X7200 with SLI GTX 680m - how it works, Impressions, Benches

Cool! So which BIOS did you update to?
@Tirenz, did you use Intel XTU for overclocking the CPU? Or are you running the modded BIOS and did it there? Which voltages etc?
Also, if I want to oc my RAM (it's only running at 1066 Mhz due to cpu limitation), how should I do it best?

Thx in advance

 

Very impressive, glad to see everything works, really sets things in perspective. That 980 is sure strong as hell.

 

I know, the first intel consumer 6 core CPU was certainly a beast.

 

Ghz-Run
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-980 Processor,CLEVO CO. X7200 score: P7680 3DMarks

24/7 OC:
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-980 Processor,CLEVO CO. X7200 score: P7176 3DMarks

Btw, I did a Cinebench run, here is the result (HT on): 8,42 Points... it was 8,62 few months ago


Anyway, can someone with a 980 or 970 please download & run Cinebench ? Cinebench - Download - CHIP Online

 

Ah, well one problem is you are only running 2 channels when your CPU supports 3, you need a 3rd stick of ram to access all of your bandwidth.

IIRC you asked about memory speed being low earlier as well, it may be a combined 33% of your bandwidth plus lower clocked ram is leading to your performance difference.

 

Ah I see, so what should I do?

Simply add a 3rd RAM stick? Got 2x 8GB 1600mhz installed, and I have 2x 4GB 1333 sticks lying around. It wouldn't be a good idea to mix them right?
If I order &install a third 8GB stick, would it increase my performance significantly?

Also, most importantly, is my CPU underperforming?

 

Without having the full bandwidth it would be hard to tell.

What speed is your ram running at the moment?

 

According to CPU-Z Dual Channel 533 Mhz = 1066 Mhz...

 

Well this explains everything, you need to see if you can modify the memory clocks in the bios (does your model have an unlocked version?) you are currently starved for bandwidth, at the moment you may as well add in one more stick.

 

Well the stock BIOS is locked, but there are mods for unlocking everything: Clevo x7200 / Sager NP7280 BIOS MODS With Unlocked Overclocking Options
Never tried it though. Do you think going from dual to triple channel brings a noticeable performance boost?

 

You are only running about 53% of the bandwidth your CPU was designed for (1066mhz ram instead of 1333mhz, 2 channels instead of 3).

 

Wow, never thought the amount of RAM sticks had such a huge impact on the CPU performance

 

You should always get as many memory sticks as you have channels at least. Memory performance affects overall performance up to a point, by missing a stick and running at low speeds you have given yourself a twofold hit which will be causing your problems in highly threaded situations (2 channel 1066mhz DDR3 ram can't feed 6 core i series cores).

 

Alright, I am in the market for a third stick then Also thanks for your help, very much appreciated!

I had my upgrade done by MySN, they installed 8GB Corsair Vengeance SO-DIMM 1600Mhz sticks, thats all I know. I contacted them for a third stick, but likely I can get it cheaper from a local shop or amazon... Thing is, I'm not sure which Corsair ram they used, since the ones I find on amazon seem kinda big, i.e. Corsair Vengeance Arbeitsspeicher DDR3-RAM Kit: Amazon.de: Computer & Zubehör

 

You need SODIMMs, I found this single stick but its only 4GB:

http://www.amazon.de/Corsair-Vengea...21?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1355708972&sr=1-21

If you put that in you would have 12GB of triple channel and 8GB dual channel.

 

there u go sirana:

Corsair Vengeance SO-DIMM 204-polig DDR3 1600MHz CL10 8GB (CMSX8GX3M1A1600C10) Preisvergleich - Preise bei PreisTrend.de

cheers

 

Lol dat RAM speed

 

Thanks, you two
Let's see about the performance increase!

 

Thanks Tirenz.

Am using the 80.04.67.00.01 vbios, It gives me no throttling in games and I running my cards 24/7 on 900/2400 or 950/2200.
I could allways push it to 980-1000 in 3dmark but it wouldnt be stable.

3d mark 11: cpu (3,866 Ghz) and gpu oc (950/2200 mhz) 24/7 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-990X Processor,EUROCOM Panther 3.0 score: P12377 3DMarks

If overclocking ram I would recommend setfsb. If you increase fsb in xtu and it fails, you may need to open your computer and reset motherboard by removing bios battery,
cus xtu store the settings in the bios. You also need to lower your cpu multiplier or it may be unstable since you also overclocking your cpu by increasing fsb.

 

Well, if I may bring in my humble opinion, then I absolutely agree with meaker! I "only" feed my Clevo with 3 x 4GB 1600Mhz and the result is obvious:



But it is a pity to see that this monster CPU only go conform with 1066Mhz frequency....

 

Another question I would like to know answered:

The Clevo X7200 comes with a 330W brick. So if you put in e.g. two GTX 675/680m and an Extreme Core Processor i7 970 or higher, then you already have reached your maximum power consumption point of 330W. But as you guys overclock all your parts frequently, how do you manage power consumption without loosing performance like e.g. "TurboBoost" and other features?

I face the "problem" that my proc in this configuration never exceed 3,46Ghz in TurboBoost-Mode....

 

Because 3.46ghz is your maximum 3-6 core turbo speed, you only get 3.6ghz with one or two cores active.

 

I felt that way too, so I ordered a third stick from MySN, will arrive sometime after christmas

 

I believe it's done to save power, most sticks at the time were higher voltage and with the triple channel it could help make up for a lower speed (1066x3 channels = 1600x2 channels) but really with 6 cores running 12 threads 1333x3 = 1000x2 which seems like a much nicer amount of bandwidth.

I'll be feeding my 3940xm with 2x2166mhz which is in the middle of 3x1333 and 3x1600.

 

Oh.
Ok, so I have the same problem as Sirana - got 2x 8GB RAM... but only because one RAM slot is faulty as written earlier, so I can´t do anything about it.
Regarding the Benches, when I compare with my CPU when I had 3 slots working, only the 3DMark11 physics score is a little bit lower - Vantage and 06 is about the same.
So I think I have to live with that 2 slots - and of course it´s not great, but I think it doesn´t matter THAT much. Since I do a lot of gaming, more than other on that machine, it should be fine.
And so far I never had any problems regarding the SLI Hack. Everything I throw at it just runs fine .

 

Well if you can only have two sticks t4y and get the speed up as much as you can =)

 

Hi Tirenz,

how do we get the latest SLI Hack for the latest drivers? Do we have to ask the russian guy for it?

 

I suppose his nickname was/is anatolymik, right?

 

quick question. did anyone get a change to run any benchmarks with the sli 675m yet? high ones. i wanted to show a friend of mine something.

 

Hi,

here we go:
Index of /DifferentSLI

The link is in the first post of this thread, too, I updated it a little bit.

 

Look at this post from this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...works-impressions-benches-14.html#post8990934

BTW, you did a more than crazy overclock with your 680m´s... I wonder how did you do that? Mine won´t go over 920-930 MHz... No matter what vBios I use... of course it just can be that I just have at least one card that ain´t a "great overlocker", but that was the case with my GTX 485m´s, too, and with my 6970m´s before, too... and so on . So maybe there is something I don´t consider?

 

Thanks!
Give me a few hours and if your on, i can work with you to figure it out. i really want to see the x7200 shine just like any other brand. down to when i had a 9262 and dual 9800m gtx's in it.
Here is a single and dual...

 

It´s really unbelievable... You´ve got nearly as much GPU points with ONE 680m as I with SLI on stock...
And your CPU overclocks like crazy, too... 4,7 GHz...!!!
I don´t know how much the GPU score in Vantage is influenced by the CPU clock...?
With your 4,7 GHz you got a little more CPU points than my i7 970 overclocked to 3,9 GHz...

Really would be nice to work something up if it´s possible... I will be online in about 10 hours, now it´s "sleeping" time here in Germany and I will go to bed in an hour or so .

 

Nice scores indeed, damn I need to go ahead and get my unlocked vBIOS already, tired of that 135MHz limit

 

I have been playing around with the same core speeds, I just need to get the Vbios right along with getting a nice CPU/ref clock setting to start scoring properly. A prototype run here:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3940XM CPU @ 3.00GHz, MS-16F3 score: P8299 3DMarks

 

Yeah, that memory is already over clocked too high...but that's just my opinion...

 

They are all different, I have done some preliminary testing and I do seem to be getting performance increases up to that point.

 

exactly why i said it was an opinion... every one has their way of doing things.
Sure you get "some" in crease from memory, but no where near as much if the core is increased.

 

You get the best if you can increase both of course

The memory is not in danger after all, it's undervolted as it is.

 

You're a better man than i. no way im running memory that high. and undervolting was to compensate, but since throttling is gone now. no need to undervolt anymore..

But on another note...How does the 3940 xm fair in your new laptop?

 

Well I have no voltage control so I am limited to default, but preliminary results seem to put it between 4.3-4.4ghz.

The ram on the GTX680M is runnin at 1.35V mode which is why it only reaches 1.2-1.3ghz, it's rated up to 1.5v so its undervolted if you want it to be or not, so no chance of causing it damage IMO.

 

Was the 3940XM in the MS16F3 reaching 90C+ when running 3DMark11 by the way?

 

Really? point me to that exact link. Would like to read the data sheet on it for curiosity sake's.

But if you say that helps you, then i'm not going to knock that. I can only go off my own experiences with these cards and what they can really do under the current limitations we have for mobile gpus.


Wow, that's actually pretty good, considering the M18X is set to 97 Amps. And that is only good up to 3.9 ghz on 4/8 cores. What are the Amps set to on the MSI? Maybe Alienware needs to take it's lead from there.

 

130 default IIRC, it's limited by voltage rather than throttle issues.

You can check the ram codes, they are rated for 900mhz at lower voltage, the 680MX is able to clock it's memory higher because it uses the same chips at standard voltage.

Also the temperatures are higher than normal but I have made the fan profile more aggressive to compensate.

 

Just curious, how aggressive.

Also the 680MX is in a different league... would be nice for a real benchmarker to get it's hands on the 680MX, tired of all those iMac'ers

 

It's not in a different league, that's like saying the GTX680 is in a different league to the GTX670 when they are only a few % apart.

I hit maximum fan speed at 85C.

 

I've never heard or seen a GPU with a 122W consumption.. no idea why nVIDIA did this, what really makes me say it's in a different league, I can imagine some pretty high OC's on it

oh ok, I might consider doing that too, mine is at 90

 

122w is mostly due to the fully clocked higher voltage gddr5.

 

Thx Meaker, seems like going Triple Channel fixed my CPU issues!
3dmark11 @ 4050 Mhz, my GPU 915/2200: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-980 Processor,CLEVO CO. X7200 score: P7107 3DMarks

 

Out of curiosity: why did you need some specs for the GTX 675M SLI? I would like to post some benches in oc mode but as I never did this before, I am a little chicken trying that!