User manual INTEL DESKTOP BOARD DH67BL

[. . . ] Intel® Desktop Board DH67BL Performance Tuning Guide Revision 1. 0 February 2011 Order Number: G26416-001 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. WARNING Altering PC memory frequency and/or voltage may (i) reduce system stability and useful life of the system, memory 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 assumes no responsibility that the memory included, if used with altered clock frequencies and/or voltages, will be fit for any particular purpose. Check with the memory manufacturer for warranty and additional details. INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH INTEL® PRODUCTS. [. . . ] Considerations for increasing cooling capability may include, but are not limited to, chassis type, selection of air or liquid cooling, processor cooler design, memory module design, and overall system airflow. Extreme performance tuning requires system designs with increasingly sophisticated cooling capabilities. It is beyond the scope of this guide to provide detailed recommendations for system cooling. CAUTION Cooling induced moisture condensation will result in risk for electrical shorting and subsequent damage to the board and/or the system. 3. 2 Accessing BIOS Setup The BIOS setup screen can be accessed at system startup by pressing the F2 key at the BIOS screen prompt. It is advisable to run the latest BIOS revision to ensure that performance features are at the highest level of optimization. The latest version BIOS can be obtained from http://downloadcenter. intel. com. Instructions for loading the BIOS into the board can also be found at this location. Before initiating performance tuning, ensure that the BIOS setup defaults have been loaded by pressing F9 while in BIOS setup mode and then pressing F10 to save those settings. 9 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. The generic driver included on the Microsoft Windows* 7 installation disk will not contain drivers that enable Intel HD Graphics performance tuning. 3. 4 Recovering from an Unstable System Should performance values be set beyond the point of stable system operation, the system may exhibit a failure to boot, a blue screen, a system hang, or a recovery screen. A common Intel HD Graphics instability includes a windows driver crash that may require a system reboot. Exceeding the system stability limits is normal during the performance tuning process and restoring system operation using a BIOS configuration jumper or power removal may be required as explained in the sections below. 3. 4. 1 BIOS Configuration Jumper For a POST failure, you will need to perform a recovery using the BIOS configuration jumper that is provided on the motherboard to boot into BIOS in safe mode. Please refer to the Intel Desktop Board DH67BL Product Guide for additional information on using the BIOS jumper for recovery purposes. 3. 4. 2 Remove Power and Reboot For a system hang, resetting your system or removing and reapplying power will allow the system to initiate a reboot. During reboot, press the F2 key to enter BIOS to adjust performance settings in BIOS to restore system stability. 10 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. Graphics Multiplier Setting 14 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. 15 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. 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. A longer time interval in sustained mode may result a longer time interval out of sustained mode while accumulated processor heat is being dissipated. 3. 5. 1. 5 Sustained Mode Power Limit Set the Sustained Mode Power Limit (TDP) for turbo mode. You will have to adjust the TDP to suit your environment such that the processor does not throttle due to excess processor heating at peak performance conditions. If the processor temperature increases steadily while running under load, the processor cooling capability to dissipate heat is being exceeded and you will need to reduce the TDP power limit to prevent throttling. [. . . ] Enabling Intel Turbo Boost Technology also enables Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology and automatically allows processor cores to run faster than the base operating frequency if the core(s) is operating below power, current, and temperature specification limits. The Burst Mode Power Limit is the power (in watts) that can be used by the processor when Burst Mode is active. This is time in which the Burst Mode Power is averaged to calculate the Sustained Mode Power limit. Sustained Mode Power Limit is the power (in watts) that can be used by the processor when Sustained Mode is active. [. . . ]