure.

I'd also recommend using HWinfo or Core Temp to monitor things as you go. HWinfo is great because I've found it to be a bit more accurate than some of the other monitors when it comes to system voltages and temps, and you can see core load and temperatures at the same time, in real time.
 


I have that AC manual, it's better than what Gigabyte provided with this board. Which is surprising as they are generally quite good about detailed information. But it's not a high end or "gaming" board either, it's a mid-range board for budget oriented gamers, so I guess that's how it goes.
 

CreedForce

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Thanks, I'll do that. I managed to enable EIST. Do you think I should set the voltage to whatever it comes to after finding a stable OC and leave EIST on, or switch it off?
 
That's up to you, personally I think it's better off. Considering that we increase load line calibration settings to allow the system to maintain a higher voltage response when the system load peaks suddenly or rapidly, it doesn't really make sense to defeat that on an overclock by going the other direction.

Now, for a system using the Turbo boost feature, with stock settings, it's probably ok.