Intel® Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide Revision 1.
Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide WARNING Altering clock frequency and/or voltage may (i) reduce system stability and useful life of the system and processor; (ii) cause the processor and other system components to fail; (iii) cause reductions in system performance; (iv) cause additional heat or other damage; and (v) affect system data integrity. Intel has not tested and does not warranty the operation of the processor beyond its specifications.
Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide Contents 1 Introduction 2 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ Processor Family and Intel® H67 Express Chipset General Concepts 2.1 Architecture...................................................................................... 7 3 Intel® Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Using BIOS Setup 3.1 Hardware Considerations for Performance Tuning .................................. 9 3.1.1 System Cooling ...........................................................
Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide Figures 2.1. 3.1. 3.2. 3.3. 3.4. 3.5. 3.6. 3.7. 4.1. Simplified Block Diagram .................................................................... 7 Performance Tuning Disclaimer ......................................................... 12 Processor Overrides with Default Settings ........................................... 13 Graphics Multiplier Setting ................................................................
Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide 1 Introduction Performance tuning of Intel® Desktop Board DH67BL enables useful gains that can enhance overall system performance for gaming, video editing, computation, performance benchmarking, and other uses. This guide focuses on using the BIOS for performance tuning of Intel Desktop Board DH67BL. The main performance tuning focus area is Intel® HD Graphics.
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Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide 2 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ Processor Family and Intel® H67 Express Chipset General Concepts 2.1 Architecture Intel Desktop Board DH67BL is an Intel® H67 Express chipset-based desktop board in microATX form factor. It supports the 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7 processors, Intel® Core™ i5 processors, and other Intel® processors in the LGA1155 package.
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Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide 3 Intel® Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Using BIOS Setup 3.1 Hardware Considerations for Performance Tuning 3.1.1 System Cooling Performance tuning may result in additional system heat generation. Increased cooling capability may be required to allow performance tuning and operation of a performance tuned system while maintaining stable operation.
Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide 3.3 Obtain the Latest Drivers For the Intel HD Graphics performance settings to function properly, you will need to install the graphics driver for Intel Desktop Board DH67BL. The latest graphics driver version can be obtained from http://downloadcenter.intel.com. Instructions for loading the graphics driver can also be found at this link.
Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide 3.5 Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Process There are numerous possibilities for desktop board performance tuning. The approach presented is a general starting point and may not be suitable for all cases. Desktop board performance tuning is an iterative process. The settings for one parameter may affect which settings will work for another parameter.
Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide 3.5.1 Configure the BIOS for Performance Tuning Performance tuning options are located in the BIOS Setup menu section labeled “Performance”. Reading and agreeing to the disclaimer by selecting “Yes”, as shown in Figure 3.1, allows the detailed BIOS performance menu to be displayed. Figure 3.1.
Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide Under the Performance menu, processor tuning options are under the “Processor Overrides” section shown in Figure 3.2 below. Also see Appendix A for a table summarizing these settings and their effects. Sections 3.5.1.1 through 3.5.1.7 include guidelines for setting the processor override parameters. Figure 3.2.
Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide 3.5.1.1 Graphics Voltage and Multiplier These two BIOS options provide the key tools to tune the Intel HD Graphics core performance from the default values to what can be allowed by the installed processor thermal solution and individual processor. Figure 3.3.
Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide Figure 3.4. Graphics Voltage Setting Adjusted 3.5.1.2 Intel® Turbo Boost Technology Ensure that Intel® Turbo Boost Technology is set to Enable for top performance. 3.5.1.3 Burst Mode Power Limit The Intel HD Graphics is a factor in the amount of power used. If Intel HD Graphics is overclocked and this value is not increased, this may limit turbo performance of the processor cores as Intel HD Graphics may take more of the power budget.
Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide 3.5.1.4 Sustained Mode Time This is the time window in which the real time burst mode power is averaged to create the Sustained Mode Power Limit below. One second is a good initial setting. Setting this time too long will exceed the capability of the processor heat sink and may result in excess processor heating and subsequent throttling (frequency reduction) to reduce the temperature.
Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide 3.5.1.7 Recommended Power Settings Leave Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology and Processor C States enabled in the BIOS as shown in Figure 3. Turbo ratios require Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology enabled in order to function. Disabling C states prevents the processor from entering 1, 2, or 3 core ratios. Figure 3.5.
Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide 3.5.2 Check Stability Establishing stability should be done frequently during the performance tuning process. A good initial check of system stability is to see if the system can boot into the operating system. If the system has become unstable, refer to Section 3.4 for recovery options. When the system can successfully boot into the operating system, various software applications can be used to stress the processor, memory, and other systems.
Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide 3.5.3.1 Memory Performance Options The Memory Overrides menu contains all the memory timing options that can be adjusted. NOTE For each of the timings, except the multipliers, lower number settings correspond with higher performance and potentially less memory system stability. Figure 3.6.
Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide 3.5.4 Reduce Voltage, Current, and Power Gradually reduce voltage, current, and power settings that were made in the applicable portions of Sections 3.5.1.3 through 3.5.1.7 while checking stability. When instability is encountered, increase the setting(s) as needed to restore stable operation. 3.5.5 Save Custom Defaults Settings The Intel Desktop Board DH67BL BIOS allows storing one set of parameter settings (profile) at any given time.
Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide 4 Performance Tuning Examples 4.1 1800 MHz Intel® HD Graphics Frequency Using Graphics Max Multiplier Figure 4.1 shows the BIOS settings to achieve an Intel HD Graphics frequency of 1800 MHz. Figure 4.1.
Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide 4.2 2150 MHz Intel HD Graphics Frequency Using Graphics Max Multiplier and Graphics Voltage Overrides Figure 4.2 shows the BIOS settings to achieve an Intel HD Graphics frequency of 2150 MHz. The graphics voltage overrides had been increased from default value to 1.5000 V. Figure 4.2.
Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide A Parameter Descriptions for BIOS Performance Settings Table A-1. BIOS Performance Settings Setup Option Description Graphics Max Multiplier Used to set the maximum Graphics Multiplier. Works with the built in Graphics Turbo Boost capability. When graphics are not stressful the core will operate at the default Frequency. Host Clock Frequency * 0.5 * Graphics Max Multiplier = Graphics Dynamic Frequency.
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Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide B Parameter Descriptions for Memory Performance Settings NOTE All multiplier values listed in Table B-1 are applied to the single 100 MHz (default) host clock. Table B-1. Memory Performance Settings Setup Option Description Performance Memory Profiles Automatic setting uses specification compliant values provided by the memory module. Memory Multiplier Allows selection of memory ratio from a list of choices. The memory frequency is the ratio * 133.
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