i7 920 overclocking settings

Those settings look grand, 1149 is ok, if you want your ram to run higher youll have to up the bclk to 200 x 20 (4ghz), at this setting with a x 6 ram multi your ram will run at 1200mhz, 6 x 200 bclk = 1200mhz ddr. As you raise/lower the bclk, the ram speed rises/drops in line.

21 x 191 would give you 4ghz as well, but your ram would run at 1146.

The next ram multiplier is the 8x, however this would have your memory overclocked quite a bit above it's rated 1333mhz speed, not sure if your ram would clock that high.
 
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thanks for all your help

I previously tried 20x 200 and it failed, so wont go there :-)

When you say its fine to run RAM at 1149mhz, it is underperforming from stock isnt it? by nearly 200mhz....What kind of impact does that have? doesnt it mean its running slower? but I do not know what else I could do to run at 20 x 191 and get the RAM running faster

I am now trying 21 x 190 to see what happens, it failed after a few seconds

I think, (I hope) I have found its optimum which is 20 x 191 = 3.8ghz, I will let it prime for 8hrs unless you have any alternative ideas to help me get it to 4ghz?

TBH I am happy with 3.8ghz but we all like to push don't we :-)
 
Looking at your screen shots of the bios..

It may have failed due to not enough vcore or qpi volts, these 2 volts are the most important to tweak for stability.

Do the following:

Put them both to 1.35 its higher then needed, but still safe, we can lower once we have it stable.

Set base clock to 200 and multi to 20 and dram to 1200mhz (or the lowest in the list that shows)

Set Uclk and and qpi link data rate both to auto.

Scroll right down to the bottom and disable cpu spread spectrum.

Then boot up and run prime blend for 30-60mins, taking into account the cpu core temps, it is fine for them to be as high as 90c so don't worry. As this is just testing that is fine.

Once we know the settings work, it is then time to tweak the cpu vcore lower and the qpi volts lower.

To answer ur question about having the ram running slower then stock speeds, do not worry, you will only notice the difference in benchmarks. I run my 1600mhz stuff currently at 1333mhz, and i can't spot the difference at all in day to day use.
 
+1 about low memory speed, i have ocz reaper 1600 mhz, as im running 21 x 193, my ram is running below its rated speed at 1547mhz, timings at 7-7-7-24. Running ram lower also helps to take it out of the equation when stability testing any oc.
 
Looking at your screen shots of the bios..

It may have failed due to not enough vcore or qpi volts, these 2 volts are the most important to tweak for stability.

Do the following:

Put them both to 1.35 its higher then needed, but still safe, we can lower once we have it stable.

Set base clock to 200 and multi to 20 and dram to 1200mhz (or the lowest in the list that shows)

Set Uclk and and qpi link data rate both to auto.

Scroll right down to the bottom and disable cpu spread spectrum.

Then boot up and run prime blend for 30-60mins, taking into account the cpu core temps, it is fine for them to be as high as 90c so don't worry. As this is just testing that is fine.

Once we know the settings work, it is then time to tweak the cpu vcore lower and the qpi volts lower.

To answer ur question about having the ram running slower then stock speeds, do not worry, you will only notice the difference in benchmarks. I run my 1600mhz stuff currently at 1333mhz, and i can't spot the difference at all in day to day use.
Click to expand...

thanks for the idea..I will try them tomorrow and report back

thus far, the settings I have shown is as stable as I can get it..

cheers
 
setter, I had ran the same setting as your, got very similiar closer to your temperature matched, are you using water-cooling or thermalight air cooler ? Mine is Noctua D14 and got top temp of around 61C with your setting and of course it stable! But mind u, only the difference vcore under load is 1.232v compare to your at 1.280v
 
Im running a prolimatech super mega with dual vipers, (sold my thermalright ultra), though it was a cold evening when the above pic was taken, radiator in the room broke as well.
 
setter said:
Im running a prolimatech super mega with dual vipers, (sold my thermalright ultra), though it was a cold evening when the above pic was taken, radiator in the room broke as well.
Click to expand...

Get yourself a Noctua D14, you will be in a big surprise how great cooler it had compare to my old mega air cooler and you can clocked it up to around 4.4Ghz!
 
Unfortunately mate it wouldnt fit, due to my reaper ram and it's heatpipes.

IMG_1556.jpg
 
hey guys,

I have set the CPU voltage and QPI/DRAM to 1.35

I have also done the following:

Set base clock to 200 and multi to 20 and dram to 1200mhz (or the lowest in the list that shows)

Set Uclk and and qpi link data rate both to auto.

Scroll right down to the bottom and disable cpu spread spectrum.
Click to expand...

It has been priming for 1hr so far on small ff test, core 1 and 2 temps are at 96 and core 3 and 4 temps are at 94

I then tried 21 x 200 and that failed....any ideas what other combinations to try I think it may go higher then 4ghz..do you think 4.5ghz is optimistic on AIR? using a scythe shuriken cpu cooler ;-) ???

thanks for all your help so far
 
Ok so it was stable at 1.35v, just very hot..

Ok so now, we start lowering those volts, put them both down 1 notch, and test with prime blend for 15 mins, take note of the temp, and if it dos'nt crash in that 15 mins, put the 2 volts down another notch.

Keep repeating that process until prime fails. At that point, but the volts back up 1 notch to where it ran prime fine. And then you let prime run for a good few hours.

Hope that makes sense.

And the 4.5ghz question, no chance with that cooler, or most air coolers im afraid, u need very high volts for that sort of speed.
 
thanks for your reply and continued help

I will do as you recommend....

However, lets assume it works until (lets say) 1.33v for both and primes for 8 hours at those voltages, is it safe to keep both to 1.33v?

Also what temps should I be aiming for under full load? what do you deem safe?

thanks for your help, I hear you about 4.5ghz just thought I'd ask :-)
 
Temps wise lower the better, but I7's can run hot, so generally 80's-90's is acceptable.

So ur 90+ just then was a tad on the high side, but don't worry, it was testing purposes, and the cpu can handle it, also bare in mind not many things u do day to day will give prime temps.

Tell u what mate test this for me, set Qpi to 1.3v, leave vcore at 1.35v for now, run prime blend for 15 mins, and tell me if still stable.

Best we sort out the qpi first before tweaking the vcore.
 
Thanks for your reply.

With QPI set to 1.3v and Vcore at 1.35 I "small ff" tested for 30 mins at 20 x 200 and it worked fine

I then got optimistic and set QPI to 1.25 and kept Vcore at 1.35 and it failed

So I tested QPI at 1.275 AND Vcore at 1.35 on "small ff" test and it primed fine for 30mins after which time I stopped AND am currently trying:

QPI at 1.265 and Vcore @ 1.35 tested on "small ff" test but that also failed

Therefore I can say the optimium QPI is 1.275v and now I am trying the same method with vcore, do you think I am going the right way?

thanks for your help
 
update:

cpu vcore @ 1.32 QPI @1.275 passed prime "small test" for 30mins then I stopped it

cpu vcore @ 1.30 QPI @1.275 failed prime "small test"

cpu vcore @ 1.31 QPI @1.275 failed prime "small test"

Therefore from the results I can say the optimum for QPI and Vcore is

Vcore - 1.32v and QPI @ 1.275v

Unfortunately this comes at running each core very hot i.e. core 1 = 99 core 2 = 100 core 3 = 96 core 4 = 95

I however understand I will never max out each core so my question is, is it safe "long term" to maintain these settings:

20 x 200
CPU vcore - 1.32v
QPI - 1.275v

??????

I am now "small test" priming for 8hrs using these settings so in the meantime thought I'd ask if its safe?

On a seperate note I am chuffed that I hit 4ghz thanks to all your help guys, appreciate that very much

Cheers!!
 
bad news:

small fft prime test failed after 2hrs at the following settings:

20 x 200
CPU vcore - 1.32v
QPI - 1.275v

AND AGAIN ON AFTER 15MINS:

20 x 200
CPU vcore - 1.33v
QPI - 1.275v

So I am now trying:

20 x 200
CPU vcore - 1.35v
QPI - 1.275v

Is it safe to permanently keep the CPU Vcore at 1.35v???

thanks for your help
 
Ah looks like the cooler is having a hard time with the volts u need to give the cpu for 4ghz.

And if one of the cores is hitting 100c, that may bring thermal throttling, which is a saftey feature to protect the cpu.

IF it was me, i would have a think abit, do u want 4ghz permanently, if so you may need to buy a better cooler to help the temps.

If having 4ghz is'nt to much of an issue really, then you will be able to have 3.8ghz with far far less volts so less heat.

But yeh everything im reading indicates that cooler is good for stock and mild overclocking, but when it gets near to 4ghz its reaching its limit of cooling capability.
 
thanks for your reply,

regretably even on 3.8ghz the temps are the same

isnt there an argument that states as I will never max out all 4 cores the potential long term damage is limited? the same with any overclocking...

would you therefore say by keeping to 4ghz at these temps, I would still be safe long term?

do you see anything bad happening if i keep the current settings? as you say these chips run hot...

please advise thanks for your help

p.s. on the other hand what AIR cooler do you recommend?
 
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