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Overclocking Area 51 r4 i9-7980XE
Does anyone here know how to overclock the Area 51 R4 i9-7980XE?
There is absolutely no instruction in the manual.
This cpu needs to be overclocked to work correctly it seems!
I tried increasing the cpu clock ratio and it does absolutely nothing.
I already set core voltage to 1200mV cause without this, the computer will constantly went in BSOD.
Any clue will be greatly appreciated.
Cass-Ole
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Posted November 25th, 2017 13:00
- His Name is Gladiator -
My good friend @MrFox just posted a short tutorial for Asus Maximus Decimus Meridius
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du1yBsIaCW8
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I've found along the way that the gamers & overclockers reside on AlienArena while others frequent here for Tech Support, with little overlap the past few years. You may not find many of your peers here, & if not, then information in the archive may be slim if using the search box results for past posts. You're welcome to input the word 'Area 51 overclocking' (or 'OC') or similar into the search box to see what's in the record here
Google Arena Search > https://www.google.com/search?ei=ssQZWoKXGYKvggfOxbKIAw&q=Alienware+Arena+overclocking+area+51+r2&oq=Alienware+Arena+overclocking+area+51+r2&gs_l=psy-ab.3...1280019.1291108.0.1291394.43.41.2.0.0.0.103.3068.39j1.40.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..1.36.2737...0j0i67k1j0i131k1j0i131i67k1j0i10k1j0i22i30k1j33i160k1j33i21k1.0.BpIv0FiTz9w
Granular Control or Lack-There-Of > most of the good stuff is probably missing from your UEFI Bios settings to prevent you from voiding the warranty, the recommendation is Load OC Level 1 or 2 (3 / 4 when available); those 'Factory Pre-Sets' (set-it-&-forget-it) are accessed in the Bios or CmndCntr OC interface. The closest thing to an official guide that I'm aware of is a vid from AlienTube > Alienware Area-51 R2: Factory Overclock Settings > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGUxC7_22hc > and this KB Alienware overclocking > http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/sln297032/alienware-overclocking?lang=en
Obviously Dell Alienware (collectively Dellware) is in no mood to produce a Granular-Level Guide beyond the OC Lvl 1/2 fluff. Someone else might reply to your post here with better info than I give (I set it / forget it), until then, since the R3 & R4 are new, we might not get many results for online searches, & so defer to a Google / Youtube search that resembles: 'overclocking Area-51 R2', the idea being that the R2 / R3 / R4 UEFI Bios may be similar in many respects, if so, what worked in the past for x99 owners may apply within reason to x299 owners > here is a sample result
Because the HJ5Y7 MS-7A87 motherboard is a custom MSI product, it will have a custom MSI UEFI Bios which makes it reasonable to include MSI results in your search like here for 'msi x299 overclocking guide'
It is also reasonable to frequent the MSI forum(s) in order to see & ask what others are doing in order to overclock the SKL-X i9 lineup, useful tips might be found there in fact. 'MSI x299 overclocking' can form the basis of a Youtube search (so could MSI x99)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nI6UO5Ll4o
Above, a foreign language vid which you can mute but also observe the Bios with; 4.3GHz on 7900x is achieved by increasing the multiplier to 43 (note the CPU Base Clock is 100.00 > 100MHz x 43 = 4300MHz / 4.3GHz). I did not watch past this point to see if the VCore was set higher later on, we might expect it was (faster CPU setting means a need to increase voltage). Multiplier & core voltage form the two basic manual changes, from there you go into finer granular control over the multitude of settings, a deep dive
Intel XTU + OC > Some R2 owners tried the Intel XTU software for overclocking, perhaps found in search results
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Proper Cooling
("you'll never overheat" because we took away your granular controls, & any prohibited multipliers you've input willn't survive a reboot)
Since overclocking will generate heat, I do wonder if they put the basic 27mm (140watt TDP Haswell-E era) radiator paired to your 160watt TDP ~$2500 CPU (Pay ~$390 for 7800, add $2100 for 7980)? Or did you get the 48mm R3 TRipper model instead, part# TFGHM or HR6V4? If not, you may be able to purchase one. Neverminding what the Aliens say, 48mm is not 'the biggest there is'. If things get hot in there you can consider a move to a retail aftermarket 38mm wide or 49mm wide Corsair 80i V2 type to combat heat. Last, if the lower right case-wall fan holder is empty (the 'mid-fan'), consider placing one there (& test if it is better blowing in cool or blowing out warm relative to CPU / GPU temp)
On a day like today, your fastest answers might be found by doing a search of MSI 7980XE overclocking (7960 7940 7920 also) (MSI x299 overclocking) & listen in to what reviewers, overclockers & MSI forum members are doing with their boards > you might then tweak any settings you have which they have, or at least come to understand what the settings are there for & what they do. 'Older' but perhaps closely related answers might be found with Area 51 R2 searches (depending on what changes exist between R2 & R4 UEFI options) then wait for other member input here or on Arena if u post there
*Tip: of concern to most overclockers is VCore, what is the max to set it at? How much is too much? Because no two chips are the same, one chip might do X GHz @ 1.35V while another may need 1.45V for same speed. Asking around what the 'safest' VCore is, will be asked and answered alot. For instance, you might like to know about what range a 7980 needs to be set at to achieve 4.1 4.2 4.3+, where you might find (or might not) that the 1.2V you set recently, is conservative and needs to go up to 1.3 -or- is just right -or- needs to come down before you flirt w/danger. If the MSI 4.3GHz crowd is setting theirs at say 1.3V, you may slowly inch your way up. If they say not to go past 1.35V, then be mindful of that figure ... or, don;t set to 1.32v if u can get away with 1.31, less volts = less heat, where overclocking is about fine tuning the settings using lots of time and testing to Goldilox the chip/board/temps
Here, Jay describes (non-MSI) scenarios between 1.2 - 1.32V in attempts to hit stable 4.5 - 4.7GHz+ whilst keeping an eye on CPU core temps > Can the 7980XE hit 5GHZ without LN2? > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ1M3Gubbi8
good luck
der8auer has a 20minute say on the MSI x299 Xpower + 7920, a different chip, but with looks into the similar Bios settings > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSUT_Qal2xs
This is an interim post you can use until the right person chimes in to strike up a better more hands-on conversation than I did; CommandCenter has its own Overclocking App you can try out, but your desktop is new & it may take some time to find your compadres who you can share notes with, help & learn from each other > when u get it figured out in the coming weeks, pass on what u learned