Overclocking i7

[hitman]

Any tips? Im looking on youtube for some overclocking ideas, and from what Ive seen so far are only extreme overclocks.

[Kuky]

youtube? Head to http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums I'm sure you'll find plenty of info there.

[Flyby]

hope these help

 

be sure to let us know how your efforts turn out.

http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3502

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTU4MCwsLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0

Plenty more on the web, but there's such a thing as TMI. ;)

Flyby out

[hitman]

I got it stable at 3.35ghz without any voltage increases or any increase in temps. Im satisfied now...cant wait till I crank up some real power on this beast! :D

[Flyby]

good results. Now, spoil us with some Black Shark benchmarks.

[Pilotasso]

You should be OK considering your choice of memories.

[hitman]

3.6ghz, 1400mhz ram frequency, no voltage adjustment, and stable :D

 

This chip is awesome! 1ghz overclock without any voltage increase with no increase in temps. Ill be benching later on when Im positive its a stable overclock.

[Glowing_Amraam]

3.6ghz, 1400mhz ram frequency, no voltage adjustment, and stable :D

 

This chip is awesome! 1ghz overclock without any voltage increase with no increase in temps. Ill be benching later on when Im positive its a stable overclock.

 

Hey Hitman, im running the i7 920 Cpu, and my RAM is at 1600mhz freq.

The cpu is at 2.66 ghz... you think i'd be ok to clock it up to, say, 3.2 ghz or something?

[hitman]

Youll have to drop the mem freq to around 1066...this is what I had to do to get it to tun stable at 3.35ghz:

TurboBoost enabled

CPU Cores all

CPU multithread active

(all else disabled on that page)

Performance enhancement Turbo

Bclk is 166x20

QPI link speed is x36

Uncore freq is x20

Uncore QPI is x36 (same as QPI link spd)

advanced clock ctrl (bclk 166)

 

Dont change anything else if its not listed here. IF you need a little help, let me know cuz Im still figuring this thing out myself. IN case you didnt know, bclk controls your cpu clock frequency, and this is the only way you can change it. So multiply 20x whatever = your clock speed. Mines currently at 180x20.

Edited February 2, 2009 by hitman

[Glowing_Amraam]

Wait, turning down the RAM freq...thats not gonna harm the pc is it? :P

See, i have never done any OC'ing EVER, so i dont wanna mess anything up...

 

Does my mobo have any say in this or...?

[hitman]

You cant hurt the computer running things below stock :P The fact that you have 1600mhz capable memory means that you can have even better success overclocking your chip to a higher stable clock speed. I honestly dont know how to just run the memory at its rated stock speed, but I just know its more stable linked with the cpu clock speed. Ive read that some peole get their 1600mhz memory up to 2000mhz with a 4.2ghz overclock.

 

Your motherboard will automatically adjust your memory to the motherboards current specs...meaning if it runs natively at 1333, your memory will run at 1333, but its also dependant on the CPU FSB. Mine was underclocked at 1033. Now its at 1400 with my CPU at 3.5ghz.

Edited February 2, 2009 by hitman

[Glowing_Amraam]

Yeah, well, i have 6 gig ram..

But the values you wrote on the previous page, thats all i need to worry about?

To get around 3.2 ghz...

[hitman]

Yeah, and if you need more on that, Ill try to get some pics of my BIOS posted when I get home from school tonight. You can use them as kind of a template of overclocking, since this chip was meant for super overclocking.

[Glowing_Amraam]

Yeah that'd be great! :)

[hitman]

Temps I have reached for 1 hour of stress testing Prime95 64bit. Not too bad Id say, since thic chip runs at stock speeds at around 80c idle with the original Intel air cooler.

[Glowing_Amraam]

And what is a "healthy" temp for the cpu?

[Prophet]

I am running my i7 920 at 19x200 with a vCPU of 1.275, for 3.8GHz. All the other voltages are default. 1.35 for QPI and 1.65 for RAM.

 

I set my RAM manually to 1600.

 

My load temps are about 70C.

 

Personally I wouldnt let it get hotter than 80C.

[hitman]

And what is a "healthy" temp for the cpu?

 

IIRC Intel says 95c is still safe...but Intel also makes poor quality air coolers. I wouldnt want to run it past 80 myself either.

[Glowing_Amraam]

Ok, im sorta "scared" to hop in and tune the cpu, so to take it like baby-steps, whats the procedure, considering my currents spec:

 

1000w Corsair PSU.

i7 920 cpu 2.66 Ghz

6 Gig ram at 1600mhz freq

GTX 295 (not that this matters?)

Asus P6T Deluxe x58, socket-1366 Mobo

 

So to boost the cpu up to 3 Ghz or just above it (max 3.2, scared to go any higher :P)

Oh and i use the default cooling fan and such.

[hitman]

All that high tech gear and couldnt get an aftermarket cooling fan. :P

 

I recommend getting this bad boy before seriously overclocking:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835702007

 

If you do overclock, watch those temps closely...those stock cpu coolers are crap. You can probably get a slightly cooler core temp if you throw a little bit of arctic silver paste under it instead of that ceramic crap Intel uses, you can probably drop it down another 5c or so at best...but dont quote me on that.

[Prophet]

Ok, im sorta "scared" to hop in and tune the cpu, so to take it like baby-steps, whats the procedure, considering my currents spec:

 

1000w Corsair PSU.

i7 920 cpu 2.66 Ghz

6 Gig ram at 1600mhz freq

GTX 295 (not that this matters?)

Asus P6T Deluxe x58, socket-1366 Mobo

 

So to boost the cpu up to 3 Ghz or just above it (max 3.2, scared to go any higher :P)

Oh and i use the default cooling fan and such.

 

Its all about temps not the clock speed. It doesnt matter if you are running 3GHz or 10GHz as long as its cool enough. So you should just increase the vCPU and then test it until you get to a point that you are comfortable with the temp under load. Then run the bus speed up as high as it will go stable. Then start dropping the vCPU if it will still run stable.

[hitman]

Get Core Temp, GA...watch the temps before overclocking, and then use Prime95 (x86 or x64, depending on o/s), and test before you overclock. Watch your temps and record how high they go before you start overclocking. A comfortable temp would be around 80c or less under a constant load. Mine was floating around 75c under load when I tested my chip at 3.7ghz earlier (had to increase cpu voltage to 1.4v to run stable). Idle temps should be around 35c-40c with a stock cooler. Be prepared to shut down the thing if it gets too hot for your liking.

 

Ill post some bios screens after school.

[hitman]

All your settings should read something like this:

 

 

Enable and disable what you see here:

 

 

Set your clock speed here to 160 and youll have 3.2ghz

 

 

You should keep an eye on these temps while in BIOS, just so you have a rough idea where your temps are going to start out at.

 

 

You shouldnt have to adjust voltage to get to 3.2ghz, and certainly 3.2ghz is doable on air, but it has to be good abounts of air flow. Watch your temps using CoreTemp, and test using Prime95. Youll have a good idea how hot your chip *can* get, but I have yet to see any of my apps run more than 15-25% of my total cpu. Prime95 is basically the only thing that made use of all 4 cores and all 8 threads.

[hitman]

Some benchmarks of BS o/c @ 3.66ghz:

Test demo: Winter Attack

1680x1050

High settings, Mirrors-Hi res, High water, All Planar shadows

Lowest FPS = 24, external view @ takeoff

Highest = 60fps in cockpit

Average FPS = 36

-4 FPS unreported during screenshot in FRAPS

 

 

 

 

 

[Glowing_Amraam]

Thanks for the tips.