Couple questions

[Diamondback]

Hi, guys. Noob signing in, with a couple questions...

 

First, my rig's a from-the-box Clevo P370SM laptop, which sometimes is and sometimes is not used with a Cooler Master NotePal X3 laptop cooling pad. How do I label my cooling in this case? Do I still get to claim stock since there's been no modification to the system and I'm just using plug-and-play USB accessories, or do I need to report the X3 even when I'm not using it, or only when I am?

 

Second... comparing the profiles that outscore me on the same system and CPU (i7-4700MQ) I notice that they all have the following changes made that I don't:

 

Core Voltage: mine Default V, theirs 0 V

Processor Cache Voltage: mine Default V, theirs 0 V

Processor Input Voltage: mine Default V, theirs 0 V

Processor Current Limit: mine 72.000 A, theirs 71.125 A

 

So, this has a few component subquestions... I thought "0V" meant NO power applied, and XTU doesn't seem to want to let me select anything below .001V. What's up here? Also, I have a higher Processor Current Limit set... how does this affect the OC ratings? I've got the system reporting my max Turbo speed as 3.6GHz, but the highest I've hit on benchmarking is 3.5 (granted, I also have Firefox and Thunderbird open while benchmarking).

 

Please, go easy on me, I'm a virgin at this stuff. LOL (Seriously, the extent of my overclocking experience is the old nVidia Coolbits and "auto-detect optimal overclock" in that.)

[ObscureParadox]

Stock cooling is fine but it wouldnt have made much of a difference really since its ambient cooling all the same

 

The 0V business I assume is just XTU being unable to detect the voltage of the CPU so it's just reporting it at 0. More volts = more MHz as long as it is kept cool enough. The extra power limit is better since you will use more power when your CPU is overclocked so a higher limit is always better

 

You might want to turn off firefox and thunderbird + any other program yiu might have running at that time to get the absolute best scores possible. Every little helps

[Diamondback]

Thanks, makes sense... ATM I'm running 16GB of "cheap stuff" RAM, and dual GTX 765M's with SLI disabled. Think turning SLI on and upgrading to 32GB of name-brand (thinking Corsair Vengeance since that's what my OEM uses) will help too?

 

Here's the scary part... with SLI engaged and fresh off a reboot, my score DROPPED from 712 to 703... and I started straight-from-box at stock clocks with a 708.

Edited March 13, 2014 by Diamondback

[Diamondback]

Here's another funny thing... every time I re-benchmark, even if I haven't changed anything, no matter what I do my score seems to get WORSE. Add to that that it won't let me keep the 3.6GHz overclock some are posting with identical machines and goes back to Default every boot...

[ObscureParadox]

It might be that your laptop is getting too hot and throttling your speeds a little which is giving you a worse score. In XTU the graphics card doesn't make a difference since it's a CPU test. Also why do you need 32GB of ram? 16GB should be plenty and there is no point throwing your money away.

[Diamondback]

OP, I've even tried in an unheated room on a cold night with fans forced to "maximum". Re 32GB, it's not an immediate move, but something I'm planning as demands grow... I've got 4 4GB modules, 2 of which are difficult to access under the keyboard, so I figure I'll replace those with 8's first if I find a killer deal on RAM.

 

Frankly, I don't think I've even had this thing up to HALF what it's capable of... but it looks like it's taking the overclock now.