Overclocking my i7 920?

[Bucic]

And somehow it immediately got me here:music_whistling:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/diy-water-cooling-101,1055.html

[CarneyUK]

Well I have been loking into overclocking for a while now and have finally given it ago. Still haven't got a cooler yet so just trying some basic things out and as you will see in my sig have got 3.2Ghz just by changing the BLCK Freq. I have also done the following in the Bios:

 

Hyper threading = off

Ai Overclock = manual

Speedstep = disabled (which also removed Turbo mode)

DRAM Freq = 1604Mhz

UCLK Freq = 3207Mhz (think this is what is meant by Uncore Speed?)

 

I haven't delved as far into the voltages yet but I don't want to go any higher as I still have the standard cooler (gotta wait for Santa LOL)

 

The GPU is still running at about 40'c and the processor at 50'c whilst doing normal stuff. gonna try Black Shark and see what happens.

 

What do I need to test the system for stability? I have CPUz and Real temp which has a XS Bench...is that what I use to test it??

 

If I am not back online within a week you know it's all gone Pete Tong!!

Edited December 11, 2010 by CarneyUK
More updated info

[Steel Jaw]

A lock up or BSOD at a non critical temp will most likely be down to lack of voltage and or dodgy memory.

 

The memory os OCZ DD3 160 speed. So it ought to be okay AFAIK.

 

But

 

If I have to increase the CPU voltage, what amount should I bump it by to be safe?

[CarneyUK]

This is what I have now with the changes I've made.

 

If anybody who knows what they are doing looks at the posts and pictures and thinks.....'OMFG< he's gonna do some damage' then please let me know LOL:megalol:

[EtherealN]

For stability testing I would recommend the application Orthos - it's a wrapper for Prime95, which places extremely heavy prime number calculations on all cores to max out your processor and then checks that the results are correct, effectively testing both your max temperatures (I'd recommend doing it for a few hours for the final stability tests) as well as ensuring that the overclock is not causing computation errors.

[EtherealN]

Oh, and that reminds me - I generally trust HWmonitor by the CPU-Z guys better than RealTemp, though I usually run both of them.

[Steel Jaw]

I recently played with o/c and stress tested the CPU to over 80'C and now wonder if that's why it locks at 180 qpi now.

[CarneyUK]

For stability testing I would recommend the application Orthos - it's a wrapper for Prime95.

 

Just had a look at Orthos and it said it was for Dual Core and I have Quad Core.

 

Decided to try Prime 95 and ran the stress test. My Real Temp alarms (set for 90'c) went off and it got to 93'c on the first core so I stopped the test. That was in the first 3 mins!! :doh:

 

So I now think I need more cooling!! The max temp after 30 minutes of Black Shark was 75'c and Prime 95 came up with no errors, it was just the alarm and temp of 93'c that made me stop it!!

Edited December 11, 2010 by CarneyUK
More info

[EtherealN]

Yup, that does seem like you need to look for more cooling.

[CarneyUK]

Yup, that does seem like you need to look for more cooling.

 

Thought so :(

 

What sort of temp can I run it at safely? I'm thinking below 80'c??

[RSharpe]

The memory os OCZ DD3 160 speed. So it ought to be okay AFAIK.

 

But

 

If I have to increase the CPU voltage, what amount should I bump it by to be safe?

 

It all depends on what your CPU can do and what temperatures you're comfortable with. They say to keep below 1.4v on a 920. I give mine enough voltage to remain stable at a given clock, and no more. My 920 D0 and uses 1.216v to run 4.0ghz stable using air cooling and it maxes temperature at around 72C on full load using Prime95.

 

I've noticed a huge difference between the stock 2.66ghz and the overclocked 4.0ghz on DCS A-10C

Edited December 11, 2010 by RSharpe

[Steel Jaw]

Thanx for the info RSharpe, that's what I need: NUMBERS.

[CarneyUK]

The best I can do is 3Ghz @ 68'c max. I want to keep it below 70'c and when I get my cooler will go for the bigger overclock.

 

Thanks for all the help and ifno peeps!! :thumbup:

[bumfire]

Thought so :(

 

What sort of temp can I run it at safely? I'm thinking below 80'c??

 

100oC is the temps that you dont want it to go over, anything below 100oC is good, but, ideally ou dont want anything over 60 - 65, possibly 70oC.

 

Once your cpu gets to 100, it will down clock speeds and throttle back performance to save it from dieing.

[Teej]

I'm running an H50 cooler on an i7 950.

 

I've really only just begun OCing and am looking around at the best way to do it.

 

Right now it's running at 170 * 23 = 3.9xx but needs some RAM tweaks. In FC2 I'm getting high frames but more microstutters than at stock (133 * 23) w/ the ram at a more optimal speed.

 

Running 4 * Orthos (1 w/ memory, other 3 for CPU) didn't get any core over ~ 68 and the "CPU" temp stayed waaaaay below that. like...50C....)

 

Still work to do. Heh.

[CarneyUK]

I'm running an H50 cooler on an i7 950.

 

That's what I'm hoping Santa is gonna bring me for Chrimbo.......I've been a good boy for 37 years now, think it's time for a H50 :lol:

[bumfire]

Why not the h70 ? only a 10-15 quid dearer but much better cooling.

[Teej]

No particular reason. Not sure it would've made much difference for me.

 

Sitting here at 3.9ghz running windows apps, I see:

System: 31C

CPU: 24C

Cores are all showing under 40C

 

Maxed out the cores all stayed below 70C.

 

They barely rise at all in FC2. Cores all below 45.

Edited December 11, 2010 by Teej

[EtherealN]

The H70 has a much larger radiator though which might make it a bit cumbersome for some computer cases. But personally my plan is an H70 - a 932 HAF has lots of space. :P

[Teej]

My CPU, OCed, stays below about 10C above m/b temperature in FC2 & DCS. Good enough for me.

 

Current setting is 3.7ghz (23 * 160) with memory at stock 1600. Both sims are difficult to get below 60fps now.

 

In A-10 with the takeoff training mission, I start out at 25fps on the runway...as I roll down the runway it's up to 50 around the time I lift off. I can fly back down the batumi runway and not see under 50. Certain angles will drop to 40 if I'm touching dirt with the retracted wheels. High tex, med scenes, low water, med distance, 1920x1200 full screen, 16x aniso, 16x AA

 

That's with a single GTX275 card.

Edited December 11, 2010 by Teej

[CarneyUK]

The H70 has a much larger radiator though which might make it a bit cumbersome for some computer cases. But personally my plan is an H70 - a 932 HAF has lots of space. :P

 

That's why I am looking at the H50, smaller and will fit in my case. With the H70 it'll hit other parts of the PC. Have got until the final release of DCSW to get it as everything has to go through Domestic Sunray LOL :music_whistling:

[Slayer]

Keep in mind those synthetic stress tests aren't even close to real world at all. I've never seen any game even come close to loading 4 cores or 8 threads to max.

 

Every I7 has a different voltage table programed into it even between the same chips and same revisions. Don't even touch the voltage unless your system becomes unstable.

 

The H50 will be just fine for what you are doing. If you can get to between 3.2 - 3.8 Ghz without touching the volts call it good.

[CarneyUK]

Yet again, thanks for all the info peeps. Am still learning a lot and have now got my H50 cooler on order....not allowed it till Chrimbo though :(

 

Once fitted will then look at going the distance!! Think I will be looking at 3.8Ghz and hopefully keep the temps down....and as you said Slayer, I dought any game will get all 4 cores loaded to 100% so if it is stable with Prime95 running at 100% then games should be a little lower in temp.

 

All I gotta do now is figure out about the XMP thing as CPUz says I have it?? (See desktop picture in previous post) I did change some bit's on the RAM (UCLK and DRAM Freq), but when I booted it locked saying problems with the overclock. I put the memory bit's back to Auto and all worked fine.

 

The memory part seems a lot harder to understand!!

[Bucic]

Keep in mind those synthetic stress tests aren't even close to real world at all. I've never seen any game even come close to loading 4 cores or 8 threads to max.

My 2.5 -> 3.75 C2D has never passed a synthetic test and I got maybe two CTDs in a year while playing Black Shark. Enough said.

[Steel Jaw]

I continue to fiddling with relevant settings but keep getting memory problems (the pc hard locks) at a measly 3.3 and 50C max. Cannot figure it out.

 

If some folks could post their freq and voltage settings that might help.

 

Also, what is the max safe CPU voltage for the i920, 1.4?

Edited December 13, 2010 by Mower